Space Ghost Coast to Coast


Space Ghost Coast to Coast is an American adult live-action/animated parody talk show produced by and aired on Cartoon Network. A spin-off of Hanna-Barbera's Space Ghost, it is hosted by a reimagined version of the series protagonist Space Ghost. It incorporates surreal and non-sequitur humor while reusing substantial amounts of animation from Hanna-Barbera series. It is the first TV series to be produced by Williams Street, Cartoon Network's in-house production studio which later started programming block Adult Swim in the early 2000s.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is one of the first original series produced for Cartoon Network, and the earliest to not be an anthology of pre-existing cartoons. It premiered on April 15, 1994, and originally ended on December 17, 1999. It was revived on May 7, 2001, and was moved to the new Adult Swim late-night programming block on September 2, where new episodes premiered until April 12, 2004. A final season was released exclusively on GameTap from 2006 to 2008. 109 episodes were aired over 10 seasons.
Space Ghost Coast to Coast helped launch the careers of Mike Lazzo, Keith Crofford, Matt Harrigan, C. Martin Croker, Adam Reed, Matt Thompson, Andy Merrill, Jim Fortier, Pete Smith, Michael Ouweleen, Erik Richter, Dave Willis, and Matt Maiellaro. It produced the spin-offs The Brak Show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Perfect Hair Forever, and Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. The series inspired or influenced other series for Adult Swim, including Sealab 2021 and The Eric Andre Show.

Premise

Space Ghost Coast to Coast uses a subverted talk show format hosted by Space Ghost as he interviews live-action guest stars, whom Space Ghost usually believes to be fellow superheroes, appearing on a monitor beside Space Ghost's desk. In early episodes, Space Ghost begins his interviews by asking guests about their superpowers. His interactions with guests can be awkward because the guests' answers are often changed to humorously match Space Ghost's questions in post-production. Later episodes feature guests being allowed to interact directly with the characters. Space Ghost is depicted to be highly idiotic with a weak grasp of basic concepts and lack of common sense, becoming more and more eccentric and egomaniacal with how he manages the show and treats his guests.
Space Ghost's bandleader, an evil talking mantis named Zorak, and his director-producer, a red-helmeted lava man named Moltar, work forced unpaid labor for Space Ghost, ostensibly as punishment for their crimes committed on the original series. They maintain passive-aggressive relationships with him, providing the bulk of the series' humor by bantering with him or sabotaging the program. Despite this, the trio often unwillingly stand up for each other in disastrous scenarios. Other Space Ghost villains, especially the Council of Doom, frequently make cameo appearances and interfere with the program.

Songs

Early seasons feature music played by Zorak and his band "The Original Way-Outs". The original theme song, "Hit Single", was composed by free jazz guitarist Sonny Sharrock and performed by Sharrock on guitar, Lance Carter on drums, Eddie Horst on bass, and Alfreda Gerald on vocals. Sharrock and Carter recorded songs for the show that were later compiled on the album Space Ghost Coast to Coast. As a tribute to Sharrock, who died in May 1994 shortly after the show first aired, the episode "Sharrock" featured fifteen minutes of unedited takes of music recorded for the show.
Seasons 4–6 feature a new closing theme by Man or Astro-man?, and in later seasons the opening theme and titles were nearly abandoned. Alternate songs are sometimes used as theme music, including the CHiPs theme song for the episode titled "CHiPs". An hour-long musical season finale featuring the bands Yo La Tengo and Cornershop was planned for the 1998 season but never produced.

Production

Original run

Space Ghost Coast to Coast was conceptualized by Cartoon Network programmer Mike Lazzo after he was asked to develop a cartoon to appeal to adults. It began as an attempt to revive Hanna-Barbera's Wacky Races alongside Khaki Jones and Andy Merrill, which eventually transitioned into focusing solely on Space Ghost. The series' original title stemmed from early 1993 when Andy Merrill and Jay Edwards were brainstorming names for a marathon of the 1960s Space Ghost for Cartoon Network, trying to find things that rhyme with "Ghost". Because of budget limitations, Michael Cahill recycled clips from the original series and reorganized them on an Avid non-linear editor for a "talk show" style program. Because the series remixed limited animation, editing took the most time in production. The characters' crudely animated lips, awkward movements that resembled "paper dolls glued to Popsicle sticks", and continuity errors became part of the joke. Production of the first season was handled by Designefx at Atlanta due to its proximity to Cartoon Network headquarters. Lazzo managed to poach animator C. Martin Croker from the company; in addition to being the show's principal animator, it was also his idea to have Zorak and Moltar be Space Ghost's sidekicks, voicing both characters with sufficient mastery to have impressed Lazzo. The name Alan Laddie was the nom de plume for the show's writing staff.
Merrill assembled a proof of concept test pilot in April 1993, using archival footage of Denzel Washington, and Merrill voiced Space Ghost. The pilot never aired but an edited version later appeared on DVD, with Washington removed.
A second pilot was developed, interviewing Emma Thompson. Gary Owens, who originally voiced Space Ghost in the 1960s show, portrayed the character for the pilot. George Lowe was eventually cast as Space Ghost when Coast to Coast was officially picked up. Owens later made two appearances on the show: first as an announcer in a season 3 episode and then appeared as himself inside a caldron in a season 5 episode.
The series premiered on April 15, 1994, having aired initially at 11:00 p.m. ET on Friday nights, with an encore showing of the episode on Saturday night. Later, the program was moved to various late-night time slots, usually on weekends. In its first few years, Cartoon Network showed episodes of the original 1960s and 1980s Space Ghost cartoons after each 11-minute episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Williams Street was founded around the premiere of the third season as it progressively split from Cartoon Network management.
In February 1995, the episode 1st World Premiere Toon-In was simulcast on Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT, serving as the launch of World Premiere Toons and showcasing Hanna-Barbera's The Powerpuff Girls short film. In the special, Space Ghost interviews a few of the new directors, while the Council of Doom members are the judges of the cartoon clips. The first run ended on December 17, 1999, with the episode "King Dead".

Revivals

On September 2, 2001, new episodes and re-runs moved to Cartoon Network's late-night programming block Adult Swim during the block's premiere. The series ended its television run in 2004 with its 93rd episode, "Live at the Fillmore".
In 2006, the series returned as a five-minute web series on Turner Broadcasting's GameTap online service, in which Space Ghost interviewed celebrities from the video game industry and GameTap's artist of the month. Cartoon Network had no involvement in the season, with only Lowe and Croker returning. The series officially concluded with the final webisode on May 31, 2008. The show was removed in 2008; GameTap was shut down in 2010, rendering it to be lost media. Despite this, almost all of the 17 episodes from the GameTap seasons are found.
On April Fools' Day 2014, Adult Swim broadcast an unannounced Space Ghost Coast to Coast marathon with new material in the form of commercials featuring Space Ghost, Zorak, and Moltar in a voice-recording booth ad-libbing lines from episodes. The series has seen occasional marathons on Adult Swim since, including one on October 22, 2021, in promotion of an Adult Swim tie-in with Carl's Jr.
In commemoration of the show's 30th anniversary, Adult Swim streamed a 16-episode marathon loop on the Adult Swim YouTube channel. The stream lasted for one month.

Characters

Main

  • Space Ghost was a 1960s superhero who fought supervillains. In the 1990s, he was brought back as a host for his own late-night talk show.
  • Zorak is a mantis-like alien who is the band leader of The Original Way-Outs and its most prominent leader. Though Space Ghost's prisoner, Zorak retains his membership in the Council of Doom. He co-hosts Cartoon Planet and its revival with Brak and Space Ghost.
  • Moltar is the show's director and producer. He is an alien who has a body that is made entirely of lava, and he normally wears an orange and gray full-body containment suit which has a breathing receptacle. He serves as the straight man on the show. He is a fan of the show CHiPs, in particular star Erik Estrada.

    Supporting

  • Brak is a lion-like alien who, although a villain, is the weakest and least-threatening one on both this program and the earlier Space Ghost series. He appears on the series in sporadic cameo appearances, often with the Council of Doom, of which he is a member, and is often victimized by Space Ghost. He is more prominent in Cartoon Planet, co-hosting it with Space Ghost and Zorak.
  • The Original Way-Outs is a band that provides music to Space Ghost's program. It consists of former Space Ghost adversaries Zorak, The Sorcerer, Parko and original character Christy. Despite their prominence, only Zorak and the Sorcerer have spoken lines on the series.
  • Lokar is a locust-like alien who speaks in a British accent and displays pretentious behavior. Lokar seems to harbor a grudge towards Space Ghost, and constantly seeks his destruction, perhaps more for his boorishness than anything else. Lokar is a member of the Council of Doom, despite his lack of any malevolence.
  • Tansut is an overweight and cowardly alien in an orange costume and helmet. His outfit makes him appear much more menacing than he actually is. He is a member of the Council of Doom. For about half the episodes of season 4, he announces the show off-screen until he is fired by Space Ghost.
  • Metallus is a big metallic creature who is a member of the Council of Doom. In his first appearance, Metallus did speak English similar to the original cartoon but it was changed to only talking in a reverb-heavy metallic drone, rendering his every word incomprehensible, though other characters seem to understand him.
  • Black Widow is a 300-year-old sorceress. Black Widow has a crush on Space Ghost and is the only member showing no hostility to him, much to him and her fellow Council of Doom members' chagrin.
  • Chad Ghostal is Space Ghost's evil twin brother. He is a beatnik with a love for jazz music and uses outdated beatnik slang while also being a womanizer.
  • Harvey Birdman is the host of the show in the episodes "Pilot" and "Sequel." He then gets a job as a lawyer in his own spin-off show Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, where he is voiced by Gary Cole.