Space Ghost Coast to Coast

My god, the people who thought up this show are geniuses. Put an outdated cartoon character on his own talk show with his old rivals, lower all their IQ levels by 20 points, and have pop icons be bombarded by pointless questions. This is probably the best talk show I have ever seen, which is funny consideing the host isn't even real.

I think it's good that this show never reached a wider audience, either. That makes it kind of special. Just a little something for those of us who stay up all night watching TV.

Looking for the most unusual show on television? Well, look no further, because you've found it. "Space Ghost Coast to Coast" is more than just an animated talk show starring a washed-up '60s cartoon hero and his evil sidekicks. It's also a deconstruction of the superhero mythos, an attack on the culture of celebrity, and both a celebration and interrogation of the pop culture wasteland from which it sprang.

It's also one of the funniest shows that has ever been -- and ever will be -- on television. It features episodes that make you scratch your head ("Story Book," "Woody Allen's Fall Project," "Brilliant Number One"), ones that take you behind the scenes and show you their process ("Transcript," "Table Read") and ones of such dizzying inventiveness ("Jacksonville," "Pavement," "Joshua," "Knifin' Around") that they make you glad that someone, somewhere thought the idea of giving Space Ghost his own talk show wasn't so stupid.

"All right, my little unhappy monkeys."

"Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" was Cartoon Network's first fully-original animated TV show. It premiered in 1994 and ended in 2004. It was basically the launchpad for Cartoon Network's adult-oriented, late-night programming block "Adult Swim", which gave it the nick-name of "The Father of Adult Swim". It was also the first animated talk show, and pretty much the only one.

The host of the show was the 1960s Hanna-Barbera action cartoon hero, Space Ghost, who is now self-absorbed and stupid. His arch-nemesis Zorak is the band leader, and he's still as evil as ever. And another villain from the '60s show, Moltar, is the director.

Space Ghost interviewed actual celebrities. Including: Bobcat Goldthwait, Conan O'Brien, Fran Drecsher, Weird Al Yankovic, Mark Hammil, Jack Black, Matt Groening, Mike Judge, The Ramones, Hulk Hogan, Jim Carrey, Slash, Willie Nelson, Adam West, Emiril Lagasse, Carrot Top, Tyra Banks, Ben Stiller, and William Shatner among many others.

"Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" spawned many spin-offs. Which include "Cartoon Planet"; "The Brak Show"; "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"; and "Harvey Birdman, Attourney-at-Law". This show was very important to the history of Adult Swim.

"Space Ghost: Coast to Coast" was just a hilarious show. Surreal humor at it's funniest, and I loved the idea of giving a '60s Hanna-Barbera character a talk show. One of the best shows in Cartoon Network and Williams Street history. The characters were all hilarious, the voice acting was great, as I just said I loved the concept of the show, the limited animation actually made it even funnier, and the odd, surreal sense of humor was just great.

Rating: 9/10 "Excellent"

The jokes are well thought out and smart and really make us laugh, Space ghost its actor voice is excellent, the characters' relationships in the interviews are brilliant, the interviewees were well chosen, the script excellent despite being a talk show.

I never watched Space Ghost when it used to air, probably because I literally didn't know what I was missing (why I didn't watch it I can't remember, maybe it was on too late or it just seemed like the guests were sometimes unknowns to me, even as this wasn't the case at all). Now on DVD, I was curious to see it as part of other old shows from Cartoon Network. Seeing it now, it's... everything that's fun and smart in a really throwaway-joke kind of way in a cartoon when taking itself perfectly un-seriously. It's a spoof on old 60s cartoons, late night talk shows, hubris, rivalries, and many other things. Space Ghost and Zorak make for a great duo, with the other guy (can't remember his name now, the masked 'director' who sometimes sings if forced to in Zorak's absence) a notable third wheel, even as they're often ready to rip at each other's throats. The comedy is brilliant without even really trying, though I'm sure the writers worked their heads off to get certain scenes down (other times... you can tell they just chucked stuff at the wall, and I mean that as a compliment oddly enough). The writing basically makes up for the obvious goof-factor of the animation, which is repetitive and might just be ripped off of the 60s Space Ghost show (where else will I hear a line like "You smell like a farm!"), and it's probably one of the best ludicrous-type programs the Cartoon Network ever had. It's only my loss I didn't track down this crazy piece of work sooner, or watch it when it originally aired.