Thirty years ago, television changed forever, one awkward, fake late-night interview at a time.
The groundbreaking adult cartoon series Space Ghost Coast to Coast premiered on Cartoon Network 30 years ago on April 15, 1994, pioneering an entire generation of alternative comedy and opening the possibility for so many of the very strange, very funny television comedies we love today.
Mike Lazzo’s seminal talk show comedy featuring a twist on Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning superhero Space Ghost (featuring George Lowe’s iconic voice performance) and all of his very odd co-workers (the late, great C. Martin Croker’s Zorak and Moltar, the stellar Andy Merrill’s Brak etc.) broke the mold on what people expected out of existing intellectual property.
It took the gleeful irreverence for existing characters from Who Framed Roger Rabbit and spliced it together with the dry, silly 1990s slacker energy for people who stayed up late to watch David Letterman and Conan O’Brien, worked with MTV on in the background and could recite the scripts to their favorite Simpsons episodes.
It parodied the funky dynamics of late-night talk shows and perfectly captured the wacky comedic moment of its decade. That weird, wonderful lightning in a bottle still powers so much all these decades later. If you watched cartoons as a kid in the Nineties, you came across this one at some point, and it absolutely shook up your equilibrium for what was possible for the medium.
Without Space Ghost interviewing various celebrities in his space-set studio with sassy interruptions from Zorak in the band pit and Moltar working the broadcast tech, we probably wouldn’t have gotten basically anything on Adult Swim or have quite gotten the entire class of alt-comedy that dominates after hours television.
This excellent, bizarre show was just a game-changer for the way people created television for adults, the way we interact with past pop culture and the lengths we can stretch the most beautifully stupid ideas and most ludicrous sight gags into something delightful and lasting. Happy 30th birthday, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, and thanks for the memories.
And always remember: Nobody cares, Moby!
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