Posted in: Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, TV | Tagged: Adult Swim, c. martin croker, cartoon network, GameTap, George Lowe, space ghost, space ghost coast to coast
Space Ghost Coast to Coast 30th Anniversary Celebrated by Adult Swim
Adult Swim celebrates the 30th anniversary of the reimagined, influential animated series Space Ghost Coast to Coast with a YouTube marathon.
Article Summary
- Adult Swim celebrates Space Ghost's 30th anniversary with marathon.
- Space Ghost Coast to Coast revolutionized Cartoon Network's adult shows.
- Featuring George Lowe, the show transformed a 60s superhero into a talk host.
- Inspired iconic shows like The Brak Show and Harvey Birdman.
It's hard to believe it's been 30 years since Cartoon Network sewed its seed into more adult programming, starting with Space Ghost Coast to Coast, a reimagining of the 1960s Hannah Barbara cartoon Space Ghost created by Alex Toth. The new series features the title character, voiced by George Lowe, as the host of a talk-variety series with his sworn enemies, the robotic Moltar and the mantis-type alien Zorak, both voiced by the late C. Martin Croker, as his sidekicks. Moltar runs the control room that invites celebrity guests who are video-conferenced into their animated world – with Zorak as his bandleader. Brak (voiced by Andy Merrill), another former enemy, makes recurring appearances. To mark the series' 30th anniversary, Adult Swim, CN's night-oriented programming block, is streaming a marathon of the show that ran for 11 seasons across 109 episodes from 1994-2008 on YouTube.
How 'Space Ghost Coast to Coast' Started a Revolution at Cartoon Network
Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a dramatic rebranding considering the original 1960s animated series featured the title character, originally played by Gary Owens, as an intergalactic superhero with two younger sidekicks, Jan (Ginny Tyler), Jace (Tim Matheson) and their money Blip (Don Messick) – lasting only one season. While none of the original actors appear in the talk series, its success inspired several new shows and spinoffs: The Brak Show, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Perfect Hair Forever, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, Sealab 2021, and The Eric Andre Show.
Harvey Birdman and Sealab 2021 were also reimagined 60s-era Hanna Barbara cartoons as modern comedies to greater success as the Adult Swim block of programming that premiered in 2001 helped usher in a new generation of animators. Space Ghost Coast to Coast's original run was on Cartoon Network from 1994-2001, moved to Adult Swim from 2001-2004 with its final incarnation on GameTap from 2006-2008.