Space Ghost Coast to Coast 1 [DVD] [2003] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast seems to be an acquired taste, with silly and dry wit that I find quite palatable. It's theme is a very bad talk show which Space Ghost hosts, along with his old enemies Zorak, Brak, and Moltar.

Back in 1966, Space Ghost was a real cartoon (that I used to watch) that aired for 2 years, only 42 episodes, but introduced many of the characters that show up on Space Ghost Coast-to-Coast; like Gloop and Gleep, Lokar, and Jace & Jan in this first release on DVD.

It was cheesy back then, and SGCTC takes cheese to a whole new level. SG is the worst talk show host ever, asking most guests if they have enough oxygen and what their superpowers are. The guests are real, appearing on a TV screen in SG's "set". Some of the guests, like Hulk Hogan, Terry Jones, Sandra Bernhard, and Carol Channing (to name only a few) seem to have a good time with the odd interview setup. Others show obvious discomfort at what the show will do with their words, like Donny Osmond, David Byrne, and especially guitarist Slash.

In between interviews, SG gets into childish arguments with Zorak, and some pretty silly things happen. If you like oddball humor like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Beavis & Butthead, you will probably like SPCTC. Here is a quick mention of what you will find on these first sixteen episodes.

Disc One:

Elevator - guests Judy Tenuta, Timothy Leary, and very briefly Ashley Judd. This first episode is the worst of the lot, they seemed to be feeling around for how to make this quirky idea work.

Spanish Translation - guests Susan Powter, Kevin Meany, and briefly The Bee-Gees. Funny lines, (SP) "I have many super powers and a colossal bulk that frightens evil villains!" and (Kevin) "Walking around the universe with tight pants on, it's not right!" Plus, there is an advertisement for 'Zorak and Moltar Sing Your Favorite Lullabies.' Hilarious!

Gilligan - guests Bob Denver, Dawn Wells, and Russell Johnson. This is the episode Zorak announces, "I am the lone locust of the apocalypse, think of me when you look to the night sky!" and SP confronts Moltar, and tells him, "Prepare your heinie for another blast from the spank ray!"

CHiPS - guests Joe Franklin and Bill Carter. SP discusses late night talk shows. Funny line, to Bill Carter regarding Zorak; "Have you ever seen evil so personified as you do in his skeletal shell?" Joe Franklin and SP have a very funny introductory exchange.

Bobcat - guests Bobcat Goldthwait and The Ramones. Bobcat is hilarious in his interview, bringing up things like, "Barney's gonna make more kids snap than bugs bunny." and musing about ending world violence for a half an hour by using a ball peen hammer on the cast of Blossom. This is also the episode we find out SP's real name is Tad Ghostal.

Punch - guests Cindy Guyer, Jerky Boys, and Dian Parkinson. Zorak wants to hear about Dian's affair, and SP says, "The Fair! I love fairs! Lights, pony rides, cotton candy, Lobster Boy..."

Banjo - guests Schooly D and Weird Al Yankovic. SP grows Sea Monkeys and names one Banjo. Zorak has a book of incantations and takes over SP's mind.

Batmantis - guests Adam West, Lee Merriwether, and Eartha Kitt. This is a great episode, one of my favorites, in which Zorak turns into Batmantis, declaring to everyone, "I shiver with power, I ache with disease, I am Batmantis."

At the end, they have a bake sale, in which Moltar announces, "I hate oatmeal cookies, they make me go."

The guests are relaxed and seem to have fun with their interviews.

Story Book House - very feeble episode in which Kirk The Storyteller and Carl The Cartoonist read and draw previously watched episodes. Skip this one.

Disc Two:

Girlie Show - guests Fran Drescher, Carol Channing, and Alice Cooper. SP does a tribute to women, falls in love with Fran, and is shocked that Alice is not a woman. Gloop and Gleep make a brief appearance. This episode is one of my favorites.

Hungry - guests Michael Stipe, Lassie, and Sirajul & Mujibur. Space Ghost is "Hungry like a muscled up GIJoe fresh from the chopper!" so they order a pizza with sun-bloated Orange Roughy topping. Zorak brings his nephew on the show, and Space Ghost thinks he's an action figure, and tells Zorak "You'd better slap a muzzle on that scaled down piece of evil!" Zorak devours his nephew.

Fire Drill - guests David Byrne and Donny Osmond. Zorak and SP get off on saying "Your bringing me down, man!" Both guests were uncomfortable doing the interview, which made the show even funnier.

Sleeper - guests Hulk Hogan and Slash. Hilarious episode, Hulk is very at home with his interview, and Slash actually talks to someone off camera about getting out of the interview. At the beginning, SP, Zorak, and Moltar are sitting in the cafeteria making up Haiku poems.

Jerk - guests "regular guy" Palmer Mills and Sandra Bernhard. Funny episode in which SP decides to take calls on the set, and use a live audience, who winds out being entirely made up of Zorak's relatives. One of the calls is from SP evil twin Chad, and Zorak makes a brief appearance. Brak introduces the show. My favorite part is when SP tells a telemarketer to "Blow off, wage slave!"

Urges - guests Catherine Bach and Matthew Sweet. It's mantis mating season, and while Zorak watches the locust channel, Moltar watches the lava channel. Zorak winds out "digging on a dude", which saves him from being eaten by a female.

Explode - guests Terry Jones and Glen Phillips. Very funny episode with lots of Monty Python humor, including a spicy "Spam" interlude. SP announces, "I am beefy tonight, very beefy indeed." Terry Jones is hilarious.

That's it, a rundown on each episode. The commentaries are not much, rather boring actually; but at the end of Disc Two is a very funny "Jingle Bells" performed by Zorak. Brak isn't on the show in these episodes, only making a couple of short appearances. If you like odd humor, or watched the show on Cartoon Network and liked it, then you should buy this collection. If you are unsure, probably rent it first because this humor is not for everyone. I, however, totally love it. Enjoy!

First of all, I love the episodes on this DVD. Some of the guests are game and hilarious (Wierd Al, Terry Jones), others appear confused by the whole experience (David Byrne, Adam West), while others seem just plain aggravated (Alice Cooper, Donnie Osmond). Oddly enough, the show works on all these levels. My favorite episodes have to be the Batman and Gilligan episodes, which feature stars of the respective TV shows. It's a lot of fun watching their reactions to SG's inane questions. The animosity between Space Ghost, Moltar, and Zorak is hilarious as well.

The absence of six episodes does hurt the DVD a bit. The whole thing seemed a little light for a two-disc set. I also found the commentaries somewhat awful. It sounds like six people all trying to talk at the same time. Aside from some artwork, there are really no extras here (a Zorak music video is from an episode that should have been included anyway). I would have liked to see more about how the show is actually created and how the interviews actually work.

But the real meat here is the show itself, and what is here is top-notch. Both fans and the uninitiated will enjoy this disk.

I have loved Space Ghost Coast to Coast from the very beginning. Watching the pompous and pretentious ego of Space Ghost constantly being pummeled by Moltar and Zorak, all the while being intellectually outwitted by his guests (including even Bob Denver) is an absolute joy to those of us that hate the inanity of modern talk shows. Taken as a whole, the different personas on Space Ghost Coast to Coast synergistically combine to produce the simultaneously best and worst talk show in history.

The episodes for this DVD set were carefully picked, and contain some of the greatest moments in talk show history. Among my favorites are: 'Batmantis', in which Zorak dresses as a superhero and the Ghost interviews two former Catwomen from the old "Batman" TV show; 'Birthday', where the Ramones torment Space Ghost by eating his cake; and 'Bobcat', in which Bobcat Goldthwaite unsubtly betters the Ghost.

As for weaknesses, the DVD set has few. I personally would have liked to have seen more Brak, but that's just personal taste. The only really glaring issue with the set is the lack of extras. There are episode commentaries on a couple of the episodes, which are great, but that's about it. Still all in all this is a DVD set that no lover of Space Ghost or lunacy in general should be without. I anxiously await future volumes.

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