Space Ghost-related stories
Posted Apr 5th 2008 9:06AM by Richard Keller
Filed under: Programming, OpEd, Video, Animation, Children, Retro Squad, Reality-Free, Saturday Morning
Road Runner, that Coyote's after you. Road Runner, if he catches you your through. -- Theme to The Road Runner Show, which premiered in the fall of 1966.
Showtime! After years of playing around on Saturday mornings to find the right mixture to bring in the young viewers, the networks took the bull by the horns in the fall of 1966 and ushered in the Golden Age of Saturday morning cartoons. No less than 11 new cartoon series appeared during the 1966-67 season. Many of them were action and superhero-oriented thanks to the popularity of ABC's live-action Batman series.
The 1966 season also began the domination of Saturday mornings by two animation studios -- Hanna-Barbera and Filmation. For Hanna-Barbera this would be the second year of original Saturday morning programming. For Filmation this would be the first of many years producing fairly entertaining and slightly better animated fare that featured more action and adventure and less in the way of talking animals.
So, if you have your bowl of Cocoa Puffs in front of you, let's see what you were watching back in 1966.
Continue reading Saturday Morning: 1966 - VIDEOS
Posted Jul 16th 2007 6:42PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
- The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog - Vol. 1
- America's Funniest Home Videos - Guide To Parenting
- Birdman and the Galaxy Trio - The Complete Series
- Bozo's Big Top - The World's Most Famous Clown
- Foyle's War - Set 4
- Gunsmoke - Season 1
- The Incredible Hulk - Season 2
- Masters of Horror - The Black Cat
- Most Haunted - Season 1 and 2 Collection, London Haunts, Castels of Britain
- Overhaulin' - Season 3, Vol. 1
- The Rookies - Season 1
- Space Ghost and Dino Boy - The Complete Series
- Taxicab Confessions - New York
- Voyagers - The Complete Series
- Wanted: Dead or Alive - Season 2
Posted Mar 18th 2007 10:46AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: TV on DVD, Animation
No, not the wacky talk show version on The Cartoon Network. I'm talking about the original cartoon that aired in the mid-60s.
Space Ghost and Dino Boy will be released on July 17. And since this is one of those "it's not official yet but it's definitely happening" deals, no details about extras or features have been announced yet, but expect something in the next week or so.
I remember watching Space Ghost when I was a kid, the repeats not the original (I'm not that old), but I remember the show as being teamed up with another superhero named Frankenstein, Jr. Anyone else remember that? I distinctly remember the deep-voiced announcer saying, "Space Ghost!...And Frankenstein, Jr...Jr...Jr," the word echoing for a few seconds. Was this maybe two Hanna-Barbera shows being repackaged for the 70s?
[via TVShowsOnDVD]
Posted Jan 5th 2007 8:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Adult Swim
We've only seen him cloaked in his black hood, both in the original
Space Ghost cartoon and on his talk show
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, but what does Space Ghost look like beneath that mysterious hood? Well, he looks
like this. That's a model sheet drawn by original Space Ghost designer
Alex Toth, who passed away last June. C. Martin Croker, who worked on
Space Ghost: Coast to Coast from the beginning and voiced the characters of Zorak and Moltar, posted the image on his blog. Is it just me, or does Space Ghost look a little like Aquaman? Maybe they were actually brothers, and one day he tried to swim like Aquaman but drowned, later coming back to fight aliens and eventually host his own talk show.
Posted Dec 5th 2006 7:49PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Web, Adult Swim, Podcasting
Good news, fans of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast: I opened up iTunes and discovered that a few episodes of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast have been added to Adult Swim's iTunes store. The episodes are the usual $1.99 and include such classics as "Fire Ant" (which ends with Space Ghost distracted by an ant and ignoring guest Conan O'Brien completely) and "Kentucky Nightmare" where we learn things about bears and sharks we were never taught in school. The same shark featured in that episode would later turn up on 12 Oz Mouse.
Also, don't forget you can catch a couple episodes for free over on Adult Swim Fix. There's also this site called YouTube, which you might have heard of.
Posted Jul 16th 2006 10:09AM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Animation, Adult Swim
Who happy?
Me happy.
Cartoon Planet, a personal favorite of mine, is being re-aired during Adult Swim. The series was a spin-off of Space Ghost: Coast to Coast and was geared towards a younger crowd but still maintained the surreality and goofiness of the original. Space Ghost hosted the show with his sidekicks/enemies Zorak and Brak. Of course, the show airs at 5:30 a.m., but hey, that's why God invented the DVR*, right? Cartoons from Bugs Bunny and Popeye and the like would be shown between segments featuring songs, poems, and other assorted nonsense from Space Ghost and his pals.
*Matthew 13:5: "And so it was in the town of Bethlehem the Angel Gabriel did descend from heaven with DVRs for all the people, for they had crops to tend to, but none could stand to miss the Lakers game, and were low of spirit."
Posted Jun 6th 2006 3:55PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: Talent, Animation, Obituaries
A sad piece of news came across the wires today: Alex Toth, a comic book artist who designed Hanna-Barbera characters such as Space Ghost, Jonny Quest, The Herculoids and The Superfriends,
died on May 27 at the age of 77. According to his son Eric, Toth died at his drawing table -- the way most artists would love to go, I'm sure -- and the cause of death is yet to be determined.
Toth's style was very simple compared to most comic artists of the '50s through the '70s (and even today), which made it perfect for the animation style of H-B's "serious" cartoons of the '60s-'70s era. He has legions of fans, many of whom have left their rememberances at Toth's
official web site. I encourage you to go over there and see some of his remarkable work.
Posted May 19th 2006 3:02PM by Adam Finley
Filed under: Cable, Animation, Short-Lived Shows
Three years after Space Ghost: Coast to Coast debuted, the creators filtered out the adult themes from the show but kept the goofy insanity intact in order to create an all-ages Saturday morning series featuring Space Ghost, Zorak, and Brak. The result was a minimalist cartoon variety show which could be enjoyed by both college stoners and mentally-unbalanced five year olds. You know, like The McLaughlin Group.
Continue reading Short-Lived Shows: Cartoon Planet
Gone Too Soon: Invasion
Scrubs season nine -- An early look
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
