Hello ya salty dawgs,
Let's kick this off with a hot take: Space Ghost Coast To Coast is the most successful adult animated series of the 90s. And yes, I'm including The Simpsons. The metrics might seem a bit whack at first but hear me out. The Simpsons helped build a network and pulled in ungodly amounts of money. Space Ghost was a 15 minute Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde where Cartoon Network's mask fell completely off before returning to old popeye cartoons. Speaking personally, it's hard to explain how deeply exciting that was at the the time. And considering that animated talk shows still aren't really a thing 26 years later, it's rather remarkable that a bunch of weirdos were able to stretch 15 confusing minutes into an entire counter culture network.
But having rewatched a lot of episodes lately (thanks HBO Max and it's corporate owners AT&T™) I can firmly say the show is a product of a hyper specific time and hyper specific place - and yet it's fairly timeless. Far more warm and playful than later Adult Swim series but still as dadaesque, such as one famous episode which ran longer than normal so Space Ghost could silently follow an ant on the floor. You could almost feel a contempt towards a general audience, but not you the viewer. This becomes abundantly clear as the entire cast insults, belittles, and completely ignores some of the biggest stars of the era. But it always goes for the laugh without being cruel...unless of course Space Ghost blows up Zorak....and rarely Moltar.
Anyway Era, I love Space Ghost and all the cable nonsense comedy of the 90s. I miss those Friday nights when this weird shit would come on late, and if you explained it to a friend, they didn't believe you. Good times.
Share your memories, favorite episodes, and clips.
