Space Ghost is a fictional character created by Hanna-Barbera Productions and
designed by Alex Toth for CBS in the 1960s. Space Ghost is credited with
being almost single-handedly responsible for the popularity of superhero cartoons
in the 60's. In his original incarnation, he was a
superhero who, with his sidekick teen helpers Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey,
fought supervillains in outer space. In the 1990s, the character was brought
back as a host for his own fictional late-night talk show, Space Ghost Coast
to Coast, on Cartoon Network and Adult Swim. In the 2000s, he was revamped as a
serious superhero once again in a mini-series by DC Comics.
Television series = Space Ghost and Dino Boy=
The original series debuted in 1966, in which the "Space Ghost" segments shared
time with an unrelated segment called Dino Boy in the Lost Valley. Space Ghost
was voiced by Gary Owens, Tim Matheson voiced Jace and Ginny Tyler voiced Jan.
Don Messick provided vocalizations for Blip. Space Ghost and his helpers fought
such recurring supervillains as Moltar, Zorak, Black Widow, Metallus, Brak, and
Creature King. The original series comprised 42 Space Ghost and 18 Dino Boy
episodes, and ended in 1968. = Space Stars=
22 new Space Ghost segments appeared on Space Stars on NBC in 1981. The episodes
introduced a new assortment of villains including an evil version of Space Ghost
named Space Spectre who came from an alternate universe. His spaceship, the
Phantom Cruiser, was also given a sleeker and more modernized look. As in
the original series, Space Ghost often came to the aid of The Herculoids and
vice versa. They also frequently crossed paths with the Teen Force, and it
appeared that Jan and Teen Force member Kid Comet were dating as well. Gary
Owens reprised his role as Space Ghost, but Tim Matheson was replaced by Steve
J. Spears as the voice of Jace, Ginny Tyler was replaced by Alexandra Stewart
as the voice of Jan, and Don Messick was replaced by Frank Welker as the vocal
effects for Blip. = Space Ghost Coast to Coast=
The character Space Ghost hosts a talk show, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, which
began broadcasting in 1994 on Cartoon Network. One-time villains Zorak and
Moltar were Space Ghost's sidekicks. The show, as well as the short-lived Cartoon
Planet, was a spoof of late-night shows such as the Late Show with David
Letterman. Celebrities interviewed by Space Ghost included Beck, Bill Nye the
Science Guy, Magicians Penn and Teller, Cassandra Peterson aka Elvira, Hanson,
Joel Hodgson, Carrot Top, Jim Carrey, Jon Benjamin, Conan O'Brien, Thurston
Moore, Pavement, Adam West, Björk, Thom Yorke, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Goldie Hawn,
Timothy Leary and Mark Hamill. In this series, he is played by George Lowe.
The show relied heavily on absurd, surreal or even dadaist humour. Space
Ghost Coast to Coast continued to 2004 as the oldest program on Cartoon
Network's late-night comedy/action programming block, Adult Swim. The
characters of Jan, Jace and Blip, Space Ghost's old sidekicks, appeared twice on
the show. After approximately eight seasons, the show went into hiatus, and
the writers Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro used characters they developed
in an unaired episode to create another popular "would-be spin-off", Aqua Teen
Hunger Force. After that show proved successful, Baffler Meal was animated
and aired in 2003. New episodes of Space Ghost Coast to
Coast appeared on the "Animation" channel of the GameTap service,
beginning on May 30, 2006. Most guests were either gaming celebrities or
musicians. On May 31, 2008, the show ended when the TV section of GameTap
shut down. Actors
Three actors played Space Ghost in the three "main" Space Ghost series:
Gary Owens in Space Ghost, Space Stars and Batman: The Brave and the Bold.
George Lowe in Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Cartoon Planet, The Brak Show,
Squidbillies, Perfect Hair Forever, Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Colon Movie Film For Theaters and Cartoon Network: Punch Time Explosion
Andy Merrill in Space Ghost Coast to Coast as "Live Action Space Ghost" and
Cartoon Planet as "Dancin' Space Ghost" Comics
Space Ghost has appeared in the following comic books:
Hanna-Barbera Super TV Heroes Golden Comics Digest
TV Stars Space Ghost
Cartoon Network Presents Space Ghost
Action figures Space Ghost's Coast to Coast version was
released as an action figure by Toycom, complete with a desk and chair, a series
of cue cards and a mug. Also included were several different sets of hands,
allowing the figure to be used either as the talk show host or the super hero or
both. The shoulders and neck were ball-jointed, with a light plastic
yellow cape. A transparent variant "invisible" figure and a variant with
electric "light up" powerband were also released. A repaint of this figure was
used to create a Space Specter figure. In 2012 a new Space Ghost figure was
released in the Jazwares Hanna Barbera series and came with a pack-in of Blip.
References External links
Space Ghost at the Internet Movie Database
Space Ghost and Dino Boy at the Big Cartoon DataBase
Space Stars at the Big Cartoon DataBase Space Ghost Coast to Coast at the Big
Cartoon DataBase