MovieFreak.com - "Space Ghost Coast to Coast - Volume 1" DVD Review by Dennis Landmann

What happens when a classic 60s Hanna-Barbera superhero gets his own late-night talk show? Pure, unmitigated chaos. Featuring Space Ghost, bandleader Zorak, producer Moltar, and many of their unsuspecting celebrity guests, this DVD contains the very first episodes of the Ghost Planet crew experimenting with their own post-modern, ill-timed, utterly hilarious brand of late night chaos.

Before getting the DVD for Space Ghost Coast to Coast I hardly knew anything about the show. On some nights I surfed through channels and came upon the show on the Cartoon Network. However, all I saw was this superhero and his sidekick talking some serious nonsense. I didn't stick with with it for long and 30 seconds later I skipped to the next channel. Unfortunately, the show airs at 11pm and I hardly watch TV at that time.

In 1994 the pay channel didn't have a lot of original programming and Space Ghost was just one of those quirky ideas. I guess if Conan O'Brien could get his own late night talk show, and remember he used to be a writer on The Simpsons and Saturday Night Live, why can't a retired superhero? Space Ghost started out with featuring mostly C-list actors or guests, but since then the show has gone through eight seasons and quite a cult following, or something to that effect.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast: Volume 1 covers the show's first two seasons, but doesn't include all the episodes. The set omits three episodes from the first season, one of which is entitled The Mask and features Jim Carrey, as well as a few others. The episode Le Live D'Histoire is from the second season and also features Jim Carrey. These two episodes aired at least seven months apart, though the guests are almost the same. I'm not certain why they're not included here, but the reason might be due to clip licensing. Too bad. In another MIA episode, President's Day Nightmare, Space Ghost hosts a cartoon contest and shows clips of Dexter's Laboratory and The Power Puff Girls. The reason for omission is probably the same as the one before. There are several more episodes missing from this set, but that's why the DVD is being released as a "volume".

But on with the show itself. Space Ghost is not for everyone. Its humor is often very silly. I don't find a lot of genuine comedy present in the episodes. Instead, the show focuses on the strained relationship between Space Ghost and his bandleader Zorak, as well as deriving humor from constant interruptions, tangent subjects and other on-set mishaps, such as Space Ghost dozing off during an interview. Meanwhile, Zorak leads his band, the Original Way Outs, and Moltar does all the technical stuff, such as lowering the TV set for the interviews.

Since the show is animated all the guests appear on a TV monitor next to Space Ghost. That's a clever idea. But for the guests, the interviews can sometimes be too weird. Essentially, the show's producer asks them all these weird and silly questions. Space Ghost's signature questions are usually "what is your secret identity?" and

"what are your secret powers?". Some guests don't get it and are really thrown off, such as Schooly D in the episode Banjo. But others have fun with the concept and make up equally silly answers. The next guest on Banjo is "Weird Al" Yankovic and he goes along with it nicely. One of his superpowers is changing a streetlight to green just by staring at it. Judy Tenuta and Bobcat Goldthwait do the same. But don't ask about Donny Osmond. He's a bit freaky.

Each episode is completely different even though there are at least two interviews. Some of the later episodes feature a "theme" while others star Zorak trying to constantly interrupt Space Ghost. At one point Zorak hypnotizes him. Moltar is different, however, as he basically just stands in front of technical monitors and switches a lever. And sometimes he likes to watch clips of CHiPs when Space Ghost doesn't pay attention. In one episode he even gets kidnapped by "Your Mother." Don't ask. The general reaction to the episodes is good. The humor is silly but likeable, in my case at least. The episode Story Book House is kind of stupid so I skipped it. The idea was just not interesting.

bleeps out the word "heck" as in "what the heck is going on", which is kind of unnecessary. At least during these times it is, especially with South Park pushing the curse factor for the past few years.

Overall, Space Ghost Coast to Coast offers some silly fun. Some viewers might get thrown off by the concept, such as some of the guests. But I encourage viewers to stick with the show and realize that there is quality and originality present.

Elevator (Judy Tenuta, Timothy Leary and Ashley Judd)
Spanish Translation (Kevin Meaney and The Bee Gees)
Gilligan (Bob Denver, Dawn Wells and Russell Johnson)

Banjo (Schooly D and "Weird Al" Yankovic)
Batmantis (Adam West, Lee Meriwether, Eartha Kitt)
Story Book House (Kirk the Storyteller and Carl the Cartoonist)

Girlie Show (Fran Drescher, Carol Channing and Alice Cooper)
Hungry (Michael Stipe, Lassie, Sirajul and Mujibur)
Fire Drill (David Byrne and Donny Osmond)
Sleeper (Hulk Hogan and Slash)
Jerk (Palmer Mills and Sandra Bernhard)
Urges (Catherine Bach and Matthew Sweet)
Explode (Terry Jones and Glen Phillips)

Warner Home Video presents Space Ghost: Coast to Coast in 1.33:1 fullscreen format. Well, the quality here is neither good or bad. Considering the type of animation the quality of the video switches here and there. Sometimes Space Ghost appears in blown up pixels, that is, he's really close to the camera and it's obvious the image is blown up. Color display is nice, but color detail lacks depth. The image itself is a bit dated but fresh of dirt. Anyway, most episodes look pretty standard. I didn't expect more than that.

Warner Home Video presents Space Ghost: Coast to Coast in Dolby Digital Stereo. It's the same situation here as with the video. Quality ranges from average to good. In most cases, dialog is nicely spread across the two front channels. It is clear and easy to understand. Sound effects and Zorak's music come across nicely, well, in good fashion, considering the type of show this is. Throughout the episodes there is a certain repeated humming tone. I think it goes with the show. It usually shows up whenever we are in Moltar's lair or something. The soundtrack presentation is pretty standard overall.

Warner could have released this as a bare bones set, but to their credit a few nice extras are available. First, there are episode commentaries on five selected episodes by the producers and selected crew. The episodes are Elevator, Batmantis, Story Book House, Girlie Show and Fire Drill. These tracks are similar in tone as the participants engage in small talk and laughter. In a way their comments don't really give much information about the show, but some anecdotes are revealed. Also, there is a 2-minute montage of original artwork and a music video with Zorak. This is not a lot of stuff, but it sure is appreciated. A featurette about the show would have been really nice.

You can select to view the episodes with optional English, French and Spanish subtitles. The average episode length is 11 minutes.

Space Ghost Coast to Coast is a silly show, but the concept is interesting. This Volume 1 set features a good set of episodes, except for a few uninteresting ones. Warner's video and audio quality is very acceptable considering the show. The only interesting extra are the commentary tracks. Fans of the show should look into getting a copy of this DVD.

THE SHOW	7
THE VIDEO	7
THE AUDIO	7
THE EXTRAS	5
OVERALL (not an average)	7