Space Ghost

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**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 the popularity of superhero cartoons in the 1960s.

In his original incarnation, he was a superhero who, with his teen sidekicks Jan, Jace, and Blip the monkey, fought supervillains in outer space. In the 1990s, Space Ghost 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*

*Main article: Space Ghost (TV series)*
The original series debuted in 1966. In the original series, Space Ghost was an intergalactic crime fighter from the Ghost Planet. He had the ability to be invisible (via his belt), fly, and shoot various rays from the powerbands on his wrists. Space Ghost would fight such recurring supervillains as Zorak, Moltar, Black Widow, Metallus, Brak and Creature King with the help of his sidekicks: Jan, Jayce, and their pet monkey, Blip.

The original series shared time with an unrelated segment called *Dino Boy in the Lost Valley*. During its original run, there were a total of 42 Space Ghost episodes and 18 Dino Boy episodes. The series ended in 1968, but remained in syndication during the 1970s. Space Ghost was voiced by Gary Owens, who is best known for being the announcer for *Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In*.

### *Space Stars*

Twenty-two 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. 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.

### *Space Ghost Coast to Coast*

*Main article: 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 (with guest appearances from many other old *Space Ghost* villains, most notably Brak). The show spoofed late-night talk shows such as the *Late Show with David Letterman*. Celebrities interviewed by Space Ghost included Beck, Bill Nye, magicians Penn and Teller, Elvira, Hanson, Joel Hodgson, Carrot Top, Jim Carrey, Jon Benjamin, Jon Stewart, Conan O'Brien, Thurston Moore, Pavement, Adam West, Björk, Thom Yorke, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Goldie Hawn, Timothy Leary, and Mark Hamill. In this series, Space Ghost is voiced by George Lowe. In this version, Space Ghost's real name is Tad Ghostal and has a twin brother named Chad who attempted to hijack his show. Before they could get into a laser fight, their mother called in to give both Space Ghost and Chad a piece of her mind. Before getting off the phone she orders the two to behave themselves at once.

The show reused animation cels from the Hanna-Barbera archives.

*Coast to Coast* relied heavily on absurd, surreal, or even dadaist humor. The show ran from 1994 to 2001, moving to the Adult Swim programming block later that year; the series ended its Adult Swim run in 2004. 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 ("Baffler Meal") 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.

### *Cartoon Planet*

Following the popularity of *Coast to Coast*, the show provided a spin-off series, *Cartoon Planet*; the show ran from 1995 to 1998. *Cartoon Planet* was an hour-long cartoon block hosted by Space Ghost with his imprisoned sidekicks Zorak and Brak; the segments in-between the cartoons usually consisted of skits and original songs.

Due to the popularity of the series' songs, two albums were released: *Space Ghost's Surf & Turf* and *Space Ghost's Musical Bar-B-Que*. Lowe provided the voice for Space Ghost on both records.

**Characters:** **Space Ghost** | Zorak | Brak

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