It was a dark and desolate time—1991. A bleak and empty era for any child up past 10 p.m. who didn’t want to watch Nick at Night reruns. In that year a shrewd man named Ted Turner, in his wisdom, bought all of what there was of Hanna-Barbera’s storied cartoon library. Cartoon Network launched less than a year later, filled with decades of cartoons of the past. This brought 24 hour-entertainment to all children who would be diagnosed with sleep abnormalities later in life.
But a network cannot sustain itself on reruns alone. Armed with access to cartoons of old, Turner commanded a few upstarts to make a new TV show with as little resources as possible. With a little extra material, some exceptionally gifted voice actors, and (let’s be real) at least an eighth of weed, they made Cartoon Network’s first original program: Space Ghost Coast to Coast. Slapped together from scraps and sheer creativity (also probably assistance from the aforementioned eighth) the singular most influential cartoon in modern history was born.
“Silliness!” You say, in doubt.
I say thee, Nay!
Allow me to explain how this team would impact virtually every cartoon you have the privilege of enjoying today.
It was Cartoon Network’s flagship
Space Ghost Coast to Coast wasn’t just a talk show, but also served as legitimate platform for Cartoon Network to make fun shit happen. The network debuted its first fully original cartoon material on a three-channel-simulcast event episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast on February 20, 1995 called the World Premiere Toon-In. That episode featured the pilot material for The Powerpuff Girls, and retained the same interview format with the show’s creator that Space Ghost had been so successful with. In the absence of the impetus of a show with an established following, it’s easy to speculate The Powerpuff Girls, as well as Dexter’s Laboratory and Johnny Bravo, might not have gotten the traction they needed to be the successes they were; all three of the show’s creators were interviewed on the same special.
It put the team behind today’s funniest cartoons on the map
Now I’m sure you’ve heard of Williams Street, or are at least familiar with the metal clang that rings out twice when they display the Adult Swim logo. What you may not be aware of is that this was originally Ghost Planet Industries, the production crew that first produced Space Ghost Coast to Coast. I’m certain they never expected it to ever be more than Ghost Planet Industries, but as the success of the show blossomed, they expanded and re-branded into Williams Street, which today produces some of Adult Swim’s best programming.
It helped launch Toonami
Toonami is now just a Saturday late night sibling to Adult Swim. When it began, however, it was the weekday afternoon action cartoon block on Cartoon Network that accomplished something that the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy)never did with its Saturday morning anime block: it successfully implanted anime in American culture. Hosted by none other than Space Ghost Coast to Coast’s Moltar, it picked just the right selection of action-packed anime classics like Voltron and Robotech, with a few newer ones like Gundam Wing and Sailor Moon to get traction for a steady audience. It also spurred the popularity of one franchise in particular…
It led to the ‘Dragon Ball’ series’ success
Yes. I’m crediting Toonami with Dragon Ball Z’s success here in the States. For those of you unaware, the series had been translated up to about the middle of the Frieza saga and then entirely abandoned—for years—until Toonami started airing it. After the stellar weekday afternoon ratings couldn’t be ignored, in a better time-block for the show than the weekday morning time slots it debuted here on, translations resumed with a slightly new crew. This also took place at about the same time GT had concluded in Japan. It’s a safe assumption that the renewed interest in another country, as well as the new demand for video games is what eventually lead to the movies and Dragon Ball Super. Akira Toriyama, Coast to Coast called to say, “You’re welcome.”
It gave us ‘Cartoon Planet’
An amazing thing that made the world better? No, but worth note for where it went. Cartoon Planet was a cartoon variety show and direct Space Ghost Coast to Coast spin off focused on airing briefer cartoons, except it was hosted by the Space Ghost Coast to Coast cast—which was normally more entertaining than the cartoons they were filler for. The important difference was the substantially increased budget and new animation of characters. This gave the team a new time slot not just for action cartoons, but cartoons with darker humor and significantly darker themes, as well as goofy Ultra 7 cameos.
It was a feeder for Adult Swim
I can recall the first day this aired. It was a Sunday night block. The lineup was virtually all new Cartoon Network originals and Cowboy Bebop. Noteworthy in this was The Brak Show, Sealab 2021, and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, all of which related in one fashion or another to the production teams of Coast to Coast. Nearly 16 years later, Adult Swim’s legacy speaks for itself.
Which led to ‘Family Guy’ becoming a *thing*
When Adult Swim’s success had been proven, the timing was incrementally expanded until it had consumed weekday nights. To compensate for all this extra room, they casually got the rights to air the then-canceled Family Guy. At the time Family Guy was understood, by fans, to be yet another show Fox canceled because executives they just like to cancel things for kicks. Using (abusing) Family Guy as filler on their weekday slots, they found that it did phenomenally in the ratings. This not only lead to the rebirth of the show, but the creation of American Dad in roughly the same amount of time. It’s worth noting that when Fox canceled American Dad, good ol’ Mr. Turner bought the rights to make new episodes.
What I’m saying here is that Seth MacFarlane should thank Coast to Coast he isn’t pan-handling while putting on silly voices to attract onlookers in the middle of a subway system.
And it gave ‘Archer’ its wings
“But that’s on FX, I think you’re reading a little far.”
No, my friends. Let me explain. You see, Sealab 2021 debuted with Adult Swim. The show replicated the recycled animation style of Space Ghost and was moderately successful until the passing of the main character’s voice actor wherein they kept the show going for a few more episodes and then canceled it. The team later got new animators and put together a fun little show called Frisky Dingo. When Frisky Dingo was cancelled after its second season the team (now including H. Jon Benjamin, who might owe his whole career to this, because not a lot of people remember Dr. Katz) was tasked with making a new show with a unique animation style and sense of humor, plus a similar main character, about spies.
In short…
If the contributions and influence that Space Ghost Coast to Coast remain disputable in your eyes, then you’re either mad or contracted under Disney or Warner Brothers. Aside from every other reason to worship at the Altar of the Ghost, it will someday, some late night, be the only place left on Earth you can enjoy the sound of a dial-up modem, mouth agape at the sight of an AOL email address still existing for business purposes.
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