DVD
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
Volume Three (Region 1 Edition)

Starring: Space Ghost
Warner Home Video
RRP: $29.98
T6962
Certificate: Not Rated
Available 12 April 2005


What happens when a classic '60s Hanna-Barbera superhero gets his own late-night talk show? Now you can find out as Space Ghost humiliates celebrities before they realise what they've let themselves in for...

The third volume of Space Ghost Coast to Coast (which actually consists of episodes from Season 4 - although not all of them) doesn't really make much of an effort. If you own either volume One or Two then you've probably seen enough and won't be able to stomach this latest offering. It's not that it's not funny, it's just that it's not original any more - you can only laugh at the same joke so many times.

This is a shame, because the first few episodes looked extremely promising. A few additional gags were woven in - including new segments Ask the Big Banana and Space Time Quiz Fun 9000 - sadly the writers obviously got bored of coming up with new ideas and instead fell back on the old gags of the on-screen bickering between Space Ghost, Moltar and Zorak.

The majority of the stars interviewed will be unfamiliar to British viewers. However, there are enough familiar faces (Mark Hamill, Bill Mumy, Peter Fonda, Buzz Aldrin, Goldie Hawn, Erik Estrada, Charlton Heston, Bob Goldthwait and Michael McKean) to keep you interested.

And, as I've mentioned in previous reviews, if the writers had written less Space Ghost script and instead concentrated on weaving in more footage from the guests, everything may have been a lot more entertaining.

There are a few episodes where the script rises above dull. These include: Anniversary (which celebrates the show's 37th anniversary episode. There is a funny collection of classic clips of Space Ghost being beaten up by villains - which is supposed to show Space Ghost's finest moments); Pilot (a flashback episode that looks at the pilot show which was originally to be hosted by Birdman); Zorak (which has a Here is Your Life feature on Zorak's life. This episode also has original clips from the '60s cartoon series); Switcheroo II (Probably the funniest episode - and certainly one sci-fi fans will appreciate. Space Ghost's guests are from Sci-Fi Con '97, a convention Space Ghost wasn't invited to. As Space Ghost sees himself as the sci-fi star of the galaxy he really doesn't want to interview Bill Mumy and Mark Hamill); Pavement (in which Space Ghost writes his own episode with some terrible dialogue); and Untitled (Space Ghost and Moltar argue over which guest should be on first. As Moltar is a huge fan of Erik Estrada and Space Ghost doesn't much care for him).

But, again, in the majority of these episodes the guests are really under used. It would have been great if Space Ghost had had more fun with Mark Hamill - who really didn't look like he wanted to be there - or any of the other guests who had real potential to carry the show. A huge opportunity to poke fun at Buzz Aldrin was wasted!

Extras on this collection include additional scenes, an alternate ending for Zorak (which pays homage to It's a Wonderful Life); Bob Odenkirk and Dave Cross original interview (which shows how truly dull the interviewer is - it's a wonder they get any usable material if the questions are that bad normally); and, my personal favourite: World Premier Toon in (a 17 minute episode where Space Ghost interviews a handful of directors from the world of cartoon animation). This alone is better than any of the other episodes in this collection.

This series has it's moments, but they are so few and far between that only die-hard fans should consider picking this up. At the end of the day this collection offers nothing new.

Darren Rea

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$22.49 (Amazon.com)
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