Space Ghost Coast To Coast - Production

Production

Space Ghost Coast to Coast was created by Mike Lazzo after being asked to create a cartoon to appeal to adults. In the original unaired pilot episode, Lazzo interspersed Hanna-Barbera stock and original material with completely unrelated promotional video of Denzel Washington being interviewed about the Oscars. When the show was picked up, similar interviews were orchestrated with guests to achieve the same comedic effect. Part of the surreal nature of the show came from the guests' sometimes awkward and disjointed responses to Space Ghost's questions and other events around the set. Before any part of the episodes were written, the guests were interviewed by a television writer/producer. Originally, a Space Ghost costume was worn by Andy Merrill, one which he later wore in some Cartoon Planet intros. More often, the interviewer appeared in normal dress, but may still have impersonated Space Ghost's character traits and mannerisms. In many cases, the interviewee was alone in a studio, while the interviewer conducted the session over a speakerphone. In the all-black room where the interview took place, the guests were given basic directions as to what direction to face when talking to either Zorak, Moltar, or Space Ghost. After an interview was done, the writing team went back over it, often taking pieces out of context and out of order, then assembling them into the responses to Space Ghost and the rest of the show.

Most of the show's earlier guests probably assumed they were participating in a relatively straightforward interview (albeit with an animated superhero, giant insect, and a man made of magma). As the series went on, however, more and more guests became at least peripherally familiar with what was going on. Some episodes were written to accommodate playfully hostile guests who called the show's bluff, such as comedian (and writer of one Space Ghost Coast to Coast episode) Joel Hodgson's refusal to, as he put it, "go down that road with you, pretending like I'm in space, too." Others had skits performed by guests. Still others had recurring guests, familiar with the show's format. Reportedly, "Weird Al" Yankovic, who has himself frequently edited interviews with celebrities to take responses out of context on AL-TV, walked into his Coast to Coast interview with answers he prepared ahead of time, but opted not to use them.

The original name of the show stemmed from early 1993, while Andy Merrill and Jay Edwards were coming up with names for a marathon of the original Space Ghost TV show to air on the block, trying to find things that rhyme with 'Ghost'.