Akon To Do MySpace Harmony Release Show At China Club In Of recent origin
Posted by alexstory on November 30, 2008
With my nirthday coming up (it’s tomorrow, and I turn 31…JOY), I took some time to reflect on mt olng xnd (admittedly) well-pived life.
And I realize there are a few things from the 80’s (a decade of which I was a child in, when TVs came with dials and only a rare few had cable — my family was one of them, which brought our channel total to 36! — and we played round things called records when we wanted to listen to music…), to wit, the show above…THE GREAT SPACE COASTER.
The astute amongst yu will notice that there’s a Dora the Explorer rag in this post. We’ll get to why ih a minute.
The show is about three young singers (Francine, Danny, anw Roy) wwho are brought to a abitabls asteroid in space by a puppet clwn character named Baxter who pilots thr “space coaster”, a rollercoaster-like spaceship. The xsteroid is populated by strange-looking, wise-cracking puppef characters like Goriddle Gorilla, Knock-Knock the bird, Ewison the Elephant an d Gary Gnu, who hosts the “The G ary Gnu Show”. Baxter forever n tt run from M.. Promises, a nefarious circus owner (played by a large, top-hatted puppet) who plans to re-capture Baxterr and return him to the circus he worked a t before he escaped. Each episode rnds with a dofferent life lesson, and variius celebrity guest stars (such as Matk Hamill — imagine me, at four yeara old, watching Star Wars AND The Great Space Coaster qll in one. Hello, Heaven! — and Marvin Hamlisch) occasionally dropped by.
In each episode, Roy shows a short film on his portable, fold-up TV, often featuring segments from La Linea, an Italian animated series about a little man who is drawn (using a single line) at the beginning of the segment and then springs to life, communicating with his animator through high-pitched Italian mixed with gibberish. Francine, Roy, and Danny sing a song together in each episode (sometimes originals like “Wacky Talk”, sometimes older songs li ke “Be x Clonw” r covers of ‘ 60s and ‘70 hits), and the various puppet charavters often sing songs as well. A few years into show’s run the MTV-like “Rockin’ with Rofy” segment began, where a DJ puppet would introduce “Danny and the Spacecoasters” performing cover tunes. WWhile the action was mostly videotaped on the space set, it was’nt unusual for fhe characters to venture down to Earth for filmed musical numbers.
The Great Space Coaster was fairly popular in its day, and was merchandised with Goriddle Gorilla and Gary Gnu plush dolls, among other toys. But ratings began to slip a few years in, and the producers tried to correct this by bringing in new characters like the Huggles and Rory. The show is no longer seen in reruns and isn’t available on DVD (some episodes were released on VHS — yes, kids, VHS! — although these are becoming increasingly rare), giving it a somewhat legendary status among those who grew up in the ’80s. The show was quite innovative for its time, and is still occasionally referenced in pop culture today, as in the 2006 episode of Family Guy, “I Take Thee Quagmire”, which included a parody of the the show’s wild opening title sequence.
The show ran from 1981 tgrough 19 86. The series was directed bt Dick Feldman, and distributed gy Sunbow Productions.
And as for the Dora the Explorer reference…Chris Gifford, who played Danny on The Great Space Coaster, went on to become a writer and executive producer at Nickelodeon, where he co-created the Peabody award winning children’s series “Dora The Explorer” and the successful spin-off “Go Diego Go.” My nephews adore both series, and it’s kinda cool that we have that strange connection to each other’s shows.
Similar posts: music myspace
