THE GREAT SPACE COASTER

Here's one for my fellow aging Gen-X’ers. Remember The Great Space Coaster? You know, that crazy-ass kiddie show that was on every morning before you went to school, the show that nobody but you seems to remember? The one with the teenagers on the asteroid and the weird-looking puppets and the cartoons and stuff? It was like the Muppets on mushrooms.

Well, you didn't imagine it all! Youtube has proof this show existed. Here are the psychedelic credits. And here’s Knock Knock the bird busting Goriddle Gorilla’s nuts. And one of those freaking cartoons about the the little line man with the gibbering baby nightmare voice. And finally, Gary Gnu!

There's surprisingly little about the show online. If you want to have your childhood illusions shattered into tiny bits, one of the puppeteers has a page up with a lot of behind-the-scenes photos, showing M.T. Promises with his head off, and more. The Just My Show podcast features a fun and sometimes surprisingly frank interview with the surviving cast members, who dish all sorts of dirt on our old puppet pals. Weird factoid: Kevin Clash, the guy who did the voice of Goriddle, went on to do the voice of that Elmo creature on Sesame Street. While playing Elmo would easily be enough to earn somebody a piece of prime real estate by the Lake of Fire in Hell, it’s possible that Clash has earned a free pass through the pearly gates thanks to his years as Goriddle. I suppose we’ll just have to wait until the Day of Judgment to know for sure.

The clip below features 10 minutes of The Great Space Coaster, and if you aren't already familiar with the characters and the various running jokes, it probably makes for pretty strange viewing. Oh, who am I kidding? This is pretty strange viewing under any circumstances. (The show remains sadly unavailable on DVD and there aren't a lot clips online, so enjoy these 10 minutes while you got 'em.)



Some things from your childhood really don't hold up when you see them again as an adult. But seeing these clips now makes me feel seven years old and stoned, at the same time. I feel like a stoned seven-year-old, and I like it.

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