The Great Space Coaster

The Great Space Coaster is an American live-action/animated children's television show that was broadcast in first-run syndication from 1981 to 1986.[1]

Plot

The Great Space Coaster is about three young singers (Francine, Danny, and Roy) who are brought to a habitable asteroid in space called Coasterville by a clown named Baxter who pilots the "space coaster", a roller coaster-like spaceship. The asteroid is populated by strange-looking, wise-cracking puppet characters such as Goriddle Gorilla, Knock Knock the Woodpecker, Edison the Elephant, and Gary Gnu (host of The Gary Gnu Show). Baxter is forever on the run from M.T. Promises, a nefarious ringmaster who plans to re-capture Baxter and return him to the circus he worked at before he escaped. Each episode ends with a different life lesson, and various celebrity guest stars (such as Mark Hamill of Star Wars fame and composer Marvin Hamlisch) occasionally dropped by.

Format

In each episode, Roy shows a short film on his portable, fold-up television. Most often, the segments originated from La Linea, an Italian animated series about a little man who is drawn (using a single line) at the start of the segment and then springs to life, communicating with his animator through high-pitched Italian mixed with gibberish. Other animated shorts including from the

Characters

Space Coasters

Francine (portrayed by Emily Bindiger) is a young woman from a fishing village on the East Coast and is the leader of the Space Coasters where she plays the guitar. She also acts as Baxter's second-in-command.
Danny (portrayed by Chris Gifford) is from a small midwestern town, a member of the Space Coasters, and Francine's second-in-command. He plays the drums in the Space Coasters.
Roy (portrayed by Ray Stephens) is from the big city and a member of the Space Coasters where he plays the keyboards. He is also a good poet. Roy showed clips and short films on his hand-held magic screen.

Coasterville inhabitants

Baxter (puppeteered and voiced by Francis Kane) is a large, gentle clown who once worked for M.T. Promises in an apparently slave-like situation at his circus and lives in fear of ever going back. He now pilots the space coaster, taking the characters from Earth to the asteroid. He can magically disappear by twirling around, a talent he uses to escape M.T.'s attempts to catch him and bring him back to his circus.
Goriddle Gorilla (puppeteered and voiced by Kevin Clash): A gravel-voiced orange gorilla-like creature, he has a tendency to be rude, obnoxious, nosy, lazy, and a nuisance, but somehow the gang on the asteroid seem to like him just the way he is. He is roommates with Edison the Elephant.
Knock Knock the Woodpecker (puppeteered and voiced by John Lovelady in 1981–1983, Noel MacNeal in 1983–1986) is a prissy pink woodpecker who lives in the hollow of a tree and tells a lot of knock-knock jokes.
Edison the Elephant (puppeteered and voiced by John Lovelady in 1981–1983, Jim Martin in 1983–1986): A strange, large robotic-looking elephant with a segmented hose-like ever-moving trunk, semi-transparent fan-like ears, and a voice like an echo. He loves plants and tends a large garden. Edison and Goriddle Gorilla are roommates.
Gary Gnu (puppeteered and voiced by Jim Martin): A green gnu-like newscaster who hosts The Gary Gnu Show, he adds a hard "G" before any words that start with an "N" sound, such as "g-news" for "news" and "g-nothing" for "nothing". This unusual speaking style was inspired by the 1957 Flanders and Swann song "The Gnu".
Speed Reader (portrayed by Ken Myles): A young man who appears on The Gary Gnu Show to discuss children's books. Described as "the fastest reader in the world", he performs a series of eye exercises before reading a book chosen by Gary within seconds.
M.T. Promises (puppeteered and voiced by Jim Martin): A nefarious, bulgy-eyed, top hat-wearing, caped ringmaster who is the primary antagonist of the series, he has always been scheming to capture Baxter the Clown and take him back to his circus.
The Huggles are small, furry creatures who have stories read to them by Baxter (usually about "Bomba the Barbarian"). They consist of Fluffy, Puffy (both puppeteered and voiced by Pam Arciero), and Scruffy (puppeteered and voiced by Kevin Clash). They also have a younger sister named Baby Huggle (puppeteered and voiced by Pam Arciero) who appears later on and who spends most of her time sleeping.
Rory (puppeteered and voiced by Kevin Clash): A wild-looking lion-like VJ, he appeared a few years into the show's run as the host of "Rockin' with Rory".
Baffle (puppeteered and voiced by Jim Martin) is a furry, horned magical alien from the neighboring planet Blip (where everything is either backward or upside down or just weird).
Big Jock Ox (puppeteered and voiced by Kevin Clash): An ox-like character who appeared a few years into the show's run, Big Jock Ox often appeared on The Gary Gnu Show as the sports expert.

runtime	30 minutes
creator	Kermit Love Jim Martin
starring	Emily Bindiger Chris Gifford Ray Stephens Ken Myles Puppeteers: Pam Arciero Kevin Clash Francis Kane John Lovelady Noel MacNeal Jim Martin
country	United States
network	First-run syndication
executive producer	Tom Griffin Joe Bacal John Claster
company	Sunbow Productions Metromedia Television
first aired	January 1981
last aired	September 1986
num seasons	5
num episodes	250

The Great Space Coaster

Plot

Format

Characters

Space Coasters

Coasterville inhabitants

Production

Soundtrack

Reception

External links

References