The Great Space Coaster

Lore & Background

The series was co-created by Kermit Love, original Muppet designer and builder for Jim Henson, and Jim Martin, who later worked on Henson-related projects including Sesame Street. Episodes were videotaped in New York City, directed by Dick Feldman, and fitted with a laugh track. The puppets were designed by The Great Jones Studio under Kermit Love's supervision, with builders including Jim Kroupa, Robert Lovett, Christopher Lyall, John Orberg, and Matthew Stoddart.

Each episode features Roy showing a short film on his portable fold-up television, often from the Italian animated series La Linea, as well as segments from the National Film Board of Canada, Weston Woods Studios, and Jim Thurman. The three adolescent musicians—Francine, Danny, and Roy—sing together as the Space Coasters, performing original songs or covers of 1960s and 1970s hits. Later additions to the show included the "Rockin' with Rory" segment, hosted by a VJ named Rory, and characters such as Baffle, Big Jock Ox, and the Huggles.

The primary antagonist is M.T. Promises, a nefarious ringmaster who seeks to recapture Baxter, the clown who escaped from his circus. Baxter can magically disappear by twirling around to evade capture. The asteroid's inhabitants include Goriddle Gorilla, Knock Knock the Woodpecker, Edison the Elephant, and Gary Gnu, who hosts The Gary Gnu Show and speaks with a distinctive hard 'G' before words starting with an 'N' sound.

Reader's Guide

The Great Space Coaster is significant as a children's program that combined live-action, puppetry, and animation in a syndicated format during the early 1980s. Its co-creators, Kermit Love and Jim Martin, brought experience from the Jim Henson universe, lending the puppet designs a professional quality. The show's use of a laugh track and its structure—featuring musical performances, short films, and a rotating cast of puppet characters—reflected the variety-show approach common in children's television of the era. The inclusion of celebrity guest stars such as Mark Hamill and Marvin Hamlisch added cross-generational appeal. The series is also remembered for its Emmy Award-winning title animation, which recognized the work of Ed Seeman and Ray Favata. The soundtrack, released by Columbia Records in 1982, included original songs and covers, further cementing the show's place in children's media history. The show's legacy lies in its distinctive blend of educational life lessons, musical segments, and puppet comedy, all set within a space-themed narrative.

Did You Know?

• The title animation won an Emmy Award in 1981 for Ed Seeman and Ray Favata.
• Gary Gnu's unusual speaking style was inspired by the 1956 Flanders and Swann song 'The Gnu'.
• The soundtrack was released in 1982 by Columbia Records.

The World of Coasterville

In the early 1980s, American television audiences were introduced to a peculiar little corner of the cosmos called Coasterville, a habitable asteroid that served as the home base for a ragtag ensemble of puppet characters. The asteroid was reached by a roller-coaster-shaped spaceship piloted by Baxter, a large and gentle clown who had fled the harsh, exploitative conditions of his circus under M.T. Promises, a scheming ringmaster in a top hat and cape who never stopped plotting to drag his former performer back. Baxter's only escape trick was a magical twirl that made him vanish, a talent he relied on whenever the nefarious ringmaster made another grab for him. The asteroid's residents were a colorful mix: a gravel-voiced, perpetually annoying gorilla; a prissy pink woodpecker obsessed with knock-knock jokes; a robotic elephant who tended a garden; and a green gnu newscaster with a distinctive speech quirk. The show also welcomed real-life celebrities like Mark Hamill and composer Marvin Hamlisch as drop-in guests, and every episode closed by delivering a distinct life lesson to its young viewers.

A Patchwork of Animation and Song

Each episode of The Great Space Coaster was stitched together from a variety of moving-image and musical elements. Roy, the keyboardist of the three adolescent musicians, would pull out a portable fold-up television and play a short animated film. The most frequent of these came from La Linea, an Italian series in which a tiny figure was drawn with a single continuous line at the top of the screen and then burst into life, chattering in a blend of high-pitched Italian and nonsense syllables while interacting with his unseen animator. Other shorts were sourced from the National Film Board of Canada, Weston Woods Studios, and animator Jim Thurman. Music was woven throughout. Francine, Danny, and Roy performed as the Space Coasters, singing either original compositions or covers of 1960s and 1970s hits, while the puppet residents of Coasterville broke into their own musical numbers. A few years into the run, a segment called Rockin' with Rory was added, in which a lion-like VJ named Rory introduced Danny and the band performing cover tunes in a style reminiscent of early MTV. Most action was videotaped on the space set, though the characters occasionally ventured down to Earth for filmed musical sequences.

The Puppet Ensemble of Coasterville

Behind the live-action trio of Francine, Danny, and Roy stood a richly populated cast of puppets, each with a distinct personality and voice. Baxter, puppeteered and voiced by Francis Kane, was the gentle giant of the group, his only escape trick a twirl that made him vanish. Goriddle Gorilla, brought to life by Kevin Clash, was a gravel-voiced, orange-furred creature whose rudeness and laziness made him a perpetual nuisance, yet the asteroid's residents seemed to like him just the way he was. He shared a home with Edison the Elephant, a robotic-looking creature with a segmented, ever-moving trunk and semi-transparent fan ears, whose echo-like voice and love of gardening set him apart. Knock Knock the Woodpecker, a prissy pink bird who lived in a tree hollow, was voiced first by John Lovelady and later by Noel MacNeal. Gary Gnu, a green newscaster who added a hard "G" before any "N" sound—a quirk inspired by the 1956 Flanders and Swann song "The Gnu"—was voiced by Jim Martin, who also brought M.T. Promises, the series' caped and top-hatted antagonist, to life. Smaller creatures like the Huggles and the horned alien Baffle rounded out the asteroid's eclectic community.

Craft, Production, and the Soundtrack

The Great Space Coaster was co-created by Kermit Love, the original Muppet designer and builder who worked for Jim Henson, and Jim Martin, who would later contribute to Sesame Street and other Henson-related projects. Episodes were videotaped in New York City under the direction of Dick Feldman and featured a laugh track. Sunbow Productions handled production while Claster Television, a division of Hasbro, managed distribution in first-run syndication across American stations from 1981 through 1986. The puppet designs came from The Great Jones Studio in New York, working under Love's supervision. The team of designers and builders included Jim Kroupa, Robert Lovett, Christopher Lyall, John Orberg, and Matthew Stoddart, each contributing to the physical construction of characters ranging from Baxter to the tiny Huggles. Musically, the show left a tangible mark. Columbia Records released a soundtrack album in 1982 that included the title song, written by Anne Bryant and Spencer Michlin, along with tracks like "The Name Game," "Funnybone," and "Don't Pick Me Last," capturing the show's blend of original compositions and the era's pop sensibility.

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