Short Summary
Hello Great Space Coaster Fans! This is Gary Gnu from the The Gary Gnu No Gnews Show. Many of you grew up watching my show as you were shoving cereal in your face while you got ready for school. I would like to share with you some interesting gnews about your favorite 1980's television show. Tanslin Media has recently purchased all of the original Great Space Coaster tapes and would like to preserve all of the episodes on digital media. Pretty gnifty, right? However, there's a little problem. You see, all of the shows were recorded on 1 inch and 2 inch open reel tapes. This is gnow considered antiquated media (how can that be?!) and it is very costly to have the tapes transferred. It costs $350 to transfer just one hour of material. Since there are 250 half hour episodes in total, it would cost $35,000 to $40,000 to transfer all of the episodes. Gno problem, I thought, I'll just cash in my pennies (they're from the 80s so they must be worth more gnow, right?) and start saving some more. However, I have been informed that the tapes just can't wait that long. They are from the 80s afterall, and their starting to deteoriate (just like the rest of us).
Now you be asking yourself: "If it's going to cost $35,000 or more to save the tapes, why is the goal only set at $2,000?" That's a good question. You see, we're hoping this campaign will help us save at least one episode. I know you're gnext question is: "But wait! You just said $350 would preserve an episode! Why do you need more?" Well, we gneed more because we gneed external drives to store the shows after they have been converted. They are being converted in a way that uses very little compression, but requires a lot of memory. So if we reach our goal we should be able to buy all the drive space we need and save at least one episode. If we exceed our goal, all the extra money will be used to preserve even more episodes!
As much as I would like to, I cannot offer copies of the show as rewards because there are too many legal rights preventing us from releasing the shows at this time (check out our website at www.tanslinmedia.com for more information). But we do have some other really gneat perks! We have buttons, embroidered patches, signed photos (of me and my human puppet Jim Martin), and even yours truly on your answering machine! Check back for updates with photos and videos of the cool swag you can get!
The Impact
What will happen if the tapes are not converted? This show will disappear into the ether, and all that will remain will be misty memories of some crazy characters and a Family Guy spoof on youtube. But if we can save these episodes, then they need no be lost forever! Once the tapes are digitized, we want to donate them to a gnational museum or media center, hopefully one where they can be viewed by guests. Also, we have gnot given up the fight to find a way that we can legally share these great shows with you. At the very least, we will share episode synopsis with all of you on our website!
The Great Space Coaster is more than just a children's program; it is a snapshot of a generation. It is full of wonderful music, incredible independent animation (remember La Linea?), and stories with morals that are as relevant to today's youth as they were in 1980s.
Other Ways You Can Help
Can't afford to make a contribution? That's OK. We apprecaite you remembering the show and checking out our campaign! In the meantime, you can help us by getting the word out. Please like us on our Facebook page and leave us a comment about your memories of The Great Space Coaster: http://www.facebook.com/TheGreatSpaceCoaster
Thank you so much for remembering us after all these years! And remember:
No Gnews is Good Gnews with Gary Gnu!
