SLIMER! AND THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS
(ABC, Syndication, September 13, 1986-September 28, 1991)
DiC Enterprises, Coca-Cola Telecommunications, Columbia
Pictures Television
MAIN CAST:
Lorenzo Music – Dr. Peter Venkman, Jim Venkman, various (season 1)
Dave Coulier – Dr. Peter Venkman, Jim Venkman (season 2-6)
Frank Welker – Dr. Ray Stantz, Slimer, ghost, Elizabeth, Fred, various
Maurice LaMarche – Dr. Egon Spengler, various
Arsenio Hall – Winston Zeddemore, ghost (season 1-2)
Buster Jones – Winston Zeddemore (season 3-6)
Laura Summer – Janine Melnitz (season 1)
Kath Soucie – Janine Melnitz (season 2-6)
Roger Bumpass – Louis Tully (season 4-6)
Cree Summer – Chilly Cooper (season 3)
Jeff Marder – Rudy (season 3)
Jeff Altman – Professor Norman Dweeb (season 3)
Danny Mann – Bud (season 3)
Actor, comedian and singer Dan Aykroyd had one passion he had yet to bring to the screen:
the paranormal. Inspired by an article on quantum physics and parapsychology,
Aykroyd was determined to correct that. Wild with imagination, Aykroyd conceived
of an epic that followed a group of ghost exterminators with SWAT-like gear
across time, space and other dimensions to battle giant ghosts and demons. It
was meant to serve as another starring vehicle for him and his friend,
fellow Saturday
Night Live alum and bandmate John Belushi, to complement their 1980 hit, The Blues Brothers.
Presenting the script to director Ivan Reitman, Reitman realized that Aykroyd’s vision, in 1980s money,
would cost several hundred million dollars to create (remember, kids, this was
before CGI). At Reitman’s suggestion, Aykroyd paired up with Harold Ramis, with whom Reitman had worked with before, to help ground
the script in reality and tone down the more elaborate sequences in order to
secure a more realistic budget.
The result was a movie about three washed-up
scientists who discovered how they could capture and hold a supernatural entity
indefinitely. Losing their jobs at a prominent university led them to turn this
knowledge into a business and become the Ghostbusters.
Aykroyd and Ramis would play scientists Dr. Ray Stantz and Dr. Egon Spengler,
respectively. Following Belushi’s death in 1982, the role intended for him was
reconceived and fellow SNL alum and Reitman collaborator Bill Murray was cast as Dr. Peter Venkman. Ernie Hudson was brought in as the everyman Winston Zeddemore, to
whom the more technical elements could be explained for the audience’s benefit.
Rounding out the crew was Annie Potts as Janine Melnitz, the no-nonsense secretary with a
crush on Egon. Serving as the innocent victims the Ghostbusters must rescue
from the threat of model Slavitza Jovan’s Gozer the Gozerian were Sigourney Weaver as cellist Dana Barrett and Rick Moranis as accountant and Dana’s stalker-ish neighbor, Louis
Tully. Released by Columbia
Pictures, the film opened on June 8th, 1984 to
critical and commercial success, becoming the second highest grossing film of
the year behind Beverly Hills Cop.
During production of the movie, the existence
of Filmation’s live-action television show, The
Ghost Busters, was discovered. Alternate
names were considered up until the filming of the climax on Central Park West
with crowds chanting “Ghostbusters,” causing a frenzied push by the producers
to acquire the rights to the name. Along with the movie’s success, Columbia was
surprised at the number of younger fans the film had gained and contemplated
continuing the franchise with an animated spin-off. Filmation president Lou Scheimer proposed a series to Columbia, going so far as to
have initial designs for it produced. They passed. Undaunted, Filmation went
ahead with their own GhostBusters cartoon
in order to cash in on the popularity of the Ghostbusters name. The cartoon was
based on their earlier show and featured the sons of the main characters.
Deciding not to be outdone, Columbia eventually partnered with DiC to create their animated series. As they only had the
rights for the name for the movie, and as a little jab at Filmation, the title
became The Real Ghostbusters.
A short pilot was commissioned to give a
general idea of the look and concept of the series. The characters were
designed by Jim
McDermott, but instead of trying to acquire expensive
likeness rights, they went for the embodiment of the characters themselves. To
help differentiate between the three white, brunette characters in distance and
group shots, their hair colors were changed along with their bodies. Peter was
given brown hair and an average build, Ray was made a pudgy redhead, and Egon a
tall, slender blonde with a large hairstyle. To make them easier to animate,
the proton packs and Ecto-1 were streamlined. Set to a re-recorded version
of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters” performed by John Smith, the pilot followed
the Ghostbusters from their firehouse all across the city as they battled
random supernatural threats, including the green ghost they first busted
(dubbed Onionhead during the film’s production due to the awful smell of the
puppet used, but later named Slimer for the series) and the final big bad from
the film, Mr. Stay Puft (the only surviving giant entity from Aykroyd’s
original concept). The end of the pilot, using the finalized designs,
was reused as the end of the show’s original intro.
The series was greenlit, and the final
revisions were made. To further distinguish the Ghostbusters, as well as make
them more appealing as toys, they were given new colored uniforms: Egon in blue
with pink trim, Winston in gray with red trim and Peter in brown with green
trim. Ray’s was largely kept the same from the movies and pilot. The equipment
was further streamlined and changed from black to blue. The pack designs from
the pilot, though, continued to live on as they were used as the basis for the
action figure line produced by Kenner. Slimer was also softened to look friendlier and became
the Ghostbusters’ live-in ghost mascot as a further draw for the kids. The
containment unit, where a captured ghost was stored, went from a small wall
panel to a massive room-sized device in the basement of the firehouse where the
Ghostbusters were headquartered.
While changes in a movie-to-television
adaptation are not unusual, what was unusual was the fact that most of these
changes were explained WITHIN the show. Specifically, the episode “Citizen
Ghost,” which took place in a flashback that immediately followed the events of
the first movie. It stated that the uniforms, covered in marshmallow goop after
the original defeat of Mr. Stay Puft, had become so infused with spectral
energy that they had to be destroyed. Luckily their new customized uniforms
arrived during all the chaos. Slimer was found while they were fixing up the
firehouse and Egon decided to keep him around as a guinea pig, much to Peter’s
chagrin (since Slimer slimed him when they first met, and would continue to
slime him throughout the series as a running gag). The episode “Take Two” also
established that the film actually existed in-universe, inspired by the lives
of the cartoon characters.
Ivan Reitman, Michael C. Gross and Joe Medjuck, the latter two producers on the film, served as producers
for the series. Ernie Hudson was the only actor from the movie to audition for
the role of his character, but somehow lost out to then up-and-coming comedian
Arsenio Hall. Hall also provided the voice for the commercial bumpers, spoken
through the ghost in the no-ghost logo. Maurice LaMarche, a known
impressionist, was asked not to impersonate Ramis when auditioning for Egon. He
did and got the part anyway, although he began the series with a much deeper
tone for the first few episodes than he would use for the remainder. Lorenzo
Music was cast as Peter, Frank Welker as Ray and Slimer, and Laura Summer as
Janine. Another unusual aspect of the show was that the cast recorded their
lines together to retain the ensemble feel of the film, whereas many shows had
their actors recording individually. Often, when someone was unable to make a
session, the other actors would have fun imitating them for the duration of the
recording.
The producers wanted to feature music in the
series much like was featured throughout the movie. Ollie Brown, a friend of Ray Parker, Jr., organized a duo called
Tahiti comprised of Tyren
Perry and Tonya Townsend. They were brought on board and provided songs in 10 early
episodes, which were later released as a soundtrack album for the show by Polygram Records. However, as the series began to pick up steam on its own,
they decided the added expense and effort was no longer needed and kept to just
using the standard series score by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy.
The series was simultaneously produced for
broadcast on ABC Saturday mornings with 13 episodes and syndication
with 65 episodes, leading to a whopping 78 episodes made during the first
season’s production—an unprecedented feat at the time. Writers Chuck Menville and Len
Janson were originally recruited to be the story
editors for the series, but became intimidated at the prospect of overseeing
both the network AND syndicated version simultaneously. Jean Chalopin, head of DiC, then recruited a fairly inexperienced J. Michael Straczynski (of Babylon 5 fame) for the
position. Straczynski loved the movie and was hoping to just write some episodes
for it. He met with the producers and the network and was brought on as story
editor and a writer for a number of episodes. Because the film was such a
success, and given that the network would benefit from having the show more
than the producers would, Gross and Mejduck were able to sidestep ABC’s
notoriously stringent Standards and Practices department and dictate the way
their show was going to be done. Given absolute freedom, Straczynski recruited
the best stable of writers he could which included Menville, Janson, Richard Mueller (who also penned one of the movie
adaptation novels and served as an uncredited
story editor at times), Michael Reeves, Pamela
Hickey, Dennys McCoy (both of whom would also write some of the tie-in comics),
Mark Edward Edens and his associate from his Filmation days, Larry
DiTillo, amongst others. They delved deep into
mythology, science fiction, obscure occult references and many other places
while embracing its movie roots; creating a very mature yet still kid-friendly
experience. And it worked, as The Real Ghostbusters met with
critical acclaim when it debuted on September 13, 1986 and became the number
one animated series on any network.
Unfortunately, with success came extra
attention and the old Hollywood adage: “if it ain’t broke, fix it anyway”. Parent
groups found the show a bit too scary for children and expressed their
displeasure to the network. As a result, ABC, in a stronger position than when
they first bought the show, brought in consulting firm Q5 to retool
and “improve” it
and the rest of their Saturday line-up. Their suggestions
included giving the Ghostbusters specific roles: Egon became the brain, Ray the
builder, Peter the comedic con-man, and Winston the driver. Janine, perceived
as too “harsh and slutty”, had her feisty personality toned down so that she
could become the den mother. Her design was altered to make her short hair
softened and lengthened along with her skirt, and her pointy glasses were
rounded as “sharp objects frighten children.” Summer was replaced by
Kath Soucie, who had a softer vocal performance. The story content and subject
matter was to be less scary and even more kid-friendly with a greater focus put
on Slimer. Slimer gained more intelligible speech patterns and slowly working
his way to the center of stories since he was a “child surrogate” that
represented the audience. Peter also became less hostile towards him, giving
him the nickname “spud.” New recurring children characters called the Junior
Ghostbusters were introduced to give the
intended audience characters they could relate to. The animation and character
designs were also altered slightly, with Ray becoming thinner and Slimer
gaining a tail. Under protest about these changes and many others that were
successfully shot down (such as eliminating Ray from the cast as superfluous), Straczynski
quit the show. Janson and Menville were promoted to story editors in his place.
Further changes came as the series progressed.
Music was replaced by comedian Dave Coulier (who would become famous as Uncle
Joey on Full
House) for the second season. Two reasons for
this persist: either Murray approached Reitman with the complaint that Peter
sounded like Garfield (who was also voiced by Music, and whom Murray
himself would go on to voice in two live-action movies) while the others
sounded like the film actors, or Medjuck himself wanted someone who could sound
more like Murray. This created some confusion for viewers as the syndicated
episodes aired alongside season 2 with Music and Summer still in their roles,
however several earlier episodes were re-recorded with Coulier and Soucie
replacing their characters’ dialogue. At the end of the season, Hall began
development on the highly-successful first incarnation of The Arsenio Hall Show and left the
series. He was replaced by Buster Jones, with Welker rerecording the commercial
bumpers in a Slimer-like voice.
For the third season, the show was extended to
an hour and retitled Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters, complete
with a new Slimer-centric opening sequence that was later given a new recording of the theme
song. A regular Ghostbusters adventure would precede
two short Slimer adventures, done in a completely
different animation style that was more
rounded and cartoony. Slimer’s segments had an all-new supporting cast, such as
ice cream truck driver Chilly Cooper (Cree Summer), con-man Rudy (Jeff Marder)
and Scottish Terrier Fred (Welker), who resided at the hotel where Slimer was
first encountered. Slimer’s nemeses were a trouble-making alley cat named Manx
(Welker), and deranged scientist Professor Norman Dweeb (Jeff Altman) and his
dog, Elizabeth (Welker), who sought to capture Slimer and experiment on him. Dweeb
and Elizabeth would be the only Slimer segment characters to cross over into
the main show (although the other characters would be rendered in the main
style for the intro). Following the release of Ghostbusters II, Louis Tully (Roger Bumpass) was added to the cast in
season 4 and Janine’s hairstyle was changed to resemble her movie
counterpart’s. The mood slime from the second movie also made an appearance,
however colored
yellow instead of pink.
The changes made to the show proved unpopular
and viewership steadily declined. ABC had, at one point, asked Straczynski to
return as story editor and salvage the show, but he was busy with other
projects. He did, however, contribute several scripts to the show with the
proviso that he be allowed to do them the way they started out doing the show.
His contributions included “Janine, You’ve Changed” which gave an in-story
explanation to Janine’s constant redesigns. He also wrote the show’s only
prime-time special episode, “The Halloween Door.” The show managed to last for six seasons on ABC before
being cancelled in 1991.
All through the show’s production, Kenner
produced action
figures, vehicles, a firehouse playset and child-sized versions
of the equipment for North America,
Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Internationally,
the toys were produced by Estrela in Brazil, Jocsa in Argentina, and Auriken
in Mexio. Each series of the figures featured a line of Ghostbusters, mostly
with different accessories but sometimes also featuring special actions like
bugging eyes and spinning heads. Janine was featured in four of the series
before being replaced by a Louis figure for the remainder of the line. Aside
from the figures, the show’s name was slapped on almost everything
imaginable: TV
tray tables, miniature
gumball machines, radios, yoyos, bath
products, shaving
kits, bedding, puzzles, board
games, watches and more.
In 1987, Data East produced a Real Ghostbusters arcade game that was a 360-degree top-down shooting game. It was
later ported to various home consoles. In 1988, Remco released
a handheld game that featured Peter having to repel a horde of ghosts as they
descended down on him. Remco also produced two electronic table-top
games. In 1993, a Game Boy game was developed by Kemco and
released by Kotobuki Systems in Europe and Activision in
America. The game had very little to do with the show or concept as it was
originally developed as a Mickey
Mouse game in Kemco’s Crazy Castle series of games called Mickey Mouse IV: the
Magical Labyrinth. In Europe, it
featured Garfield while the American version featured only Peter as he tries to navigate through an enemy-filled maze.
In 1988, licenses for a comic based on the show
were granted to Marvel’s United Kingdom division for international
publication while NOW Comics obtained the domestic rights. The Marvel books were magazine-sized and ran weekly until
its last few issues, featuring several short comic strips and a prose story.
Many prominent creators worked on the series, including Richard Starkings, Phil Hester, Dan Abnett, Andy Lanning and Al Williamson. Marvel also made a point of including various items exclusive
to the toy line into their stories. NOW’s series featured a more mature tone
than the Marvel books and typically had only one story per issue. It was
primarily written by James Van
Hise with art by future Mortal Kombat co-creator John Tobias. Because of NOW’s monetary troubles, the original comic
series ended after 28 issues but was relaunched with a new series shortly
after, lasting four issues and two specials before ending once again. Occasionally
during their runs, Marvel and NOW would share stories and cover art, and both
books featured the only time the character of Dana would be rendered in The
Real style as she never appeared on the show. Both companies also
produced a short-lived Slimer! spin-off book, however the
Marvel version was typically a reprint of the NOW series. Both series outlived
the show, ending in 1993. In 2006, Titan Books reprinted
some of the Marvel UK strips in three digest-sized collections. In 2012 &
2013, current license holder IDW
Publishing released two omnibus collections of the first volume of NOW comics.
The last vestige of the series came from the
most unlikely place. In a promotional tie-in to the show, Hi-C began
production of a flavor called “Ecto-Cooler”: a green-colored orange and
tangerine drink that featured Slimer on the packaging. The drink lasted well
beyond the show, remaining unchanged until 1997 when Slimer was finally
removed. The flavor continued on and was eventually renamed “Shoutin’
Orange Tangergreen” in 2003—then “Crazy Citrus
Cooler” in 2006--before eventually being discontinued altogether. Along with
trying to petition Coca-Cola, the
makers of Hi-C, to bring the flavor back, fans of the drink have taken to
figuring out the recipe for it and making
their own. Ecto-Cooler did return for a limited time (still without Slimer) in 2016 as part
of a promotion for Ghostbusters: Answer the Call. Other food items included a line of marshmallow cereals by Ralston, canned pasta and sauce by Heinz, and fruit
snacks by Kids Classics.
In 1997, Sony, now owner of
Columbia and its properties, sought to revitalize the Ghostbusters brand with a
new animated series entitled Extreme Ghostbusters (originally Super
Ghostbusters, both popular adjectives to add to the titles of things
throughout the 80s and 90s). The Ghostbusters had disbanded and Egon (LaMarche)
remained behind to monitor the containment unit with Janine (Pat Musick) and Slimer (Billy West,
whose casting was okayed by Welker due to other commitments) while he taught at
the university. Circumstances led to Egon’s only students—cynical slacker
Eduardo Rivera (Rino
Romano), intelligent and gifted Roland Jackson (Alfonso Ribeiro), brilliant goth Kylie Griffin (Tara Strong)
and wheelchair-bound jock Garrett Miller (Jason Marsden)--to
reform the Ghostbusters. While many things were similar to The Real,
the designs for the show were owned by DiC, necessitating some redesigns (some
explained in-story) as the show was now produced by Sony's own Adelaide Productions. The series, despite having some of the same writers and
producers from the previous show, failed to achieve the same success and was
cancelled after only one season. But, not before the original Ghostbusters
(portrayed by their Real actors) made an appearance in the
two-part series finale.
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The Real Ghostbusters complete series DVDs by Time Life. |
At the conclusion of Extreme, all
was quiet on the animated Ghostbusters front until two movie-centric episodes,
“Citizen Ghost” and “Patners in Slime”, were included as special features on
the 2005
re-release of Ghostbusters II. The following year, three bare-bones
collected DVDs were released with four
episodes on each. This was the first time The Real had been
available on home video since the original VHS
releases during the show’s run. Sales were
sufficient enough that Time Life produced a full-series collection in 2008, which
included steelbook cases (replaced with similar plastic cases in later
releases) with design sketches inside, an episode guide and a bonus disk of
additional content. Fans got the chance to vote for the set’s packaging: a slimed black box with some images on it, or a
reproduction of the firehouse (pitched using an image of the real New York
firehouse). The firehouse packaging won out, resembling the cartoon firehouse
with two lenticular holograms. The steelbooks within were later individually
released as season sets. The set was further
broken down in 2016 by Sony Home
Entertainment into 10
volumes, each containing a dozen or so episodes
and reusing some of the Time Life artwork. The first five volumes were put
together in a
box set at the time of their release, and in 2017
all 10 volumes were gathered together into a single
box. The pilot was restored and included as a
special feature on the limited edition 35th
anniversary re-release of both films.
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The RetroAction figures on display with the included Firehouse backdrop. |
In 2011, five sets of Minimates figures based on the series were made, while Mattel produced
a line of Reto-Action
action figures; 7” dolls with cloth uniforms.
Beginning in 2018, Diamond
Select Toys released new action figures based on
the cartoon as part of their Ghostbusters
toyline; both with and without a piece of the Firehouse
diorama. Although the show has yet to return to its own comic series, several
references have been made to it in 88MPH’s Ghostbusters: Legion and throughout
IDW’s ongoing Ghostbusters series, as well
as a couple of back-up features set in the animated world.
EPISODE GUIDE (* indicates also rerecorded
with Coulier & Soucie):
Season 1:
“Ghosts R Us*”
(9/13/86) – Slimer accidently frees a ghost family, who seek to get revenge on
the Ghostbusters by being better Ghostbusters.
“Killerwatt”
(9/20/86) – The Ghostbusters must remove an electrical ghost from the city’s
power plant.
“Mrs. Roger’s
Neighborhood*” (9/27/86) – The Ghostbusters investigate a haunted house which
turns out to be a decoy for a larger plot to open the containment unit.
“Slimer, Come
Home*” (10/4/86) – Slimer runs away from home and gets involved with mean
Poltergeists, whose leader wants to absorb him and other ghosts to become
invincible.
“Troll Bridge*”
(10/11/86) – A troll comes to New York and his family come looking for him,
taking over a bridge and threatening the city unless he’s returned.
“The Boogieman
Cometh*” (10/18/86) – Meghan and Kenny Carter come to the guys to get the
Boogieman out of their closet, leading to the revelation that Egon has encountered
him before.
“Mr. Sandman,
Dream Me a Dream*” (10/25/86) – To bring peace to the world the Sandman seeks
to put everyone to sleep…for 500 years.
“When Halloween
Was Forever” (11/1/86) – Samhain, the spirit of Halloween, is freed and seeks
to stop time and make Halloween last forever.
“Look Homeward,
Ray” (11/8/86) – Ray is invited to participate in a parade in his hometown, but
a jealous rival casts some spells releasing a creature on the town.
“Take Two”
(11/15/86) – While overseeing the production of their movie, the guys have to
face a ghost terrorizing the studio demanding absolute quiet.
“Citizen Ghost”
(11/22/86) – Reporter Cynthia Crawford gets the story of what happened
following the Gozer battle and how Slimer came to live with them.
“Janine’s
Genie” (12/6/86) – Janine comes to possess a genie, which seems to grant her
wishes but is really allowing more ghosts to enter the world.
“Xmas Marks the
Spot*” (12/13/86) – The guys unknowingly rescue Ebenezer Scrooge from the three
spirits in the past, resulting in the end of Christmas in the present.
Syndication:
“Knock, Knock”
(11/6/87) – Construction workers accidentally find and open a door that
unleashes a horde of supernatural entities that seek to transform the entire
world.
“Station Identification”
(12/9/87) – Ghosts attempt to take over the world via their own television
station, which they can use to transport themselves through any TV.
“Play Them
Ragtime Boos” (11/26/87) – Ghostly trumpet player Malachi seeks to turn back
time by playing “When the Saints Come Marching In.”
“The Spirit of
Aunt Lois” (11/9/87) – Ray’s Aunt Lois hires a phony psychic to remove ghosts
from her house, but ends up enraging them instead.
“Sea Fright”
(11/10/87) – A ghostly pirate ship comes to New York to reclaim their treasure.
“Cry Uncle”
(11/12/87) – Egon’s Uncle Cyrus, not believing in ghosts, forces Egon to quit
the team and the guys’ trying to convince Cyrus otherwise results in Mr. Stay
Puft being freed.
“Adventures in
Slime and Space” (9/15/87) – Egon’s new invention causes Slimer to split into
millions of little copies, roaming around and sliming the entire city.
“Night Game”
(9/22/87) – Winston ends up caught in an ancient battle between good and evil
whose fight takes the form of their surroundings: a baseball game.
“Venkman’s
Ghost Repllers” (10/20/87) – Peter’s father sells phony ghost repelling ponchos
that causes a science expedition to become trapped in the New Jersey Parallelogram.
“The Old
College Spirit” (11/27/87) – Peter’s old fraternity calls the guys to remove
the ghosts of former students who were expelled and swore revenge on the
university.
“Ain’t
NASA-Sarily So” (11/17/87) – The guys trek to space to rescue the new space
platform from a power sucking ghost.
“Who’re You
Calling Two-Dimensional?” (9/24/87) – The guys investigate the haunting of Walt
Fleishman’s old studio where they enter a cartoon world and meet his creation
Dopey Dog.
“A Fright at
the Opera” (10/26/87) – Valkyries are terrorizing the opera at the behest of the
Phantom of the Opera.
“Doctor,
Doctor” (10/13/87) – A chemical plant bust leaves the guys covered in slime
they can’t remove, which seems to have a powerful hunger to feed off other
ectoplasm.
“Ghost Busted”
(10/22/87) – Slow business force the guys to take other jobs before they find
their new niche: crime busting!
“Beneath These
Streets” (11/25/87) – Ray discovers ghosts have disrupted the grease flow to
the rotating pillar holding up Manhattan, resulting in earthquakes and heat
waves.
“Boo-Dunit”
(10/30/87) – Winston must solve a late mystery author’s final story in order to
remove the ghosts acting it out in her house.
“Chicken, He
Clucked” (10/19/87) – A deranged man uses magic books to remove all the
chickens from the world, but the demon who helped him wants out of the deal.
“Ragnarok and
Roll” (9/16/87) – Heartbroken Jeremy uses a magic flute to bring about the end
of the world.
“Don’t Forget
the Motor City” (12/3/87) – WWII gremlins interfere with the operations of a
Detroit Generous Motors plant.
“Banshee Bake a
Cherry Pie?” (10/28/87) – Peter’s favorite rock-star singer Shanna O’Callahan
turns out to be a banshee who wants to use her concert to spread chaos across the
country.
“Who’s Afraid
of the Big Bad Ghost” (10/9/87) – The guys are summoned to a mansion to bust
the ghost of Uncle Horace, who turns out to be the one who actually called
them.
“Hanging by a
Thread” (12/10/87) – The guys are put in the position to retrieve the Shears of
Fate of the Three Fates from the underworld before a demon gets them.
“You Can’t Take
it With You” (10/14/87) – A billionaire opens a doorway to the afterlife to
take his money with him, unleashing a horde of ghosts on the world.
“No One Comes
to Lupusville” (10/5/87) – The guys end up enlisted in a war between vampires
and the original residents of Lupusville.
“Drool, the
Dog-Faced Goblin” (10/29/87) – The guys believe a real goblin in a fake
sideshow is causing havoc in all the surrounding towns.
“The Man Who
Never Reached Home” (10/12/87) – Simon Queg has been cursed for 100 years to
never reach home, and when Ray tries to help him he inherits the curse himself.
“The Collect
Call of Cathulhu” (10/27/87) – The spawn and cult of Cathulhu steal the
Necronomicon from the library in order to bring Cathulhu back to Earth.
“Bustman’s
Holiday” (11/13/87) – Ray must eliminate the ghost in his inherited Scottish
castle, which causes two warring clans to rise up and resume their
centuries-old fight.
“The Headless
Motorcyclist” (11/3/87) – The guys have to save the descendant of Ichabod Crane
from the Headless Horseman and Peter from being framed for the Horseman’s
latest victim.
“The Thing in
Mrs. Faversham’s Attic” (11/4/87) – Peter, reminded of his mother, takes Mrs.
Faversham’s case for free to remove the ghost in her attic.
“Egon on the
Rampage” (12/8/87) – Reporters mucking with the guys’ equipment causes Egon’s
soul to be exchanged with that of a demon’s.
“Lights!
Camera! Haunting!” (12/7/87) – A movie director enlists real ghosts to appear
in his picture in exchange for help in eliminating the guys.
“The Bird of
Kildarby” (10/6/87) – The mayor hires the guys to remove the ghosts from an
Irish castle erected in Central Park.
“Janine
Melnitz, Ghostbuster” (9/29/87) – It’s up to Janine to save the guys from a
powerful elder god.
“Apocalypse—What,
Now?” (11/18/87) – Janine accidentally unleashes the Four Horsemen by reading a
book, bringing the Apocalypse to New York.
“Lost and
Foundry” (10/16/87) – A ghost becomes fused with molten steel, and everything made
from it comes to life seeking to bring itself back together.
“Hard Knight’s
Day” (11/30/87) – Peter’s date drags him to a tapestry display where they come
to life seeking to drag his date back in with them.
“Cold Cash and
Hot Water” (10/8/87) – Peter’s father uncovers a demon trapped in black ice in
Alaska, which in a cash grab he frees in New York.
“The Scaring of
the Green” (11/16/87) – In exchange for getting the guys out of legal trouble, police
chief O’Malley asks them to help rid his family of a leprechaun’s curse.
“They Call me
MISTER Slimer” (9/18/87) – To earn money Slimer becomes the bodyguard for a
bullied kids, but then the bullies hire their own monsters to deal with Slimer.
“Last Train to
Oblivion” (11/24/87) – Peter is trapped on a train racing to oblivion whose
conductor, Casey Jones, seeks redemption for a terrible train crash a century
ago.
“Masquerade”
(12/1/87) – Peter makes bullied Kenny Fenderman a Junior Ghostbuster and gives
him an untested device, prompting his antagonists to challenge Kenny to stay in
a haunted house.
“Janine’s Day
Off” (9/14/87) – While Egon visits Janine’s relatives with her, the others deal
with an imp infestation at the firehouse.
“The
Ghostbusters in Paris” (10/23/87) – Workers accidentally break a device in Gustave
Eiffel’s secret lab, releasing the ghosts held within the Eiffel Tower.
“The Devil in
the Deep” (12/4/87) – Necksa, ruler of the sea elementals, declares war on the
surface world for their constant pollution of the oceans.
“Ghost Fight at
the O.K. Corral” (11/11/87) – The guys face the Earp brothers and Doc Holiday
at Tombstone, Arizona.
“Ghostbuster of
the Year” (10/1/87) – A woman hires the guys to remove the ghost from Hearst
Castle for the title of Ghostbuster of the Year.
“Deadcon I”
(12/2/87) – Ghosts hold a convention at a hotel and the owners want them out.
“The Cabinet of
Calamari” (9/30/87) – A magician sends Peter through his cabinet into another
dimension.
“A Ghost Grows
in Brooklyn” (11/20/87) – A ghost possesses the geranium Janine takes back to
her place, causing it to grow large enough to conquer the city.
“The Revenge of
Murray the Mantis” (11/2/87) – Ghosts possess the Murray the Mantis parade
balloon, and the guys’ only chance to beating it rests with Mr. Stay Puft.
“Rollerghoster”
(9/23/87) – A carnival cashes in on the guys by having a roller coaster called
Ecto-1, which ends up taken over by ghosts.
“I Am the City”
(11/23/87) – Babylonian god Marduk and the dragon Tiamat wage their ancient
battle in New York City.
“Moaning
Stones” (11/5/87) – Winston is the only person who can banish the demon
released by three ancient stones.
“The Long,
Long, Long, Etc. Goodbye” (10/7/87) – A private detective’s ghost helps the
guys free a thief who was possessed by an Egyptian curse 40 years ago.
“Buster the
Ghost” (9/21/87) – A disgraced tooth fairy, Buster, tries to befriend the guys
by bringing ghosts right to them.
“The Devil to
Pay” (11/19/87) – Peter, Winston and Ray go on a game show run by a minor demon
who seeks to claim their souls and become the next Devil.
“Slimer, is
that You?*” (9/26/87) – A ghost challenges Egon in a battle of the mind for New
York—just as Egon ends up with his mind switched with Slimer’s.
“Egon’s Ghost”
(9/28/87) – Egon’s invention causes him to phase slightly out of reality,
rendering him essentially a ghost.
“Captain Steel
Saves the Day” (9/17/87) – The hero and villain from a comic about to be
cancelled escape from the pages and bring their adventures to the real New
York.
“Victor the Happy
Ghost” (10/15/87) – The guys take in a ghost too cute to bust, not know it’s
really a hideous malevolent spirit.
“Egon’s Dragon”
(10/2/87) – The guys accidentally awaken a large dragon that Egon’s ancestor
had summoned centuries earlier.
“Dairy Farm”
(9/25/87) – The guys go on vacation at Ray’s cousin’s farm, but discover the
former owners’ ghosts remain to ensure their farm is taken care of.
“The Hole in
the Wall Gang” (10/21/87) – A haunted house is full of holes where ghosts
emerge, and the bigger the hole the bigger the ghost.
Season 2:
“Baby Spookums”
(9/12/87) – Slimer decides to take care of a small, friendly ghosts that has
wandered into New York, not knowing his parents have come looking for him.
“It’s A Jungle
Out There” (9/19/87) – A demon makes animals human-like, using them to help
take over the world.
“The Boogeyman
is Back” (10/3/87) – A near-fatal fall allows Egon’s fears to get the better of
him, giving the Boogeyman a way to escape his realm.
“Once Upon A
Slime” (10/10/87) – Slimer places his book on one of Egon’s devices,
accidentally bringing its contents to life.
“The Two Faces
of Slimer” (10/17/87) – Something escapes the containment unit and possesses
Slimer, making him a monster when he sleeps.
“Sticky Business”
(10/24/87) – The guys release Mr. Stay Puft for a charity event but end up also
freeing a more malevolent entity in the process.
“Halloween II
½” (10/31/87) – Samhain is freed from the containment unit and turns the
firehouse into his own personal fortress.
“Loathe Thy
Neighbor” (11/7/87) – The guys are hired by a family to find out why weird
things happen in their house.
“Big Trouble
With Little Slimer” (11/21/87) – Walter Peck returns and after failing to get
the guys arrested manages to legally confiscate Slimer and plan his
destruction.
“The Copycat”
(12/5/87) – A shapeshifter is loose in the firehouse.
“Camping it Up”
(12/12/87) – The guys head out on a camping trip that is anything but relaxing.
“The Grundel”
(11/14/87) – Lee asks the guys to find out why his brother Alec is doing bad
things, and they discover he’s being influenced by a Grundel and in danger of
becoming one.
“Transylvania
Homesick Blues” (12/11/87) – The guys are hired by a vampire to help prove the
giant bat-men attacking a village aren’t of his people.
Season 3:
“The Joke’s On
Ray” (9/10/88) – Ray inherits a joke store and releases two imps that feed off
practical jokes.
“Flip Side”
(9/17/88) – Peter, Egon and Ray are transported to another dimension where
ghosts live in the city and mortals are dealt with by the Peoplebusters.
“Poultrygeist”
(9/24/88) – A werechicken hatches from the egg the guys recover from a job and
bites Egon, turning him into one.
“Standing Room
Only” (10/8/88) – Too sick to work, Peter invents a ghost attractor to bring
ghosts to the firehouse, but they come to escape an entity that will destroy
New York.
“Robo-Buster”
(10/15/88) – Janine’s new boyfriend steals the guys’ technology to make a
robotic Ghostbuster that seemingly destroys ghosts instead of trapping them.
“Short Stuff”
(10/22/88) – The Ghostmaster sends bounty hunters after the guys, resulting in
their being shrunk.
“Follow That
Hearse” (11/12/88) – A ghost escapes the guys and possesses Ecto-1.
“The Brooklyn
Triangle” (11/19/88) – Winston’s father’s construction company unearths a
portal to a realm where all lost items go, including Winston and his father.
Season 4:
“Something’s
Going Around” (9/9/89) – A ghost supplies the guys with potato crisps that make
people allergic to ghosts.
“Three Men and
an Egon” (9/16/89) – A clock monster causes Egon to age backward to
nothingness.
“Elementary My
Dear Winston” (9/23/89) – The ghost of Sherlock Holmes recruits Winston to help
him find Moriarty in New York when Watson ends up captured.
“If I Were a Witch
Man” (9/30/89) – The guys are called to deal with a witch who wants revenge on
the descendants of those who imprisoned her, which includes Egon.
“Partners in
Slime” (10/7/89) – Peter has to go to Ghost Town to rescue Louis and Janine
from Poso, a ghost who wants to take over the business.
“Future Tense”
(10/14/89) – The guys are paid for a job with a new TV which Ray discovers
predicts their future, including their deaths.
“Jailbusters”
(10/21/89) – The guys are captured by ghosts and put on trial, leaving Janine,
Louis and Slimer to save them.
“The
Ghostbusters Live! From Al Capone’s Tomb!” (10/28/89) – The guys await the
arrive of Al Capone’s ghost but end up transported to the other side instead.
“Trading Faces
/ Transcendental Tourists” (11/18/89) – A Slimer lookalike sends Slimer and
Louis into Ghost World. / A vacationing ghost family seeks to remove anything
that interrupts their peace and quiet.
“Surely You Joust
/ Kitty-Cornered” (11/25/89) – The guys must rescue Janine from a medieval fate.
/ Slimer finds a wish-granting cat.
“Slimer’s Curse
/ Til Death Do Us Part” (12/2/89) – Slimer’s lottery winnings are paid in
cursed money. / The guys’ temporary replacement for Janine is a ghost who wants
to marry Egon.
“It’s About
Time / The Ransom of Greenspud” (12/9/89) – An accident with a trap sends the
guys and Slimer back to 1959. / Ghosts abduct Slimer to exchange him for
Spiderlegs’ freedom.
“Revenge of the
Ghostmaster / Loose Screws” (12/16/89) – The Ghostmaster returns and casts a
spell on the guys disabling all electronics around them. / Slime breaks a trap
and poorly repairs it, resulting in the essence from the next ghost trapped to
ooze out and bring objects to life.
“Venk-Man! /
Slimer Streak” (12/23/89) – Peter is turned into a powered superhero. / The
guys have to play games in order to stop the train they’re stuck on.
“The Halloween
Door” (10/29/89) – A group wants to eliminate Halloween, breaking a seal in the
process and loosening Boogaloo on the world.
Season 5:
“Russian About”
(10/27/90) – The guys must stop a Russian cult from awakening one of the Old
Ones.
“The Haunting
of Heck House” (9/29/90) – Peter regales local kids with the story of when the
guys had to spend the night in a haunted house without their packs.
“You Can’t
Teach an Old Demon New Tricks” (9/15/90) – The guys end up in another dimension
where they meet a demon who insists on Ray teaching him magic tricks.
“Janine, You’ve
Changed” (9/8/90) – The guys realize Janine has gone through many unexplained
changes over the years, learning there’s a supernatural reason behind it.
“Mean Green
Teen Machine” (10/6/90) – A trio of pizza-loving ghosts invade the guys’ dreams
in order to trap them forever.
“Spacebusters”
(10/13/90) – Winston gets to go up to a space station where a ghost is
absorbing the life force of anyone there.
“Guess What’s
Coming to Dinner” (11/24/90) – The guys return from a vacation only to discover
a family of ghosts had moved into the firehouse.
“Very Beast
Friends” (12/8/90) – Two Sumerian gods possess Peter and Ray in order to have a
definitive ending to their millennial-long fight.
“Ghostworld”
(9/22/90) – A ghost uses an amusement park to capture the guys, leaving only a
sick Egon and his mother to save them.
“Afterlife in
the Flast Lane” (11/17/90) – A ghost gamesmaster takes a charity race and
brings it to the Netherworld.
“The Slob”
(11/3/90) – Dweeb makes an arrangement with the Glob to capture Slimer in
exchange for freeing the Sleaze.
“Busters in
Toyland” (12/15/90) – The guys have to rescue Louis’ nephew from Toyland after
Louis gives him toys possessed by ghosts.
“My Left Fang”
(10/20/90) – A German town requests that the guys save their local ghosts from
a creature that feeds on them.
“Stay Tooned”
(12/1/90) – An accident brings cartoon character Sammy K. Ferret to life,
causing the real world to blend with the animated one.
“The
Magnificent Five” (12/22/90) – The guys have a showdown with Black Bart in
Texas.
“Deja Boo”
(11/10/90) – Dweeb captures Slimer and uses a device to read his mind and learn
the vulnerability of ghosts.
Season 6:
“The Treasure
of Sierra Tamale” (9/7/91) – Ray and Slimer join Peter’s father to find a
treasure in Mexico.
“Not Now,
Slimer!” (9/14/91) – While the guys take on a squid ghost, Slimer tries to
evade Professor Dweeb.
“Attack of the
B-Movie Monsters” (9/21/91) – The guys face off against Japanese movie monster
ghosts in Japan.
“20,000 Leagues
Under the Street” (9/28/91) – Peter is abducted by giant insects whose leader
plans to sacrifice him.
Slimer:
“Slimer for
Hire / Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ / Nothing to Sneeze At” (9/10/88) – Slimer helps
Rudy walk dogs but Dweeb is after him. / Slimer tries to get Fred past Bruiser
to attend a BBQ. / Slimer is in charge when the guys are sick and has to deal
with Manx.
“A Mouse in the
House / Cash or Slime / Doctor Dweeb, I Presume” (9/17/88) – Manx chases a
mouse around the firehouse, causing a mess Slimer is blamed for. / Bruiser
keeps Slimer from buying Chilly’s birthday present. / Dweeb tries to nab Slimer
at the doctor’s with Janine.
“Pigeon-Cooped
/ Go-pher It” (9/24/88) – Slimer tries to teach a pigeon how to fly while
protecting it from Manx. / Slimer deals with a gopher in his garden.
“Sticky Fingers
/ Don’t Tease the Sleaze” (10/8/88) – Dweeb interrupts Slimer’s wallpapering of
the kitchen. / Slimer attempts to recapture the Sleaze after accidentally
releasing him.
“Room at the
Top / Tea but not Sympathy / Special Delivery” (10/15/88) – Slimer tries to
find a quiet place to enjoy his new comic book. / Manx fakes being sick so
Slimer has to take care of him. / Manx tries to get at the food Luigi asks
Slimer to deliver for him.
“Out With Grout
/ Dr. Strangedog” (10/22/88) – Bud and Slimer get Grout a job at a new hotel
but must get him back when Dweeb takes over the old one. / Slimer must stop Dr.
Strangedog from turning humans into dogs’ servants.
“Slimer’s Silly
Symphony / Little Green Sliming Hood / Monkey See, Monkey Don’t” (11/5/88) –
Egon gives Slimer a conductor’s baton, inspiring him to start his own symphony.
/ To stop his watching TV, Peter tells Slimer the story of Little Red Riding Hood. / Rudy is inspired to go into business
after seeing an organ grinder.
“Beach Blanket
Bruiser / Class Clown / Dog Days” (11/12/88) – Slimer has to prevent Bruiser
from spoiling Fred’s fun at the beach. / Slimer has difficulty getting Donald
scripts he lost. / Slimer helps Fred pass obedience school.
“The Dirty
Half-Dozen / Movie Madness” (10/29/88) – Ghoullem and Zugg put the guys to
sleep to get uninterrupted revenge on Slimer. / Slimer helps Bud clean the
theater to see his favorite movie for free, but Dweeb has other plans.
“Show Dog
Showdown / The Not-So-Great Outdoors / Unidentified Sliming Object” (12/3/88) –
Slimer and Fred compete against Dweeb and Elizabeth at a dog show. / Slimer and
Chilly encounter mischievous rabbits on a camping trip. / Aliens abduct Slimer.
“Up Close and
Too Personal / Sweet Revenge” (12/10/88) – Slimer uses his video camera to
catch Manx in embarrassing moments and film Luigi’s commercial. / Dweeb dresses
as Slimer on Halloween and ends up doing his chores and being targeted by evil
ghosts.
“Rainy Day
Slimer / Slimer & the Beanstalk / Space Case” (11/26/88) – On a rainy day
Slimer enters his drawing of the amusement park to have fun. / Peter reads
Slimer Jack and the Beanstalk. /
Slimer gives an alien a tour of the city.
“Scareface “
(10/1/88) – Slimer disguises himself as Scareface to evade Ghoullem and Zugg.
Originally posted in 2014. Updated in 2019.