The Real Ghostbusters

: "This article is about the animated spin-off of the 1984 film "Ghostbusters". For other meanings of "Ghostbusters", including the film itself, and the similarly titled but unrelated Filmation productions, see Ghostbusters (disambiguation)."infobox television
show_name = The Real Ghostbusters


caption = Logo displayed at the opening title.
format = Animated Series
Mystery
Comedy
runtime = 30 minutes
creator = Dan Aykroyd
Harold Ramis
developer = Columbia Pictures
DiC
starring = Lorenzo Music
Maurice LaMarche
Frank Welker
Arsenio Hall
Dave Coulier
Buster Jones
Laura Summer
Kath Soucie
country = USA
network = ABC
Syndicated
first_aired = September 13, 1986
last_aired = October 22, 1991
num_episodes = 140
followed_by= Extreme Ghostbusters
list_episodes = List of The Real Ghostbusters episodes
imdb_id =0090506|

"The Real Ghostbusters" is an Emmy-Nominated American animated television series based on the hit 1984 film "Ghostbusters". The series ran from 1986 to 1991, and was produced by Columbia Pictures Television (now Sony Pictures Television), DiC Entertainment and Coca-Cola. "The Real" was added to the title over a dispute with Filmation and its Ghost Busters properties.cite web | title = Subject: Viewers for Quality TV for B5 | url = http://www.midwinter.com/b5/Usenet/jms95-03-usenet | accessdate = 2007-03-30] The series continues the adventures of paranormal investigators Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Dr. Ray Stantz, their secretary Janine Melnitz and their mascot ghost Slimer.

There also were two ongoing "Real Ghostbusters" comics, one published monthly by Now Comics in USA and the other published weekly (originally fortnightly) by Marvel Comics in the United Kingdom, and a popular toy line manufactured by Kenner.

Characters

Dr. Peter Venkman is the group's first-among-equals. While not their official leader, Venkman often makes the decision whether or not they will take a case. He also provides comic relief and is usually nominated for tasks no one else wants to do. Dr. Egon Spengler, a scientific genius, is the primary source of expertise the group uses to understand (and many times combat) the ethereal realm. A skilled theorist, in many episodes Egon formulates the solution when all hope seems lost. Dr. Ray Stantz is portrayed as an excitable jack-of-all-trades. He is second only to Egon in sheer intelligence, and leans towards practical applications of science as opposed to Egon's pure research – the engineer to Egon's physicist. He is also a child at heart, cheerful and optimistic (and rather enamored of cartoons and stuffed animals). As the only one of the four who can reliably understand what Egon is talking about, he is usually the one to put his theories into practice. Winston Zeddemore (sometimes spelled "Zeddmore") is the courage and straight-man of the group; his accuracy with the proton gun is his forte. Of all the Ghostbusters, Winston Zeddemore has the subtlest character development; it is hinted that he is an avid reader and the descendant of a powerful African bloodline.

Development

A short pilot episode was produced, but never aired in full. Scenes of the pilot can be seen in TV promos that aired prior to the beginning of the series. As with most pilots, the short episode has several striking differences from the finished product. For the most part, the differences come down to a greater faithfulness to the movie: Peter Venkman's design bears a greater resemblance to Bill Murray, the Ghostbusters still use their original uniforms, and Slimer appears as a gluttonous bad guy as he does in the movie. Certain scenes from the pilot would be edited and used in the show's intro, most notably the encounter at the end with the Staypuft Marshmallow Man. Other scenes from the pilot, including a shot of Ray waking up from bed with a Mr. Staypuft doll, the team sliding down the fire pole in sillhouette, and a skeletonized Red Baron laughing as he flies across the sky, would be used in the special intro used for the "Real Ghostbusters" halloween special, "The Halloween Door".

Maurice LaMarche, the voice of Egon Spengler, described that even though the auditioners did not want him to impersonate Harold Ramis, he did so and got the part.cite web | author=Ken Plume |date=2007-01-01 | title=Quick Stop Interview: Maurice LaMarche| url=http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/2006/08/14/quick-stop-interview-maurice-lamarche/2/| work=Quick Stop Interview | accessdaymonth=13 August | accessyear=2007] LaMarche mentioned that, supposedly, Bill Murray asked why Lorenzo Music's voice sounded like Garfield and not like himself, and this may have weighed in the replacing of Music, with Dave Coulier replacing him after 65 episodes. This is ironic considering that Bill Murray took over the role of Garfield for the live-action movies. Ernie Hudson was the only actor from the film who auditioned to reprise his role, Winston Zeddemore, for the animated series, but he lost to Arsenio Hall.

After the success of the film, a TV series based on the Ghostbusters began production. At the same time "The Real Ghostbusters" was being created, Filmation was making a cartoon known as "The Original Ghostbusters", which was a revamp of Filmation's 1970s show/concept, "The Ghost Busters". (Note that this show's title is written as two words, whereas the 1984 movie's title is usually written as one word; although on the on-screen titles does indeed appear as two words.) Despite rumors to the contrary, Columbia was allowed to use the name "Ghostbusters" for its cartoon, but added "The Real" to snub Filmation.Or|date=August 2007 In the episode "The Spirit of Aunt Lois", Dr. Bassingham, a charlatan spiritualist wore an outfit similar to that of Jake Kong. With character designs by Jim McDermott, the animated characters were dramatically redesigned from the way the same characters looked in the movie due to likeness-rights issues.Fact|date=August 2007

Character designs

Prior to the series premiere in September 1986, two promo animations were released for public consumption and to drum up interest in the series. These two promotional animations, adapted from a single source, featured character, equipment and vehicle designs which were yet to be finalized.

Tie-ins from the films

Although the "Ghostbusters" concept was tinkered with, the finalized show does feature many tie-ins from the films. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man made numerous appearances and one episode featured Walter Peck, the Environmental Protection Agency antagonist from the original film. The uniform change for all the main characters, the change in the design of the containment unit, and Slimer's residency with the Ghostbusters were explained in the episode "Citizen Ghost", which was partially told in flashback to the time right after the movie's events.

After "Ghostbusters II" hit theaters, the character of Louis Tully was introduced to the show and voiced by Rodger Bumpass. In the episode "Partners in Slime", Peter was covered with the very same psycho-reactive "mood slime" from "Ghostbusters II".

In "Citizen Ghost", the Ghostbusters have just finished destroying the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man at the climax of the film. Several episodes later, they are supervising the production of a film based on that incident (the characters scorn the idea of being portrayed by "Murray, Aykroyd and Ramis"), implying that the animated series shows the "real" Ghostbusters, and the two films are an adaptation based on their accounts. At the end of the episode they even attend the premiere and the start of the opening scene of the movie is shown, with a tongue-in-cheek reference to how the cartoon characters bear little resemblance to the real ones by having Peter comment "You know, he doesn't look a thing like me."

"Elementary, My Dear Winston" was the only episode to briefly feature nametags on the Ghostbusters' uniforms like their movie counterparts.

In the episode "Partners in Slime", the psycho-reactive "mood slime" from "Ghostbusters II" is depicted as being yellow, but in the film it was pink. This episode featured the only direct reference to the events from the second movie, despite the inclusion of a cartoon Louis Tully and a change in Janine's haircut to resemble the one Annie Potts had when the film was made.

Another tie-in was the "Terror Dog" which had first appeared in the movie. Instead of being brown, it was blue, although it's red eyes stayed the same. It was first seen in "Egons Ghost". However, there was no reference to Zuul or Vinz.

Gozer was mentioned several times throughout the series; Egon said that Cthulhu made Gozer look like "Little Mary Sunshine".

The darker tone

J. Michael Straczynski, the head writer and story editor for the show's first 78 episodes, gave the series a darker tone not often seen in Saturday morning cartoons. The series often drew from popular literature as well as fairytales and folklore, as well as delve deep into the character backgrounds of the Ghostbusters. The series was even granted a prime-time Halloween special.

Usage of folklore, mythology and pop culture

The series made use of a rich and diverse history of folklore, mythology and pop culture, while generally staying true to the tenets of the original film. For example, the Ghostbusters encountered gremlins, vampires, werewolves, the Bogeyman (one of the few recurring foes), The Grundel (another recurring foe going from Real Ghostbusters to Extreme Ghostbusters), the ghosts of famous people such as Harry Houdini, Babylonian gods Marduk and Tiamat, the three Fates from Greek mythology, Russian house spirits called domovoi, and so forth. The series differed from the films in that the supernatural characters were not always the villains; occasionally, ghosts and monsters sought out the Ghostbusters' help to fend off other supernatural beings or enemies that were entirely human, while others simply wished to rest in peace.

One of the only recurring villains is Samhain. He first appears in the episode "When Halloween was Forever". In the episode, he is released from his captivity by two goblins on Halloween. Once set free, he sends his minions all over New York. His plan is to make Halloween an eternal night that will last forever all over the world. Just before the world falls under his evil reign, the Ghostbusters put a stop to him and his terror. He is placed within the ecto-containment unit where it is assumed that he would stay. He later returned in the episode "Halloween II½". He was the only ghost featured in "The Real Ghostbusters", besides Slimer, that was given a toy portrayal. He also made small cameo appearances in the episodes "X-Mas Marks the Spot," "The Devil to Pay," "Partners in Slime", and "Jailbusters". Samhain was also the villain of the Ghostbusters International adventure "Pumpkin Patch Panic." Samhain appeared in the credits for "Extreme Ghostbusters", but was not featured in any episodes. However, in the newer series, his appearance was altered. His pumpkin head was made green and was reduced to a smaller size, and he was given a carrot nose. Despite not appearing in any episodes, Samhain appeared in the "Extreme Ghostbusters" toy line. [http://archive.ghostbusters.net/viewimage/aHR0cDovL2ltYWdlcy5naG9zdGJ1c3RlcnMubmV0L2FjdGlvbmZpZ3VyZXMvZWdoL1NhbUhhaW4uanBn/U2FtIEhhaW4=/]

One episode, "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" (sic), made reference to 1920s horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's creations. The episode's title was a (misspelled) riff on "The Call of Cthulhu," one of Lovecraft's most famous stories; it included the one of Lovecraft's most enduring creations, the Necronomicon; and the team was forced to confront a Cthulhu-esque being at the climax. The episode also featured other small references to either Lovecraft or the Cthulhu mythos, as suggested by: Ray Stantz's friend 'Mr. Howard', a possible reference to Lovecraft's first name, or a reference to fellow 1920s pulp writer Robert E. Howard of Conan fame; 'Clark Ashton', a reference to fellow writer and friend Clark Ashton Smith; and 'Alice Derleth', a reference to fellow writer and friend August Derleth.

*The Headless Horseman was the only ghost who appeared both in an episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" (written by Randy Lofficier) and of "Filmation's Ghostbusters".

*The series sometimes spoofed competing cartoons or toy lines, such as He-Man, in the form of "Power Guy", a dumb brute who lived on the planet Petunia (a parody of He-Man's planet Eternia) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the episode "Mean Green Teen Machine."

*The 1989 Tim Burton "Batman" movie was parodied when one of Egon's inventions, a machine that could read peoples' dreams, was used on Peter; Peter was dreaming that he was dressed as Batman, dating Kim Basinger, who played Vicki Vale in the movie.

*Pop culture references were generally limited to parodies, with a few exceptions: "Star Wars" was referenced twice, and Peter was a fan of "The Bob Newhart Show". Kenner produced both "Star Wars" and "The Real Ghostbusters" toys (although this may just be coincidence). Lorenzo Music was co-creator of "The Bob Newhart Show". Also, in the episode "Rollerghoster", Peter makes reference to David Letterman. MTV was mentioned in the episode "Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional", again by Peter; when complaints of "terrible sounds - moaning, groaning, chains rattling" are made by Fleischman Studios, Dr. Venkman responds that it could be MTV, and in the episode "Slimer's Curse" Janine plays a CD by Debbie Gibson (who had an uncredited cameo in the movie) on the stereo that Slimer bought her.

"Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters", other changes and eventual cancellation

When the show's producers began to see the youth appeal of the character Slimer, the show began to feature him more prominently. In 1988, the series was retooled and renamed "Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters". The show now featured an hourlong format with a typical Ghostbusters episode leading into a more kid-friendly "Slimer" cartoon. As the series progressed, the regular "Ghostbusters" episodes started to become lighter in tone so as not to frighten the growing child fanbase. Additionally, the characterizations became more one-dimensional, and the animation style became more similar to that of other American cartoons of the time. More changes went on behind the scenes as well with the departure of Straczynski. Dave Coulier of "Full House" fame came on to fill the role of Peter, Buster Jones would take over Winston and Kath Soucie took on Janine. Many of the older fans disliked the switch to more kid-friendly stories and by the turn of the decade, the "Ghostbusters" franchise was slowly starting to fade out of the public eye. The show was ultimately cancelled in 1991. Straczynski returned to the series for a temporary spell in the 1990 season.

The only cast members who remained throughout the entire series were Frank Welker (voice of Ray Stantz and Slimer) and Maurice LaMarche (voice of Egon Spengler).

There is a connection between Lorenzo Music and Bill Murray. Music did the voice for both Peter Venkman in "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon and Garfield in the cartoon "Garfield and Friends", while Murray played Venkman in both "Ghostbusters" movies and voiced Garfield in the live-action "Garfield" movie and its . It was also suggested by both show producer J. Michael Stracsynski and Maurice LaMarche that Bill Murray had caused Lorenzo Music to leave the show, either intentionally or unintentionally. The possible cause could be that Bill Murray once mentioned his dislike that Venkman in the cartoon didn't sound like him, causing the hiring of Dave Coulier, who did a voice similar to Murray's.

Network runs

The show originally aired on ABC for its full run, except for the third season which ran on syndication at the same time as the second season ran on ABC. Later, reruns of the show appeared on USA Network, Fox Kids before moving to Nickelodeon from 1996 to 1999 and on Cartoon Network in 2002. Teletoon aired episodes of the series in the month of October beginning in 1998, but has not done so in recent years.

Overseas

The series was also very popular in other countries, including the United Kingdom, where typically it was shown at 4:20 p.m. on Monday afternoons as part of Children's ITV, generally rotating runs with and gradually taking over from "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" which had ceased production the previous year and was slowly starting to dip in popularity around that time. As with many imported programmes of the era, the UK did not show the episodes in the original broadcast or production order, and were very often edited for time.

The first two seasons were shown and repeated in the above mentioned slot; later episodes turned up as part of Saturday morning children's show "Ghost Train", later "Motormouth", where the episodes were typically split into two halves over the course of the programme. Although some episodes were from the "Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters" era of the show, only the Ghostbusters half of the package was shown (despite the title, and reflection of the change in the credits sequence). These showings were generally (but not always) less heavily edited, but seldom included the full opening and closing credits; the picture was also often squashed up to feature messages and other information relating to the "Ghost Train" / "Motormouth" strand.

In the early-mid 1990s, later episodes still, as well as repeats of earlier ones, appeared in a daily 9:25 a.m. weekday slot during school holidays (again taking over from a position previously held by "He-Man and the Masters of the Universe").

The last time the series was shown on British terrestrial television was back in the afternoons as part of "Children's ITV" in 1999 (days and times varied), with more repeats of episodes from the first two seasons. These broadcasts in particular were very heavily edited for time. Taking over from these final repeats was the first screening of the revamped version of the series, "Extreme Ghostbusters". The rights for ITV to show the series expired that year.

In 2003, Fox Kids now Jetix (in the UK) began broadcasting episodes of "The Real Ghostbusters" from Season 1, however the run didn't last very long and it ended in the beginning of 2004.

pin-offs

limer! cartoons

When the show was reformatted in 1988, kid-friendly "Slimer!" cartoons began to air following a "normal" "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoon. The animation for "Slimer!" was more cartoony and the storytelling more simplistic.

The "Slimer!" cartoons were centered around Slimer and his adventures with his friends Fred the Dog; Bud, a bellboy from the Sedgewick Hotel where Slimer was busted in the "Ghostbusters" movie; Junior Ghostbusters Donald, Catherine and Jason; Chilly Cooper, an ice cream truck driver; and Luigi the Italian chef, as well as his enemies Manx, a scruffy alley cat; Bruiser a neighborhood dog that bullies him; Morris Grout, the grumpy manager of the Sedgewick Hotel; and Professor Norman Dweeb; an incompetent mad scientist with a poodle named Elizabeth. Dweeb's life goal was to capture Slimer and experiment on him. Professor Dweeb also appeared in the comics and was later added to the normal "The Real Ghostbusters" cartoons, where he looks down upon the team's paranormal research and declares his "ghost busting" superior; although his appearance remained overtly cartoony, inexplicably leaving him with only three fingers. One episode, called "Don't Tease The Sleaze", showed the Ghostbusters chasing and capturing a ghost called the Sleaze. The Sleaze later appeared in in episode of "The Real Ghostbusters" with his brother, the Glob in an episode called "The Slob".

Slimer was one of the cartoon characters featured in "Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue".

"Extreme Ghostbusters"

In 1997, in an attempt to revive the franchise, another short-lived sequel cartoon, "Extreme Ghostbusters", was created. A group of new Ghostbusters joined Egon, Janine and Slimer, who helped to bridge both cartoons.

The newer show had one notable event which was conceivably designed for the fans of the 1986 cartoon: a two-part story arc which briefly reunited Egon Spengler with the other three "original" Ghostbusters, who came out of retirement to defeat the entities from both episodes of the arc. Dave Coulier, Frank Welker and Buster Jones returned to reprise their roles as Peter, Ray, and Winston respectively.

DVD releases

The DVD release of "Ghostbusters II" included two episodes of the series as bonus features, "Citizen Ghost", a story focusing on events set immediately after the first movie, and "Partners in Slime", which featured the psycho-active slime from "Ghostbusters II" and a brief mention of Vigo the Carpathian.

On May 27 2008, Time-Life announced they would be responsible for the complete series' release on DVD in the Fall of 2008.cite web | author=Gord Lacey |date=2008-05-27 | title=Time-Life to Release Complete Series This Fall!| url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Real-Ghostbusters-Time-Life-Complete-Series/9711 | work = The Real Ghostbusters] That July they allowed fans the chance to vote between two variations of an outer box for the set [cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Real-Ghostbusters-Artwork-Voting/10110 |title=Vote for the Complete Series Artwork |accessdate=2008-08-02 |work=The Real Ghostbusters |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |date=2008-07-21] —one designed to look like the main characters firehouse headquarters and the other all black with different images on each side. Both featured lenticular printing, the firehouse version to show the Ecto-1 and the black version to have oozing "slime". [cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/rgb/index.cfm |title=Help Select the Box Art |accessdate=2008-07-21 |work=The Real Ghostbusters |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |date=2008-07-21 ] The set was later announced as spanning 25 discs with over twelve hours of bonus content and a scheduled shipping date of November 15 2008, [cite web |url=http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Real-Ghostbusters-The-Complete-Series/10151 |title=Formal press release for The Real Ghostbusters - The Complete Series |accessdate=2008-08-02 |work=The Real Ghostbusters |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |date=2008-07-25 ] with the Firehouse case winning the fan voting [cite web |url=http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Real- Ghostbusters-Package-Details/10296 |title=Winner of the Cover Art Voting |accessdate=2008-08-18 |work=The Real Ghostbusters |publisher=TVShowsOnDVD.com |date=2008-08-11 ] to hold the five steelbook cases inside.

Cast

* Peter Venkman - Lorenzo Music (seasons 1-2), Dave Coulier (seasons 3-7)
* Egon Spengler - Maurice LaMarche
* Ray Stantz - Frank Welker
* Winston Zeddemore - Arsenio Hall (seasons 1-3), Buster Jones (seasons 4-7)
* Janine Melnitz - Laura Summer (seasons 1-2), Kath Soucie (seasons 3-7)
* Slimer - Frank Welker
* Louis Tully - Rodger Bumpass (seasons 5-6)
* Rafael - Charlie Adler
* Professor Dweeb - Jeff Altman
* Mrs. Van Huego - Fay DeWitt
* Catherine - April Hong
* Jason - Katie Leigh
* Stay Puft Marshmallow Man - John Stocker in one episode, Frank Welker
* Donald - Danny McMurphy
* Morris Grout - Alan Oppenheimer
* Chilly Cooper - Cree Summer
* Luigi - Danny Mann
* Rudy - Jeff Marder
* Bud - Danny Mann

Note: Winston's last name varied between Zeddemore, as in the movies, and Zeddmore (no second "e") throughout the show's run and its associated merchandise.

Episodes

Notes and references

*expected

External links

* [http://www.ghostbusters.com/ Ghostbusters Official Site]
* [http://www.tv.com/real-ghostbusters/show/1547/summary.html/ "The Real Ghostbusters "] at TV.com
* [http://www.tv.com/slimer-and-the-real-ghostbusters/show/2415/summary.html/ "Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters"] at TV.com
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* [http://www.ghostbustersgame.com/ Ghostbusters - The Video Game (2008) "a.k.a Ghostbusters 3"]