The Real Ghostbusters

:See The Ghost Busters for the Filmation live-action children's television series that ran from 1975 to 1976.

History

See Ghostbusters for more information about the movie Ghostbusters.

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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 their old show starring the characters' children: see The Ghost Busters. Despite rumors to the contrary, Columbia was allowed to use the name Ghostbusters for their cartoon, but they added "The Real" to it to snub Filmation. A popular toy line followed the success of the cartoon and was manufactured by Kenner.

Related Topics:
Filmation - The Ghost Busters - Kenner

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Due to likeness rights issues, the characters were dramatically redesigned from their movie counterparts (so, as a result, the Ghostbusters barely resembled their movie counterparts). Everything from the movie was well represented on the show in some form or another. The head writer for the first two years was J. Michael Straczynski. During his run the series had a dark tone not often seen in Saturday morning cartoons, and even had a prime-time special. However, the producers began to realize the child appeal of (at the time) background character Slimer.

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In 1985, game publisher West End Games produced a Ghostbusters roleplaying game which later spawned a second edition called Ghostbusters, International. The Ghostbusters game was a revolutionary design, influencing countless other designs including Risus and Over the Edge, and winning the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1986.

Related Topics:
1985 - West End Games - Roleplaying game - Risus - Over the Edge - Origins Award

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In 1988 a Ghostbusters comic series started, published monthly by NOW Comics.

Related Topics:
1988 - Comic - NOW Comics

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In 1988, the series was retooled and renamed Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters. The show now featured an hour-long format with a typical Ghostbusters episode leading into a more kid-friendly Slimer-centric one. The animation was more cartoony and the storytelling more simplistic. As the series progressed, the regular Ghostbusters episodes started to become lighter in tone so as not to frighten the growing child fanbase. More changes went on behind the scenes as well with the departure of Straczynski. Dave Coulier of Full House fame would come on to fill in the role of Peter, Buster Jones would take over Winston and Kath Soucie took on Janine.

Related Topics:
1988 - Dave Coulier - Full House - Buster Jones - Kath Soucie

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There were also cartoon shorts called Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters where Slimer had these friends:-

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: Fred the Dog and Bud the bellboy (both from the Sedgewick Hotel where Slimer was busted in the movie, more on that later)

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: Junior Ghostbusters Donald, Catherine and Jason

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: Ice cream truck driver Chilly Cooper, Italian chef Luigi, and schemer Rudy.

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and these enemies:-

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: A scruffy alley cat named Manx who causes him no end of trouble

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: Bruiser, a neighborhood dog that always bullies him.

Related Topics:
Dog - Bullies

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: An incompetent mad scientist named Professor Norman Dweeb, and his poodle Elizabeth. Dweeb's life goal was to capture Slimer and experiment on him. Professor Dweeb also appeared in comics. In the comic, he has at least two proton packs, which have plain rectangular red backpacks with rounded edges and corners, and gun parts much bulkier than in the Ghostbusters' proton packs.

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: Morris Grout, the grumpy manager of the Sedgewick Hotel.

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After Ghostbusters II hit theaters, the character of Louis Tully was introduced to the show and voiced by Roger Bumpass. This was far from being the only movie tie-in on the series. The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man made numerous appearances and as the focus of the movie made within the cartoon universe, a nod to the originating motion picture. The uniform change and Slimer's residency with the Ghostbusters was explaned in the season two episode "Citizen Ghost", which was told in flashback at the time right after the movie's events. Human nemesis Walter Peck also made an appearance in the later Slimer! episodes.

Related Topics:
Ghostbusters II - Roger Bumpass - Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man

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In 1989 NOW Comics, realizing a cross-promotional opportunity, released a series about the green ghost Slimer, his friends, and his enemies in 1989. The title lasted about a year and a half.

Related Topics:
1989

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During this period, the series spawned a popular toy-line by Kenner and two comic series published by NOW Comics.

Related Topics:
Kenner - NOW Comics

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After 1991 Ghostbusters slowly phased out of the public eye with the cancellation of the cartoon, the toys and the comics.

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In 1997, in an attempt to revive the franchise, another short-lived cartoon called Extreme Ghostbusters was started, and a related toy line. Because Sony Pictures Television owned all the rights to The Real Ghostbusters, new character designs were needed, and it featured a group of new Ghostbusters being led by Egon and Janine, but it failed to capture the magic of the original. The series flopped and was cancelled after its original 40 episodes.

Related Topics:
Extreme Ghostbusters - Sony Pictures Television

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Most Ghostheads give The Real Ghostbusters the credit of fleshing out their favorite characters in a way the movies never could.

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With the current 80s nostalgia craze, Ghostbusters made a quiet return.

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In 2004, 88MPH Studios began releasing their "Legion" limited series, which retconned the Ghostbusters' world to 6 months after the first movie and pushed the timeline up 20 years to present time. The limited series might lead into an on-going series by the company. Neca released a series of action figures based off the first movie. Their first and so far only series included Gozer, Slimer (or Onionhead), the Terror Dogs Vinz Clortho and Zuul, and a massive Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, contrasting the diminutive figure that was in the original figure line. Ertl released a die-cast 1/25 scale Ectomobile, also known as Ecto-1, the Ghostbusters' main transportation. iBooks published the novel ' by Sholly Fisch.

Related Topics:
88MPH Studios - Retconned - Neca - Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man - Ertl - Ectomobile - IBooks - Sholly Fisch

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