EVEN GHOSTS WANT TO BE ON TV

Station Identification

Original Air date: December 9, 1987^[1]

Writer: Marc Scott Zicree

Director: Dale Schott

Main Cast:

• Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman
• Frank Welker as Raymond Stantz
• Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler
• Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore
• Laura Summer as Janine Melnitz
• Frank Welker as Slimer

(Rating 4 of 5)

Summary: The story begins with the Ghostbusters sitting around their firehouse bored out of their mind and afraid of going out of business not having had a single job in weeks.  Slimer eats Winston and Peter’s ping pong ball earning Peter’s rage.  For a distraction Janine brings in an old TV set of hers.  They turn it on and begin watching an old repeat.  Winston points out he didn’t know this particular show ever aired in color and Janine says it’s a black and white set.

Really? They live at the station and often are bored when business is slow an d this is their first TV?

                Then the TV program comes to life and tries to take out the Ghostbusters.  The Ghostbusters defeat and trap the ghost.  They then pull the plug on the TV and realize it was set to channel 1, something that doesn’t exist, and this maybe happening all over.  An incoming call confirms this and the Ghostbusters drive around the city battling these ghosts.  At one point Peter tries to prevent a restaurant owner from turning on very large TV and a parody of He-Man, whose torso is still a TV, comes to life and attempts to destroy them.  Powerman, as he is called, tried to suck all of them into the TV.  He almost gets Peter, but Peter saved by Slimer who doesn't escape the TV trap.

Yeah, it's not supposed to do that.

                Realizing that Slimer saved his life Peter feels guilty of the way he treats Slimer, so he vows that they will rescue him.  Egon figures out the reason they had been so not busy lately is all the ghosts were working together to create WBOO, their very own TV station that is about to go national.

If Rambo and Gumby had a baby.

                They find the station and enter it.  Inside they battle Gumbo, a version of Rambo and Gumby, and some dead Star Trek parodies.  They find Slimer and then they follow the power connection and encounter Shriek Squeal, the main ghost behind it all.  Shriek Squeal is armored in TVs so the Ghostbusters aim for the power source and destroy it, before their broadcast can go national ending the threat.

Star Trek parody

My Take: This was a good episode it was fun trying to spot all the TV references.  I noticed it was all old TV shows being referenced not modern[2] ones, with exception to the He-man parody.   For example I didn’t see any GI Joe or Transformers references, it seems Free was just plucking stuff from his own childhood.

Ghosts playing Star Trek

Now for my stray observations:

·         Ghostbusters worried about going out of business again?  Don’t their licensing fees from their hit movie help their bank account at all?

·         Despite that the Ghostbusters actually live there nobody bought a television set?  Why don't they just watch on Janine's way too advanced for the 1980s computer?

·         Since I work for my local cable company my first thought when Janine pulled out that old set was “she is going to need a digital adaptor.” Then I remembered it’s the 1980s.

·         The ghosts are all working together really?

I am the leader of the ghosts and I look like a circus reject!

·         How unlucky was the poor ghost to end up in the firehouse?  Imagine you're one of the TV ghosts whose group is going to use the television as a way of invading the livings’ homes and you’re the unlucky sap who ends up in the Ghostbusters' laps.

·         I hope the Ghostbusters got paid for all the work they did today. Maybe they have a continuing contract with the city?

Finding Slimer after he was taken..

·         How long before Peter forgets that Slimer saved him?  He still hasn’t acknowledged he saved all of them from Killerwatt, helped against the Sandman, and Phantom Ghostbusters!

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[1] Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.

[2] By modern I mean 1980s.

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