SO THIS IS HOW THEY GOT SLIMER!

Citizen Ghost

Original Air date: November 22, 1986

Writer: J. Michael Straczynski

Director: Richard Raynis

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 5 of 5)

Summary: Cynthia Crawford a reporter that was seen in the episode “When Halloween was Forever” arrives at the Firehouse to interview Peter Venkman.  After a few misadventures she finally gets to sit down with Peter and asks the question that is on everyone’s mind since this show began.  “Why do the Ghostbusters live with a pet ghost?”

The "professional" Peter

                Peter begins by telling the story of how the Ghostbusters, after defeating Gozer, came home to a wreaked firehouse and lot of work ahead of them.  Their uniforms were covered the remains of the original Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, according to Egon the ectoplasm on them made the old uniforms dangerous.  He says they must be destroyed and asks Peter to take care of it.  A good thing for them Janine remembers that their new uniforms, the ones they wear for most of this series, arrived just before the Gozer adventure.

They look beat but Stay Puft got it worse!

                After they repaired the firehouse and rebuilt the Containment Unit, they started to notice a little green ghost stealing food.  It was their first capture, the one that slimed Peter at the Sedgewick Hotel.  At first they try to recapture him but he escapes.  Later both Egon and Ray try to talk to him, Egon tries to get the ghost to be voluntarily examined while Ray wants to train him and gives him the name Slimer.

Peter has one job to do!

                Instead of burning the old uniforms like he was told Peter puts them in a box next to the new Containment Unit and one night they come to life assume the form of the Ghostbusters complete with their own proton packs.  These newly created doppelgangers decide that they are now the Ghostbusters and try to destroy the old ones.  They jump the originals in their room but the Ghostbusters fight back.  The spectral Ghostbusters run away, and Egon, seeing that they were wearing their old uniforms, is able to figure out not only how and why they were but just about anything else about them.  That means Peter has some explaining to do.    

Nothing wakes you up faster than your own duplicate trying to kill you!

                While on another assignment the Ghostbusters are attacked on the job by their duplicates and are forced to retreat.  This puts them and their counterparts at battle tie of 1-1.  At the firehouse, when trying to figure out how to best battle them their counterparts take the Ecto-1, with all their packs in inside.  The Ghostbusters are now near defenseless, the one extra proton pack they have is at half power.  Egon notices how the more their counterparts use their proton guns they drain their own energy.  The way they win is to draw their fire.  Whoever does it might not survive, but that is where Slimer comes in to save the day.  Slimer flies out to also become the first ghosts these guys try to bust, but they fail as Slimer draws their fire draining their energy.  Slimer exhausts them to the point where they are now helpless. The Ghostbusters grab their gear from Ecto-1 and catch them without a problem.

Team attacked on the road.

                Back in the present the Ghostbusters are expecting to get the news report on them and Ms. Crawford reports on the heroics of Slimer.

Final battle

My Take: Well this episode gives the answer to why Slimer is the Ghostbusters' pet.  It is interesting to point out that originally they did not intend this and you can see that in the pilot.  However they needed as mascot, as a general rule with 1980s cartoons, so Slimer was chosen.  This is the second episode in a row that addresses the original film.  This is a tale that was necessity, when I was little and I saw the first movie I did wonder at what point did Slimer become a good guy.  Yet to this day I like the idea of Slimer, it makes sense for a team that makes it its mission to catch ghosts would try to domesticate one for study purposes at least, and given human nature might become emotionally attached.  I thought the Phantom Ghostbusters were cool villains of the week. 

Slimer, having earned his spot, lets the Ghostbusters do their job.

Now for my stray observations:

·         I don’t get the Meryl Streep joke.

·         Why didn’t the TV reporter bring a cameraman?

·          Just like in the Ghostbusters movie Peter is the sole cause their problems.

·         Ghostbuster sawhorses.

·         Don’t they have more than one jumpsuit at time? We have our beige jumpsuits get messy then we get our new ones.  They should have multiple jumpsuits.

·         Why did the Ghostbusters have only one spare pack?  It made sense in the Sandman episode but not here.  It was kind of like them having more than one jumpsuit.

·         With the imitation Ghostbusters I wonder what would happen if the Real Ghostbusters just surrendered and left the firehouse and Ecto-1 to the imitators.  Would they try to be the Ghostbusters and try to catch ghosts?  I don’t know it would have been interesting to see. 

This was an all-around fun episode, and great explanation to one of the big questions in the series.