PAYBACK TIME

Lights! Camera! Haunting!

Original Air date: December 7, 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 Ghostbusters are hired as consultants for a movie about a team that catches ghosts.  While they are there, real ghosts attack the set.  As the Ghostbusters leave to retrieve their gear, the producer, named Artie Grendel, sees the ghosts as having potential and asks the Ghostbusters to spare them.  The Ghostbusters ignored him and proceeded to capture the ghosts.  Grendel however helps three of them get away.

Haunting a movie set.

                The Ghostbusters were fired from the set.  The movie “Horror House” comes out and is really popular even though the director and most the other actors were fired.  The movie was also made in record time.  Artie Grendel, to show the Ghostbusters there are no hard feelings, invites them to the MGN studios for a tour.  Ray, who always wanted to go, agrees for the team.

Mr. Grendel wants to save.

                When they get there however they find out that they have walked into a trap. The Ghostbusters find themselves locked in a jail cell without their equipment.  When they get out they find that the payment the ghosts asked for was to make their own movie called the “the End of the Ghostbusters.”  The ghosts now have the proton packs on themselves, and they chase the Ghostbusters all across the MGN studios.  The Ghostbusters pass through multiple movie sets, until they get stuck.  They are then almost rescued with a helicopter from their director and actor friends from earlier.  The ghosts shoot it down however and all six are pinned down again.  The ghosts tell the Ghostbusters that they will let the others go if they surrender.  Ray gets them to solemnly promise to not harm their friends if they surrender.  The ghosts lie and capture them all.  

           

Saves these three.

                As they are about to execute them, Ray using his chin reverses the signals of Egon’s PKE meter.  This summons the ghosts of the heroes of the MGN movies, who rescue the Ghostbusters and help them capture the bad ghosts.

Payback time!

My Take: This was a fun little episode that was made in tribute to the old MGM studios that was torn down around the time this was episode was produced.  Ray seems to represent the fan boy calling out in each scene what prop was from what movie.  The real fun part however was the ghosts using the ghostbusting equipment on the Ghostbusters. 

                

                 Now for my stray observations:

·         Who’s paying?  When the ghosts show up to the movie set and the Ghostbusters come in to bust them the producer doesn’t want it done.  Yet, the Ghostbusters do it anyway.  So, who is paying them for that?  Clearly not the studio.

·         I love Peter’s statement when Ray was summoning the hero ghosts.  “How do you know they are not going to side with the ghosts?” That was a good point Ray had already been shown to be overly naïve two seconds ago, but for some reason now he is right.

·         Speaking of being too quick the trigger why does Egon suggest they should bust the hero ghosts as well?  We have seen him before make judgements on what ghost should and should not be captured. Where did his judgement go?

·         Why isn’t Artie Grendel facing attempted murder charges? 

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