RAYMOND STANTZ THE DUKE

Bustman's Holiday

Original Air date: November 13, 1987^[1]

Writer: Richard Mueller

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 returning from a routine job and Peter, as always, wonders why they bring Slimer along, forgetting once again how many times Slimer has been very useful.  However they get a visit from a certain Scot, who informs Ray that his uncle has died and has decided to give him a shot at being his heir.  Ray’s uncle’s closer relatives were all a bunch of parasites so he decided to open the succession up.  His uncle decided that whoever catches the ghost haunting his castle shall be the new Duke of Dunkeld and inherit the castle. He also said the first relative to try shall be nephew Ray, the certified Ghostbuster.  This causes Ray to faint.

     

Oh, Egon yes Janine likes you but really look in front.

                The Ghostbusters head to Scotland and when they get there they pass by a monument that they are told is to the battle of Dunkeld that was fought between Highlanders and Lowlanders.  The battle was very bloody and a lot of people were killed.  When they get there they are all impressed with the castle but want to get to work. 

"A ghost army appeared after you caught the local ghost?  Where is it?"

They find the ghost pretty quickly and when battling it Ray has a moment of hypocrisy demanding his fellow Ghostbusters not damage his castle.  In short order they capture the ghost, but it turns out that is a major problem.  For the ghost that they captured had been the sacrificial lamb, so to speak, that was cursed to wonder the halls to pay for the lives lost in the battle.  With the ghost captured a ghost army emerges and attacks the castle.  The Ghostbusters had only brought a handful of traps.  They try to blast them to keep them away from the local village but they are fighting a losing battle.

Here it is!

Ray then gets and idea, he has his teammates cover him as he heads into the town.  When he gets there he convinces the people that the threat is real and how they can stop it.  They basically MacGyver a bunch of garbage trucks turning them into ghost traps. When the ghost army arrives they are all captured. Ray decides to step down as duke and donate the castle to townspeople.  Angus,who was posing as the executor, was there to actually sabotage them.  He pays by agreeing to supply the town with new garbage trucks.

Smart Ray!

My Take: Clearly Mr. Muller doesn’t understand how modern British peerage works.  Dukes don’t rule anything anymore so the townspeople would not be bound to obey him.  It does entitle them to some cool stuff, even more back in the 1980s.  Also heredity is based on the letters patent not by the holder’s will.  Ray's situation reminds me a little of the real life Duke of Athole. Nevertheless, it was fun episode.

                Now for my stray observations:

·         The scene with Janine handing Egon the water glass for fainted Ray was very funny.  Egon just doesn’t get it.

·         “Don’t damage my castle!” Oh Ray.

·         I like the building of the super traps it shows how creative the Ghostbusters can be, much better than before.

·         After the ghost army appeared why didn’t they just let the other ghost out of the trap, just to see what might happen?

·         So I think Ray should have kept his castle, even if he didn’t want to live in it, and just took the rent from those who wanted to use it.  Let’s face it the Ghostbusters always need money this way they would always be sure to have some.

Anyway it was a good episode to watch. 

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