SO THE GHOSTBUSTERS DECIDE TO TAKE IN A SECOND PET GHOST

Buster the Ghost

Original Air date September 21, 1987^[1]

Writers: Robert Loren Fleming and Keith Giffen

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: A boy is getting ready to go to bed, excited about that fact that the tooth fairy should be visiting him.  Turns out tooth fairing is a service provided by ghosts.  Buster is one of these ghosts, but he is not good at his job.  Despite having a talking watch that always lets him know just how stupid he is being, Buster tries to practice dentistry on his “clients” and this gets him in trouble.  The boy wakes and screams causing his father to enter the room so Buster has to run away.  He gets caught by the tooth police and loses his job.

A washed out tooth fairy 

                Buster heartbroken and doesn’t know how he will ever get a job again.  He sees and ad for the Ghostbusters and comes to the conclusion that they help ghosts named Buster.  So he goes to the firehouse to get a job.  When he arrives Janine tells someone on the phone she can’t believe they are coming over by themselves now.  When he introduces himself the Ghostbusters are simultaneously shocked, amused, and curious.   Since they already have pet ghost they decide why not another.  Egon thinks this a bad idea but is outvoted.

Making food for the Ghostbusters.

                The next day Buster makes them all breakfast, Egon is concerned about the grocery bill he has racked up but the others are glad they have a ghost who makes them food and not just eat it.  The Ghostbusters get a call and head out.  Buster thinks that it must be hard on the Ghostbusters to have to run around finding ghosts.

Invites the other ghosts to party to please the Ghostbusters.

                When the Ghostbusters return they find the firehouse is now overwhelmed with ghosts.  It turns out Buster invited every ghost in the city to come party.  This is bad ghosts are destroying their things, endangering the Containment Unit, and throwing the firehouse out of phase with reality.  The Ghostbusters confront Buster with the truth that they bust ghosts not help them and he is endangering them all.  Buster agrees to clear Containment room.  The Ghostbusters alter the Containment Unit to suck up all the ghosts in the building then vent them into the sky.  The Ghostbusters are able to trap Buster and Slimer to protect them.  After all is said and done Buster leaves for a job in a ghost town. As a present to the Ghostbusters he leaves the talking watch. 

The Ghostbusters are not pleased.

My Take:  A very entertaining episode but it does bring up a lot of questions.  The great thing about Buster is he gives us an inside look to the world of ghosts outside the circle of the Ghostbusters.  Apparently they’re a number of ghosts who to prefer to be productive in the afterlife.  The tooth fairy is a ghost run operation so large it needs its own enforcement arm.  The poor little ghost just wants to be helpful and have a friend.

                Now for my stray observations:

·         Why is a ghost writer the lowest job a ghost can take?

·         “Do you know what we do here?”

·         Why wasn’t Slimer mentioned when they were discussing taking him in?  It seems to be it would be logical to bring him up.

·         Actually Egon, you Ghostbusters have fired your particle throwers in the firehouse before.  Multiple times in fact.  The phantom Ghostbusters, against Sandman, that night you met Janine’s family etc.

·         So after you sucked the ghosts up you vented them out again?  Okay this makes sense: no one was paying them to trap these ghosts!

A fun episode you should enjoy it. 

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