THE FAN’S EPISODE

Masquerade

Original Air date December 1, 1987^[1]

Writers: Mark Nelson and Craig Miller

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 5 of 5)

Summary: Kenny, a big fan of the Ghostbusters, tends to get over excited and tells tall tales.  His latest yarn is telling all his friends that he actually is a Ghostbuster.  He has his own uniform and toy proton pack.  The other kids are laughing at his claims so he decides to do something about it. 

The kids don't really believe Kenny

                The next day he heads to the firehouse.  Inside Egon is showing Ray a new device that he is working on to eliminate the horrible smell that ectoplasm leaves.  Kenny enters the firehouse and asks if he can join, Peter amused decides to treat him to a formal interview.  He decides to make Kenny an official "Junior Ghostbuster" and gives him a World’s Fair pin to prove it.  Kenny then confesses to Peter that he had already told his friends that he already was a Ghostbuster, and requested a piece of official Ghostbuster equipment.  Peter looks around for something that looks cheap and harmless and finds Egon’s Ecto-Aroma Eliminator. 

Kenny looking for a job.

                The Ghostbusters then get a call and Kenny asks Peter if he can come along.  Peter hesitates and then gives in as long as Kenny promises to do as he is told.  The other three Ghostbusters are not sure about Peter bringing the kid along.  When they get there Peter tells Kenny to stay put in Ecto-1 and let the Ghostbusters go to do their job.  While the Ghostbusters are taking care of the ghost situation, Kenny sneaks in to try to get in on the action.  This causes a temporary setback to catching the ghost but enrages Peter.  He tells Kenny they are done hanging out with him because he can’t do what he is told. The other Ghostbusters think he is being too hard on the kid but Peter sees no alternative.

Kenny gets to go.

Kenny gets tongue lashing from Peter.

                Heartbroken Kenny goes back to his schoolmates but they don’t believe him about being a Junior Ghostbuster , in fact they point out to him that the pin he was given had to do with the New York World’s Fair and nothing to do with the Ghostbusters.  When Kenny flashes the Eliminator at him they don’t know what to make of it at first.  But they then challenge him to stay a night in the old Halliwell Mansion that was known to be haunted by an old powerful ghost.

Kenny is given a scary dare.

                While Kenny is spending the night in the haunted mansion Egon and Ray are looking for the Eliminator, they react in horror when they find Peter gave it to Kenny.  For the Eliminator is a dangerous prototype that could explode if overloaded.   So the Ghostbusters take off in the Ecto-1 to find Kenny using a PKE meter to track the Eliminator's signals.  When they find him Kenny is attempting to battle the Halliwell ghost but is not having much luck.  The main Halliwell ghost was powerful and might be too powerful to trap.  However they tell Kenny to throw the Eliminator at it.  This damages the ghost and allows them to trap it.

Kenny trying to fight the ghosts with the Eliminator.

A Ghostbusters' fan's greatest dream come true

                When the other kids come to see if Kenny made it through the night, they are shocked to see him emerge with the Ghostbusters who thanked him for his help.  As they drove off in the Ecto-1 the other kids started to ask if he could introduce them.  

Kenny's friends meet the Ghostbusters.

My Take: This is the episode was all about the fans of this show.  I watched this show non-stop from the age of five to twelve.  So I was Kenny and many of my friends were too.  I had the toy proton pack, PKE meter and trap.  My mother also made me a Ghostbusters jumpsuit; mine was green to more closely resemble Egon’s.  (Egon’s jumpsuit isn’t green but it was closest fabric we had.)  It was completely awesome of the writers to design a character who so closely matched the kids who watched the show, and the ending was very satisfactory.

This is myself hanging out with my fellow Ghostbuster enthusiast, my late cousin Adam, back around 1990 or 1991.  My family lost Adam last month to car accident at the age of 29.  

                Now for my stray observations:

·         I loved all the interactions with Peter and the kid.  Peter might have a lot of faults but I could hardly see any of the other three handling Kenny as well.  Ray maybe?

·         If the Ecto-Aroma Eliminator is so dangerous then why leave it laying around?

·         More to the point why is it so dangerous?  I get why proton packs and traps may explode but PKE meters and Oder Eliminators really shouldn’t.

·         So the glass dealer tells the Ghostbusters that any damage comes off their bill, since when have the Ghostbusters ever accepted those working conditions?  Their response should have been, “Well sir, anything the ghosts are messing with right now we can’t be held responsible for. Ghostbusting isn't easy there is often damage may occur in the process.  If you can’t accept that you will have to catch that ghost yourself.” Then turn around and leave if he didn’t change his mind.  The Ghostbusters have never accepted damage bills from any client dating back to the Sedgwick Hotel.  It would be a mistake to start now.

·         Where the hell are Kenny’s parents?

A great fan inspired episode.  It was extremely creative. 

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