THE GHOSTBUSTERS AND THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW!

The Headless Motorcyclist

Original Air date: November 3, 1987^[1]

Writer: Randy Lofficier

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 at a formal dinner party and trying to push their “Ghost Protection Insurance.”  Then Peter notices a young woman getting screamed at by her jerk of boyfriend, a man named Bud.  Peter comes over and challenges him, Bud ends up leaving.  Kate is nevertheless worried about him. 

                Later as Bud was driving his car he was chased by Headless Motorcyclist who follows him to a bridge before throwing a flaming motorcycle helmet.  Bud’s car is destroyed and he is hurt but alive.

Kate, Ichabod Crane's descendant 

                At the firehouse, Police Lt. Frump shows up with some questions.  He asks Peter about his altercation with Bud, letting him know that Bud was attacked.  To Lt. Frump, Peter is suspect because he works with ghosts and thinks he sent one after Bud.  Peter tries to explain that he doesn’t control ghosts but the officer is unconvinced because of the presence of Slimer.

Classic 

                Since the Ghostbusters have to clear Peter they decided to have Peter follow Bud’s route and they would be close behind in the Ecto-1 to monitor and protect him.  The Headless Motorcyclist shows up and starts to chase Peter.  Winston tries to use his particle thrower to blast him but the ghost is able to evade.  When they get to the bridge the ghost disappears.  Egon figures out that the Headless Motorcyclist is in reality the Headless Horseman of the Legend ofSleepy Hollow.  Like H.P. Lovecraft, Washington Irving’s stories were based on real events.

                They confront Kate, who seemed to know something was going to happen to Bud that night.  And she tells them that Ichabod Crane survived his famous encounter with the Headless Horseman.  He moved, got married, and had a son.  But the Horseman followed Crane and his descendants continuing to evolve as time went on.  He would never stop harassing and/or harming the descendants of Crane and their friends. 

Modern 1980s

                The Ghostbusters come up with a plan to capture the ghost, while working on it, Frump came back to harass Peter claiming that he was selling insurance and Bud was an insurance investigator.  The Ghostbusters hurry to clear Peter's name and use Peter and Kate as bait for the headless ghost.  It worked.  The Ghost followed but what he was unaware that the Ghostbusters built a holo-generator to create a hologram that made the bridge seem like and regular road.  The Headless Motorcyclist was caught and depowered and they let Kate have the offer of stepping on the trap.  The cops saw everything and Peter was free as well.

My Take: Well who doesn’t like the Legend of Sleepy Hollow?  Right around the same time I started watching this show I saw the Legend of Sleepy Hollow narrated by Glenn Close.  So I have a special place in my heart for that story.  I thought this story was good follow up but it is not the best I have seen. Frankly, I thought the Are You Afraid of the Dark sequel was better. 

                I like the idea of the Crane descendants having to put up with the curse of old headless since Crane’s fate was made unclear and several interpretations have discussed his possible survival.  I was disappointed in the interpretation of the Horseman himself.  Who is he?  Is he the Hessian?  That is the original origin given to the Headless Horseman in his own story.  Or is he Bram Bones?  In Washington Irving's original it’s strongly hinted the Bones the prankster was dressed up as the ghost, and that it was never real.  The Horseman being Bram is the backstory in the hit Fox TV series Sleepy Hollow.  I also thought the look was off, the Headless Horseman is only to be missing his head not his flesh.  This episode shows his arms as only bone which is very much a wrong look in my view.

                Now for my Stray Observations:

·         Ghost insurance is actually a pretty good idea, except Peter is explaining it all wrong.  The idea would be instead of a client having to cough up a $1,500-$5,000 bill all at once to get rid of a sudden ghost they could pay a small amount each month and if they needed would get either free ghostbusting service or at least with a deductible if haunted.  Not you pay premium and if you get haunted you get your money back.  How does that make sense?  Someone pays for five years, gets a haunting, and the Ghostbusters have to refund five years’ worth of money?

·         Strangely enough Bud isn’t the worst boyfriend we’ve seen on this show.

·         I don’t know what I am supposed to think of Officer Frump but he strikes me as kind of dumb.  They’re called the Ghostbusters; they’re the enemies of all ghosts except Slimer.  And they can’t control him long enough to keep him out of the fridge.  Under Frump logic if a crook does something he should arrest a fellow cop after all they deal with crooks all the time.

·         Okay how did that elaborate trap work?  Last I remember the Headless Horseman was supposed to disappear when crossing a bridge not lose his power.  Also he doesn’t use eyes to see so why would the hologram work?

The end was still better than they end of the last two seasons of Sleepy Hollow!

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