The Long,
Long, Long, Etc. Goodbye
Writers:
Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy
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: Phil Spade, a ghost of a detective who operated in the forties, begins the episode with a narration of the differences between the
neighborhood of his time vs now (1987). The
story begins when a monster hibernating in the sewers wakes up and attacks some
workers. The Ghostbusters rush out to
help and the creature attacks them by taking control of the construction
equipment. When the creature retreats the
machines stop saving the Ghostbusters.
 |
| Yeah, that does look creepy. |
The
Ghostbusters go back to the firehouse to do some research. The ghost Spade tries to speed them along by moving papers, opening a window to allow wind, and
outright dropping books on them. This
fails miserably and the Ghostbusters decide to go back and confront the
creature where it lives.
 |
| Eat proton streams! |
While
down there they battle the creature again and are not doing well, but Spade
figures out how to make himself visible and tells the creature “Blackie” to
back off. The Ghostbusters manage to
escape although Egon almost delays them wanting to watch the encounter between
the two ghosts. They retreat back to the
firehouse and there Spade joins them.
 |
| Trying to help. |
He
explains to the Ghostbusters when he was alive he was guarding the King Todd
exhibition, but Blackie one of the greatest thieves in the world stole the
treasure that was in sarcophagus anyway.
However there was a curse on the treasure and Blackie transformed into
its permanent guard. The sarcophagus was still be held by the museum
so all they have to do is reunite it with the missing treasure. The Ghostbusters go back to the sewers and grab the treasure re-awaking Blackie. The race to the museum with Blackie on their tale. They reunite the treasure to the sarcophagus. This cured
Blackie and he turned into an ordinary ghost.
Spade informed Blackie that he was forgiven and it was time to move
on.
 |
| Last stand! |
My Take: The
character of Phillip Spade is parody of the character Sam Spade who was main
protagonist in many Golden Age detective magazines. He was famously portrayed by Humphrey Bogart
in the 1941 classic The Maltese Falcon. The Spade character in this episode closely follows the familiar
themes of the era. He is the narrator
throughout as if he is reporting to the audience after the fact. Spade is tough, smart, and humorous in the right
moments. The only change from the
classic detective story, aside the fact that the detective is a ghost, is that
there is no real mystery. Spade already
knows everything that is going on his only problem is communicating with the
Ghostbusters.
Now for
my stray observations:
·
My first thought when “Blackie” first showed up
was “Boy this ghost has some really bad planning skills.” The last place a ghost should show up on purpose
is the Ghostbusters’ firehouse.
·
Can the Ghostbusters get any luckier? Next time remember no good deed goes
unpunished. You should be getting paid
if you could be squashed by construction vehicles.
·
The clueless Ghostbusters, Spade trying to do
everything he can to tip the Ghostbusters off on right answers but they were
just being overly dense.
·
When Spade confronts Blackie in the sewer, Egon
just wants to sit in watch because it fascinating to him to see two different
types of ghosts communicating. Great
scene.
·
I like when Spade points out that he hadn’t been
to the museum since the 1940s so he wouldn’t know where the current displays are.
·
The whole cursed treasure thing reminds me of Pirates of the Caribbean.
·
Okay so Blackie was cursed to become the
bodyguard of the treasure when he stole some out of the sarcophagus yet somehow
they managed to get the whole thing out of Egypt without incident.
·
So Blackie turns into a ghost immediately after
the curse is over, no dead body anywhere.
·
Okay did Phil Spade die right after the original
case with Blackie ended? He was young to
be dead so how did he die? He acts like no time has passed since that incident
with him and Blackie.
A good tribute to a classic.
[1]
Listed original air dates for entire syndicated season may not be correct.
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