June 8th is “Ghostbusters Day”! Ghostbusters (Reitman, 1984) was first released on this day back in 1984 and, since then, has become a major pop culture franchise.
Director: Richard Raynis
Air Date: 22 November 1986
Original Network: ABC
Rotten Tomatoes Scores: 100%/ 88%
Quick Facts:
Produced following the universal success of Ghostbusters and retitled to avoid a potential lawsuit, the beloved Real Ghostbusters was a cultural phenomenon for a time. After initially mirroring their film counterparts, the characters were redesigned, with Ernie Hudson famously failing to reprise his role. Though later irrevocably damaged by studio interference, The Real Ghostbusters spawned a wave of merchandise and remains one of the defining cartoons of its era.
The Review:
While it may seem odd to review the eleventh episode of the first series of this classic cartoon, there are a few good reasons for it. Firstly, “Citizen Ghost” acts as a direct follow-up to Ghostbusters, with the main plot a flashback narrated by Doctor Peter Venkman (Lorenzo Music) to reporter Cynthia Crawford (Julie Bennett). Secondly, the episode explains how and why the Ghostbusters adopted the ravenous, mischievous ghost Slimer (Frank Welker). Thirdly, it explains why the Ghostbusters wear distinctly “toyetic” uniforms. And, finally, it explains why they refer to themselves as the “real” Ghostbusters, so there’s a lot of important stuff here. “Citizen Ghost” sees Cynthia navigating the bizarre day-to-day operations of the Ghostbusters’ firehouse to interview Peter regarding the team, who are still quite a mystery to New York City. Eager to understand more about them, and why they keep a ghost as a pet despite dedicating their lives to bustin’ spirits and trapping them within their ecto containment unit, Cynthia presses the besotted Peter and he happily tells her about what happened right after they defeated Gozer the Gozerian and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The exhausted Ghostbusters returned to find their firehouse a shambles from the containment unit breach and their uniforms splattered in psychokinetic energy from the destroyed Mister Stay Puft. While Doctor Egon Spengler (Maurice La Marche), Doctor Raymond “Ray” Stantz (Frank Welker), and Winston Zeddemore (Arsenio Hall) rebuild the fire station and the ecto containment unit, Peter is given the simple task of disposing of the contaminated uniforms. However, he’s too tired and lazy to do so and leaves them by the ecto containment unit, unaware that they’re dosed in spirit energy leaking from the storage facility.
Once the firehouse is fixed up, the team celebrates with Janine Melnitz (Laura Summer), only for the ravenous Slimer to burst in and steal their meal. Recognising the “little spud” as the one who slimed him in the Sedgewick Hotel, Peter leads the Ghostbusters in pursuing the ghost, only to be frustrated by failure. Over the next few days, Slimer reappeared again and again and each of the team reacted differently to him: Egon attempted to study Slimer, Winston was friendly to him, and Ray tried to teach him tricks. Peter, however, attacked Slimer on sight, leading the others to shelter the ghost and unofficially adopt him to annoy Peter. Peter’s issues with Slimer take a backseat, however, when the excess spirit energy brings the Ghostbusters’ old uniforms to life, birthing “spectral” doppelgängers made of ectoplasm who immediately try to replace their originals. The spectral Ghostbusters vanish for several days, then attack as the Ghostbusters are working in the city, firing blasts of ectoplasm from their warped proton packs and forcing the Ghostbusters to race back to base. Theorising that the spectres will be weakened if they can be tricked into firing more than necessary, the Ghostbusters attempt to defeat their doppelgängers, only to have their equipment stolen when their ghostly counterparts boost Ecto-1. With only one spare proton pack, Ray prepares to potentially sacrifice himself to distract the spectres but Slimer, having grown fond of Ray, eagerly swoops in to take his place. Cheered on by the Ghostbusters, Slimer flies rings around the spectres, goading them into literally blowing their loads, weakening them so the Ghostbusters can reclaim their proton packs, entrap the spectres, and assert themselves as the “real” Ghostbusters. Impressed by Slimer’s bravery, Peter begrudgingly accepted him onto the team, though he was left mildly annoyed when Cynthia turned her news report into an exposé on Slimer rather than him.
Final Thoughts:
Despite being a big fan of the films, I was only a fair-weather fan of The Real Ghostbusters. I had a lot of the comics, a handful of toys, and maybe one VHS tape but that was about it. I don’t really remember watching it on television at the time, but I’ve always enjoyed what I have seen. I find “Citizen Ghost” fascinating as it’s one of the few episodes to explicitly reference the movie, thereby establishing the cartoon as a direct spin-off from the films (or, at least, an animated alternative). There’s something really enjoyable about seeing the Real Ghostbusters wearing the film uniforms, covered in residual goo from Mr. Stay Puft, and repairing the damage caused by Walter Peck (William Atherton). Considering the cartoon didn’t follow a serial format, meaning it was perfect for syndication, it makes sense that “Citizen Ghost” (or a version of it) wasn’t used as the pilot or first episode of the cartoon and the flashback framing narrative means you can watch it at any point and it makes perfect sense. While the animation can be a bit wonky and cheap, The Real Ghostbusters has always been a colourful and visually engaging show. We don’t see many wacky ghosts in this episode but the spectral Ghostbusters were impressive enough and fittingly spooky, with their wispy heads and distorted voices and violent desire to displace their organic counterparts.
“Citizen Ghost” is a great episode at showing just how arrogant, self-absorbed, and lazy Peter is. The spectral Ghostbusters only appear because he’s too lazy to burn the uniforms and he routinely avoids taking responsibility for his mistakes. He also spins the entire narrative into a heroic moment for him, so it’s fun seeing him be denied the spotlight by the end. As would become increasingly evident, this is a Slimer-centric episode that shows how Slimer was adopted by the Ghostbusters. Clearly lonely and eager for company, Slimer is a mischievous and troublesome spirit, but one who’s good-natured and just wants to help and be accepted. He gladly goes along with Egon’s experiments (even if his breath is too much for the curious scientist) and happily helps Ray fix Ecto-1 but is relentlessly hounded by Peter despite showing great affection for him (and the others). It’s this appreciation for the Ghostbusters that drives Slimer to risk his existence against their ghostly doubles and sees him hurt by their ectoplasmic blasts. Surprisingly, even Peter rallies behind Slimer in this moment, showing that he does begrudgingly care for the little spud, which becomes a running joke throughout the cartoon. Ultimately, while you can’t really go wrong with most episodes of The Real Ghostbusters, especially in the first series, “Citizen Ghost” is a great one for those (like me) who were curious to see how the film versions transitioned to their animated counterparts.
My Rating:
Pretty Good
Is “Citizen Ghost” one of your favourite episodes of The Real Ghostbusters? Were you an avid fan of the show as a kid? Did you like seeing how Slimer was adopted by the team? What did you think to the spectral Ghostbusters and the way the episode follows on from the movie? Which Ghostbuster was your favourite and how are you celebrating Ghostbusters Day today? Whatever your thoughts and memories of Ghostbusters, share them below and donate to my Ko-Fi to fund other Ghostbusters reviews on the site.
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