Ghostbusters
| “ | $425.88 | ” |
| Price tag for a Lego Ghostbusters Firehouse Headquarters set Chris bought during the Financhu Crisis[1] | ||
Ghostbusters (often Filmation's Ghostbusters to avoid confusion) was a syndicated television cartoon that ran 65 episodes in late 1986. If you were a child of the 80s, you probably wondered, "Why the heck is that awesome cartoon with Venkman, Egon, and Slimer called The Real Ghostbusters?" And since there was no Wikipedia until 2001, your mom probably told you to stop asking stupid questions, or go outside and play. Well, thanks to a forgotten show in their back catalog, Filmation Associates (producers of shows like He-Man) struck gold in 1984 when Columbia Pictures had a hit with a movie of the same title. Filmation sued Columbia in 1985 over the use of the title Ghostbusters, and in the ensuing settlement, Columbia agreed that it would not use that name for a cartoon based on their film. Filmation quickly cranked out a low-budget spin-off of its 1970s live-action show to capitalize on the free marketing. The results were mostly forgettable, and destined to join the vast catalog of cut-rate VHS cartoons that populated bargain bins at local grocers in the early 1990s. In response to Filmation's legal trolling, Columbia, DIC Entertainment and Coca-Cola Telecommunications responded by calling their own cartoon series The Real Ghostbusters. That, Christorians, is true and honest.
In all honesty, the show does have its fans. When asked what he considers the 5 best television shows that he's ever seen, Chris was frank:
| “ | Transformers (ALL Seasons and Sets), Sonic the Hedgehog (All Shows), Pok'emon (All Seasons), Mythbusters, Filmation's Ghostbusters (Little Care for "The Real Ghostbusters"; Jake, Eddie and Tracy WERE THE ORIGINAL REAL GHOSTBUSTERS). | ” |
| CWC, [2] | ||
Premise
| “ | ♪Let's go, Ghostbusters, let's go! Let's go, let's go!♪ | ” |
| CWC[3] | ||
The Ghostbusters on the show lived in a headquarters called Ghost Command, where they would receive missions from a television called Skelevision. When going into action they would enter the Skelevator which would send them through an absurd, Rube Goldberg-esque system that would change their casual dress to safari outfits and then deposit them into their transport, the Ghost Buggy. The running gag in this sequence is that the team's leader, Jake Kong, Jr., has no difficulty going through the system, while the show's overweight comedy relief, Eddie Spencer, Jr., bounces around awkwardly. This "transformation sequence" was a fixture of the show, and was accompanied by the show's main theme. You can see it yourself here.
The Sonichu Connection
While the average 20-something would have struggled to remember the names of the characters in The Real Ghostbusters, Chris casually worked references to its forgotten namesake into an all-ages comic book. In Sonichu #7, Chris was inspired to drop in a Family Guy-esque non-sequitur TV reference with Ghostbusters as the vehicle.
| “ | Hmm... I feel as silly as the time that I temporary [sic] gained weight, became stupid, and went to watch television at ghost command. | ” |
| Cartoon CWC[4] | ||
Fat, stupid Cartoon CWC (played by actor and Peter Griffin-analogue Sammy) was hanging out at Ghost Command, until he mistook the Skelevator for a restroom and entered the transformation sequence with hilarious results. That is, he repeats the Eddie Spencer gag sequence almost exactly, including his final impact in the Ghost Buggy, which moans, "Ohhh...my axels!"