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Who Ya Gonna Call?
R. Alex Whitlock
TBS has shown
Ghostbusters twice this evening and I've watched substantial portions both times. It's amazing how well that movie holds up. The special effects are lackluster by today's standards, but the genious of the movie is that it was among the first special-effects comedies, and since it was a comedy the story didn't rely on special effects to carry it the way most movies back then did (and many today still do). The special effects were just part of the backdrop. Well done.
A few stupid questions that popped in to my mind as I watched.
I wonder where or how the Ghostbusters got the permits for their flashing lights on the hearse. That sort of thing is tightly regulated and non-government agencies are generally only supposed to have flashing yellow lights. If you see a security car you'll generally see a yellow lightbar on top.Considering that the Ghostbusters were celebrities, why weren't they bombarded with applications from every nutbar that wanted to be famous? If they were there but not chosen, what specific qualifications did Winston haveto get hired?I find it odd that the Catholic Church would take no position on ghosts rising from the dead.How is it that Bill Murray lost weight, Harold Ramos became blond, Dan Aykroyd gained weight, and Ernie Hudson became twenty years younger in the Ghostbusters cartoon? How in the world did Filmation get to make a cartoon named Ghostbusters right after the movie without the rights? Or if they had the rights, then why in the world did the original movie company sell them? Didn't it occur to them that they might want to actually produce a cartoon with the actual Ghostbuster characters in it? I always found that whole thing very, very odd. What happened to Peter, Ray, and Winston during the Affirmative Action Ghostbuster... I mean "Extreme Ghostbuster" years?
What I forgot and/or did not know:
That cute blond girl from Peter Vankman's opening sequence was on Charles in Charge for a single season as Charles's girlfriend.The voice of Peter Venkman in the cartoon is Uncle Joey from Full House.When someone asks you if you're a god, you say YES!"
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Observations
Dude, I love Ghostbusters. It rules. Ghostbusters II, as far as sequels go, is also pretty good.
Let's see about your questions:
(1) If they can get the Mayor to agree to let them do their thing in contravention of the EPA, I think getting an exemption from the municipal ordinances as to flashing lights would be a breeze.
(2) I think they were bombarded with applications from the nutbars--so many that they couldn't bother to read them all. Winston got lucky enough to get Annie Potts on a good day, IMO, and so got invited in. Venkman was so tired, as soon as he saw anybody willing to help, he hired him.
A reach, perhaps?
(3) I'm sure the Catholic Church took many positions on ghosts rising from the dead, just nothing official.
(4) I also loved the Ghostbusters cartoon. Animating/poetic license may explain the differences in characters.
I love Charles in Charge, but I only have eyes for Nicole Eggert.
Dave Coulier does a lot of animation voices, much like Casey Kasem used to.
Other great lines from GB:
"What do you do in your spare time?"
"I collect spores, molds, and fungus."
And the greatest line from GB, one of the greatest exchanges in movie history (my brother and I say this to each other nearly every time we speak):
"Would you like some coffee, Mr. Tully?"
"I don't know, do I?"
"Yes, have some."
"Yes, have some."
Go listen to a wav file of this. Hilarious.
How in the world did Filmation get to make a cartoon named Ghostbusters right after the movie without the rights? Or if they had the rights, then why in the world did the original movie company sell them? Didn't it occur to them that they might want to actually produce a cartoon with the actual Ghostbuster characters in it? I always found that whole thing very, very odd.
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Not really, Alex.
See, the deal is that Filmation had the rights FIRST -- The Ghostbusters cartoon with the two idiots and an ape is from 1975, nine years BEFORE the Ghostbusters movie:
http://www.imdb.com/title/t...
The series was re-released under the title "The Original Ghostbusters" to sponge money off the Ghostbusters movie success in 1984, of course.
Then, of course, the movie makers decided to cash in. They couldn't just use "The Ghostbusters" or similar as their title, because Filmation had the rights on that from 1975. So they fell back and made a cheap jab at the re-released "The Original Ghostbusters" show, calling themselves "The REAL Ghostbusters".
Make sense now?
Daniel,
Nicole Eggert wasn't on Charles-in-Charge yet when Charles had the girlfriend. They reworked the series in the second year. Not that it makes much difference. I always had a thing for the youngest daughter in seasons 2-6.
Your probably right about the cartoon and I did like it (The Real Ghostbusters, not Filmation's) as far as cartoons go. I just thought some of the artistic licenses they took were interesting.
Mike,
Cool, thanks for pointing that out. I can now sleep better at night... :)
And don't forget that Ray's voice in the cartoon was provided by Megatron and that Egon's voice was provided by Brain (sans Pinky).
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