Ain’t NASA-Sarily So

Episode 24

The Real Ghostbusters head into space to battle an unknown entity.  Isn’t that all that really needs to be said for an introduction?  It’s the first time in the series they head into outer space and that combination itself leaves me on the edge of my seat!  As a kid this was one of the episodes I grew an extra big smile for upon seeing the title appear after the theme song ended.  It’s the first taste of Craig Miller and Mark Nelson’s writing as well so we’ll see what they came up with.  Without further ado let’s get to it.

Ordering some take-out

Appropriately we begin in space as the captain (or ‘kiptan’) is making sure the spacecraft is functioning properly.  The crew tends to make you think of other specific space type characters from another show but I’ll refrain from detail as I was never a fan of that series anyway.  Star Trek, we’re talking about freaking Star Trek, nerds!  I don’t like Star Trek, there I said it so shoot me but this is about the Real Ghostbusters.  The crew gets a good thump and the alarms go off while some of them claim to have seen a ghost in the spacecraft.  A ghost you say?  The captain picks up a phone as one of his crew asks what we’ve all wanted to ask in our lives, “Who ya gonna call?”

Peters money talk not impressing Egon

Ecto-1 promptly bursts from the firehouse and the excitement is on.  Who knows how long training took for the guys to get approved to be flown to space but that’s boring and it’s skipped anyway.  The shuttle blasts off immediately and they’re on their way to bust some space ghosts.  “Hot-diggidy a government contract big bucks here we come.”  I like to see Peter always thinking about the money aspect of being a Ghostbuster, stays so true to character.  Meanwhile Egon and Ray ponder over whether the equipment will work in space or not.  “Don’t sweat it no company with a government contract ever knows what it’s doing.”  Peter adds the humor no matter what the guys with the brains say, at the expense of the American government this time, zing!  Winston, in common sense, as he usual sees things wonders what’ll happen if the gear doesn’t work.  “If it doesn’t work then you just charge more and do it again.”  One last Peter line before they board the haunted spacecraft.  Of course what if the gear failing costs you your life Peter?  It’s all about the Benjamin’s with this guy!

Her hair needs to make a comeback

The meeting of Ghostbusters and crew is of mixed quality.  The guys overplay the whole ‘don’t these guys look familiar’ gag, in reference to Star Trek, which we already know I don’t like while adding to the previously proven fact I’m not a fan of referencing too much.  Peter does comment that neither rain, sleet, snow nor depth of space can keep them from their expensive rounds, which is riding his characters money thought process but it’s still acceptable.  Then we find out it’s only the second day of the crew’s mission.  I’m guessing the ghost arrived on the first day and the Ghostbusters on the second day?  That seems preposterous so I’ll throw a spin to it.  Perhaps they’ve finished up a previous mission and just received a second one that the Ghostbusters have arrived at the beginning of?  I don’t know the time frame still seems off and it bothers me.  I know it’s a cartoon but it gets me.

Tracking down the 'space ghost'

Egon pops on the PKE meter and it goes off immediately.  He says he is getting ectoplasmic readings from the apparent engineering room, where the ghost was seen.  However he goes on to say its empty ectoplasm with no psychokinetic energy with it, meaning technically it’s not a ghost.  That’s the stuff that tickles my science fiction nerve; it makes for an interesting life form or ghost.  The ghost taps into the power supply causing most systems to go offline while draining the overall power faster than can be converted from the solar rays which means bad news for any actual life forms aboard the spacecraft.  Winston questions that this ghost is power hungry while Peter chimes in, “Maybe he used to be a politician.”  Funny but time is running out!  McTavish leads them off to the engineering room.

Uh guys you forgot someone

“You guys ever consider paying your electric bill?”  Peter says as they are running through the flashing corridor.  Is it necessary to have such an awful joke at a time like this or at any time?  Upon arriving to see the monstrosity of a ghost lamer Star Trek jokes surface while Egon does manage to at least classify the ghost.  Meanwhile the ghost is feeding on the power supply which is similar behavior to Killerwatt from episode two.  The Ghostbusters all fire upon it but the ghost absorbs all the proton streams, again similar to Killerwatt.  The ghost grows in size as a result.  The good news is the throwers work in space and the bad news is the throwers work in space.  After the ghosts temporarily taps the gravity supply then releases it causing temporary loss of gravity on the spacecraft, Egon concludes that the ghost is after the proton packs since they seem to taste better.  The ghost begins to chase them down a corridor and grabs Winston by his pack.  He slips out of it since they now know what it craves.  It’s a good thing they got this big government contract now because that proton pack can’t be cheap.

Don't mess with the kiptan!

As they report back to the captain in safety it’s apparent the ghost has given up chase to devour the proton pack in solitude.  The captain isn’t pleased with the turn of events considering the ghost is still on the loose with the clock ticking on their power supply.  “Calm down little Ivan Kiptan we’ve just gotten started hey we’re government contractors man you gotta allow us a couple of muff chances it’s in the fine print.”  Peter milking the government gag to appease the captain for now, not sure it worked all too well.  The ghost taps the life support systems but the crew manages to get four hours of power through rerouting I’m guessing.  The guys head back to the ghost as the captain is none pleased; he demands a quick result that’s for sure.  He also mumbles another language there at the end of the scene I think.

Save us with supernatural negotiations Winston!

While heading back to the engineering room, the base of operations for this ghost, they discuss the ghost being too big to trap now then Winston gets the fool hardy idea to talk with it.  Do you think that’s going to work man?  It does have about six mouths but still.  He removes his pack and heads out alone on the walkway to initiate operation useless communications.  Peter gives him a hard time on what to be asking since its obvious this plan is stupid.  After some banter Peter offers Winston to buy his next of kin since Winston revealed he has none, it’s a nice jab at Peter’s father from a couple episodes back.  The ghost doesn’t do anything to Winston since he isn’t wearing his pack.  Ray then comes up with a plan after the captain pressures them into thinking fast.  He wants the energy converter shut off, probably to lure the ghost out of the engineering room.

Ray carry out your own plans! Winston's already failed!

McTavish goes outside the spacecraft to deactivate the energy converter.  Ray huddles the guys to explain the plan.  Winston asks what they will do when it’s turned off as Peter adds, “We run.”  Where to man?  Sometimes he needs to be turned off, every joke isn’t hitting this time around.  Ray continues that to lure the orange slug out they’ll use their ion rifles, which they call them a couple of times this episode.  He wants Winston to be the bait to drag the ghost to the central walkway for the capture but they all shoot down anyone doing it except for Ray.  Ray argues that Peter never has to share or perform his own plans but that can’t be entirely accurate.  How would Peter make someone else do his plan if he doesn’t share it first?  It’s a bit muffled but funny enough overall, it’s nice to see the team interacting with one another in conversation.

Ghost point of view is fantastic!

Ray heads to the engineering room while floating, the gravity must have deactivated as well when the shut off occurred.  It’s a fantastic scene as Ray blasts the ghost then gets propelled backward on the kick to lure the ghost through the darkened corridor.  As a kid I shuttered at this as it seemed Ray was going to be caught alone.  He holds his cool as the ghost gains on him just before he reaches the central walkway.  The theme music switches on and takes the scene to maximum excitement!  As Ray comes zooming by Egon and Winston hold hands to form a catch for Ray, Peter says, “This is no time for dancing men.”  I swear Peter says that mocking homosexuals with his tone.  As the guys recover and the ghost nearly enters Ray barks out orders for them to spread out and toss a trap each.  The ghost storms in and the guy’s all fire at once to keep it satisfied with the proton streams.  Ray then shouts for all the traps to be opened to capture the ghost.  It won’t fit into a single trap so they spread it into four different ones, clever.  The music shifts during the trapping sequence to complete a well done finale.

There's only one way to bust a ghost, trap it.

They inform the captain that the ghost has been caught and the mission saved.  Peter asks him to tell Houston to have a check ready for them when they return.  The captain is not without a sense of humor though by telling his crew to deduct travelling expenses out of it.  I’m sure Peter will understand that completely.  The guys then do a space jig in midair not realizing when the power returns so does the gravity, they all topple downward after being excited they successfully tapped a high income client.  After one final Star Trek joke the real Ghostbusters head home in a transport.

It’s an off and on episode for my liking in the end.  I didn’t enjoy the Star Trek references in the least and the part when Winston wanted to talk to the ghost wasn’t good either.  Peter’s jokes hit and missed.  I did fancy the capture sequence though and that really saved this episode for me.  I can see how others would love this episode for its Star Trek jabs so I may be in the lower echelon as far as how much I liked this one overall.

Rating: 5.5 of 10

Links

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Next Up: Who’re You Calling Two-Dimensional? – Coming Soon!

Previous: The Old College Spirit – Episode 23

The Old College Spirit

Episode 23

Fraternity ghosts are haunting Peter’s old college and it’s up to the Real Ghostbusters to take them to school.  Pranks, jokes and typical college behavior abound in a ghostly sort of way that is.  At the end of the school day do the Real Ghostbusters wish they had cut class or do they send the spirits away on permanent detention?  It’s a first for John Shirley so let’s see what he’s got.

Who do you hate most?

It all starts at the college when three guys, a jock, prep and nerd get framed by a ghost for kicking the dean down a few steps of stairs outside a building.  The guys try to blame it on a ghost but the dean isn’t buying it and has had nearly enough of their apparent foolishness.  I can understand the dean here and wondering if the ghost excuse is the best they can come up with for their behavior.  The nerd student kills the scene a bit with his line, “We need the Ghostbusters.”  It’s obvious you do but the delivery is so cheesy, I didn’t care much for it.  We can assume you call them without it.

Can't deny his memories.

At the firehouse a woman’s club of some sort, it’s rather irrelevant, is trying to give an award to the Ghostbusters.  Slimer shows up and scares them off with some rather weak dialogue from Peter.  The college boys show up at the same time and get trampled by the women running away.  It’s not a very good start and unfortunately the animation is lacking too.  The frat boys explain to Peter they have ghosts haunting them but Peter turns them away thinking it’s an initiation gag.  The prep kid sings a brief motto of the fraternity gaining Peter’s immediate interest.  He goes on to add that Peter is a legend for the time he ran his underwear up a flagpole while still wearing them.  Needless to say Peter accepts the case.  Peter what if it was still a gag, how would you know?

Ghostbuster burrito anyone?

As they arrive at the college Winston says, “10 to 1 we find a bunch of college kids in sheets.”  It doesn’t seem like he’s very interested in this case but I’d be skeptical of it too, frat boys.  They go ahead and go inside as Egon claims there is nothing here.  Do you have the PKE meter on Egon?  He has it out but the ghosts wrap them up in a rug, perhaps the PKE meter needs a tune-up?  As they get spun around by several frat ghosts, which have some cool designs, Ray asks if it was Peter who said this job would be easy.  Peter says, “Hearsay Ray, it’ll never stand up in a court of law.”  Do you think your comment will go that far?  It’s not even a funny remark, boo!  They decide to split up to find all the frat ghosts, which should work out well, things always do whenever a team of any sort splits up.

They ain't afraid of no Winston!

Winston is walking around without a PKE meter but they don’t seem to be working right now anyway so it doesn’t matter.  He finds them and the ghosts claim they’ll surrender so he walks slowly talking into his walkie talkie informing his team.  Why not pull out your thrower and zap them into a trap?  That’s a good way to surrender to but Winston falls down a trap door instead.  Odd place for one of those I’d say.  He lands in a tomb of haunting bed sheets and is later found outside being tossed about in them.  How long did it take to find him I can’t say, but its still daylight.  After nearly blasting poor Winston to bits the guys must chase after the ghosts heading for the main campus.  Hopefully things will pick up because so far it’s been a rough day at school.

Finish them!

The lead frat ghost has a neat power as he shoots a ray from his finger to a goldfish swimming in a fountain outside a common area.  The goldfish grows to enormous size and looks quite terrifying!  The prep kid runs to the scene and shouts, “What’s going on?”  The lead frat ghost grabs him up and says, “Why not get a really close look?”  I like it, I hate the living frat boys but rather admire the twisted nature of the dead ones, this could be a turning point.  “How about a good old fashioned goldfish swallowing contest?”  Then the lead frat ghost drops the prep to be eaten alive!  The other two, the jock and nerd also get eaten as the lead frat ghost adds, “Three students not bad, how about some more.”  He doesn’t know when to quit but I’m not complaining so far.  As the Ghostbusters finally catch up Peter says, “Look at that thing, its big enough to give Jonah a bad case of déjà vu.”  At least a joke gets through this time.  The guys blast the crap out of the goldfish and it vaporizes but somehow the three college guys survive, boo again!  Kill them off I say, they don’t return to the series after this episode and it would provide the Ghostbusters with more incentive to capture the ghosts.  They can always claim the ghosts killed the student’s right?

Nearly outsmarted by frat ghosts.

Later in the cafeteria Ray uses the PKE meter to success as they again catch up to the ghosts.  Instead of blasting the ghosts though they get disarmed.  I mean the guys seem to be gun shy at all the wrong times so far.  The lead frat ghost then transforms into a more gruesome ghost than before and says, “We’re going to initiate you into the fraternity of the dead!”  This guy doesn’t waste much time and the Ghostbusters are in quite a bit of trouble, they are really off their game in this one.  As a kid this scene spooked me a bit, it’s rather well done.  Peter has one lame trick left up his still alive sleeve as he shouts that there are girls somewhere nearby.  The guys make a mad dash and run off all the while giving the lead frat ghost a fun new idea.  He decides to raid the girl’s dorm, nice one Peter.  That ghost may be dead but he could still go for some well mischief we’ll say.  As the guys reach safety Peter suggests brushing up on some history to find out who these ghosts were in life.  He also states that the dorm used to be a fraternity mentioned by the prep kid but didn’t Peter know that at the beginning of the episode?  I thought he went to this college, it seemed that way.

50 years ago.

They discover the lead frat ghost to be Edwin Spalding.  He and his old pals were a rowdy bunch of guys back in their old fraternity but got caught stealing the final exams test answers thus getting the boot.  They vowed to get even and chose now.  Peter claimed it happened when the new fraternity took over their old building.  I suppose we can let that slide as reason enough for this one.  The guys still don’t have their packs and I have no clue what happened to them.  I guess the frat ghosts destroyed or hid them.  Ray uses the PKE meter to track them at the girls dorm as one of the frat ghosts asks the girls if he can try on their cloths.  Peter eventually engineers a scheme to allow the ghosts to graduate and it catches their interests.  It seems they want to; perhaps it’s their weakness in death since they were deprived of it in life.

Be careful what you study Egon, it may eat you!

Peter gets cold feet about teaching some crash courses when Winston reminds him, “Anyway the whole thing was your idea.”  “Right and that’s where you failed me Winston you should have told me it was stupid.”  I love Peter’s character so honest about his own faults.  He stumbles upon a brief lecture and sends the ghosts onto the next course.  I like the effect of the ghosts fading downward to the next floor.  Egon is teaching biology and has a mushroom for study.  He drones on and on about them when Edwin gets bored and uses another neat supernatural trick.  His eyes glow red as the mushroom comes to life and startles Egon.  They quickly pass the class by way of Ray to avoid things from getting out of hand.  Peter then gets another shot at teaching when Edwin demands a senior obstacle course before graduation.  It’s not very entertaining until Edwin travels around inside the sprinkler system.  He pops his ugly little head out of a sprinkler to see the women from the beginning of the episode trying to hand out another award, she claims to be a chairwoman.  “You look more like a sofa woman to me.”  It’s crude but it fits his character perfectly.

 

Containment diploma.

In the end the guys lure the frat ghosts to the auditorium for a class photo.  Ray has rigged up a device to the camera that functions like a thrower or it is one.  It’s not explained at all so I’m assuming he built one.  They had one trap left and caught all the ghosts in it but shouldn’t they have to get that trap into the containment unit post haste?  They had to back in Episode 4 when they caught all those ghosts absorbed into that big one.  Anyway we get deprived of the theme music which this episode sorely needed to boost it a bit; at least for the scene it would have been used.  Peter pulls a prank on the dean to conclude the episode.  I suppose it would be possible for Peter’s ghost to be of the frat variety in the afterlife.  I’d say this episode had its ups and downs but it manages to stay middle of the road for me.

Rating: 4.5 of 10

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Venkman’s Ghost Repellers

Episode 22

A visual commentary is provided with this episode that let’s Richard Mueller share his thoughts on it along with the series in general.  It’s not to be missed by fans of this show and it comes on the DVD set released by Timelife.  It’s very interesting to learn that Mueller wrote about these characters before this series even came to be by means of a novel based on the movie Ghostbusters.  He is the one who fleshes out characters like Aunt Lois and introduced in this episode Peter Venkman’s conniving father.  He began belief in the supernatural in college when his dormitory was believed to be haunted so a basis for writing material on such events is genuine.  He worked in the coast guard and incorporated that into this particular episode seamlessly as well.  All in all I’m impressed thus far with Mueller’s writing in this series and his confession that The Real Ghostbusters was his favorite job he had.  If you’re further interested in the behind the scenes material I’d highly recommend watching the visual commentary for this episode.

A ship is alone in the Atlantic Ocean when suddenly the New Jersey Parallelogram appears in front of them.  Unable to alter course, the ship collides with it and vanishes.  The idea of this Parallelogram is amazing and fits right into the world of the Real Ghostbusters.  Who else could battle against something so supernatural?

Proton pack? Try a ghost-repeller!

At the firehouse Egon and Ray are listening in on recent phenomena of disappearing ships on the radio.  Ray as usual is very excited to go there and investigate but Peter puts that notion to rest, “Ray who lives there?”  “No one, it’s in the ocean.” Ray exclaims.  “Then who’s going to pay us?” Peter ends it.  Classic Peter behavior but it makes sense, why do it for free?  Janine waltzes in with a red poncho on and informs the guys who she got it from, Peter’s father.  His father even went to the trouble of labeling Peter as the chief Ghostbuster on the tag.  Peter is not happy about this turn of events.  Egon points out that it’s not legal to suggest a poncho can repel ghosts, especially with Peter’s name on it.  Peter adds that his father is a notorious con man.  He puts the theory to the test as Slimer bull rushes the poncho while Peter stands to the side like a matador.  “Useless it won’t even stop Slimer!”  Peter says as he slams the poncho to the ground.  I’m surprised Slimer didn’t slime Peter in the process, it seemed like an obvious thing to do considering the shows history of overplaying that gag, I’m glad they didn’t.

Why does this seem to explain a lot?

Enter Peter’s father, an excellent looking character indeed.  The two get into it right away with his father calmly blowing off the poncho talk with smooth lines.  Peter talking about the ponchos, “They don’t repel ghosts!”  His father’s sly response, “And they don’t attract them either, what’s the big deal?”  After some brief chatter of what’s legal and what’s not his father claims there aren’t any laws about ghosts.  He offers to cut them in on the ponchos but of course Peter shoots it down.  He tries to get him to stop selling them but its left unclear if that will happen.  As he leaves Peter feels some sorrow for his old man, “He’s a not a bad guy.  He just can’t make an honest buck.”  The character development for Peter in particular shines through in this episode.  Let’s not leave out his physique body as well, where did that come from?

Incredible technique and animation to boot!

It’s unclear how much time passes but the Ghostbusters are at the docks busting some well drawn and animated ghosts.  A dash of theme music is put in for good measure and it makes for a magnificent 30 seconds of ghostbusting.  As they head out they meet a trucker looking for a ship headed toward the, gulp, Parallelogram.  As he drives off, after the guys point to the ship just across the port, Egon wonders who would want to go there.  Ray says, “I would.”  Winston adds, “Yeah I figured you would.”  Ray gives a big smile.  Meanwhile Peter’s father is selling the expedition his latest hot commodity, ghost repelling ponchos of course.  Incredible odds the Ghostbusters having a call at the next dock wouldn’t you say?  It would be certain they need those ponchos now!  I ain’t afraid of no ghost with my poncho.  It figures there are people out there who buy those and that part of the story I believe with no doubt.  Needless to say the expedition gets caught in the Parallelogram, right who would’ve guessed.  They should have known that two for the price of one was too good a bargain!

"Ah nuts." -Egon

Back at the firehouse sometime in the near future a member of the coast guard asks the Ghostbusters to help locate a ship.  He goes on to state he’ll pay any reasonable fee, Ray is so excited he’s clapping his hands.  He’s probably thinking the perfect situation has presented itself to go investigate the Parallelogram; we’ll get paid so Peter has to say yes!  Peter still refuses nonetheless until the coast guard man says, “Ghost repellers.”  Peter decides to check it out thinking his father is going to get him into trouble yet.  Peter’s father hears of the news on TV and feels guilty so he heads out to the ocean in a very small boat.  Admirable but foolish I’d say.  The Ghostbusters as well are headed out on a bigger ship in command of the coast guard.  They stumble upon the Parallelogram and vanish as well, thus setting up the rescue mission of the expedition.

After going through a nifty dimensional portal they arrive in place comprised solely of ectoplasm.  Egon sets the PKE meter to hone in on reality instead of ghost frequency.  It’s a neat concept and should aid well in finding the lost expedition.  I love it when the captain says the boat is running fine considering there isn’t any water underneath them.  The helmsman is steering with all his might in the meantime, is it necessary if you can’t steer anyway?  Aren’t they aimlessly floating along?  Perhaps they can steer but it’s still pretty funny to watch.  Ray picks up a signal but Egon claims it’s too small to be the liner and it must be something else.  They ignore that reading and continue.  What if someone else is trapped in this place though?  Sorry the Ghostbusters only rescue or investigate what they get paid for, true heroes.  It’s not like Peter’s father was nearby.  The ghosts chasing his father sound like the subway ghost trains from the episode Knock, Knock.  His father goes right by the expedition ship and says, “Hey how do you steer in this stuff.”  I’d say that cements my point of the helmsman going steer happy at the wheel.  He drifts away into the unknown, “I don’t think I’ll be able to con my way out of this.”  First you have to admit you have a problem before you can take the next step to correct it.

Quit giving us the 'bug eyes' Winston

The cement theory of steering takes another ‘turn’.  A torpedo is set directly at the Ghostbusters ship and they maneuver enough to avoid it thus proving you can steer.  Perhaps there are steering patches in this dimension like we have signal patches for our cell phones here on earth?  OK, I’ll stop on my steering theory, I’ve gone too far!  I just wanted to make you think; hope you didn’t get a headache.  Egon actually explains it to us as nothing can collide with each other thus getting the name Parallelogram in essence.  It’s something I never picked up on as a kid and the only cool part I liked about this episode was the effects of the Parallelogram gate in the ocean.  However it’s a crumbled up Parallelogram so the lines aren’t necessarily straight.  You with me?

I guess this is how you con your way out?

They find the expedition ship and tow it behind them.  The captain asks, “How much longer?”  I love that question, it reminds me of the kid in the backseat asking if we are there yet.  Dude, I mean captain, we are in an unknown dimension for the most part and are lucky to even be alive, we’ll get there when we get there.  Egon leads them out and the coast guard is thanked for their service, nice.  They also discover “Dr. Venkman’s” small boat alongside them, referring to Peter’s father of course.  Peter thinks a moment before they decide to go back in after him.  It’s subtle but it’s great to see him struggle with the mere idea of saving his father from the Parallelogram.  Winston offers his help, “Peter we’ll find him.”  Peter responds with, “I ought to leave him here it’s the perfect place for him nothing here is what it seems either.”  What a burn, his father will need a bandage after that one.  They eventually go into a swirling portal that will lead them to Peter’s father as Ray shouts, “We’re all going to die!”  He really wanted to be here though, lighten up Ray and enjoy what’s left of your life.

Part of him wants to blast his father no doubt.

The rescue scene is amazing as Peter’s father is desperately trying to bat away ghosts with an oar.  The theme music starts up that takes the moment to another level as Peter’s father says, “Boys.”  He is extremely relieved to see the guys blasting the ghosts away from him.  It’s merely one word but it represents the character very well.  Peter and Ray have on the rubber insulating gloves that makes any Ghostbuster fan instantly drool upon seeing.  No ghosts get trapped but why should they?  Leave them in this forsaken dimension!  As they head to the boat Peter asks his dad, “What do you have to say for yourself?”  “Thanks for saving the boat; I had to put a deposit on it.”  Can it end any better than that?  Possibly as Ray states, “We’re the only guys to destroy a wonder of the unnatural world.”  Referring of course to the chaos brought down upon the dome when they blasted everywhere in saving Peter’s father.

The ending has a postcard sent to the firehouse as Peter’s learns his father is selling ice boxes to Eskimos.  It ends with Peter causing Ray to laugh wildly as the camera zooms away from the firehouse.  What occurred during that moment is beyond me.

The animation in the episode was amazing and was done by a Japanese company at least for this particular one.  You could tell as it had unique animation throughout that isn’t often seen in the series.  It goes down as one of the best I’ve seen yet but not quite the top.

Rating: 10 of 10

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Night Game

Episode 21

A brief introduction is given by the writer before the episode and its neat how she incorporated her love of baseball into the show.  In the episode Winston is a fan of the sport but that stands to reason considering he is the only one who would probably have an interest in it.  She mentions a goof in the script where Ray refers to the score as points rather than runs but takes the blame for making the mix up.  It’s not a big deal but it’s unusual to see people take blame for something they did wrong.  Anyway I enjoyed this one as a kid and find out now that it still holds up very well.  The question is will Winston be able to save the day with his baseball skills or will the Ghostbusters strike out?  I know a poor pun but would anyone be able to resist saying that for this particular episode?

It begins at night on a minor league baseball field.  I’m guessing its minor league since there isn’t even a stadium.  From the pitcher’s mound come streaks of blue and red spectral energy I dare say.  The streaks dart around the field and eventually return to the mound but clearly something supernatural is stirring.  The music is added perfectly to provide that feeling of otherworldly phenomena.

Ghostbuster policy = bribery

Winston comes strolling into the firehouse in full baseball attire flashing around two tickets.  He asks Ray and Peter if they want to go to the game with him but Ray dismisses the invitation once he finds out the Jaguars are playing.  Apparently they are a very terrible team as Ray would prefer to see the Yankees or Red Sox.  Peter declines as well but does he like anything?  Janine in turn refuses the offer opting to stare at her exciting magazine instead.  Egon comes downstairs with a huge stack of books but declines only offering Winston the story that he knew someone in college who studied the curveball.  Alas Winston is left to bribing Slimer with food to join him.  Slimer agrees by taking Winston’s ball cap off and wearing it.  A wink to the camera by Winston and we’re off.

In the stands Slimer is eating wildly while wearing a jacket and hat.  I usually find nothing remotely interesting about Slimer but it’s a funny brief scene.  The blue and red streaks appear during the game as Winston watches on.  Again they came from the pitcher’s mound.  Curiosity is pulling at Winston’s soul right about now.  Let’s face it its far more interesting than watching a crappy baseball team play.

Don't mess with a forearm like that

Back at the firehouse the guys raze Winston about the Jaguars.  “A jag player dropping a pop fly isn’t exactly a supernatural event.”  Ray states.  “Now if he caught the ball that’d be supernatural.”  Peter adds.  Winston slams his fist on the table claiming, “I know what I saw.”  It’s awesome to see him sticking it to the guys for their disbelief in his story.  He brings out a book he checked out from the library, ah the good old days, and explains to the guys about an old Indian legend.  It states once every 500 years the forces of good and evil battle at the very same spot the Jaguars play their games.  That basically shuts up the mockery from them and they agree to check it out in the morning by visiting the mayor for a permit.  Winston is afraid people may get hurt in the meantime because it could take days to get legal permission to check out the baseball field.

Winston decides to take matters into his own hands without the others knowledge and drives up to the field alone in his car, which is styling.  A security guard lets him in because he’s so excited to meet a ghostbuster in person.  That’s when the spirits come out to play so to speak.  Winston tells the guard to take off and he’ll follow.  The guard calls the ghostbusters and the others come quickly.  “He’s in there.  I gotta tell you this guy is brave.”  The guard informs the ghostbusters who look at the supernatural event surrounding the field.  I always liked that line by the guard, don’t know why.  Egon suggests they all fire their beams at the same spot at the base of the dome now covering the field.  That allows a tunnel to be formed and entry possible by the guys. 

Which side was the umpire on though?

As they arrive inside they notice a supernatural baseball field in place with Winston playing as the shortstop.  I love the creativity of the spirits and the layout of the field, in particular the bases.  They have eyes and a mouth with sharp teeth that look downright creepy.  Winston explains he suggested good and evil play a game of baseball this time since they always conform to their surroundings and do battle based off of it.  It’s a fun idea actually.  Winston has to play in the game since he was present when the spirits showed up, makes enough sense.  The umpire wants the rest of them to go and explains this game is being played for one human soul.  Peter overacts and refuses to leave as the guys think Winston’s soul is on the line.  The umpire allows them to stay but they can’t play, that’s probably a good thing.  Can you imagine Egon, Ray or Peter playing baseball, it couldn’t be pretty.  If evil wins the human soul must do evil’s bidding for 500 years, high stakes.

The game goes on with the score being tied at 0 in the 8^th inning.  Evil gets a hit and Winston catches a pop fly where about 50 or so balls fall toward him, although he makes the play and catches one for the out.  Peter informs the umpire that evil cheated.  I love the response by the umpire as he explains that evil is allowed to cheat because it’s their nature but if good cheats they will forfeit the game.  Good can’t take the ways of evil and still be good.  Basically evil can do whatever they want to win while good must play by the rules, it’s an awesome little speech.  Ray says as they walk away, “I wonder if good is allowed to steal bases?”  Peter replies, “Maybe good just borrows them Ray.”  Amazing dialogue is all I can say.

Cheater's never prosper guys

As evil goes up one run Winston comes over to say how much it means to him that the guys are letting him do this.  They in turn encourage him to go back out there and do his best more or less, what else can they say?  They’re worried he will lose his soul for 500 years!  Good eventually gets a couple of hits prompting evil to call for a relief pitcher, a giant one eyed, long elephant-like trunked beast.  It doesn’t look good for, well, good.  With the pressure mounting and good down to their final out Winston comes up to bat.  The music is on mark as well which adds to the tension.  The umpire informs the guys that evil’s best pitcher is up and Winston may do better against another pitcher.  The guys ponder over cheating since they haven’t been forced to leave.  Peter hates the idea of a game determining Winston’s fate.  Egon remembers everyone must be on a side.  Peter wants to trap the pitcher to save Winston.  It’s apparent they are on the side of good with Winston though as Egon stops Ray and Peter from blasting the pitcher.  Cheating isn’t an option even for them.

Used to be a woolly mammoth?

Cue the theme music as the pitcher prepares to fire and Winston stares it dead on.  It’s a powerful scene as he smashes the ball straight back to the pitcher with supernatural velocity (appropriate I’d say) sending the spirit into the scoring post.  He rounds the bases to the exciting thrall of the music and the celebration of good winning the game.  Evil melts away in defeat for another 500 years while good gets the classic fade out.  Egon wishes he could have studied the umpire a bit more while Peter says, “At least we saved our buddy here.”  Winston says, “What?..  Oh no, you got it all wrong it was your soul we were playing for Peter.”  Peter collapses in the reality if he cheated it would have been his soul suffering instead.  It’s a great little twist ending to a fantastic episode.

I’m not a fan of baseball but this was one of the best episodes yet.  It’s not the top but it earns its points, runs or whatever you want to call it.  The minimal and effective use of Slimer was great while integrating baseball and ghostbusting flawlessly.  I recommend this one to anybody new to the show that is curious about ghostball.

Rating: 10 of 10

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Adventures in Slime and Space

Episode 20

On the Time Life DVD’s of this series you get to watch a commentary with David Gerrold.  I love commentaries especially on the shows or movies I really enjoy.  This is the first episode written by David Gerrold that I got to watch in this series so far.  I never liked this one much, even as a kid and after hearing what the writer thought about it now I still don’t.  It does have its funny dialogue from time to time but the entire concept of referencing anything you can think of is lame.  The writer seemed proud to claim that.  I’m for some references but to do an entire episode on it just takes away from what you could be getting from the characters in the meantime.  From Star Trek, King Kong, The Three Stooges and gobs more it feels like I’m half watching a show about what other show we can put into the viewers brain instead of The Real Ghostbusters.  It has lots of Slimer in it but thankfully it’s not as bad as you might think it would be because of it.  It’s time to go through this episode.

Egon is up to some mad scientist like work at Ghostbuster headquarters.  He is attempting to create a machine that will disintegrate ghosts instead of containing them which is rather neat.  Before we get to the storyline of that let’s point out that an old couple walking on the street below would rather a dynamite factory be in place of the Ghostbusters firehouse.  Why do you ask?  Well an explosion did blast out through the roof of the firehouse but it didn’t seem too bad.  Their reason is they claim to have felt safer when it was a dynamite factory, apparently in past years.  I know it’s supposed to be a joke but it’s lame and really spearheads what this episode is full of, below standard material.

In the firehouse Peter is fully geared up, proton pack and all.  Does he normally do that?  I’d tend to think not and suggest he be loafing off someplace else.  I could see Ray doing it though.  It’s not a big concern but it stood out to me.  In the wake of the explosion as Peter is hanging from the ceiling he mentions they might be able to get a deal working slum clearance.  That’s something I never picked up as a kid and it’s rather funny now.  Egon goes on and on in ridiculous terminology of how he created this new machine.  I know I’ve stated before that I like the “techno-babble” but this is simply too much.  It’s really plain silly and over the top.  Ray also has a blue electric field around him for some reason.  Peter manages be funny enough to get you through this scene but he usually does up to this point in the series.  “Ray I think you’ve been sniffing your capacitors again.”  I don’t know if Peter is referring to the electric field around Ray or the excitement he is portraying but it’s another great line.  He goes on mocking Egon and Ray when Slimer enviably shows up and mumbles incomprehensible words.  “Him I expect to talk like that, not you two.”  Another joke right on target as he is basically blasting that “techno-babble” talk that already went too far.  The lack of a serious attitude Peter portrays is what keeps the overall environment of what’s going on interesting.

The Scientific Approach

Ray has developed a machine to communicate with Slimer which is stupid.  Slimer types what he wants to say into the machine and a voice speaks it.  Why not read what Slimer typed?  I have an even better idea, teach Slimer to write on paper, give me a break.  Peter does rag on it by wondering why they would want to communicate with the green goo in the first place.  It does have some kind of advantage I could imagine but it’s still nice to see Peter’s dislike of Slimer.  Peter slightly threatens to blast Slimer which causes the spook to bounce off the walls and right into Egon’s new machine.  As Slimer exits the machine the green goo multiplies into a bunch of small Slimer’s, great.  One of the dumbest ideas in this show up until now occurs.  The guys try to catch all of these Slimer’s with nets, yes nets.  Why?  Who knows let’s just push on.  Egon explains Slimer has become molecular unstable which is why Slimer is multiplying upon hitting anything.  Obviously they have to clean up this terribly slimy mess which is already spreading faster than diarrhea but Winston has the best idea.  He recommends going out and rounding all the Slimer’s up with the ecto Slimer nets.  Do you see this episode spiraling downward?  That leads to talk about Howard the Duck which anybody born after the 1980’s will never know about and those that do will possibly turn this particular episode off.  The off base references make this one the episode you skip over on the DVD.

After a series of unsuccessful standing without moving their feet the guys, along with Janine, decide to go see the mayor.  The scene in the mayor’s office is full of bad dialogue I’d rather spare you from and me from writing.  It does conclude with the entire gang sliding out the door on slime though, they really push that gag beyond the limits.  Egon comes up with an idea to reverse the effect of the multiplying Slimer’s so they all become magnets to each other.  It’s a good enough solution so they head back to the firehouse to begin.  Once again they slip and slide, yawn, all over the place with their stupid nets.  I did enjoy the part when Egon crashes into the door with his behind sticking out!  He’d have to be knocked out or loopy after that.  One of the little Slimer’s floats right into the machine by itself, way to go guys, I was sure the nets would eventually catch one though.  It comes out blue though, a blue Slimer.  Why is it blue though?  It’s not explained in the show but the writer said just to separate from the other Slimer’s so as to see the change.  If one is absorbing all the little Slimer’s, I’m sick of typing “Slimer”; I think the viewer could tell because that one get’s larger and larger. 

They let Slimer out the window to collect the other ones and wish him good luck.  It’s silly dialogue again except when Peter tells him not to come back.  Eventually the blue Slimer comes back about fifty times bigger than when it left.  It’s also meaner due to the shock therapy from Egon’s machine Ray claims.  Why is it so big though?  There must be a scientific explanation for that too.  Egon states it’s because all the little slimeball’s were feeding on anything they could find so when they merged it all added up basically.  No footage of any of the Slimer’s eating though, pity.  While evil blue Slimer watches Egon says they need helicopters to fire at Slimer in small bursts to reduce its size.  They head to the mayor’s office, again, to ask for said helicopters.  Janine gets snatched up by evil Slimer straight out of the office window.  The mayor whines and complains about the entire situation like a baby, grow up and face the problem man.

 

The guys get their helicopters and can fly them, somehow.  I didn’t much like how they could just fly a helicopter all of a sudden, is this the matrix and they downloaded that information?  There wasn't even a line stating, “Well I’m glad we took all those flying lessons, I hope it pays off.”  That would at least explain it somewhat.  The theme music doesn’t even kick in for the finale, come on their flying four helicopters straight at the empire state building with mounted proton guns!  In the end they reduce Slimer back down to size and color along with plenty of King Kong references for the situation, boo.

I don’t like this episode much which is why it took me so long to get around to finishing this review on it.  Aside from the jokes Peter makes in it it’s not very watchable and I don’t recommend it for anybody new to watching the show.

 

Rating: 3 of 10

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Cry Uncle

Episode 19

Egon’s uncle comes to cash in on a promise Egon made to him in the past.  The result is the Ghostbusters minus one.  Peter, Ray and Winston lack the brain power to capture some ghosts on a call and set out to bring Egon back.  Egon’s uncle allows him to aid his fellow Ghostbusters one last time but that still doesn’t change his mind about Egon staying.  When the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man gets released we’ll see if Egon staying around is the best course of action after all.  This writer comes through again and makes a decent episode worthy of praise in the series.  It’s cool to get some relatives of the Ghostbusters thrown into the series too.

The Ghostbusters are out in the streets chasing after random ghosts.  The first capture sequence is classic as three of the Ghostbusters form a triangular shape around the ghost to blast it.  They lower it down as Ray throws the ghost trap to secure it.  It’s been a busy day thus far as they’ve caught seven ghosts already.  Usually when ghost activity is this high it means something big is on the way but is it this time?  Egon, while still on the call, is calculating when his uncle Cyrus will be arriving to New York City soon.  They have to pick him up apparently.  Ray tries to assure him they will, “We only have, uh, a couple more ghosts to go.”  Egon says, “Math was always Ray’s weakest subject.”  Unless that’s a bad joke I don’t see how that’s possible he’s a scientist and one of the smart Ghostbusters, book wise.  The ghosts they’re chasing are the same exacts ones they will encounter later in the episode so it may be safe to say that they didn’t catch them here.

You're lucky she doesn't have a proton pack Slimer

Back at the firehouse Janine is relaxing with lunch and a book until Slimer eats it all.  You have to love it when Slimer eats an inanimate object!  Janine is obviously pissed but what can you do at this point?  Slimer cowers away after his scolding and goes into the water cooler.  “For your sake I hope you haven’t done that before!”  Janine says.  Uncle Cyrus arrives and introduces himself to Janine.  Janine informs him what type of business this is.  “Ghost busting, nonsense, don’t insult my intelligence.”  Uncle Cyrus answers.  I think it’s safe to say he doesn’t believe in ghosts.  He was cleaning off his glasses, which he is practically blind without, and Janine takes them to get Slimer out of the water cooler.  If he doesn’t believe in ghosts why not let him see Slimer with his own eyes?  Uncle Cyrus leans down to pet Slimer, “You’ve been playing in the mud again haven’t you?”  He really is blind if he thinks Slimer is a cat.

The Ghostbusters return but they walk through the big doors.  Where is ecto-1?  Did they park it outside or leave it at the job site?  Uncle Cyrus refuses to believe Egon caught any ghosts or it’s possible he just wants Egon to meet his own ends.  I’m thinking the ladder to be honest.  He knows if Egon was so intelligent he wouldn’t chase around things that don’t exist right?  Peter quickly introduces everyone to Uncle Cyrus including Winston as a doctor!  Winston tries to decline while Peter hushes him.  It’s my favorite line of the episode.  Another call comes in as Janine tells them where to go.  Winston let’s Uncle Cyrus know that ‘seeing is believing’ in this line of work and he should come along.

A tad off the mark Dr. Venkman

On the call Ray’s gloves are discolored the entire episode which drives me crazy!  They’re colored to match his skin which looks weird.  Winston and Peter found some disturbance in a store but the PKE meter shows nothing.  It turns out to be a bunch of women fighting to the death over 50% off clothing items.  Uncle Cyrus isn’t impressed and questions defiantly if these are the ghosts.  Peter has an answer as usual, “Well no Dr. Spengler but they could be dangerous.  Maybe we outta zap them anyway.”  A ghost then shows up and scares the crap out of Ray forcing him to bump into Uncle Cyrus, knocking off his glasses.  You guessed it, Ray then steps on the glasses causing Uncle Cyrus to be blind while the Ghostbusters handle the ghosts.  Uncle Cyrus apparently doesn’t see a thing so his mind set of not believing in ghosts can remain intact.  These are different random ghosts than before and the black ooze with a million eyeballs is an awesome one.

Without Egon their collective IQ is suffering

Later on Uncle Cyrus pulls the old ‘You never broke a promise to me before’ line to coax Egon into helping him at his research lab some great distance away.  Egon and Uncle Cyrus escape in the night, apparently, as Janine finds the note of abandonment in the morning.  They don’t know, other than where he went, what entirely is going to happen now.  The scene ends and when it returns the firehouse is the setting.  I only note this because Janine is giving some very suggestive moans that seem to be echoing into the streets.  I’ll stop now as I’m sure it was meant as cries that Egon is gone but it’s still funny in a way.  A call comes in and they must go without Egon.  Here they run into the same ghosts from the beginning of the episode.  Ray informs the guys these particular ghosts only reveal themselves seldom so that poses a problem now.  I guess the ghosts felt like showing themselves earlier as they spooked the citizens of New York City.  The Ghostbusters minus Egon fail miserably and retreat.

Peter’s plan is to go to the research lab and get Egon back.  Well that’s a bit obvious but they trick Uncle Cyrus into thinking it’s their final case.  They want him to see Egon in action for real this time so as to let Egon stay.  I suppose a promise is unbreakable in the Spengler family but trickery flourishes!  It’s really great to try to get Uncle Cyrus on the case of the unseen ghosts too.  When they get to New York City Uncle Cyrus decides to be a turd and not go on the call.  Now what?  The master plan has failed before they even go on the call again.

Alien-tech courtesy of Dr. Egon Spengler

Upon arriving back at Central Park Egon has prepared some special specs for them to wear so as to see the ghosts.  He polarized the lenses to accept the ghost’s frequencies.  I always like the lingo that makes it sound so truthful.  They do refer to these ghosts as poltergeists throughout the show but that is contrary to what has been stated in episodes past at this point.  I think the writers just liked using the word poltergeist because it sounds supernatural.  They bust the ghosts with ease in a short but very much, cool scene.  Winston yells in excitement, “What a team!”  After realizing their team is about to be minus a member they sulk back to the firehouse.  Meanwhile Uncle Cyrus is up to no good as he messes around with the containment unit.  He just had to push a couple of buttons that happened to be code for ‘Let the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man out’.   Janine hits the emergency button that connects to ecto-1 to let them know that there is a problem at the firehouse.

He did what?!

The destruct-or is back!

It’s awesome to see the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man out and pissed off!  He looks mad and ready to exact some revenge on the Ghostbusters.  I take it he’s a fragment of the ectoplasm from the specter ghosts in a previous episode ‘Citizen Ghost’.  It’s all I can think of to explain his ghost form as he shifts through the firehouse.  Ray asks, “Has he gotten bigger since the last time?”  Peter replies, “I told you not to put veggies in the containment unit.”  How would vegetables make him bigger?  Don’t people eat more of those when they’re on a diet to lose weight?  He should have said something like stop putting bacon and eggs in the containment unit even though that would still sound stupid.  Luckily in this surprising and unexpected situation Winston has kept cool and come up with a plan.  They lose the big guy and set up a trap.  They use a cable to give him a trip while spreading out four ghost traps where he should fall.  To get his attention Egon yells, “Hey, umm, FATBOY!”  Stay Puft takes exception and comes for him even though the animation puts Peter in Egon’s place!

Your time is cut short I'm afraid Mr. Stay Puft

I’m sure Ray was relieved that he wasn’t responsible for Stay Puft’s release this time and the Ghostbusters trap the big marshmallow in four traps.  It’s funny that he sounds like a pig at times but they had to come up with some sound for him!  Back at the firehouse Egon states he is ready to head back but Uncle Cyrus says he has very important scientific work to do here.  I believe that is his way of saying ‘Sorry I screwed around with the equipment and let a giant marshmallow ghost out’.  He owed it to Egon to release that promise but will we ever see Uncle Cyrus again?  Will he be too embarrassed to show his face in this series again?  Slimer almost scares that manly mustache off of Uncle Cyrus by popping out of his water cup as Ray yells, “I take it back Peter, fry him!”  AWESOME!  Ray has finally understood that Slimer needs to be blasted!  Why does it end on that note?  Let’s see the little green turd get his true desserts.

Uncle Cyrus startled!

The release of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man saves the episode ‘big’ time. I loved this episode as a kid due to his appearance but then again anytime he was on the show I practically went in my pants in excitement.  I enjoyed the introduction but sadly the only appearance of Uncle Cyrus.  It’s a solid episode and should be loved by any fan of the series even without the theme music this time.

Rating: 7 of 10

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