"The Real Ghost Busters" (1986) TV series 1986-1991

Directors:

Masakazu Higuchi
Art Vitello

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Release Date:

13 September 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

They're here to save the world again!

Plot:

The continuing adventures of the staff of the ghost removal service.

Plot Keywords:

Ghostbuster | Ghost | Secretary | Based On Film | Free Spirit

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Frank Welker	...	Dr. Raymond Stantz / ... (140 episodes, 1986-1991)
Maurice LaMarche	...	Dr. Egon Spengler / ... (140 episodes, 1986-1991)
Arsenio Hall	...	Winston Zeddemore / ... (91 episodes, 1986-1987)
Lorenzo Music	...	Dr. Peter Venkman / ... (78 episodes, 1986-1987)
Laura Summer	...	Janine Melnitz / ... (75 episodes, 1986-1988)
Dave Coulier	...	Dr. Peter Venkman / ... (62 episodes, 1987-1991)
Kath Soucie	...	Janine Melnitz / ... (62 episodes, 1987-1991)
Buster Jones	...	Winston Zeddemore / ... (49 episodes, 1988-1991)

Series Directed by
Richard Raynis		(2 episodes, 1986)
Will Meugniot		(2 episodes, 1989)
Masakazu Higuchi		(unknown episodes)
Art Vitello		(unknown episodes)

Series Writing credits
Dan Aykroyd		(140 episodes, 1986-1991)
Harold Ramis		(140 episodes, 1986-1991)
Richard Mueller		(23 episodes, 1987-1991)
J. Michael Straczynski		(21 episodes, 1986-1990)
Len Janson		(20 episodes, 1986-1991)
Chuck Menville		(20 episodes, 1986-1991)
Michael Reaves		(14 episodes, 1986-1987)
Mark Edward Edens		(10 episodes, 1987)
Pamela Hickey		(9 episodes, 1987-1990)
Dennys McCoy		(9 episodes, 1987-1990)
Michael Edens		(6 episodes, 1987)
Jules Dennis		(5 episodes, 1990-1991)
Marc Scott Zicree		(4 episodes, 1986-1987)
Bruce Reid Schaefer		(3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Kathryn M. Drennan		(3 episodes, 1987)
Craig Miller		(3 episodes, 1987)
Mark Nelson		(3 episodes, 1987)
Steve Perry		(3 episodes, 1987)
Tony Marino		(3 episodes, 1988-1990)
Lawrence G. DiTillio		(2 episodes, 1987-1990)
Arthur Byron Cover		(2 episodes, 1987)
David Gerrold		(2 episodes, 1987)
Jean-Marc Lofficier		(2 episodes, 1987)
Randy Lofficier		(2 episodes, 1987)
Lydia Marano		(2 episodes, 1987)
Pat Allee		(2 episodes, 1989)
Ben Hurst		(2 episodes, 1989)
Sean Roche		(2 episodes, 1990)

Series Produced by
Michael C. Gross	....	executive producer (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Andy Heyward	....	producer / supervising producer (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Joe Medjuck	....	executive producer (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Jean Chalopin	....	producer (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tetsuo Katayama	....	producer (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Gaetano Vaccaro	....	associate producer (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Will Meugniot	....	producer (2 episodes, 1989)
John O'Sullivan Francis Jr.	....	supervising associate producer (2 episodes, 1989)
Richard Raynis	....	producer (unknown episodes)
Art Vitello	....	producer (unknown episodes)

Series Original Music by
Shuki Levy		(2 episodes, 1989)
Haim Saban		(2 episodes, 1989)

Series Art Direction by
Patricia Wong		(2 episodes, 1989)

Series Production Management
Winnie Chaffee	....	production supervisor / executive in charge of production (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Thierry P. Laurin	....	executive in charge of post-production (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Shigeru Akagawa	....	production manager (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Mark Galvin	....	executive in charge of post-production (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hiroshi Toita	....	production manager (3 episodes, 1986-1987)

Series Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yasuo Kageyama	....	unit director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Yasuyoshi Mikamoto	....	unit director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Katsumi Takasuga	....	unit director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tomomasa Yamazaki	....	unit director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Masayuki Kojima	....	unit director (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Minoru Okazaki	....	unit director (2 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hiroshi Saitô	....	unit director (2 episodes, 1986-1987)

Series Art Department
Victor Dal Chele	....	storyboard supervisor (13 episodes, 1987)
Michael Swanigan	....	storyboard artist / storyboard cleanup (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Kevin Altieri	....	storyboard artist / storyboard supervisor (2 episodes, 1986)
Eddie Fitzgerald	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Brian Murray	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Brad Rader	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Dan Riba	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
David Simons	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Tokoshima	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Pat Agnasin	....	storyboard cleanup (2 episodes, 1989)
Bill Barry	....	prop designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Kelly James	....	storyboard cleanup (2 episodes, 1989)
Don Manuel	....	assistant storyboard supervisor (2 episodes, 1989)
Frank Paur	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1989)
Stan Phillips	....	storyboard supervisor (2 episodes, 1989)
Vincenzo Trippetti	....	storyboard artist (2 episodes, 1989)
Dan St. Pierre	....	storyboard artist (unknown episodes)
John Wong	....	designer (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Gregory K. Bowron	....	track reader / dialogue editor (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Michael J. Cowan	....	sound engineer / supervising sound engineer (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Richard S. Gannon	....	sound effects editor / dialogue editor (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Michelle Rochester	....	track reader / dialogue editor (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Theresa Gilroy-Nielsen	....	dialogue editor / track supervisor (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Jim Hodson	....	sound re-recording mixer (3 episodes, 1986-1989)
Trudy Alexander	....	track reader (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Deborah Broughton	....	track reader (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Lars Floden	....	track reader (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Alan Gelbart	....	track reader (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Kelly Hall	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
John Harris	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Norman LeBlanc	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Oliver Manton	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Terry L. Noss	....	track reader (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Gary Oppenheimer	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Brian Ravok	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
William Ross	....	dialogue editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Rob Rule	....	track reader / track supervisor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Elvida Abella	....	dialogue editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Madeleine Bascom	....	recording assistant / sound recording assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
Heather Elliott	....	dialogue editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Richard Bruce Elliott	....	supervising sound editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Ron Fedele	....	dialogue editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Robert T. Gillis	....	dialogue editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Anna Granfors	....	track reader (2 episodes, 1989)
Robert Schooley	....	recording assistant / sound recording assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
John Tirpak	....	recording assistant / sound recording assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
Mark Galvin	....	sound post producer (unknown episodes)

Series Visual Effects by
Andy Jolliff	....	technical director: opening titles (unknown episodes)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Teruo Abe	....	camera director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hidekazu Kojima	....	camera director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Masayoshi Miyakojima	....	camera director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Koichi Nagano	....	camera director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hiroki Nakatani	....	camera director (3 episodes, 1986-1987)

Series Animation Department
Adriana M. Galvez	....	color key supervisor / color background painter / ... (29 episodes, 1988-1989)
Bob Camp	....	character designer (8 episodes, 1988)
Bruce W. Timm	....	character designer (8 episodes, 1988)
John Calmette	....	color background designer / background painter / ... (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Kazuo Terada	....	animation director / animation supervisor (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Greg Bailey	....	animator: pre-production / lip sync checker (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Hervé Bédard	....	animator: pre-production / lip sync checker (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Brenda Chapman	....	animator: pre-production / lip sync checker (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tetsu Honda	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Michael Kaweski	....	animator: pre-production / lip sync checker (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Masato Kimura	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Satoe Nishiyama	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Shigeru Ôno	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Masae Ôtake	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Gabi Payne	....	character designer (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Satoko Shiho	....	color stylist (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Yukitaka Shishikura	....	color stylist (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Masao Takeda	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Woody Yocum	....	animator: pre-production / lip sync checker (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tadamasa Yoshida	....	key animator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Paul Torres	....	key character designer / character designer (3 episodes, 1987-1989)
Derdad Aghamalian	....	color key artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Marek Buchwald	....	key background designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Phillip Felix	....	character designer (2 episodes, 1986)
David S. Karoll	....	color key artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Shunji Ôga	....	animation advisor (2 episodes, 1986)
Nicole Pascal	....	color key artist (2 episodes, 1986)
Everett Peck	....	character designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Colette Van Mierlo	....	key background designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Bruce Zick	....	key background designer (2 episodes, 1986)
Enzo Baldi	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Kathi Castillo	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Eufronio R. Cruz	....	background designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Michael Diederich	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Gerald Forton	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Ann Guenther	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Tim Gula	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Dale Hendrickson	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Kent Holaday	....	animator: lip assignment / animator: lip-synch (2 episodes, 1989)
Carlos Huante	....	key character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Bill Knoll	....	animator: lip assignment / animator: lip-synch (2 episodes, 1989)
Paula Lafond	....	additional character designer (2 episodes, 1989)
Abel Laxamana	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Hector Martinez	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Robert Schaefer	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Richard Ziehler-Martin	....	background painter / color background painter (2 episodes, 1989)
Atsushi Aono	....	animator (unknown episodes)
Jim McDermott	....	character designer (unknown episodes)
Rie Nishiyama	....	animator (unknown episodes)

Series Editorial Department
Richard Bruce Elliott	....	supervising editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Theresa Gilroy-Nielsen	....	assistant editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Greg LaPlante	....	post-production coordinator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
V. Kim Latimer	....	post-production coordinator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Firooz Adelamini	....	post-production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
Kimberly Cronin	....	assistant executive in charge of post-production (2 episodes, 1989)
Nye Tucker	....	post-production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)

Series Music Department
Andrew Dimitroff	....	musical director (136 episodes, 1986-1990)
Shuki Levy	....	composer: additional music (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Haim Saban	....	composer: additional music (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Marty Wereski	....	supervising music editor (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Stuart Goetz	....	music editor / supervising music editor (2 episodes, 1989)

Series Other crew
J. Michael Straczynski	....	story editor (14 episodes, 1986-1990)
Lori Crawford	....	script coordinator (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Phil R. Defibaugh	....	videotape supervisor (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Lars Floden	....	format editor (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Marsha Goodman	....	voice director (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
William A. Ruiz	....	production assistant / assistant script coordinator (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Minoru Terao	....	translator (5 episodes, 1986-1989)
Bernie Brillstein	....	executive consultant (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Rick Dempsey	....	talent coordinator (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Ivan Reitman	....	executive consultant (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Kazuko Yamamoto	....	production assistant / translator (4 episodes, 1986-1989)
Hatsue Abe	....	translator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Ken Duer	....	production coordinator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Vic Kephart	....	production assistant (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Julia Kim	....	production assistant (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Michael Lee Pole	....	production assistant / production coordinator (3 episodes, 1986-1987)
Tadatoshi Horiguchi	....	translator (2 episodes, 1986)
Les Perkins	....	voice director (2 episodes, 1986)
Jack Spillum	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 1986)
Elvida Abella	....	videotape supervisor (2 episodes, 1989)
Lynn Helsel	....	assistant script coordinator / production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
William P. Magee	....	format editor (2 episodes, 1989)
Mark McCorkle	....	talent coordinator (2 episodes, 1989)
Noriko Norvell	....	translator (2 episodes, 1989)
Michael Pole	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 1989)
George Robinson	....	assistant script coordinator / production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
Michelle Russo	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)
Rumio Satoh	....	translator (2 episodes, 1989)
Chris Takami	....	production coordinator (2 episodes, 1989)
Kurt Weldon	....	production assistant (2 episodes, 1989)

Production Companies

• DiC Enterprises
• Columbia Pictures Television

Distributors

• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1986) (USA) (TV)
• Coca-Cola Telecommunications (1987) (USA) (TV) (syndication)
• RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video (1987) (USA) (video)
• AVRO Television (1987-1990) (Netherlands) (TV)
• Cinema Club (2000) (UK) (video)
• Columbia TriStar Domestic Television (2001)
• Sony Pictures Television (2002-)

Other Companies

• T Nishimura  camera direction (1986-1987)

Also Known As:

The Real Ghostbusters (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

30 min (140 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:G | USA:TV-Y7 | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp

Company:

DiC Enterprises

Trivia:

Lorenzo Music first supplied the voice for Peter Venkman who was played by Bill Murray in the films. Reportedly, Murray did not like that his character sounded like Garfield and the producers replaced Music with Dave Coulier. Music did provide the voice of Garfield until his death. Bill Murray later supplied the voice for Garfield in Garfield (2004).

Quotes:

[Egon takes Peter to the opera]
Peter Venkman (I): The Met? I thought you said the Mets.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Ghost Busters (2009) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Hometown Hero

Good but best approached with an open mind (No spoilers)

Despite its troubled development history, this show does have a lot of redeeming features. Lower your expectations and this series is good. Living up to the impression created by the Ghostbuster movie may have been a tall order for a cartoon and could not really be plausible on technical grounds even if some would like to entertain a flawed perspective that this series was better than the movie simply due to quantity of content thrown at you. The series was however, explicitly treated as a continuation of the movie rather than a spin-off. The second movie however, pretty much ignored every single event or progression that happened in this series.

But you cannot help but compare this series to the movie which started it all. RGB almost completely lacks the primary strengths of the movie ie Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson. Admittedly, trying to make animated equivalents of the mentioned would have been an impossible task. What you get are a downgraded and very different bunch of characters for the show, more tuned towards catering to younger audiences instead of adult audiences that the movie was intended for. Their personalities considerably changed towards the more negative towards the end of the show.

Somehow or the other, they've managed to close most of the gaps between the animated Egon and Harold Ramis as well as the animated Janine and Annie Potts, and they are one of the primary reasons to watch this show. However, the other three characters are nothing like what you saw in the movies and have been severely dumbed down for the kiddies. Sadly, the character of Stantz suffers most from this change. Winston is no longer God fearing and curious, Stantz is one dimensional, performing the occasional technical tasks and Venkman is a wise crack spewing flirt with not a fraction of Bill Murray's charm or lechery. Getting to the positive, they have included Slimer in the mainstream, who is a great addition as a character. The annoying Lois Tully is gone for the most part.

Even so, these are a fairly good bunch of characters when you compare them with characters from other cartoons of the time. Heck, this animated series was actually better than most shows of the 80s, including the ones which were and are far more popular than it, including Thundercats, Transformers, TMNT, GI Joe, MASK and a bunch of others. Who can complain when you get to see your favourite team, or something resembling your favourite team, go up against all sorts of generic ghosts and Lovecraftian creatures from a vast beastiary? Don't expect scares though as the ghosts are really on the wackier side, which is actually a plus.

The story lines of each episode are fairly simple and straightforward and the most interesting ones were the ones which had hilarious circumstances rather than those that tried to squeeze in a serious plot. They are imaginative enough but not really gripping. J Michael Stracenzki of Babylon 5 fame has even written 21 episodes for this series, but his episodes are by far the worst and most boring episodes in the series, even though those particular episodes would be the most well known, for reasons both good and bad. It is very sad that after the first two seasons, this show became further dumbed down and both writing and production values plummeted. This resulted in two questionable spinoffs, namely the "Junior Ghostbusters" and a show focused on Slimer, neither of which were well received leading to the ultimate flop of this show. Even so, this series had some great and memorable episodes and out of 140 episodes, 20 to 30 were really good.

The animation is passable, ranging from decent to mediocre to sometimes poor, depending on the setting, scenes and complexity of character and object motion. As the seasons progressed, its Japanese flavour began to intensify and it ultimately yielded a anime look. Overall, by 80s standards, it was good and perhaps barely passable by today's animation standards. Dialog was however, always well written, even though the voice acting and syncing was not so good.

Sound and Music was very well done. The Music is also one of this show's strengths, it even included some cheesy but charming battle sequences set to pop music tracks by a dedicated music group called Tahiti. Not many of their tracks had a paranormal flavour though, and some of them were completely unrelated to what was actually going on during screenplay.

Overall, the RGB series is an extremely entertaining one, despite many flaws and shortcomings. While the Real Ghostbusters series may be the weakest albeit longest running part of the franchise which includes two Live Action movies and another brilliant cartoon called Extreme Ghostbusters, approaching the RGB series with a open mind should give it the credit it deserves. It may not be on par with the movies and as a cartoon, it is far inferior and not even comparable to the Extreme Ghostbusters (XGB, which incidentally had a lot of the original RGB team working on it as well) series but its still very good, all things considered. If you've seen XGB and not RGB, please lower your expectations even further and keep a really open mind before viewing RGB for the first time.