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In Cry Uncle, when Egon's Uncle Cyrus comes to visit, the Ghostbusters learn that he is ashamed of his nephew's line of work. The guys decide to prove to Egon's uncle that ghosts are real, but not all goes as planned.[2]

Cast[]

West 12th Ghosts

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Janine Melnitz

Slimer

Cyrus Spengler

Garment Ghosts

Poltergeists

Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

Equipment[]

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

Electrical Gloves

P.K.E. Meter

Ecto-1

Ecto-Visors

Containment Unit

Locations[]

West 12th Street

Firehouse

Garment District

Central Park

Spengler Laboratories

Plot[]

It seemed like a quiet and peaceful day on West 12th Street. However, ghosts suddenly appeared and terrorized innocent civilians. Egon popped out from a manhole cover and the other Ghostbusters opened fire. Ray is excited they captured six Full Torsoed Apparitions and a Vaporous Phantasm. Egon is distracted with a calculation as Ray ran off. Egon announced his Uncle Cyrus would arrive at the airport in 20 minutes and 57 seconds... approximately. The Ghostbusters don't make to the airport because they get a little busy capturing some more ghosts and Cyrus arrived at the Firehouse by taxi cab. He is disappointed by the interior and met Janine. Unable to see without the aid of his glasses, Cyrus mistook Slimer for a pet cat. Soon after, the Ghostbusters arrived with four full Traps.

Cyrus declared Egon to be a brilliant mind and it was not suitable for a Spengler to be anything as unscientific as a Ghostbuster - at least in his eyes. The guys are a speechless at being called mere exterminators but before they could respond, the alarm sounded off. The guys took Cyrus with them to a job in the Garment District. Egon detected nothing on the P.K.E. Meter but ghosts suddenly appeared at a 50% off sale. Cyrus' glasses are knocked off and he didn't see anything.

Back at the Firehouse, Cyrus approached Egon and reminded him of a promise he made to help if it was ever needed. Cyrus revealed he needed Egon to help run his new research lab. Egon reluctantly agreed go back to the Midwest and left a letter behind. The next morning, Janine is visibly shaken from the news but a call came in about Poltergeists in Central Park. The three remaining Ghostbusters are no match and are forced to retreat. It appeared that Egon's new job involved working on lab rats. This quickly bored Egon and he started to get homesick and missed busting ghosts. Janine and the guys sneak in and paid a visit to Egon. They decided to ask Cyrus for Egon's help for one last case, hoping it would also convince Cyrus to release Egon from his promise.

At the Firehouse, Cyrus declined the invite to go with the Ghostbusters to Central Park. Egon and Ray debuted Ecto-Visors with polarized lens set to accept Poltergeist frequencies. It's a success and the ghosts are trapped. Meanwhile, Cyrus and Janine are downstairs at the Containment Unit. While Janine took some data down, Cyrus touched several buttons on the Containment Unit that he shouldn't have. They ran to hide under the stairs. The Containment Unit opened and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man escaped. As he grew to regular size, Janine set off an emergency alert to Ecto-1. She, Cyrus, and Slimer ran outside just as Stay Puft forced his way outside.

The Ghostbusters heard the alarm beeping in the car which meant there was trouble at the Firehouse. Before they could reach the Firehouse, they saw Cyrus, Janine and Slimer running down the street with Stay Puft close behind them. Ray realized Stay Puft had escaped from the Containment Unit and Peter said this was big, big trouble. Janine, Cyrus and Slimer all got into Ecto-1 and Winston drove away with Stay Puft following them. As they drove, Cryus watched Stay Puft following them and became convinced that these ghosts are definitely real! The people in the city saw Stay Puft and began running away in fear. The Ghostbusters knew that they had to recapture Stay Puft right away, before he did any harm to the city but Egon said that Stay Puft was too big for the ghost traps that they had with them in Ecto-1. Winston then said that Stay Puft was actually too big for them to use just one trap by itself.

They formulated a plan. Winston drove faster to get far enough away from Stay Puft. Egon took charge and had a cable tied to Ecto's bumper. Four traps were laid out on the ground and Egon ordered Cyrus to drive Ecto forward and tighten the cable when he gave the signal. When Stay Puft appeared, he started going in the opposite direction but Egon got Stay Puft's attention by calling him "Fatboy." Stay Puft, with an angry look, turned around and headed for them. Cyrus complied and the cable tripped Stay Puft. He fell right on the traps. The Ghostbusters opened fire on Stay Puft and opened the traps. Stay Puft was completely trapped in the four units. Back at the Firehouse, Cyrus was now a believer and released Egon from his promise. After seeing how Egon and the others handled that situation with Stay Puft, Cyrus now knew what Egon really did and was up against. Cyrus said that Egon belonged with the other Ghostbusters because their work was very important. Janine and the other Ghostbusters were glad to have Egon back. Cyrus proposed a toast but Slimer popped out of his cup.

Trivia[]

    • The episode was recorded on July 16, 1986.[3]
  • "Cry Uncle" is an episode all about Egon's relationship with his uncle Cyrus.
  • When Ray announced they caught six Full Torsoed Apparitions and a Vaporous Phantasm, Peter chimes in with a rendition of a verse from "The 12 Days of Christmas."[4]
  • Math was always Ray's weakest subject.[5]
  • Ray wears Electrical Gloves but they are a miscolored flesh tone.[6]
  • Winston admits to Uncle Cyrus that he didn't believe in the paranormal at first either.[7]
  • When the guys and Janine visit Egon at Spengler Laboratories, Egon remarks it's over 1500 miles away from New York.[8]
  • Based on distance, Spengler Laboratories would be in South Dakota, near Rapid City, which also satisfies the remark the Labs are in the Midwest. [9][10]
  • Peter refers to the Poltergeist with the basketball as "Kareem Abdul-DeGhostie," a nod to NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.[11]
  • In the basement, there is an Emergency beacon that can send a danger alert to Ecto-1.
  • Four to five Traps are used to capture the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
  • This episode marks the first time of many to include the Marshmallow Man, however, like in the Pilot, he is a villain and not an ally.
  • This episode marks the first and only the time the entire front of the Containment Unit opening and simultaneously closing by itself.
  • On page 9 of Ghostbusters International #8, the look of Central Park is inspired from how it appeared in "Cry Uncle"
    • In panel 2, Janine's Coke cup from "Cry Uncle" is present on her desk.
  • On page 11 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #2, the Containment Unit opens like its animated counterpart did in "Cry Uncle".

Animation Errors[]

  • When Ray turns the key in Ecto-1, only the key turns.
  • When Egon runs up and calls Stay Puft "Fatboy" he turns into Peter and then when he runs back, he is back to Egon.

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Cry Uncle" (1986).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 7. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Cry Uncle" (1986).
  4. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 02:20-02:22). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "And an ectoplasmic partridge in a pear tree."
  5. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 03:02-03:04). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Math always was Ray's weakest subject."
  6. Ray Stantz (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 03:20). Time Life Entertainment.
  7. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 07:18-07:22). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "Dr. Spengler, I didn't believe in all this ghost stuff either until I saw it."
  8. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 14:22-14:24). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "But New York is over 1500 miles from here."
  9. SpenglerLaboratoriesReference.jpg
  10. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:20-11:24). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "He went back to the Midwest to do research at his uncle's lab."
  11. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Cry Uncle" (1987) (DVD ts. 16:04-16:07). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Okay, dodge this Kareem Abdul-DeGhostie!"

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]


RGB DVD Boxset Features[]


 
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