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In Elementary My Dear Winston, the fictional spirits of Sherlock Holmes, his trusted aide Watson, and the nefarious Moriarty materialize in Manhattan. Moriarty begins absorbing evil from various modern-day sources, determined to transform into a real, corporal villain! Winston soon learns that the game's afoot![2]

Cast[]

Professor James Moriarty

Bert and Eddie

Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes

Dr. John H. Watson

Slimer

Ray Stantz

Janine Melnitz

Winston Zeddemore

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Louis Tully

Mrs. Beagle

Equipment[]

Ecto-1

Containment Unit

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

P.K.E. Meter

Items[]

Holmes' Motor Car

Locations[]

Firehouse

Museum of Crime

New York City Public Library

Plot[]

Moriarty and his Hound arrived in New York City looking for evil spirit energy which would make him a solid person. After Moriarty interrogated two frightened fishermen, he summoned the Hound and ordered it to seek out evil. The following day, another pair of ghosts appeared. They exited a subway station stairwell in a vintage motor car and drove through the street amid traffic. As Watson was aghast at people yelling at them, Sherlock Holmes instructed him to go south. Just outside the Firehouse, Moriarty and Hound arrived and sensed much evil somewhere inside. Slimer, Ray, Egon, and Winston played football in the garage bay. Slimer missed a pass and the football scattered a bunch of papers Janine was working on. Egon tried to show everyone a complex play but his device shorted out. Winston checked on Peter who was at his desk listening to Bang Mousekiwitz.

Moriarty and Hound turned intangible and sneaked past everyone to head to the basement. However, everyone felt cold spots. Louis and Janine were distracted by a bunch of scattered papers when Louis "caught" the football. Downstairs, Moriarty focused to temporarily corporealize and tried to open the Containment Unit. However, the alarm went off and Moriarty didn't stay around. The guys raced down and Winston closed the Containment Unit. Ray believed Winston's errant pass knocked the release lever by accident. As Winston expressed his relief over the unit having the time delay, Holmes and Watson arrived. The others opened fire on them but they soon exited the building. Winston had a feeling there was something familiar about them. Outside in an alley, Holmes inspected a trail of green ectoplasm and the pair departed.

Upstairs in the rec room, Winston looked through a book and found a picture of Sherlock Holmes. He looked exactly like one of the ghosts they encountered. The alarm rang and Janine announced there was a call from the Museum of Crime in Uptown Manhattan. At the museum, Moriarty absorbed evil energy from all the displays and became stronger. The Ghostbusters were spotted and they blasted Moriarty and the Hound. However, the streams bounced right off them. Moriarty used his telekinetic powers to pin the guys to the wall with various sharp implements. He then raised a guillotine blade and prepared to kill the Ghostbusters. Holmes and Watson arrived just in time. Watson crashed the motor car into the blade while Holmes confronted Moriarty. The Hound imprisoned Watson in its rib cage and left the museum. Moriarty left as well. As Holmes chased after the Hound, Peter trapped him. Oddly, Winston was upset.

Back at the Firehouse, no one believed Winston's claim they just met the ghosts of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, Professor Moriarty, and the Hound of Baskervilles. Egon brought up the fact they were fictional characters and never existed, making it impossible for them to manifest as ghosts. They all soon heard violin music from the Ghost Trap. Winston heard enough and released Holmes from the trap. Holmes asked Winston to help guide him around the city. After Winston agreed, Holmes changed his clothes to period attire and summoned his motor car. The pair drove right through the wall. Egon and Ray soon concluded this was a case of belief made manifest. Winston and Holmes arrived at the New York City Public Library. The motor car vanished, proving they were close to finding Moriarty. They stumbled upon a play in progress and found Moriarty. The Ghostbusters arrived to provide back up but Moriarty and the Hound escaped again.

Sherlock Holmes revealed if Moriarty absorbed enough evil, he could solidify and become a living person. They raced back to the Firehouse to stop Moriarty from opening the Containment Unit. Egon tried to hail Janine on the radio but she was cornered by the Hound. Louis tried to help but got locked in a closet by Moriarty. Ecto-1 pulled in and Moriarty ran for the basement. Ray sneaked a trap to Slimer and he slid it under Ecto. As Ray opened the trap below the Hound, Slimer pulled Watson to safety. Meanwhile, Moriarty opened the Containment Unit and started absorbing energy from ghosts. Winston noticed the football from earlier on the staircase and threw it at the release level. The unit started pulling ghosts back in. Moriarty turned and confronted Holmes once again. Just like in the last Sherlock story, Holmes grabbed Moriarty and they fell over the edge. This time, they got sucked into the Containment Unit. Winston raced down and closed the unit up. Janine and Louis joined the others as a farewell message left on the football. They suddenly heard Holmes' violin music and left the room to go eat lunch.

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on June 14, 1989.[3]
  • Winston mentions it was currently the month of April.[4]
  • Sherlock Homes explained he knew the Ghostbusters' names by reading their uniform name tags. The name was only visible in this episode on Egon's tag for the scene whereas the names are always visible in the live action versions of the characters. In secondary canon, the name tags could also be seen the cover of NOW Comic's "The Real Ghostbusters in Ghostbusters II" Issue #2.
  • When this episode was aired, the DIC were contacted by Dan Aykroyd. He and Harold Ramis were impressed by the originality of the concept that a ghost had come into being through people's belief in them. [citation needed]
  • When the Ghostbusters confront Moriarty at the Museum of Crime, Peter imitates the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz" movie.[5]
  • Then at the New York City Public Library, a woman is surprised to see Holmes and Winston, stating they aren't Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz. She also confused Moriarty for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.[6]
  • Moriarty references one of his nicknames, the "Napoleon of Crime." Peter counters with a pun on Caesar and Caesar salad.
  • Ray brings up Winston's interest in detective mysteries.[7]
    • Winston previously in episode "Boo-Dunit" was shown to enjoy mystery stories.
  • When the Ghostbusters pull up to the New York City Public Library, Peter reminisces about how their first case was there, as seen in the first film, Ghostbusters.[8]
  • When Egon explains belief made manifest, Peter mentions the Star Wars character Darth Vader.[9]
  • Reichenbach Falls is a series of waterfalls in central Switzerland. In Arthur Conan Doyle's short story "The Adventure of the Empty House," Sherlock Holmes defeated Professor Moriarty on May 4, 1891 at Reichenbach.
  • Belief made manifest is a theme that later resurfaces on Extreme Ghostbusters' "Deadliners."

Errors[]

  • At around the 13 minute mark, the trim on Peter's jumpsuit is pink.
  • At around the 14:23 mark, Ray is briefly voiced by Buster Jones by mistake.

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1989). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 32. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1989). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989).
  4. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 05:29-05:31). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "Egon, this is April!"
  5. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 10:16-10:20). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "And your little dog, too! Aha ha ha ha ha!"
  6. Host (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 16:16-16:22). Time Life Entertainment. Host says: "Yoo hoo! Excuse me. Oh dear, surely you can't be Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz?"
  7. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 13:09-13:18). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Look, Winston, I know you read a lot of detective mysteries and sure they did call that Class Six spook Moriarty which was the name of Sherlock Holmes' archenemy..."
  8. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 17:02-17:06). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Brings back memories, huh, Egon? Our very first case started here."
  9. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Elementary My Dear Winston" (1989) (DVD ts. 15:42-15:45). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Who are we gonna be fighting next, Darth Vader?"

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]


RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

 
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