Ghostbusters Wiki

Until May 22, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire content will be handled by the administrators. For more detailed information about this, please check out the Spoiler Policy.

READ MORE

Ghostbusters Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Ghostbusters Wiki


In The Ghostbusters in Paris, when workmen on the Eiffel Tower accidentally break into Monsieur Eiffel's secret lab and damage a device, thousands of ghosts are released. The Ghostbusters arrive and discover that the tower was actually a very early form of a Containment Unit![2]

Cast[]

The Ghosts of France

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Monsieur Lucien

Janine Melnitz

Equipment[]

Eiffel's Control Box

Ecto-1

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

P.K.E. Meter

Ecto Goggles

Item[]

Eiffel's Diary

Locations[]

Paris

Eiffel Tower

Firehouse

Arc de Triomphe

Pantheon Paris

Louvre Museum

Notre Dame Cathedral

Plot[]

Atop the Eiffel Tower in Paris, it is 2 o'clock and three workmen are tired. One worker declared he was going to take a nap in the Pavilion. Another worker is concerned as the Pavilion was the workshop of Monsieur Eiffel and thus, forbidden to enter. The workmen doesn't care and forced his way inside. The workshop is like a museum with machines still operating. The workman clumsily knocked a clock onto a control box. Suddenly, the Eiffel Tower shook with an eerie glow. The workman was nonchalant and promised he'd replace the control box lamps the following day. On a lower deck, tourists approached a man in period clothing for a photo op. However, the man was a ghost. Another tourists cited historical facts but is interrupted by another ghost. The three workmen boarded an elevator and realized their comrade was taken by a ghost.

At the Firehouse, a Frenchman named Lucien pleaded with the Ghostbusters to help clean up the Eiffel Tower of ghosts. Ray wasn't so sure and was more concerned with installing the new satellite dish. Peter and Egon voiced their interest and Ray relented. Peter fished for more benefits and Lucien promised to put them up in the best hotel in Paris. Soon enough, Ecto-1 is escorted across Paris. However, for two days, the guys only took in the sights and tastes the city had to offer. Lucien was annoyed but the guys assured him it was reconnaissance as they pulled up to the tower. As they took in the sight, Lucien informed them the power was cut as a precaution so they'd have to use the stairs, all 1710 steps. After a band played the national anthem, the Ghostbusters went to work.

Egon is concerned when the P.K.E. Meter failed to pick up any readings. The guys are surrounded on both sides by a slew of ghosts. He radioed Lucien and asked him to turn on the power. The guys then rushed to the elevator and blasted their way through. Ray and Egon noticed the girders oddly absorbed the Proton Streams. As the Ghostbusters ascended, ghosts attacked the switchboard. Winston elected to climb onto the roof and stop them. Egon got an idea and they reversed the polarity on their throwers and aimed at the girders. The idea worked and the ghosts were temporarily sucked into the girders.

The Ghostbusters made it to the top and entered the Pavilion. Egon found Eiffel's journal and observed the broken control box. With his suspicions confirmed, Egon announced the Eiffel Tower was the world's largest ghost containment unit and it is about to explode. Eiffel perfected ectoplasmic entrapment and built the tower to automatically attract and trap ghosts in the tower's structure. Winston then asked how the tower could be fixed. Egon elaborated the broken control box was what molecularly bonded the ghosts. When it was damaged, the tower became psionically porous and the most aggressive ghosts could escape. To make matters worse, they had 12 hours before the molecular degeneration becomes irreversible and a few million ghosts were freed.

Ray advised Egon to strap the control box to his reverse polarity pack to temporarily pull the ghosts back into the tower. It worked and the guys hurried back to meet with Lucien and other government officials. An elder official revealed there are two other locations where Eiffel's papers were kept. Egon stayed behind to study the control box while the others went after the papers. However, several ghosts followed them. Ray is dropped off at the Louvre where three ghosts possessed two Egyptian statues and a mummy. Ray blew one up and luckily, the other two were caught up in ectoplasmic negative feedback. Ray destroyed them with ease. Winston arrived at the Notre Dame Cathedral but two ghosts possessed Gargoyle statues and stole Eiffel's journal. Winston pursued them across the roof and was almost thrown off. At the last second, Winston blew up the statue and got the journal.

At sunrise, several workmen were finishing up connecting the auxiliary power lines from the tower's generator to a special electronic console. Egon prepared to connect the control box when a guillotine manifested and destroyed it. Thanks to Peter, Ray got a brilliant idea to use France's broadcasting antennas to beam the ghosts across the planet into the Containment Unit. The packs are hooked up to the control box and tuned to 20,000 Mega Hertz. The plan worked but the Ghostbusters were sued by their cable company to pay off their customers, who had to deal with 5 hours of angry French ghosts. Peter decided to test out the new cable but is amiss when the only shows on are sports events.

Quotes[]

Egon: Gentlemen, we are standing atop the largest ghost containment unit ever built, and it's getting ready to explode!
Winston: Station G-H-O-S-T is ready to broadcast.
Winston: What's wrong, Egon?

Egon: Gentlemen, we have a problem.
Winston: Huh? Aaaah!
Ray: Guh! Peter... back up. Back up, Peter. (bumps into Peter) Peter, what's the pro- whoa... aaaah!
Peter: Down is bad, Ray. Up looks real good to me! (runs up and gasps) Guys, we're running out of directions...

Egon: I have an idea. Let's reverse the polarity of the beams and aim at the tower, not at the ghosts.

Ray: Yes! Of course! That's brilliant! Unless...
Peter: Unless? Unless what? Educate me on 'unless', Ray.
Ray: Well, let's just say that if we're wrong, you won't like it.

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on September 10, 1986.[3]
  • Maurice LaMarche filled in as Winston for this episode.[4]
  • This episode was also written by Jean-Marc Lofficier, Randy Lofficier's husband. Jean-Marc remained uncredited because at the time, only one member of the family could join the Writers Guild. They came to an agreement and only Randy's name was credited on the script."[5]
  • A pair of young American tourists at the start of the episode are described as the "1986 version of Lucy and Ricky".[6]
  • The first ghost is wearing Belle Epoque-style clothing.[7]
  • In the display case, is French Revolution clothing.[8]
  • Before the Ghostbusters enter the Eiffel Tower, the French national anthem "La Marseillaise" is played for them.[9]
  • In the first draft of the script, Egon noted the Eiffel Tower's structure acted like a Faraday Cage, an enclosure formed by conducting material.[10]
  • As a horde of ghosts attacks the Eiffel Tower's elevator switchboard, Winston Zeddemore volunteers to stop them, noting he used to be a construction worker.[11]
  • Peter mentions Schenectady, a city in eastern New York.[12]
  • At the Louvre, Ray laments not having time to see the Mona Lisa.[13]
  • During the Louvre scene, Ray Stanz wears the Ecto Goggles while fighting the ghosts.
  • In the first draft, Ray was being led to the Louvre's Grand Gallery before the ghosts attack.[14]
  • In a scene cut from the episode, the last Eiffel journal was located in Montmartre, a district north of Paris, where Peter encounters a shapeshifting ghost woman and an animated garbage can. He defeats them and continues looking for Rue Gabrielle.[15]
  • In the first draft script, instead of a guillotine, a Ghostly French Coupe and Cannonball-like Ghost sabotaged the control box.[16]
  • At the end, Peter Venkman is disappointed that there is no Humphrey Bogart nor Spencer Tracy to watch on cable.[17][18][19]
  • The original ending was Janine bringing wine and brie to the Ghostbusters as they tried out their new cable programming which only makes Peter more irate.[20]
  • Eiffel Tower and 550 Central Park West perform similar functions.
  • Slimer doesn't appear in this episode.
  • Harlan Ellison loved "The Ghostbusters in Paris" and called in to say he loved the premise and how the problem was resolved.[21]
  • On page 5 of Ghostbusters International #4:
    • In panel 3, several of the tourists talking to Ray Stantz are from the beginning half "The Ghostbusters in Paris"
      • The man in the orange shirt taking a photo on the left and the man in the yellow shirt with the camera on the right were on the Eiffel Tower when the ghosts were released.
      • The man in olive green, left of the man in orange, was the painter who did a portrait of Peter
      • The blonde woman wearing a beret was a Parisian Peter talked to after the guys visited the Arc de Triomphe.
      • The man in the apron, left of Ray, sat with the guys in his restaurant and shared a laugh
      • The man in the purple sweater smoking a pipe walked past the Ghostbusters' table outside a bistro.
  • On page 15 of Ghostbusters International #4, in panel 1, the image of the Eiffel Tower on the poster is lifted from a dusk shot of it towards the end of "The Ghostbusters in Paris" when the Ghosts of France depart and follow the Ghostbusters.
    • In panel 4, on the television is the trapped elevator operator from the start of "The Ghostbusters in Paris"

Notes[]

  1. According to the Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report for "The Ghostbusters in Paris", Maurice LaMarche also performed the voice for Winston in the episode. According to some voice actors a few episodes had voice actors perform other voice actors parts because the other voice actor was absent.

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1986).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 18. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1986).
  4. Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1986).
  5. Spook Central The Ghostbusters in Paris guide
  6. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 4. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  7. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 4. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  8. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 5. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  9. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 10. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  10. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 12. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  11. Winston Zeddemore (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1987) (DVD ts. 9:58-10:01). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "I'll do it. I used to be a construction worker."
  12. Peter Venkman (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1987) (DVD ts. 13:12-13:17). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Yeah, how much time before the uh... whatever goes and we're blown back to Schenectady?"
  13. Ray Stantz (2009).The Real Ghostbusters- "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1987) (DVD ts. 15:14-15:15). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Wish I had time to see the Mona Lisa."
  14. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" Script p. 26. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  15. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" p. 32-35. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  16. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, "The Ghostbusters in Paris" p. 36-37. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  17. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1987) (DVD ts. 21:22-21:24). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "A Bogart movie would be nice."
  18. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "The Ghostbusters in Paris" (1987) (DVD ts. 21:30-21:31). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "No Spencer Tracy?"
  19. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 18. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  20. Lofficier, Randy (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Two Disc Five, p. 41. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  21. Proton Charging "Interview: Jean-Marc Lofficier" 10/9/1998 Jean-Marc Lofficier says: "I remember that after that one first aired — in the afternoon in Los Angeles — we immediately, like within five minutes of the credits rolling, got a call from Harlan Ellison to congratulate us on the premise — and the way we resolved the situation. One of the producers, Michael Gross, told us it as one of his favorite shows and even apologized because the subcontracting studio that was assigned to it in the Orient (they were using like 4 different Asian studios) sort of botched it up."

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]

RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

Secondary Canon[]

 
Previous Episode Based on Next Episode
Ghost Busted Air Date A Fright at the Opera
Janine's Day Off DVD Order The Devil in the Deep
Advertisement