J. Michael Straczynski (also known as Joe Michael Straczynski, J.M. Straczynski, JMS, and Fettes Grey) was the story editor of The Real Ghostbusters for seasons 1 and 2. He was also the writer of 21 episodes and the first edition of the production bible for The Real Ghostbusters.
Background[]
By the end of Christmas 1985, J Michael Straczynski had written 9 scripts for "He-Man," 9 for "She-Ra," 14 for "Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors," and story edited (without credit) about 24 freelance scripts at Filmation. He heard about The Real Ghostbusters in Daily Variety and hoped to write an episode or two, but knew his odds were small since he wasn't on ABC's list of approved writers. In January 1986, Straczynski went to DIC to drop off a script for "Wheeled Warriors" that he completed during the Christmas hiatus. Jim Carlson, the story editor, informed him he was being taken off the show and was to report immediately to Jean Chalopin, the owner of DIC. Straczynski went to Chalopin's office and noticed there was a lot of concept sketches for shows in various stages of development, including The Real Ghostbusters. Chalopin finished a phone call and asked Straczynski if he knew Ame Simon and Jennie Trias at ABC. Straczynski didn't know anyone at ABC. Chalopin explained the story editors he hired, Len Janson and Chuck Menville, did not want the workload that came with working on both the network and syndicated episodes. He wanted Straczynski to be story editor on both and already told Simon and Trias that Straczynski was his top choice. After he left the office, Straczynski realized he was in charge of 78 episodes that had to be written and story-edited simultaneously. At the time, no one ever handled that many episodes in a single season. Straczynski had only written 32 scripts, story edited about 24 freelance scripts without credit, and was only experienced in straight-ahead action/adventures. Simon and Trias were dubious of Straczynski, but signed off because he got along with producers Joe Medjuck and Michael Gross. Straczynski brought in writers Michael Reaves, David Gerrold and Linda Woolverton, convinced Kathryn M. Drennan to write a couple of episodes, and got Larry DiTillio once he was free of his commitments on "Wheeled Warriors."[1]
He wrote all the following episodes:
- "Slimer, Come Home"
- "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream"
- "Citizen Ghost"
- "When Halloween Was Forever"
- "Take Two"
- "Xmas Marks the Spot"
- "Knock, Knock"
- "Ragnarok and Roll"
- "Chicken, He Clucked"
- "Slimer, Is That You?"
- "Who're You Calling Two-Dimensional?"
- "Doctor, Doctor"
- "No One Comes to Lupusville"
- "The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic"
- "They Call Me MISTER Slimer"
- "The Grundel"
- "The Halloween Door"
- "The Ghostbusters Live! from Al Capone's Tomb!"[Note 1] (Unaccredited)
- "Russian About"
- "The Haunting of Heck House"
- "Janine, You've Changed"
Career[]
Straczynski started in television in 1983, worked on various television series ranging from animated to live action. Straczynski quickly worked his way from staff writer to executive producer, with the most famous of his television works arguably being Babylon 5. Straczynski created "Babylon 5" and wrote 92 out of the 110 episodes. He had a hand in every aspect of the show and its spin-off, "Crusade." In addition to B5, Straczynski also ran "Jeremiah," a program loosely based on the Belgian post-apocalyptic comic of the same name, writing 19 of the 35 episodes.
A partial chronological list of Straczynski's other television credits:
- '"He-Man and the Masters of the Universe" - Staff Writer; specifically writing 9 episodes
- "She-Ra: Princess of Power" - Staff Writer, specifically writing 8 episodes
- "Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors" - Staff Writer, specifically writing 13 episodes
- "The Real Ghostbusters" - Story Editor; writer of 20 episodes and one Special
- "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" - Executive Story Editor; writer of 13 episodes
- "The New Twilight Zone" - Story Editor; writer of 11 episodes
- "Jake and the Fatman" - Executive Story Editor; writer of 5 episodes
- "Murder, She Wrote" - Co-Producer; writer of 7 episodes
- "Walker, Texas Ranger" - Supervising Producer; writer of 1 episode.
- "Jeremiah" - Creator, Writer
Other Works[]
In addition, Straczynski was involved with the program "Spiral Zone," from which he removed his name and used the pseudonym Fettes Grey (derived from the names of the grave robbers in "The Body Snatcher"); and also wrote an episode of "CBS Storybreak."
He created the comic book series "Rising Stars" and the "Midnight Nation" graphic novel/miniseries. He also orchestrated the reboot of Marvel Comics' "Squadron Supreme" and had a long run on the "Amazing Spider-Man," for which he won several awards.
He wrote the script for such movies as "The Changeling," "Ninja Assassin," "Thor," and "World War Z."
Currently[]
J. Michael Straczynski was attached to write a remake of the science fiction classic "Forbidden Planet," but it was abandoned. His most current project is a Netflix series titled "Sense8."
Trivia[]
- J. Michael Straczynski has mentioned that he watched the original film once a week while working on the show.[2]
- "Knock, Knock" was the first episode that J. Michael Straczynski wrote for The Real Ghostbusters.[3]
- The character The Great Strazinski is named after him.
- On page 12 panel 4 of Ghostbusters: Get Real Issue #3, the yellow Post-It note references Straczynski. The last four digits of the phone number are his birth year, 1954.
- On page 5 of 35th Anniversary: The Real Ghostbusters, the Glorp Factory's street location is named in part named after J. Michael Straczynski.
External Links[]
Notes[]
- ↑ J. Michael Straczynski On Twitter confirming he wrote the episode.
References[]
- ↑ Official JMS Page Facebook 6/11/17
- ↑ straczynski Tweet 9/13/2023 J. Michael Straczynski says: "In order to make this show what it needed to be, and get the attitudes right, I watched the original movie once a week, every week, while I was writing/story editing the series."
- ↑ straczynski Tweet 5/13/2022 J. Michael Straczynski says: "This was actually the very first episode I wrote for THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS. Wanted to set the template from the git-go that yes, the show would be fun, but also legitimately scary."