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In Poultrygeist, a Werechicken strikes an unsuspecting farmhouse, leaving a trail of mayhem and one very large egg. After a hungry Slimer tries to cook the egg and unintentionally hatches it, the newborn Werechicken bites Egon, turning him into a half-man, half-chicken creature![2]

Cast[]

Original Werechicken

Zeke and Maude

Peter Venkman

Egon Spengler

Ray Stantz

Slimer

Winston Zeddemore

Giant Werechicken

Janine Melnitz

Equipment[]

Egon's Weather Balloon

Ecto-1

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

P.K.E. Meter

Flashlight

Tobin's Spirit Guide[3]

Ecto-2

Helmet Ecto Goggles

Radio

Items[]

Chickenbane Soup

Locations[]

Maude and Zeke's Farm

Firehouse

Empire State Building

Plot[]

On the night of a full moon, a Werechicken terrorized some chickens and scared them into their coop. The chickens' owners, Maude and Zeke, were in their living room, watching a werewolf movie. Maude got up and checked on the chickens outside. While she looked around, the Werechicken sneaked up behind her and attacked. Maude returned to the living room in a strange daze. She transformed into a Werechicken and perched atop Zeke's armchair. Scared out of his wits, Zeke held out his bowl of popcorn. Maude pecked away and ate all the food then turned to Zeke menacingly. Just outside, the original Werechicken watched as Zeke could be heard screaming.

At the Firehouse, Peter hauled out the full trash bag in Egon's laboratory while he worked on a weather balloon. It was Egon's turn to do the chores but he had neglected all of them in favor of finishing his project. Peter loaded the trash bag onto Ray, who already was holding several. Slimer smelled some leftovers and flew into one of the bags. Ray noted Winston was already doing the dishes for Egon. Ray lost his balance then bounced off the weather balloon and dropped all the trash bags. To add insult to injury, Slimer emitted a bunch of slime onto Peter. The phone near Egon rang and Winston walked in to answer it. It was Zeke. He believed a giant chicken ate his wife. Winston, Peter, Slimer, and Ray elected to go on the call, even though they thought it sounded half-baked.

After they left, Egon announced he was done only to realize everyone was gone. At the farm, the Maude Werechicken laid a rather large egg atop a pile of hay. After Zeke described the Werechicken's features, the guys looked around outside. Ray concluded they were dealing with a Werechicken and found a set of footprints. Slimer spotted the big egg. Once Ray and Winston got the egg down, Peter reported no P.K.E. readings. Winston recommended they take it back to headquarters for a proper analysis but Ray was adamant on staying. Peter and Slimer took the egg back to the Firehouse while Ray and Winston kept searching.

Once Peter laid out the egg in Egon's lab, he signed off for the night. Back at the farm, Ray finally got a hit on the P.K.E. Meter. Ray and Winston entered a farmhouse and encountered the original Werechicken. They opened fire and trapped a ghost inhabiting it. Oddly, the Werechicken then turned back into a normal chicken. Winston realized Zeke's Werechicken could be his wife Maude. At the Firehouse, Egon stored the egg in the refrigerator since he was too busy with his weather balloon project to study it right away. While Slimer slept in the sleeping quarters, he dreamed about food. After he ate his dream, Slimer woke up and planned on making an omelet out of the Werechicken egg. He placed it into the oven and turned up the heat. While he set the table, the egg hatched and a newborn Werechicken emerged. In a panic, Slimer flew up the kitchen sink faucet to Peter, who was taking a shower. The Werechicken arrived in Egon's lab and bit Egon on the butt.

Egon was startled and transformed into a Werechicken. As Peter and Slimer checked out the lab, they ran into Egon. Just as Peter was about to blast him, Ray pulled Peter into the hallway while Winston shut the door. Ray explained that was Egon and deduced the full moon played a part in the transformations. They looked inside and found Egon in his boxer shorts. Ray browsed through Tobin's Spirit Guide and found the entry on Werechickens. He, Winston, and Slimer rushed to the kitchen to create an antidote, Chickenbane soup. The moon was about to return and one ingredient was missing. They made Egon drink the soup anyway. All but Egon's head transformed into a Werechicken. With the situation sort of stabilized, the guys went looking for the newborn Werechicken. Peter and Slimer took Ecto-2 out while Ray and Winston drove around in Ecto-1.

Ray and Winston happened upon frightened customers fleeing a supermarket. A worker reported the Werechicken was 10 to 15 feet tall. The butcher said it was 30 feet tall. They looked outside and saw a trail of smashed cars. Peter was skeptical at the news but found himself face to face with a giant Werechicken. Egon still wanted to attend his weather balloon demonstration and asked Janine for a jacket to cover up his transformation. The guys headed off the Werechicken at the Empire State Building and opened fire. They were able to extract the ghost but the Ghost Trap was already full. Egon was supposed to empty it. The ghost returned to the Werechicken body and climbed the Empire State Building. When Peter asked how they were going to put it on ice, Ray got an idea to freeze the Werechicken. They looked at each other and realized Egon's Weather Balloon would do the job.

As Egon gave his demonstration, Peter and Slimer arrived on Ecto-2 and picked him up. Egon handed the remote for the balloon to Peter on the way. The Werechicken was perched atop the Empire State Building and looked to be ready to lay an egg. Following Egon's instructions, Peter turned the lever on the remote to the extreme left and activated the weather balloon. An intense snow storm was generated and the Werechicken was frozen. Some time later, at the Firehouse, Maude and Zeke were visiting and treated the guys to Chickenbane soup. Naturally, Egon and Maude took a liking to the soup for its curative properties. However, they heard a howl coming from the lab. The guys investigated with throwers ready but it was just Slimer listening to his new soul music tape.

Trivia[]

  • "Chicken, He Clucked," another chicken themed episode, is often confused with this one.
  • The Werechicken egg is the second largest egg Egon has seen.[4]
  • In the May 12, 1988 draft, Slimer's dream involved the food dancing to and singing the first two bars of Los Lobos' "La Bamba" a la the California Raisins in "I Heard It Through The Grapevine."[5]
  • In the May 12, 1988 draft, a lunar eclipse was also involved.[6]
  • One of the were-creatures mentioned by Ray as he looks up Werechickens in Tobin's Spirit Guide is "Werebears".[7]
    • The Werebears were soft and cuddly teddy bears that would turn into werewolf-like creatures when their heads and paws were turned inside out. They were especially popular in the United Kingdom during the 1980s.[8]
  • When attempting to figure out how to freeze a Giant Werechicken, Winston mentioned it was the month of August.[9]
  • At the end of the episode, the Ghostbusters find Slimer listening to a new soul music tape.[10]
  • In the May 12, 1988 draft of the episode script, the music Slimer was listening to was from a new James Brown tape.[11]

Notes[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Even though no Episode Call Sheet and SAG Reports have been publicly released proving the main cast voiced their characters, it is assumed as all the other seven episodes for the season had the voice actors accredited.

References[]

  1. Capizzi, Duane and Roberts, Steven (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Four Disc Five, "Poultrygeist" Script title page. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 30. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Capizzi, Duane and Roberts, Steven (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Four Disc Five, "Poultrygeist" Script p. 24. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  4. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Poultrygeist" (1988) (DVD ts. 06:38-06:42). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "Interesting. That's the second largest egg I've ever seen."
  5. Capizzi, Duane and Roberts, Steven (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Four Disc Five, "Poultrygeist" Script p. 17. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  6. Capizzi, Duane and Roberts, Steven (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Four Disc Five, "Poultrygeist" Script p. 22. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  7. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Poultrygeist" (1988) (DVD ts. 12:37-12:40). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Wereaardvarks... Werebears... Werechickens!"
  8. http://www.werebears.com/
  9. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Poultrygeist" (1988) (DVD ts. 18:57-19:00). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "Yeah, but how do you freeze a 50 foot chicken in August?"
  10. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Poultrygeist" (1988) (DVD ts. 21:27-21:30). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "It's just Slimer groovin' to his new soul tape."
  11. Capizzi, Duane and Roberts, Steven (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Four Disc Five, "Poultrygeist" Script p. 40. CPT Holdings, Inc. Winston says: "It's just Slimer groovin' to his new James Brown tape."

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]

RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

Behind the Scenes Images[]

 
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