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In Transylvanian Homesick Blues, Count Vostok sends four Concorde tickets and requests that the Ghostbusters travel to Boldavia to rid his castle of a ghost. When the Ghostbusters arrive and are unable to locate a mirror, they begin to realize that things are not what they seem.[2]

Cast[]

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

Slimer

Putrid Three Armed Ghost

Janine Melnitz

Count Vostok

Dr. Nicholas Van Helden

Josef and Natalia

Burgomeister

Franz

Equipment[]

Trap

Containment Unit

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Count Vostok's Car

P.K.E. Meter

Van Helden's Van

Locations[]

Firehouse

Boldavia

Count Vostok's Castle

Plot[]

At the Firehouse, in the evening, Slimer and the Ghostbusters struggled to load a captured ghost into the Containment Unit. The ghost's stench wafted from the Trap. Suddenly, Janine walked into the basement with news. Ray dropped the Trap but Winston managed to catch it. Peter read Janine's note. A Count Vostok invited the boys to his castle in Boldavia, a small country in part of what used to be Transylvania. He included four free tickets for a Concorde flight. After Ray finished emptying the Trap, the guys all agreed to take on the case.

During the flight, the movie "Nerds in Space" was played. As Ray noted it was one of his favorites, Peter checked up on Slimer who looked a little airsick. After the eight hour flight, they took a four hour train ride to Boldavia. While they waited at the train stop, Count Vostok arrived and ushered them to his car. An odd man watched them from behind the bushes nearby.

Once they made it to Count Vostok's castle, he invited the guys to take in a meal he prepared in advance. However, Slimer flew to the table and ate everything. Vostok turned to the guys and invited them to get some rest before he explained his ghost problem. Elsewhere in Boldavia, two youths named Josef and Natalia were chased by two giant Bat-Creatures. Their grandparents told them ghost stories about how Vostok's castle is haunted. While Natalia hid in a house, Josef tried to fight the creatures off. One flew right threw Josef! Joself joined Natalia in the house. The odd man from before watched the creatures fly off.

The next morning, the Ghostbusters couldn't find Vostok. Winston noticed a part of Ray's hair still standing. Ray commented he couldn't find a mirror when he was getting ready. Peter chimed in he couldn't either. Egon found a note from Vostok awaiting them. Vostok was called away on business and wouldn't be back until the evening. Egon proposed they investigate on their own and activated his P.K.E. Meter. After a long and fruitless day, the Ghostbusters settled down in the dining hall. They noticed the silverware was not silver but gold. Peter and Egon suspected that Vostok was a vampire, but couldn't confirm anything, yet. Count Vostok arrived and claimed he saw the ghosts himself. At the same time, the Bat-Creatures flew from the castle to the nearby town and terrorized its residents. One of them, Franz, swore revenge on Vostok.

Ray asked Vostok how long he's lived at the castle. He replied not that long and there were sections he had yet to explore. Slimer sighted the creatures but the Meter was registering anything. Then he does but its from Vostok. Vostok changes his form into a vampire creature and attacked the other creatures. He easily disintegrated them with eye beams and the Ghostbusters helped. The Ghostbusters are rather shocked at Vostok's true nature. They headed inside where he revealed he survived on artificial blood but he is being targeted by the grandson of Van Helsing, Dr. Nicholas Van Helden. Meanwhile, Franz gathered a mob and led them on a march to storm the castle.

The Ghostbusters decided to help Vostok but the clock struck, it was 6 a.m. and he needed to retire to his coffin. Vostok issued his concerns about the townspeople but the Ghostbusters reassured him they'd protect him. Egon started to adjust the sound on his P.K.E. Meter to a frequency that would be painful to human ears. Slimer attempted to stall the mob but he failed to scare them. Egon projected the frequency and it worked. Van Helden infiltrated the castle and prepared to stake Vostok. The Ghostbusters arrived just in time and disarmed Van Helden. Van Helden relented they were hypnotized and brought out a gun loaded with silver bullets. Slimer made a ball of slime and hurled it at Van Helden's face. He exited the castle and drove off in his van. Ray realized Van Helden was creating holographic projections to scare the townspeople. The guys boarded Vostok's car and chased after Van Helden. They stopped at a fallen tree and found Van Helden crashed down below. He acquiesced to the guys.

The Ghostbusters and Slimer reported to Vostok the crisis was over. Egon surmised the townspeople would let bygones be bygones. Slimer noticed the Bat-Creatures were back. The guys readied their Particle Throwers but it was just a regular bat.

Quotes[]

Peter: I was right, i was right he's a vampire!
Ray: You'd make a heck of a mad scientist, Egon.

Peter: Yeah, we'll get you a guest shot on The Rocky Horror Show.

Slimer: Slime don't fail me now!

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on August 7 and August 10, 1987.[3]
  • Arsenio Hall and Dave Coulier recorded on August 7, 1987.[4]
  • The title appears to be a play on Bob Dylan's single, "Subterranean Homesick Blues."
  • Janine is now voiced by Kath Soucie, but she still has her original appearance for this episode. Changes to her appearance will start in "Baby Spookums". Peter is now voiced by Dave Coulier, and Slimer now speaks more legibly.
  • This episode was produced as the Season 2 finale, but it aired as the last Season 1 syndicated episode.
  • For the sake of series continuity, this episode should be the first episode of Season 2, placing it right before "Baby Spookums" due to Janine's design.
  • The episode was switched with "Slimer, Is That You?," a noted J. Michael Straczynski episode in order to bring some of his writing work to the third season. [citation needed]
  • While on the Concorde flight, Ray mentions "Nerds in Space" is one of his favorite movies.[5]
  • As in "Ghost Fight at the O.K. Corral", Ray mentions he went to see horror movies in his youth.[6]
  • Slimer is revealed to be capable of motion sickness, which makes him turn a different shade of green.
  • Count Vostok claimed that he was the last of his kind and the Ghostbusters claimed not to have seen a vampire before. This contradicts a previous episode, "No One Comes to Lupusville," in which the Ghostbusters dealt with a feud between two groups of vampires, as well as the werewolves they'd imprisoned. This also contradicts the later episode "My Left Fang", where they encounter the ghost of the vampire Count Von Blukenporken.
  • Winston mentions the "Howdy Doody" show in jest.[7]
  • Egon reveals that P.K.E. Meters cannot detect undead entities such as vampires in its base calibration.[8]
  • One of the Boldavians' lines is a meta reference, "You sound like you're from a cheap animated TV show."[9]
  • Peter briefly mentions his dad.[10]
  • Peter references previous cases: Troll , Dragons , demons, and the Boogieman.[11]
  • Bram Stoker, Dracula, Van Helsing, Frankenstein, Boris Karloff, and The Rocky Horror Show are referenced in the episode.[12][13][14][15]
  • Dr. Van Helden possessed a stake and silver bullets, two weapons synonymous with vampire lore.

Animation Errors[]

  • Just before the scene shifts to the concorde, Ray's eyes lose their whites as he says his lines.

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 25. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987).
  4. Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987).
  5. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 02:39-02:43). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "Hey, "Nerds in Space"! That's one of my favorite movies."
  6. Ray Stantz (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 04:25-04:30). Time Life Entertainment. Ray says: "This is terrific! Just like all those old horror movies I used to watch when I was a kid!"
  7. Winston Zeddemore (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 07:42-07:49). Time Life Entertainment. Winston says: "If this castle is haunted, I'm Howdy Doody, man."
  8. Egon Spengler (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 08:20-08:22). Time Life Entertainment. Egon says: "My P.K.E. Meter is not calibrated for the undead."
  9. Boldavian Official (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 09:15-09:18). Time Life Entertainment. Boldavian Official says: "Franz, you sound like someone from a cheap animated TV show."
  10. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 11:37-11:40). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "It's times like this that I wish I listened to what my Dad used to tell me."
  11. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 12:37-12:40). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Well, sure. We busted Trolls, Dragons, Demons -- Even the Boogieman."
  12. Count Vostok (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 14:17-14:18). Time Life Entertainment. Vostok says: "Van Helsing."
  13. Count Vostok (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 14:19-14:25). Time Life Entertainment. Vostok says: "Bram Stoker based his novel Dracula on the feud between my family and the Van Heldens."
  14. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 15:40-15:42). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Now I know how Boris Karloff felt at the end of Frankenstein."
  15. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters - "Transylvanian Homesick Blues" (1987) (DVD ts. 17:12-17:15). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "Yeah, we'll get you a guest spot on the Rocky Horror Show."

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]


Collages and Edits[]


RGB DVD Boxset Features[]


 
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