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In Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?, the Ghostbusters are puzzled when the ghost they are trying to capture on their latest bust claims to be the one who called them! Confusion and calamity follows as a real ghost tries to rid his home of fake ghosts![2]

Cast[]

Jon

Olivia Stewart

Italian Diner Ghosts

Egon Spengler

Peter Venkman

Ray Stantz

Winston Zeddemore

The Sprite

Uncle Horace

Janine Melnitz

Equipment[]

Proton Pack

Particle Thrower

Trap

Ecto-1

P.K.E. Meter

Radio

Locations[]

Firehouse

Long Island

Stewart Mansion

Plot[]

While at a nice dinner, Jon and his fiance Olivia saw the Ghostbusters chasing several ghosts outside. Suddenly, the ghosts and Ghostbusters barged into the restaurant from the kitchen. Jon thought they could be of assistance with a ghost at their mansion and asked for a business card. Olivia, however, wanted to handle the ghost of her Uncle Horace herself, so they went home to do just that. Little did they know that one of the ghosts the Ghostbusters missed followed them home.

At the Stewart Mansion, Horace appeared and searched for something but couldn't remember what. Jon and Olivia dressed in sheets and chains and tried to scare Horace. The couple did scare Horace, who didn't know he was a ghost, as much as he scared them. Horace found the Ghostbusters' business card and called them in to trap what he thought were ghosts. Janine answered Horace's call just as Ecto-1 reversed inside. The guys were exhausted from working two days straight and refused to go out again. However, when Janine mentioned the Stewart Mansion and "old money," they set out immediately. When the Ghostbusters arrived they zapped Horace but stopped when he told them that he was the one who hired them.

Egon detected the other ghost with the P.K.E. Meter. Peter and Winston explored the mansion in search of the other ghost but ran into Jon. Horace soon got annoyed with Ray and Egon. Meanwhile, the other ghost took to dancing with Olivia fifteen feet in the air. Jon confessed he wasn't a ghost and explained his side of the story to Winston and Peter. Olivia was Horace's niece and she inherited the place. Since it was haunted, she couldn't sell it. They suddenly heard Olivia's scream. Everyone gathered at the play room and observed the situation. Egon, with Peter's approval, swung from a chandelier to rescue Olivia. Then the rest of the Ghostbusters zapped and trapped the mischievous ghost. After the commotion was over, Horace was able to tell Olivia he loved her one last time. This allowed him to disperse peacefully. As the Ghostbusters departed the mansion, Olivia and Jon decided to start their family there instead of selling it.

Quotes[]

Uncle Horace's Ghost: [reading from a Ghostbusters business card] Ghosts in the attic, spirits in the night, trolls on the bridge, that's alright. Call the Ghostbusters. Just dial N-O-G-H-O-S-T.

Trivia[]

  • The episode was recorded on September 12, 1986 and December 17, 1986.[3][Note 2]
  • Peter says, "I've always wanted to do this." While in the restaurant, the same thing he says at the Sedgewick Hotel in the first movie.[4] Instead of pulling the table cloth, he throws a plate of pasta at a ghost.
  • Jon mistakenly calls the Ghostbusters the "Ghost Smashers" three times in the episode. This was the original name of the Ghostbusters movie.[5]
  • The Ghostbusters' business card references the episode "Troll Bridge" with Trolls mentioned in the slogan: "Ghosts in the attic? Spirits in the night? Trolls on the bridge? That's all right! Call the Ghostbusters. Just Dial NO-GHOST."
  • Uncle Horace reads aloud the Ghostbusters' phone number, NO GHOST or 664-4678. This marks the first time the phone number is stated or seen in the animated series. Previously, in the first Ghostbusters movie, it was 555-2368.
  • The 664-4678 phone number was first used in Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular, a novelization of the first movie, as 1-212-NO-GHOST.[6]
  • When the Ghostbusters returned to the Firehouse, Peter mentioned the World Trade Center.
  • The first song the Sprite played was "When the Saints Go Marching In" to which Winston replied "Dixieland" an early style of Jazz music.
  • When trying to be scary, Uncle Horace says "Who knows what evil lurks in the brains of ducks? Me do, me do". This is a reference to pulp magazine hero The Shadow, who was able to "cloud men's minds" so he appeared to be invisible, and claimed he knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men.
  • After the Sprite is trapped, Winston remarked he won't tango again. Tango being a dance style.
  • Uncle Horace's voice and appearance are based on Ed Wynn.
  • Slimer doesn't appear in this episode.
  • The episode's title is a reference to "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf".

Animation Errors[]

  • When capturing the ghosts in the restaurant, Egon is there instead of Winston but then appears back fighting ghosts at the kitchen door.

Notes[]

  1. According to the Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report for "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?", 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.
  2. According to the Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report for "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?", listed December 17, 1987 as one of the recording dates. Going by the first recording date of September 12, 1986 and the air date of this episode on October 9, 1987, it has been concluded that Marsha Goodman mistakenly wrote a "7" instead of "6" in the year of the second recording's date.

References[]

  1. Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?" (1987).
  2. Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 13. CPT Holdings, Inc.
  3. Marsha Goodman (1987). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report - "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost?" (1987).
  4. Peter Venkman (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost? (1987) (DVD ts. 3:03-3:04). Time Life Entertainment. Peter says: "I've always wanted to do this."
  5. Jon (2009). The Real Ghostbusters- Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Ghost? (1987) (DVD ts. 1:42-1:45). Time Life Entertainment. Jon says: "I say Olivia, weren't those the ah the Ghost Smashers who just ran by?"
  6. Mueller, Richard (August 1985). "Ghostbusters: The Supernatural Spectacular," p. 65. Tor Books, New York NY USA, ISBN 0812585984.

Gallery[]

Episode Screen Caps[]

Collages and Edits[]

RGB DVD Boxset Features[]

 
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