The Real Ghostbusters

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Fandom
Name: The Real Ghostbusters
Abbreviation(s): RGB
Creator: J. Michael Straczynski (head writer, season 1-2 only)
Date(s): 1986-1991 (140 episodes)
Medium: animation, television series
Country of Origin: US
External Links: IMDB
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

The Real Ghostbusters is an animated television show based on the popular 1984 Ghostbusters movie.

the artist is Marty Siegrist who wrote: "Ah, hurt/comfort! This illo from 'Web of Evil', the novella by Sheila Paulson, illustrates (snerk) that genre perfectly. Who doesn't love a good hurt/comfort scene? Needs more cocoa tho. Ink on Bristol" [1]

The show had a strong team/friendship dynamic that lent itself to fandom, especially hurt/comfort and smarm.

Canon Overview

The animated series followed the first Ghostbusters movie, continuing the adventures of the Ghostbusters team of four, Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore; along with their secretary Janine Melnitz, and their mascot/pet, Slimer.

The characters were toned down somewhat from their movie characters, to be more child-friendly and more likable in general, but still retained their basic personalities.

Most RGB fans consider the first movie to be part of the canon; the second movie (produced in 1989, after the cartoon was well underway, and acanonical to the show) is disregarded by some fans, as is the Extreme Ghostbusters cartoon.

While a Saturday morning cartoon, the first two seasons of RGB (78 episodes) featured writing by story editor J. Michael Straczynski (pre-Babylon 5), in regards to the comedy and the character development, as well as the ghosts and monsters, many of which were influenced by mythology as well as the likes of Poe and Lovecraft.

The later seasons saw changes in the voice actor cast, as well as a general dumbing-down of stories and characters, something that was not popular with all fans.

Fandom

Fandom Overview

The first Real Ghostbusters fandom was pre-internet and zine-based, and early on, was possibly the only Western cartoon with a zine fandom.

Several fan creators later shifted their activity to internet fandom, and posted their zine fanfiction and fanart online.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, the fandom maintained a small but steady following, mostly on mailing lists[2] and BBS boards.

The fandom itself did not seem to have made the jump to livejournal.[3]

With the decline of mailing lists, as well as the losses of several major homepages, The Real Ghostbusters's role in media fandom fell mostly dormant during the mid-2000s. It has seen, however, resurgence in recent years due to an influx of newer fen. The new focus with more recent fans is less on fan fiction and more towards art, has moved away from the previously popular themes of smarm and h/c, and is more interested in the source material as opposed to fan interpretations.

Activity has also moved to more active forums such as DeviantArt and Tumblr.

Characters

Fan Comments

Some common topics:

  • Do you remember the show? It reminds me of being a kid.
  • The characters in "The Real Ghostbusters" didn't look like the characters in the movie, what's up with turning Egon's hair blond and spoofy?
  • Did you know that J. Michael Straczynski wrote some episodes?
  • Janine was hot.
  • The boggyman episode scared me as a child; I'm still traumatized.

2007

The first season of Real Ghostbusters was incredible, they dumbed it down too much after that. I won't even get into how much it sucked by the time it became Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters. [4]

2009

[The episode, Killerwatt] is great because as you mention it illustrates an unusual freedom the creators of the series had with it. There weren't many restrictions as far as content went (so long as they got the episode in on time), and while they never crossed major lines with the show, they definitely pushed the boundaries. Which was great because even with the most childish humour (usually surrounding Slimer) it never felt condescending or patronizing. This is a dangerous business they are in and the dangers they faces should be somewhat frightening.

The animation again gets a little sloppy at times here, not nearly as polished as certain moments in the first episode, but the adventure in this one is much more interesting and fun. A lot of great one-liners and puns throughout this one mixed in with much better action, a good dichotomy that's seen throughout the best of the series.

And I have to say god the soundtrack takes me back. Not the corny 80s music they use from time to time but the score specifically which is almost always fantastic. Either its toe-tappingly fun or spooky as hell.

2022

Never understood the changes to egon. A mullet and a fancy hair curl? Save some cool for the rest of us lol [5]

The secretary was so hot

She rivaled cheetara in staurday morning sex appeal [6]

Was a favorite of mine growing up. It lasted a long time, too. Didn't it have a record of being one of the longest running animated shows until The Simpsons shattered it years later? Very well-written, didn't treat kids like idiots, could be both creepy and hilarious in the same episode. [7]

2023

With a gigantic bowl of your favorite cereal. Man I miss Saturday mornings and being a kid. [8]

I loved it but they did not look like the actors at all lol

Nope, never been able to pass over the fact that they didn't look like the actors from the movie! [9]

Pairings and Relationships

The primary slash pairing is Peter/Egon, and the primary het pairing is Egon/Janine.

Despite Janine's het pairing with Egon, many smarm authors felt she interfered with the relationship of the four male characters. As a result, her place was behind her desk and away from the Ghostbusters themselves, who in turn were written in a borderline romantic manner.

There was some limited Peter/Dana Barrett (played by Sigourney Weaver in the movies), but as that character never appeared in the cartoon, she is found infrequently in fic and fanart.

Gen, Het, and Slash Content

A significant part of The Real Ghostbusters fandom was gen, particularly h/c and smarm-focused, and some of the earlier mailing lists and communities were strictly gen-only, even discouraging canonical het pairings.

Slash fanworks were quite rare. This was illustrated at an discussion at the forum, Ghostbusters.net, which had a focus of the original film and the animated version. In 2002, the moderator of the site wrote:

Liked i've those were possibly anti-gb and they had their stupid thoughts Egon and Peter being gay, which is not true, I'm waiting for them to post more of them and I can bust them down, crap I wouldn't be surprized if some of them used to be at this site...

[AmberDragon]: Uh... dude. I don't think that these people are anti-GB or anything. They're just writing a fanfiction story, and it just happens to be slash. If that gets their muse going, more power to them. Slash happens. Where fanfiction goes, slash stories follow. That doesn't mean you have to read them. I don't. But I don't try to stamp it out of the fandom, either.
[Dr. Spengler, aka Scott]: It's just that the stories had good storylines, but the slash brought it down. It was unnecessary. Hey, I know its always going to be around. I've seen slash art, slash fic, plenty of stuff, but I don't like any of it. Its not anti-GB, but its not my kind of story, and its not what the characters were meant to be. I have a lot more to say about this (I could write a fricken essay!) but its not worth it.
[SuperEgonFan14, aka Bianca]: Once again, Dr. S. has a point. The slah did bring it down and that's not what the characters were meant to be. Sure it's always going to be around but we don't have to read it. We should just let those sick pervs have thier fun writing this junk. But when it comes to ratings and reviews, we can really tear them apart.
[TheKeeper]: Well... I'm not sure if I'm going to cry or throw up and leave this message board. No, no, I won't leave the board, just ignore a few choice people.
Are you READING what you're typing here? So what if people write Slash stories about the characters? If it makes 'em happy and if others like it, then more power to them. Maybe Dan and Harold didn't write the characters like that, but then again they didn't write the situations for the cartoons either, did they?
Flaming the writers is not going to stop them, it's only going to make them known to the prejudice that's out there against the homosexual community.
[...]
I generally don't like it. So I don't read it. It's as simple as that! If you don't like it, then don't read it. Negativity doesn't help anyone. And it certainly won't help you. So it's just pointless and shows what a "considerate" person you are.
[Boo's Nightmare]: First of all, slash stories (stories using decent helpings of gore) can go both ways.
I have read some fan fictions where gore has been used gratuitously and for no other purpose. I do not like those.
I have also read fan fictions where gore has been used for practical purposes, such as to enhance the vileness of the enemy, or to satirize the horror genre. I cringe but appreciate the author's creativity. Gore in those situations, particularly the former, puts more pressure on the Ghostbusters to save the day and enhances the steps they take to defeat said vile enemy.
Now I read that fan fiction where Peter and Egon shared a kiss in their college days. The story was well-written and grammar was correct. I gave the story a very high rating (an 8 I think) even though the idea of Egon and Peter attracted to each other makes me want to puke more than five rounds of the "Manowar Drinking Game."[10]

Tropes and Themes in Fanworks

  • hurt/Comfort
  • buddy themes
  • female (often supernatural) tries to break up the team

Fanfiction

Sample Print Zines

For all the zines listed on Fanlore see Category:The Real Ghostbusters Zines

Sample Fanfiction

Crossovers

The Queen of Crossovers in this fandom is Sheila Paulson.

cover of The Janus Factor, crossover with Quantum Leap, by J.R. Dunster

Online Sources

Fanart

1990s

2000s

2010s

Fan Sites

There are no resources on the cartoon alone, though the below sites include the cartoon shows, in addition to the movies and franchise as a whole.

Sites active as of 2016:

  • Ghostbusters Fans (Newsfeed, message board and overview of the Ghostbusters universe. Includes a large community section with chat room and message board.)
  • Ghostbusters News (updates about the movies and related merchandise of the Ghostbusters franchise)
  • Spook Central (ep guide, production info)

Historical/less active sites:

Mailing Lists

They are mostly inactive now, but have members-only message archives, as well as open-access fic archives.

Meta

References

  1. ^ from Sandy's Deviant Art page -- from The Real Ghostbusters and the Web of Evil, artist is Sandy Schreiber, (1999)
  2. ^ In 2000-2001, the RGB Slash list averaged 100-200 posts a month, and in 2001 RGBSmarm had between 250-700 posts a month (accessed 1/28/2009)
  3. ^ Only 7 lj comms list "the real ghostbusters" as an interest as of January, 2009.
  4. ^ from Edymnion at Ghostbusters vs Real Ghostbusters (January 7, 2007)
  5. ^ skapoww, from Who remembers "The Real Ghostbusters" ? (February 18, 2023)
  6. ^ EffectiveNo5737, from Who remembers "The Real Ghostbusters" ? (February 18, 2023)
  7. ^ AuntWacky1976, from Who remembers "The Real Ghostbusters" ? (February 19, 2023)
  8. ^ by Aware_Leek4986, from Who else loved The Real Ghostbusters growing up? (September 25, 2023)
  9. ^ from Who else loved The Real Ghostbusters growing up? (September 25, 2023)
  10. ^ from ATTN EGON FANS EVERYWHERE, Aug 2002 (accessed 1/28/2009)
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