30 years of The Real Ghostbusters

This is one of several overdue 80s tributes I had coming.

In light of the success of the 1984 Ivan Reitman movie Ghostbusters, a cartoon spin-off was made.  This series first aired on September 13, 1986 on ABC.  So why was this "The Real" Ghostbusters?  Well, Filmation had the rights to the original series which was based on the unrelated 1975 live-action series The Ghost Busters.  While technically those Ghostbusters came first and this idea was the ripoff, this series, we all felt, was much better.

It was indeed based on the 1984 classic, with Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stanz, Dr. Egon Spengler and Winston Zeddmore, along with their secretary Janine Melnitz and their ghost mascot Slimer (who was first seen as "Green Ghost" in the movie) keeping New York City, and various parts of the world, safe from the supernatural.

This series would go on to get a popular toyline from Kenner and even had its own spin-off called Slimer! And the Real Ghostbusters in 1988.  Slimer would also appear, briefly, in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Happy 30th to The Real Ghostbusters, and of course "I ain't 'fraid of no ghost!"

The Real Ghostbusters is (c) Columbia, DIC and Coca-Cola Telecommunications