The Ghost Busters is a live-action children's sitcom that ran in 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Fifteen episodes were produced. The show reunited Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch in roles similar to their characters in F Troop. The series is unrelated to the 1984 film Ghostbusters. Like the film, the series spawned its own animated sequel in 1986. The series utilizes slapstick, with scenes centered on the perpetual bumbling of the characters, good and evil alike. The series also makes references to classic cinema; the names "Spencer" and "Tracy" were taken from the actor Spencer Tracy, while the name Kong – not given to the gorilla – was a clear homage to King Kong.
Spencer, Tracy, and Kong billed themselves as "The Ghost Busters", bumbling paranormal detectives. Kong was the leader of the trio with Spencer as his partner, and Tracy as their assistant who also drove their barely-functional jalopy. Their headquarters was situated in a run downoffice building in an unspecified city. Outside of normal office equipment, plus a large armoire on which Tracy hung numerous hats including his trademark beanie with a propeller, the office itself was also dilapidated, with peeling wallpaper and a pay phone near the door as the Ghost Busters' only means of communicating with prospective clients. Each episode consisted of the same formula: in the pre-credits teaser, a ghost or monster, would manifest and vow to wreak havoc or vengeance on a particular person, the city, or even the world. After the credits, Kong would send Tracy and Spencer to a general store to get their next assignment from the unseen "Zero". The tape-recorded message was usually hidden inside an everyday object such as a bicycle, typewriter, or toy. In a parodic homage to , the recording would end with Zero saying, "This message will self-destruct in five seconds"; after Tracy counted down the seconds, the message would explode in Tracy's face. The Ghost Busters' assignments would invariably take them to the same place, a spooky castle with an adjoining graveyard on the city's outskirts, and after a series of farcical chases, the ghouls would be cornered and dispatched back to the netherworld by a "Ghost De-Materializer", usually activated by Kong as he triumphantly shouted "Zap!"
Ghosts and monsters
The show frequently made use of ghostly characters from popular and literary culture, and even real-life historical figures. These included:
In an interview conducted with Bob Burns III in 2007, he revealed that all 15 episodes were taped in 9 weeks every other day. He also revealed that the show did well enough for a second season, coming in at number 2 in the ratings, behind The Shazam!/ISIS Hour, but Filmation decided to put more money into their number 1 program; thus the plug was pulled. Lastly, he stated that it was rumored that the tapes of all 15 episodes were believed to have been destroyed after having changed hands a few times. This rumor was put to rest when a full set of the tapes was rediscovered, and subsequently released on DVD.
Sequel
In 1986, after the success of the Columbia film, the show was revived in animated format with Kong and Spencer's sons, Jake and Eddie Jr., inheriting their fathers' business in Ghostbusters. Kong's first name was never mentioned in the original series. Spencer is named as Eddie in the second episode, "Dr. Whatsisname."
Home media
BCI Eclipse LLC released the entire series on DVD in Region 1 on April 17, 2007. This 2-Disc DVD boxset contains all 15 episodes from the original 1975 live-action series, uncut, re-mastered and transferred from the original broadcast videotapes, and presented in their original production order. It also contains extensive special features including interviews, photo galleries, rare footage and trailers from BCI’s Ink & Paint brand. In addition, unlike many of BCI Ink & Paint's other Filmation releases, this DVD set appears to have been sourced from the original NTSC videotapes. Prior to this, there were at least three VHS tapes released by Continental Video during the 1980s. These are now extremely hard to find. The show was billed as The Original Ghostbusters. Australia received the complete series on DVD in a two-disc set on July 11, 2016. As of 2009, this release has been discontinued and is out of print as BCI Eclipse has ceased operations. Mill Creek Entertainment announced the re-release of the series on DVD.
