"We're the Ghost Busters, we're clever, courageous, and strong! Your sleep has been haunted with whispers and rattlings, your blood has been curdled, we know what to do. Your skin has the creepies, you wonder what's happening, you're safe in our hands, we will take care of you!" - "The Ghost Busters" theme
The Ghost Busters: The Complete Series Quick Take
Just Like Our Regular Reviews. Only Smurf-sized.
By Jude Clement
Let's say your home is being haunted by the ghost of a long-dead relative. Who you gonna call? Rather than hiring Dan Akroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson, meet Spenser (Larry Storch), Tracy (Bob Burns), and Kong (Forrest Tucker), the heroes of The Ghost Busters: The Complete Series, CBS' hit live-action Saturday morning show from 1975. After receiving their assignments from the mysterious Zero, the trio gathers up their supplies - including the Ghost Dematerializer - and head out to bust ghosts, ghoulies, and other supernatural monsters. Did we mention that Tracy is a gorilla? And that cool guests like Ted Knight (The Mary Tyler Moore Show), Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), and Lenny Weinrib (H.R. Pufnstuf) appear as villains? Yep, it's just like Batman with none of the camp but all of the stupidity. Storch and Tucker, reunited after F Troop, make a likable pair, and Burns almost manages to convince us that gorillas really do wear beanies. The Ghost Busters may not be the most sophisticated series ever produced, but its slapstick silliness is sure to appeal to your inner eight year-old.
Video and Audio
The Ghost Busters looks great for a kids' series shot on videotape in the mid-'70s. Sure, it's not terrific, but it's much better than you'd guess.
Spanish language audio tracks are also included.
Extras
All extras are found on disc 2, side b. First up is "I'll Be a Son of a Ghostbuster" (22:26), the first episode of the 1980s animated sequel series Ghostbusters. The follow-up series - and this episode - is nowhere near as funny as its predecessor, so this bonus feature can easily be skipped.
The "Interviews" menu contains - you guessed it - interviews with members of the show's cast and creative team. First up is producer Lou Scheimer (9:11), who says that most of the scripts were written in one day (we believe him!), that the show's budget was so low that they needed to find an actor to Tracy who owned his own gorilla suit, and that the Ghost Busters' 1920s-era car was found in Argentina. Tracy the gorilla, Bob Burns, is also interviewed (14:39). Burns discusses the origins of his gorilla suit (Rick Baker designed the head), talks about his fears of upstaging Storch and Tucker, and tells the story of how he came to cameo in Peter Jackson's King Kong remake.
Also included are two examples of the series' original bumpers - the announcements that led into and out of commercial breaks. Each runs approximately thirteen seconds.
Three fully navigable photo galleries center on "Behind the Scenes" shots, "Promotional Photos," and "Tracy the Gorilla." The behind the scenes photos are especially fascinating.
Viewers with access to a DVD-Rom drive can also access several more extras on disc 2, side b - scripts for all fifteen episodes of the series. These are in the .pdf format which requires the Adobe Reader plug-in (available as a free download from adobe.com).
Also included are trailers and previews for other Ink & Paint DVD releases. These are a real treat, but if you've purchased other Ink & Paint sets, you've seen them all.
Summary
Some shows, like Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends are so stupid they're actually smart. The Ghost Busters: The Complete Series doesn't quite achieve this, but chances are, you'll find yourself laughing at its silly shenanigans.
4/22/07
