The Ghost Busters

I just read someone else's comments about this show and apparently they were confused. THIS SHOW WAS NOT A CARTOON, IT WAS A LIVE ACTION SERIES. Filmation released a cartoon based on this show in the 80s. This program was on TV in the 70s.

As a kid, watching this on Saturday morning Television, I thought that it was the greatest show. Seeing episodes (available on a discontinued VHS tape from Continental Video) more recently, I found that the humor really didn't survive my growing up. It can still be fun to watch for its campy horror\comedy and Bob Burns did great as the Gorilla member of the Ghost Busting team! For those not familiar with the series, every week the characters would receive a message sending them on a ghost busting mission. The message would alway self destruct after they listened to it and Tracy the Gorilla would always get caught in the explosion. The characters would usually end up in a haunted house\mansion where they would solve whatever problem was going on in that episode, then find the ghost and send it on to the next plane of existence. Lots of silly jokes and guest stars that were familiar to 70s TV audiences.

I remember watching this show on Saturday mornings and I think it rocked (I was 4 at the time). Spenser, Tracy and Kong the Ghost Busters (known here in Mexico as 'Los Cazadores de Fantasmas' fighting all kinds of specters, ghouls and critters with their feared 'ghost de-materializer'. I recently got the complete series on DVD and am not ashamed to admit I shed a few tears of joy after watching these long lost episodes and listening to the catchy theme song again after so many years. It's still silly after all this time, but still wholesome fun as well. On a side note, F-troop was broadcast here too but I didn't realize it had the two stars of The Ghost Busters in it until recently! Forrest Tucker, Larry Storch and Bob Burns were all great in their roles and so were the guest stars (Bernie Kopell from The Love Boat, Marty Ingels, Billy Barty). I remember the cartoon too but this show holds a special place of my childhood memories. Thank you Filmation, for producing this fun series; and thank you Digital Ink and Paint for bringing us this classic on DVD. THE GHOST BUSTERS DO IT AGAIN!!

The 1975 show of Ghostbusters ("The Original Ghostbusters") was an entertaining diversion for young children. Silly, in the campy style of the live-action Batman and other shows of the time, but the interaction between the old F-Troop chums did an admirable job of making up for the (serious, real serious) lack of plot. And this was enough, as it was a show aimed at little kids.

The briefly-run live-action show was left on the shelf for about a decade until the movies starring Ackroyd & Murray became popular enough to spin off a cartoon series. After two or three seasons of THAT series, the original show was dusted off and reborn into its own cartoon, featuring the sons of both Storch & Tucker -- along with the ape & a female character. "The Original Ghostbusters" cartoon also ran but briefly (believe it was put out by a group calling itself "KBN"); still, it ran long enough to apparently spur its competitor to change titles from "Ghostbusters" to "The Real Ghostbusters".

Back in the 1970s, this hilarious show aired. It starred Larry Storch and Forest Tucker of F-Troop fame. Teamed up with Tracy the Gorilla, believe it or not, they would go after ghosts with their Ghost Dematerializer or something like that. The show seemed kind of stupid with old vaudeville jokes but hey it was from the seventies. Some of the episodes can be found on video these days, I suggest you rent it and check it out.

I also remember seeing this show, but vaguely. Where I was -- in Cincinnati, Ohio -- it came on Sunday mornings. I, of course, watched it religiously because back in those days there were no Sunday morning cartoons and stuff (only Wonderama and U.S of Archie), and there was always serious withdrawal after the beloved Saturday morning cartoon binge.

I'm sure Storch and Tucker must have felt like they were at the tail end of their careers, but they were the dudes to me then. And the gorilla? I don't know, I just bought it at the time. I don't remember much of the show, but I remember really liking it. Would love to watch it again just to see how much I recognize.