Best episodes of The Real Ghostbusters

Between 1986 and 1991, The Real Ghostbusters served up some of the best supernatural fun on television. The animated series – a spin-off of the Ghostbusters movies – continued the adventures of paranormal investigators, Egon, Peter, Ray, and Winston, as they battled various spooks and spectres in New York City and beyond.

During its seven-season run, the show clocked up a whopping 140 episodes (as well as 13 shorts). These episodes were packed with various villains, some gruesome ghouls, and plenty of brilliant ghost busting!

If you have never watched the show, or you haven’t watched for a while, you’re missing out. The series is an absolute blast, and loaded with ’80s action and adventure.

But what are the best episodes of The Real Ghostbusters? Let’s say you don’t have time to watch all 140 episodes, which stories should you zero in on?

Well, below is a list of the eight best episodes of The Real Ghostbusters. These episodes include some of the show’s best writing, as well as some of the series’ most frightening foes.

__

Citizen Ghost (1986)

First up, want to know what happened directly after the first live-action Ghostbusters movie ended? Then Citizen Ghost is the episode to watch.

Citizen Ghost fills in the gaps between the end of the original Ghostbusters movie and the beginning of The Real Ghostbusters series, and while it’s not the first episode in the show’s run, it does a good job of marrying up the two different properties.

Oh, and you also get to see some evil ghost-Ghostbusters. In this episode, the team’s costumes come to life, with the help of some paranormal activity, and this pits good busters against bad busters!

__

The Devil To Pay (1987)

Up next, and it’s fair to say the ghosts that appeared in The Real Ghostbusters were pretty damn freaky. For a children’s cartoon, there was some fairly intense foes, including one or two creepy customers.

Arguably the creepiest of them all cropped up in The Devil To Pay. In this episode, gameshow host, Dib Devlin tricks the Ghostbusters into taking part in his television show, ‘Raise the Devil’ – a game show where the GBs are playing for their souls!

__

The Boogieman Cometh (1986)

Another creepy episode now, and this time featuring one of the most notorious (and feared) ghosts in the GB mythology: The Boogieman! In The Boogieman Cometh, the Ghostbusters have to do battle with the aforementioned foe – an entity that can invade children’s bedrooms, via their closets!

This is seriously spooky stuff. If you were afraid of your bedroom closest back when you were a child, and worried about what lurked inside, then just be thankful the Boogieman wasn’t hanging around your home.

__

When Halloween Was Forever (1986)

Over to When Halloween Was Forever now for yet another iconic Ghostbusters villain: Sam Hain! This pumpkin-headed spectre with a raspy voice is pure nightmare fuel, guaranteed to scare the living daylights out of anyone and everyone!

When Halloween Was Forever is the first and best of The Real Ghostbusters’ Halloween-themed stories and Sam Hain is a great villain. If you want to be frightened within an inch of your life, this is the episode for you.

__

Janine, You’ve Changed (1990)

Over the course of The Real Ghostbusters’ run, the Ghostbuster’s faithful secretary, Janine Melnitz underwent numerous changes – both physically and vocally. This was due to animation changes, as well as a change in Janine’s voice actress (Laura Summer voiced Janine in seasons 1 & 2, while Kath Soucie took over for seasons 3 to 7).

Instead of ignoring these changes and hoping the audience wouldn’t notice, the show decided to make an episode about it. There is an onscreen explanation for the differences, and of course something supernatural lurking in the background.

Janine, You’ve Changed is a very clever episode, based on a simple idea. And the beauty of it all, is that no one else thought of it first!

__

Night Game (1987)

Onto a real doozy of an episode now: Night Game! In this episode, Winston takes part in a supernatural game of baseball, with the rest of the Ghostbusters waiting on the side lines.

Souls are up for grabs (again), but there’s much more at stake here in a literal game between good and evil. If Winston loses, the fate of the world could be on the cards.

__

Knock, Knock (1987)

In Knock, Knock, a team of subway workers accidentally open the Doomsday Day – a gateway to all kinds of hell. It’s down to the Ghostbusters to travel underground and close the door.

Simple, right? Not so. Because once the gateway is open, it becomes quite difficult to close.

Knock, Knock is a superb and creepy episode of The Real Ghostbusters, and arguably one of the darkest too. If you want a terrifying treat for the eyeballs, Knock Knock is for you.

__

The Grundel (1987)

And finally, saving the best for last with The Grundel – arguably the best episode of The Real Ghostbusters. Touching upon themes of isolation and despair, The Grundel combines high-quality writing with top-notch animation and is both creepy and engaging on every level.

The story is basic level corruption. A ghoul is keen on taking innocent souls and he targets an unsuspecting child, because that is what you do when you’re an evil ghost.

__

Recap: The best episodes of The Real Ghostbusters

To recap, the eight best episodes of The Real Ghostbusters are:

• Citizen Ghost (1986) – Season One Episode Eleven
• The Devil To Pay (1987) – Season Two Episode Fifty-Eight
• The Boogieman Cometh (1986) – Season One Episode Six
• When Halloween Was Forever (1986) – Season One Episode Eight
• Janine, You’ve Changed (1990) – Season Six Episode One
• Night Game (1987) – Season Two Episode Eight
• Knock, Knock (1987) – Season Two Episode One
• The Grundel (1987) – Season Three Episode Nine

If you have not watched The Real Ghostbusters in a while, revisit the show today. It really is as good as you remember.

__

Editor/Writer/Ghost Hunter

Alex Wiggan

__

Thank you for stopping by It’s A Stampede! to read this post about The Real Ghostbusters. For more posts be sure to check out the recommended reads below.