Captain Steel Saves The Day
This was the first episode I ever recorded on tape as a kid.
Btw, Mark, this is Ghostbusters, so by definition all the stories are going to be a little strange! But the idea of comic book characters coming to life works well in this concept. And, like anything else, it’s right that the same thing that caused the problem is used to solve it - when artist Len Wolfman draws them a gadget and Captain Steel gets it off the page for them to use, that’s fair enough as it was him and his nemesis escaping the pages that caused it.
Captain Steel himself is clearly a Superman take-off - even down to his secret identity of “Kurt Clint”! Dr Destructo’s voice was provided by Peter Cullen according to Wikipedia, and that sounds about right. So they did get the odd guest in to voice a villain.
No On Comes To Lupusville
Another one I remember recording as a kid. Although the version I recorded was missing a few scenes, firstly the bit at the start where Janine and Slimer were playing cards, which is fair enough, but also the bit where Ray and Peter learn about Gregor and his cronies being vampires too before we cut back to Egon and Winston. That omission was a little more confusing as a kid, because I saw Egon & Winston waking up without Ray and Peter and no explanation of where they were - it was only a year or two later when I saw the uncut version that it all made sense. I liked the stalemate ending, with vampires and werewolves biting each other to the point where neither side would ever win, and then the Ghostbusters having their moment of action when they sealed off the village by doing a Force Ten From Navarone and blowing the dam. (Force Ten From Navarone is the sequel to The Guns Of Navarone, a great book but a lousy film - Force Ten that is, because both the book and film of The Guns Of Navarone are excellent!) As to the voice of Gregor - I’m wondering now if it might have been Hal Rayle. Favourite line in this episode? Lita: “Turnip?” Egon: “Yes, it is.”
The Collect Call Of Cthulhu
This is the only one I hadn’t seen before, and yes, the unmasking at the end was very reminiscent of Scooby Doo. We also get to see the workings of Peter’s mind in glorious technicolor here when they fly to collect the woman who can help them, he’s expecting some old biddy, but when she turns out to be young and good-looking, his entire attitude changes - and of course at the end when she agrees to a date with him but her tastes then demonstrate she’d have had a better time with Eoon…
The Thing In Mrs Faversham’s Attic
Another one I recorded as a kid. I’d forgotten about Slimer playing the part of Charles Faversham, and indeed what the origins of the ghost were, but I do remember it making use of things in the attic to give itself physical forms, and turning out to be a big purple thing with more eyes than a peacock’s tail. Also, yes, Peter has a softer side, motivated by guilt about not being there for his late mother, but still, it’s there. (Actually I went and watched the episode with his dad after that - Lorenzo Music providing both voices, it was a hoot.)
