[GhostGuy]

...when it comes to business I mean.


I'm not sure how much they got a loan for, but it couldn't have been much.

And what did they do almost immediately?

They bought property in New York, rennovated it, bought a junker, gave it a new coat of paint and slapped a bunch of expensive equipment on it that they would never use, hired a secreatary, and even bought three arcade games.

All before they even had their first customer.

The only thing they were ever fiscally responsible about was the sign they first put up on the building!

[joeghostbuster]

in instances like that, just keep repeating, "it's only a movie... it's only a movie"... LOL

[Boomerjinks]

Ya know, characters that behave in such a way would fit in perfectly in a comedy movie! Great post!

[rodie]

Well, I'll agree with the bit about the arcade games but as for the rest it was necessary for business. It's been shown that small businesses that start out without properly financing operations typically go out of business. Image is important for small business and if they had a small plain office without uniforms, and a trademark vehicle etc. they might not have caught on like they did.

[Michael Scott]

Don't forget that they also bought commercial air time on local tv for their first TV spot. I doubt that was cheap.

I was thinking the other day about this same thing, how they didn't have any money, got 3 mortgages on Ray's house, then spent all their loan money. One of my favorite scenes is when they are talking to the realtor about the firehouse, and Egon explains why it's no good for them, then Ray comes in and goes off about how great it is, especially the pole. Even though Egon shakes his head to Peter, he can't help but take it, because if not it would break Ray's heart, not to mention it was Ray's money to begin with.

[Spooky]

Ya know, characters that behave in such a way would fit in perfectly in a comedy movie! Great post!

you have come over to this side...and I like it

[Quendor]

Outside of their own areas of study, scientists are layman. Besides, business is a seperate discipline entirely. I wouldn't expect scientists of any kind to be good at business unless they've already had experience, or are hooking up with someone who knows the ropes. I say this as I sit in my Accounting 202 class, bored out of my mind by a horribly uninteresting professor. He's also an IRS guy. That may not be anything like being with the EPA, but right now he's my Mr. Peck There, I vented. But yeah, they were like kids with a whole bunch of cash...why not buy whatever they happen to think is cool? Just look at Ray's excitement over the firehouse with what must be one of the most unintentionally homo-erotic lines ever "you've gotta try this pole".

[d_osborn]

Ya know, characters that behave in such a way would fit in perfectly in a comedy movie! Great post!

i'm glad i'm not the only one that gets the humor...

[Dr.D]

Ghostbusters was a comedy? I thought it was a documentary!

[exo95er]

Just look at Ray's excitement over the firehouse with what must be one of the most unintentionally homo-erotic lines ever "you've gotta try this pole".

I never paid attention to that until you pointed it out. Now the movie will never be the same.

Didn't Venkman and Egon come up with their "pricing" on-the-spot at the Sedgewick Hotel too? I thought it was pretty funny they were down to the last of the petty cash, eating Chinese food, while those arcade games were running unattended in the background.

[AJ Quick]

Its possible that the arcade games were already there.. but since it was 1984.. I doubt it.

[GhostGuy]

Didn't Venkman and Egon come up with their "pricing" on-the-spot at the Sedgewick Hotel too? I thought it was pretty funny they were down to the last of the petty cash, eating Chinese food, while those arcade games were running unattended in the background.

Yeah, in that scene Egon causally puts his hand up to his face with four fingers for Venkman to see.


And damn, I just thought of something else!

"For storage of the beast, that's only gonna come to $1000."

Has is occured to anyone that if the containment unit must have a constant supply of power to contain the ghosts, and that it has a finite amount of storage space, that that means eventually it will be full and they will have to continue to power it... FOREVER... lest the ghosts escape?

[SeekerAfterTruth]

OMG, lol! And I never noticed their discreet signalling. It's never gonna occur to me the same way, ever again

Yeah, but perhaps it was their first customer, they didn't wanna charge a bomb and scare everyone off. There is a big difference between five big ones and ten big ones, y'know

[Lionbush]

OMG, lol! And I never noticed their discreet signalling. It's never gonna occur to me the same way, ever again

Yeah, but perhaps it was their first customer, they didn't wanna charge a bomb and scare everyone off. There is a big difference between five big ones and ten big ones, y'know

5000 dollars in 1984 is roughly 10000 dollars in todays prices. I'd say thats charging a lot for their services!

[loyalGHOSTBUSTER]

lol it's only a film

[SeekerAfterTruth]

5 v 10 is also very different. It's called the concept of a tolerance threshold and not wanting to push your luck.

[FeinDTacticS]

I personally think that they were all really smart, especially Egon of course. His vocabulary made me actually go into the dictonary and look up certain meanings.

like Epididymitis...

[Dr. Spengs]

I always got the impression that Venkman screwed the hotel a bit on the price on purpose. I'd imagine, thanks to Egon, the guys had a pretty good idea of how deeply in debt they were, and how quickly they needed to get their hands on some money. When the hotel finally called, they were down to their last couple bucks, and they probably saw a chance. Knowing full well the hotel had plenty of money and couldn't take the bad publicity, Venkman weaseled 5 grand out of them, keeping the guys afloat for another few days or weeks, until they started getting REALLY busy...

[Spooky]

Peter didn't give the prices Egon did.

[Quendor]

Peter didn't give the prices Egon did.

You're both right...Egon showed fingers, and Peter spoke the words. Peter also could have assumed $400 and $100 instead of $4,000 and $1,000, but decided to go for the larger number because of previously stated reasons.

[bradboss12]

I work with REAL scientists in a lab. Brilliant folks, at least in medicine. But real life? They couldn't change paper/toner if their life depended on it. : )