- February 1st, 2016, 4:06 pm#4853042
Sorry if this is old news, but it's very interesting.
Taken from:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/E ... nAnimation
"During his tenure as head writer on The Real Ghostbusters, J. Michael Straczynski constantly battled with ABC execs. Some production members have noted having a happier time with the syndication episodes, which were subjected to far less scrutiny and it shows. (The H.P. Lovecraft-inspired, "The Collect Call of Cthulhu," is just one of the episodes people have noted the network wouldn't have cared for.)
Especially contentious was the ongoing debate over the Ghostbusters' secretary, Janine Melnitz. A child psychologist hired as a consultant by ABC felt the character was too cynical and abrasive. Her personality should be more supportive and "feminine", instead. The consultant also expressed concerns that her sharp, angular glasses might scare children — and yet, all the grotesque ghosts and monsters running around were a-ok.
JMS acquiesced to one of ABC's demands, making Janine a Ghostbuster for an episode. The execs had felt young girls needed a positive female role model and saw this as an opportunity to do so.
Other additions the executives wanted were more Slimer-centric episodes, and junior Ghostbusters, a group of children that followed the Ghostbusters on missions, including a handicapped member. Both were attempts to pander to different age groups.
Eventually, JMS simply quit out of frustration.
After his departure, all of these changes came to pass, including altering Janine's look, personality, and voice. JMS would come back in Season 6 (though other jobs meant he could only do a few episodes).
He Lampshaded the changes made to Janine in the episode "Janine You've Changed."
In Extreme Ghostbusters, Janine is back to her original personality, Slimer is back as a minor supporting character, and no mention is made of the Junior Ghostbusters.
The same network consultants had also wanted Ray to be removed from the cast, as they felt his character did not benefit the program. Straczynski and the other writers objected, and Ray was allowed to remain.
Peter became more friendly towards Slimer, due to the consultants wanting their rivalry downplayed and for Slimer to be more of a cute mascot character. In fact, everyone became nicer to Slimer...meaning they were all more like Ray. The character the executives wanted to get rid of for being "unnecessary" (which was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy). The irony of this was not lost on JMS.
The show was no longer allowed to mention the Necronomicon, despite having done so previously. The Q5 consultants insisted it was a real book (it's not, it was made up as a plot device by Lovecraft), and they didn't want to promote occultism. In the show about ghosts.
They also no longer wanted the show to mention what ghosts are.
The consultants wanted established roles for the four main characters. Egon was "The Brain", Ray was "The Hands", Peter was "The Mouth" and Winston was "The Driver". JMS rightly called them out for the racist implications of making the black guy a glorified means of transportation, as well as the sexism of making Janine a bland, "nurturing" character."
Taken from:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/E ... nAnimation
"During his tenure as head writer on The Real Ghostbusters, J. Michael Straczynski constantly battled with ABC execs. Some production members have noted having a happier time with the syndication episodes, which were subjected to far less scrutiny and it shows. (The H.P. Lovecraft-inspired, "The Collect Call of Cthulhu," is just one of the episodes people have noted the network wouldn't have cared for.)
Especially contentious was the ongoing debate over the Ghostbusters' secretary, Janine Melnitz. A child psychologist hired as a consultant by ABC felt the character was too cynical and abrasive. Her personality should be more supportive and "feminine", instead. The consultant also expressed concerns that her sharp, angular glasses might scare children — and yet, all the grotesque ghosts and monsters running around were a-ok.
JMS acquiesced to one of ABC's demands, making Janine a Ghostbuster for an episode. The execs had felt young girls needed a positive female role model and saw this as an opportunity to do so.
Other additions the executives wanted were more Slimer-centric episodes, and junior Ghostbusters, a group of children that followed the Ghostbusters on missions, including a handicapped member. Both were attempts to pander to different age groups.
Eventually, JMS simply quit out of frustration.
After his departure, all of these changes came to pass, including altering Janine's look, personality, and voice. JMS would come back in Season 6 (though other jobs meant he could only do a few episodes).
He Lampshaded the changes made to Janine in the episode "Janine You've Changed."
In Extreme Ghostbusters, Janine is back to her original personality, Slimer is back as a minor supporting character, and no mention is made of the Junior Ghostbusters.
The same network consultants had also wanted Ray to be removed from the cast, as they felt his character did not benefit the program. Straczynski and the other writers objected, and Ray was allowed to remain.
Peter became more friendly towards Slimer, due to the consultants wanting their rivalry downplayed and for Slimer to be more of a cute mascot character. In fact, everyone became nicer to Slimer...meaning they were all more like Ray. The character the executives wanted to get rid of for being "unnecessary" (which was a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy). The irony of this was not lost on JMS.
The show was no longer allowed to mention the Necronomicon, despite having done so previously. The Q5 consultants insisted it was a real book (it's not, it was made up as a plot device by Lovecraft), and they didn't want to promote occultism. In the show about ghosts.
They also no longer wanted the show to mention what ghosts are.
The consultants wanted established roles for the four main characters. Egon was "The Brain", Ray was "The Hands", Peter was "The Mouth" and Winston was "The Driver". JMS rightly called them out for the racist implications of making the black guy a glorified means of transportation, as well as the sexism of making Janine a bland, "nurturing" character."
TORN. I HATE WOMEN, BUT THOUGHT THE NEW GHOSTBUSTERS MOVIE WAS REALLY GOOD.
- By mrmichaelt
- By towntomatoe
- By LeoCor Replicas