Early life
Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy met while attending high school in Tucson, Arizona. The pair married in 19772 and have worked as a creative team ever since. Their daughter, Elizabeth Hickey-McCoy, is also active in the entertainment industry.
Career
Hickey and McCoy began building their professional writing credits in the 1980s. During the early part of that decade, Dennys McCoy held the role of Creative Director at Haim Saban's production company (1984-1987); Pamela Hickey was a stay-at-home parent during those years, caring for their daughter. When they resumed writing as a team, the partnership accelerated quickly.
Their credits span children's animation, comedy, live-action drama, and interactive media on every inhabited continent.1 Notable projects beyond The Real Ghostbusters include:
- Beetlejuice (animated series, 1989-1991) - wrote multiple episodes for the Tim Burton-based Saturday morning cartoon2
- RoboCop: The Series (live-action, 1994) - contributed scripts to the syndicated television adaptation
- Butt-Ugly Martians (2001)
- Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks (2003-2007) - a co-production for PBS Kids; Jakers! received multiple industry awards3 and their work on this series earned them a Daytime Emmy Award14
- Cosmic Quantum Ray (2007) - a Hub Network series they developed, wrote, and produced
- Sabrina: Secrets of a Teenage Witch - contributed as writers
- Chi Rho - European production, for which they served as head writers
- Flea-Bitten! - an Australian series on which they were head writers
- Mighty Little Bheem and Insectibles - produced through Green Gold Animation
The pair served as heads of the story department for Green Gold Animation's US outpost, overseeing all writing and story production for the company.1 They also created and wrote The Adventures of Annie and Ben for the HooplaKidz YouTube channel, a series that accumulated more than 70 million views.1
As of around 2021 they were based in Lyon, France.
Awards and recognition
Hickey & McCoy have received five Daytime Emmy nominations, winning once (for Jakers! The Adventures of Piggley Winks),14 alongside four BAFTA nominations resulting in three wins,1 and two Pulcinella Awards.1 Their careers have been recognised by the Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) as well; they receive performance royalties for the original song "We Love To Trash Cars", which the Gremlins sing in the Real Ghostbusters episode "Don't Forget the Motor City".5
The Real Ghostbusters
Hickey and McCoy contributed nine scripts to The Real Ghostbusters during the series' run, and three further scripts to the companion spin-off Slimer!, making them among the more prolific freelance contributors to the Ghostbusters animated universe.
Episodes written for The Real Ghostbusters
Episodes written for Slimer!
Production notes
When writing "Banshee Bake a Cherry Pie?", Dennys McCoy requested the specific Haim Saban song "Love Makes Me Live" for the episode, knowing the catalogue available to the production.
Hickey and McCoy also pitched a story about the Statue of Liberty coming to life, which the production rejected without explanation. The reason became clear when the pair saw Ghostbusters II (1989) in cinemas.
Hickey and McCoy appeared as commentators on The Real Ghostbusters DVD box set.5
References
Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.
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Animation Xpress, "US branch of Green Gold brings on board writing duo Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy as Story Dept Heads" (August 9, 2017). https://www.animationxpress.com/latest-news/us-branch-of-green-gold-brings-on-board-writing-duo-pamela-hickey-and-dennys-mccoy-as-story-dept-heads/
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IMDb, "Pamela Hickey," accessed 2026-06-13. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0382655/
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Animation Magazine, "Jakers! Takes Home Humanitas" (2005). https://www.animationmagazine.net/events/jakers-takes-home-humanitas/
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"33rd Daytime Emmy Awards," Wikipedia, accessed 2026-06-13. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/33rd_Daytime_Emmy_Awards
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The Real Ghostbusters: Complete Collection (Time-Life, December 9, 2008), episode introductions and visual commentary tracks by Dennys McCoy and Pamela Hickey. Hickey and McCoy appeared across multiple volumes, including introductions for "Don't Forget the Motor City" (in which they revealed authorship of the song "We Love to Trash Cars") and "Banshee Bake a Cherry Pie?".
