Plot
A father flipping channels for his children stops on a "20/40/60" report, a news magazine show. Anchor Eldon Bromo introduces a segment on the Ghostbusters, and reporters Sandy Van Sanders and Helen Shreck check in from outside the Firehouse, set on proving the team are con artists. With business slow, Ray Stantz has gone for a run and Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore have gone shopping. Janine Melnitz answers the door and tells the crew to come back during office hours, but they force their way inside.
After Slimer slimes the camera, Janine takes him out for a walk. Egon decides to make his experiment public, since on-site containment is expensive and hazardous. He and Ray have built the Dimensionometer, a device meant to banish entities to other dimensions permanently. Peter opens a Ghost Trap to release the test subject, and Ray and Winston force the ghost through a portal opened by the new device. Skeptical, Sandy overloads the high-voltage switch, and Egon is transformed into a demon.
Reviewing the video tape, Winston realizes Egon's soul has been sucked into the other dimension while a demon now inhabits his body. Egon's contingency notes give the team fifteen minutes to reverse the process. Unable to use their Proton Packs, Peter knocks the demon out with sleeping gas, but it crashes through a wall and the news crew's camera truck carries it off. Helen plans to interview the demon at ABS Studios.
Peter goes into the other dimension to recover Egon's soul while Ray and Winston pursue the demon. Janine stays on standby to monitor Peter and pull him back. In the netherworld, Peter and Sandy's crew are attacked by a swarm of flying creatures. Peter finds the test-subject ghost, who is terrified of the place and begs to be trapped again; in exchange the ghost tells Peter where to find the human soul. Peter discovers a one-legged monster using Egon's soul as a trampoline, grabs the soul, and signals Janine to haul him back, with the monster in pursuit.
Back at the Firehouse, Ecto-1 crashes through the wrecked wall and Slimer tickles the monster. The demon runs straight into Egon's soul, restoring Egon to his body. The demon slimes the reporters, then collides with the monster and both fall back into the other dimension. Egon confirms with his P.K.E. Meter that the room is clean. Eldon Bromo wishes everyone good night and faints.
Production and references
Zicree described the episode as a commentary on the excesses of journalism, with "60 Minutes," Geraldo Rivera, and Barbara Walters among the targets referenced. The fictional "20/40/60" report is a parody of "20/20," and the show's "Eye of Truth" logo is based on the CBS eye trademark. The recurring commentator Roon Ancient parodies "60 Minutes" contributor Andy Rooney; papers on his desk are covered in cuneiform.
Eldon Bromo was modeled on Walter Cronkite and voiced accordingly by Maurice LaMarche. The point-of-view camera work was influenced by the film "Aliens." The demon's roar was based on Ted Cassidy's narration for "The Incredible Hulk." The netherworld dimension drew on the Twilight Zone episode "Little Girl Lost" and the paintings of Salvador Dali, the swarm of flying creatures riffed on the Harpies attacking Jason and the Argonauts, and the one-legged monster was an homage to the Merrie Melodies short "Duck Amuck."
The episode is studded with film and TV references from its characters. While trapped in the netherworld, Sandy mentions the Emmy and Pulitzer awards, a line itself riffing on the Twilight Zone episode "The Bard." When Peter throws sleeping gas at the demon he references King Kong, and Janine, told to yank Peter back on his cue, mentions having seen the 1982 horror film "Poltergeist." Winston compares Helen Shreck to Lois Lane. Earlier in the broadcast Sandy references trolls and goblins, and later the ozone layer, while trying to catch the team in a lie.
The episode was recorded on January 7 and 9, 1987, with Arsenio Hall and Maurice LaMarche recording on January 9.2 The Ghostbusters' office hours are given as 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Production and air order
In air-date order, "Egon on the Rampage" followed Lights! Camera! Haunting! and preceded Station Identification. In the DVD running order it followed The Thing in Mrs. Faversham's Attic and preceded Lights! Camera! Haunting!. It was released on home video in The Real Ghostbusters Box Set Volume 2, Disc 3.
