Production details
The episode carries production number 76015, air-dated episode number 042, and DVD episode number 028. It appears on Vol. 1, Disc 5 of the DVD boxset.2
Voice recording took place in January 1987: the main cast was recorded on January 12 and January 16, 1987, Frank Welker recorded on January 9 and 16, and Maurice LaMarche recorded alone on January 12.2 The regular voice cast included Lorenzo Music, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Arsenio Hall, and Laura Summer, with guest voices by Hamilton Camp and Philip Proctor.
Plot
For weeks the Ghostbusters face a slump in business that threatens to bankrupt them. To make ends meet, each of them takes a regular job: Peter works in a laboratory, Egon sells used cars, Janine takes another secretary job, Ray becomes a zookeeper, and Winston drives a taxi. None of these go well.
Left on his own, Slimer steals a pretzel and is approached by a jewel thief, who promises him food in exchange for help breaking into a building, Licefield's. Not realizing he is doing anything wrong, Slimer helps, but he spots Janine and the guys and accidentally alerts them to the break-in. The Ghostbusters take it upon themselves to catch the thief. Peter uses his particle thrower to drop a fire escape onto him, and the team makes the front page of the New York Times.
After collecting a ten thousand dollar reward for the capture, the guys decide to go into business busting criminals. Egon modifies the proton packs to attune to people's bioelectric fields, and Ray reconfigures the traps to create a solidified energy cage around living beings. Renaming themselves the Crimebusters, they quickly run down a group of bank robbers and are hailed as the Mayor's new special task force on crime. After several more headline-grabbing arrests, crime in the city falls by thirty percent, the team gets out of debt, and they post a $30,000 surplus.
The top boss of New York, Crimelord, then kidnaps Janine and leaves a note ordering the Crimebusters to stop their crimefighting if they want to see her again. Egon modifies his P.K.E. Meter to track Janine's bio-rhythm to a subway car storage facility, where the team defeats three armed men by magnetizing the tracks and rescues her. After the rescue, the other Ghostbusters and Slimer observe a moment of silence while Egon and Janine share a brief embrace.
The Crimebusters fly Ecto-2 to Crimelord's headquarters, where a dogfight breaks out between Crimelord's helicopter and Ecto-2. Winston shoots down the helicopter, which impales itself on top of the Empire State Building. With the syndicate dismantled, crime in New York becomes virtually nonexistent, and the team worries they have done their job so well that they have once again put themselves out of work. Then the phone rings with a ghost call, followed by a second, a Class 7 Vapor. The drought over, the guys go back to being the Ghostbusters, and Slimer and Janine change the logo back. As the Ecto-1 drives off, the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man walks the streets.
Cast of characters
The episode features the regular ensemble of Janine Melnitz, Slimer, Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore. New figures introduced for this story include the jewel thief, the bank robbers, the Crimebusters identity itself, Crimelord and his guards, and a group of killers. The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man makes a brief appearance at the close.
Equipment
The team's standard gear appears, including the Ecto-1, the P.K.E. Meter, the proton packs, the particle throwers, and the traps. The episode also features Ecto-2, helmet ecto goggles, and electrical gloves. While operating as the Crimebusters, the team modifies nearly all of its equipment to fight living criminals rather than ghosts: the proton packs, traps, P.K.E. Meter, Ecto-2's cannon, and even the insignia on their uniforms and the firehouse.
Locations
Settings include the firehouse, Licefield's Jewelry, Crimelord's headquarters, and the Empire State Building.
Notes
The Roman numeral on the first newspaper shown places the episode's events in 1986. After a phone call about swampland for sale, Peter guesses it was his dad. When Janine reveals that Con-Ed has issued the Ghostbusters a cut-off notice, Ray replies that they cannot let them shut off the power again, a callback to the first film.
When the Ghostbusters and Janine move to apprehend the jewel thief, they invoke a citizen's arrest. Under general United States law this would be permissible, as they witnessed the crime in progress.
Egon's brief stint as a used car salesman mirrors a later joke: in Extreme Ghostbusters, Ray is the sales manager of a used car lot. When everyone gathers outside the closed Licefield's jewelry store, Janine remarks, "It's a jungle out there," a line later reused as the title of the episode "It's a Jungle Out There." A New York Times in the episode runs an article about the Star Wars Defense Project beneath its Ghostbusters story.
The premise of the team facing a downturn in business is also dealt with at the start of Ghostbusters II.
Animation notes
In the office scene, one of Winston's eyes looks up while the other looks down simultaneously.
