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"Ghostworld" is the 123rd episode of The Real Ghostbusters, first aired on September 22, 1990, during the show's sixth season. It was written by Len Janson and Chuck Menville.1 When Janine, Ray, and Slimer visit a new amusement park called Ghost World, they are kidnapped by a demonic gatekeeper and possessed by his ghost companions. Winston and Peter are lured into the same trap, leaving a cold-stricken Egon and his over-nurturing mother to mount the rescue.2
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One evening at the firehouse, Slimer coaxes Janine Melnitz into making him a paper airplane. Despite its bulky design, Slimer's own plane flies and knocks over a vase, lamp, paper tray, and photo holder near the front desk, all of which he manages to catch. The two answer the door to a frightening creature, prompting Janine to strap on a proton pack and take aim. The creature turns out to be a man in a costume delivering a singing telegram: a new amusement park named Ghost World has opened in New York, and the owner invites the Ghostbusters for a sneak preview.
Ecto-1 returns to the firehouse covered in slime and the team piles out exhausted. Peter Venkman and Winston Zeddemore decline the invitation, and Egon Spengler, coming down with a cold, also passes. Only Ray Stantz is interested and goes with Slimer and Janine. At the park, owner Carl Sands greets them, snaps briefly when he learns the others did not come, then leads them on a drive as ghosts swarm the car. Carl hands out "Ghost Bopper" guns to deal with what he calls holograms. On a boat ride through a tunnel, Ray is slimed and the guns are destroyed by the ghosts. Carl then transforms into a demon and gloats as the three are pulled into a vortex.
Ray, Slimer, and Janine return that night and try to talk Peter and Winston into visiting the park. Winston takes a phone call and a case at a fish market, where a worker warns that "it" hates fish. A tuna flies out and hits Peter in the head, and Winston traces the disturbance with a P.K.E. Meter to a mounted marlin. An odd fish ghost emerges, but Ray lets it escape, claiming his thrower jammed. Winston is skeptical, since he serviced the packs the day before. On the way home, the possessed Ray and Slimer push to visit Ghost World, and Peter changes his mind only when Ray mentions Carl wants the Ghostbusters to host a TV special.
At the park, Carl reveals his scheme: use the Ghostbusters as goodwill ambassadors so that thousands of ghosts can possess the Mayor, the City Council, and the public. Peter and Winston are neutralized before they can flee. Back at the firehouse, Egon is not alone. His mother has come to nurse him and blends a batch of the Spengler Family Remedy, which Egon drinks cautiously and is surprised to survive. He turns on the TV, sees the others hosting a Ghost World special, and suspects something is wrong.
Egon and his mother drive to the park through a rainstorm. Realizing the place is seething with spectral energy, Egon sends Mrs. Spengler back, only for her to follow with a pastrami sandwich. At the boat ride they meet Janine, who fails to recognize Mrs. Spengler. Egon coyly introduces her as "Aunt Hilda," and when Janine takes the bait he shines a light on her to reveal the possessor; Mrs. Spengler traps the ghost and covers Janine with a blanket. Egon runs "Carl Sands" through his pocket computer and finds it is an anagram of Karro Zans, a demonic gatekeeper proud of his cleverness. Karro appears, impressed that Egon knows his real name but unimpressed by Egon's opinion of his plan.
Egon leads Karro on a chase through the park using a series of radios while Mrs. Spengler and Janine free the others. When Egon finally reveals himself by a billboard, Karro grows huge to crush him, but the billboard falls to show the whole team armed and ready. Mrs. Spengler kills the lights to blind Karro, the others open fire to confine him, and Peter traps him. Ghost World fades away, having been a mental construct of Karro's. Egon recovers, but Winston, Slimer, Ray, and Peter all catch his cold, and Mrs. Spengler heads off to find a blender.
The episode's regular voice cast featured Dave Coulier, Frank Welker, Maurice LaMarche, Buster Jones, and Kath Soucie. Guest voices included Keith Anthony, Ron Gans, and Rose Marie.
Featured characters and ghosts include the five Ghostbusters, Slimer, Janine Melnitz, Mrs. Spengler, the villain Karro Zans (alias Carl Sands), the Ghost World Possessors, and the Fish Market Haunter.
The team uses standard gear: the proton pack, particle thrower, ghost trap, and P.K.E. Meter. Egon consults the mobile computerized version of Tobin's Spirit Guide, which had not appeared since "The Devil in the Deep." Episode-specific items include the Ghost Bopper guns Carl hands out at the park and the Spengler Family Remedy that Mrs. Spengler blends for Egon.
The production number for the episode was 140-509, and it was recorded on May 2, 1990.1 The booklet for The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection summarizes the story as Janine, Ray, and Slimer being kidnapped at the new Ghostworld amusement park and possessed, with Egon and his mother left to rescue the team.2
Slimer uses trash to make smoothies; when he goes to take out the garbage, Peter remarks that he uses it for smoothies. Slimer also delivers a variation on the Ghostbusters' "We ain't afraid of no ghost" motto, saying "We're not afraid of no ghost."
When the captives are ambushed by Karro Zans, Winston sarcastically agrees that the last time he had this much fun was at boot camp. Peter changes his mind about visiting Ghost World when the possessed Ray mentions a TV special; the last time the team did a TV special, Al Capone attacked them.
Egon tests Janine by referring to his mother as his "Aunt Hilda." Whether Egon actually had an aunt named Hilda or invented the name on the spot is left unstated. Mrs. Spengler, getting into the spirit of the rescue, says it is going to be more fun than her karate lesson.
One animation error appears in a shot of the captives held in Ghost World: one of the figures is drawn as Egon when it should be Peter, since Egon is about to arrive in his raincoat to rescue them.
In air-date order, "Ghostworld" follows "You Can't Teach an Old Demon New Tricks" and precedes "The Haunting of Heck House." In DVD order, it follows "Very Beast Friends" and precedes "Afterlife in the Fast Lane." The episode appears on The Real Ghostbusters Box Set Volume 4, Disc 5.