Plot
Returning from a job covered in slime, the Ghostbusters sit in the Ectomobile stuck in traffic while classic 1950s music plays on the radio. Ray Stantz romanticizes the decade, brushing off Winston Zeddemore's sarcasm. Egon Spengler counters that every decade has its own inherent problems, but the group eventually joins together singing along to the song. Back at the Firehouse, they learn the building is to be demolished for a new expressway. With no other choice, they begin packing.
In the basement, Egon, Ray, Winston, and Slimer solemnly pack while using an Energy-Siphoning Device to safely bleed the Ghost Traps of energy. Peter, impatient with the pace, grabs a charged Trap and disassembles it carelessly. A flash of light sends Peter, and then the others, vanishing. The Trap reappears in the basement and spits them back out, but the basement is now different: the Containment Unit is gone. An alarm sounds upstairs and they witness a 1950s fire truck leaving the Firehouse. A black-and-white television set by the front desk shows Walter Cronkite signing off the evening news, confirming they have been sent back to April 10, 1959.
Ray and Slimer are delighted, but Egon grows alarmed. While Ray gets his hair styled at a barber shop, Egon warns they are trespassing in the natural order of events. Winston spots the Ectomobile on the street, but it is still a hearse. Within the hour, three ghosts appear in an alley and harass Slimer. At a nearby store front, a television reports bizarre ghost sightings from the past hour. Egon realizes that their presence has placed a heavy strain on the space-time continuum and torn a hole in the fabric of time, through which ghosts are now invading 1959 New York City. The only way to close the hole is for the team to return to the present. To do so, Egon must recharge the Trap to the exact power level it held at the moment of the accident.
The firefighters of Engine Company 93 return to the Firehouse covered in slime. Posing as department observers, the Ghostbusters ask the fire chief whether the truck carries a power generator. A new call comes in, and together the company and the Ghostbusters head to the source of the haunting: the hole in the fabric of time. While Egon and Slimer work to recharge the Trap using the truck's generator, the others connect water hoses and blast the Ghost Invaders back. A Demon Invader then emerges and fights back with a powerful blast of breath, nearly sweeping everyone off their feet. Slimer uses a fire extinguisher to cool the overheating generator long enough for Egon to finish the recharge. Egon recreates the accident; the Ghostbusters vanish and the hole is sealed.
The team lands back in the present-day basement. Janine arrives and announces that the Firehouse has been saved: because a news report attributed the 1959 ghost crisis to heroic firemen, the building has been declared a historical monument. Peter, suspiciously knowing the year without being told, earns a look from the others. The episode ends with everyone dancing their way upstairs to a 1950s tune.
Characters
Peter Venkman
Egon Spengler
Ray Stantz
Winston Zeddemore
Janine Melnitz
Slimer
One-Episode Characters
Walter Cronkite (voiced by Frank Welker) appears twice on television: once signing off the evening news and once reporting on the ghost invasion sweeping 1959 New York. His broadcast is the moment Egon realizes how long the Ghostbusters have been in the past and confirms the time-hole is widening.
Ghost Invaders (voiced by Maurice LaMarche and Frank Welker) are the group of ghosts that pour through the tear in the space-time continuum. They terrorize New York City for approximately one hour before being pushed back when Egon seals the time hole. Their attack on Slimer in an alley is the team's first sign that the temporal disruption has consequences for 1959.
The Demon Invader (voiced by Frank Welker) is a large and powerful demonic entity that emerges near the climax of the ghost invasion. It resists the fire hoses entirely and uses a powerful breath attack to drive back both Engine Company 93 and the Ghostbusters, nearly preventing Egon from completing the Trap recharge. It is forced back through the hole when Egon seals it.
Engine Company 93 (Firemen voiced by Maurice LaMarche, Fire Chief voiced by Frank Welker) is a Manhattan fire unit stationed at the Ghostbusters' own Firehouse in 1959. The company spends the entire episode battling the ghost invasion at considerable personal risk. Their bravery is officially credited with stopping the crisis, which is why the Firehouse is later designated a historical monument in the present day. The Ghostbusters borrow the company's truck generator to recharge the Trap.
Equipment
- Ghost Trap: the cause of the time accident and the key to reversing it. This episode establishes that a Trap can be recharged to a precise energy level.
- Energy-Siphoning Device: a basement safety tool used to bleed excess energy from Ghost Traps during the team's move; Peter's impatient misuse of one triggers the time slip.
- Proton Pack / Particle Thrower: carried but not the primary tool used against the invaders; the water hoses of Engine Company 93 handle the main push-back.
- Containment Unit: notably absent from the 1959 version of the Firehouse basement, confirming the Ghostbusters have travelled before the unit was installed.
- Ectomobile: spotted by Winston in 1959, still in its original hearse configuration before the team converted it into an ambulance-style vehicle.
Trivia
- Ray was born in 1959, making him 30 or 31 years old during the main timeline of this episode.
- Slimer carries a handkerchief bearing the No-Ghost logo.
- The Ghostbusters sing "Maybellene" by Chuck Berry, both at the opening in Ecto-1 and again at the end when they dance upstairs.
- When the Ghostbusters encounter their 1959 Ectomobile, it is still a hearse. In reality, the car used for the films was a Cadillac ambulance-hearse combo rather than a pure hearse.
- When Peter comes downstairs and sees his teammates' 1950s-styled hair, he makes a reference to Don King, the famous boxing promoter known for his distinctive hairdo.
- Walter Cronkite's news broadcast pins the date precisely as April 10, 1959. This is one of the very few episodes in the series to establish an exact in-universe calendar date.
- During a news segment, footage recycled from earlier RGB episodes "Something's Going Around" and "Standing Room Only" appears on screen.
- The episode runs approximately 15 minutes, making it significantly shorter than the standard RGB runtime.
- The episode was recorded on July 5 and 6, 1989. Frank Welker recorded his session alone on July 6.
- As a direct consequence of the team's time travel, the Firehouse is designated a historical monument in the present, which is what saves it from demolition.
Quotes
Egon: Actually Ray, there is no hard proof of that. Every decade has its own inherent challenges.
Gallery
References
Fandom Ghostbusters Wiki, "It's About Time" episode article (production details, plot, cast, and trivia).
