Plot
A street crew is tearing up the road outside the Firehouse. A private detective named Phillip Spade watches and notes how much the neighborhood has changed in the forty years since he left: the health club used to be Maxi's Bar, and a frozen yogurt shop now sits where Sam the Tailor was arrested for bookmaking. Spade has no idea why he is back. The crew's work opens a fissure, and a giant black creature emerges from the hole and scatters the workers. Peter, leaning out of a bedroom window, is annoyed at the noise on a Saturday, but the rumbling pulls the team out to investigate.
The Ghostbusters open fire, and the creature retaliates by firing rays of green light at the crew's bulldozer and backhoe, bringing the machines to life. The vehicles chase Peter and Ray, nearly crushing them before stalling out. Winston is left dangling Egon over a wall just as the backhoe's shovel stops inches from Egon's face. The creature dissolves into smoke and disappears back down the hole. Spade, now realizing he too is a ghost, follows the team into the Firehouse, understanding he has returned to deal with Blackie and that he will need help.
In Peter's office, the team pores over a map while Winston stitches up his jumpsuit. Slimer, digging in the trash, catches Spade's scent and finds him. Ray wants more research before acting, and Egon suggests they consult Tobin's Spirit Guide along with old newspapers and books on the region's history. Bored, Peter heads upstairs to change and eat. Spade tries to speed things along by opening a window; the gust scatters the research, but his own newspaper lands on Peter's desk. The team spots an article about the theft of King Todd's treasure and a photo of the detective who investigated it: Phillip Spade himself.
Egon proposes going into the sewers to capture the creature, and Spade follows the team down. In a tunnel sealed off for about thirty years they find a cave-in, and the creature attacks. Spade throws himself in front of Peter and calls the creature by name, Blackie, before the team retreats. Back at the Firehouse, Spade appears to the Ghostbusters and explains everything. Forty years earlier he was hired to guard the King Todd exhibit on loan to the museum. The treasure's jewels were said to be cursed, which did not deter Blackie, the greatest thief alive. After Blackie stole the treasure, Spade tailed him, only to watch a green light engulf Blackie and transform him into the Guardian of King Todd's Treasure. Spade never found the treasure, and Winston realizes it has been in the sewers all along.
The team and Spade return to Blackie's lair, grab the treasure while Spade distracts the creature, and race Ecto-1 to the city museum to return the jewels to King Todd's sarcophagus and break the curse. With Blackie close behind, they haul the treasure to the basement, pry open the sarcophagus, and Peter throws the treasure inside. Blackie freezes and reverts to his human form. Spade unmasks him and tells him it is time to move on. As the two ghosts depart, Blackie asks who those strange men were; Spade tells him they were the Ghostbusters, and they had real moxie.
Cast and crew
Regular voice cast: Lorenzo Music as Peter Venkman, Frank Welker as Ray Stantz and Slimer, Maurice LaMarche as Egon Spengler, and Arsenio Hall as Winston Zeddemore. Sam Kwasman provided a guest voice. Janine Melnitz appears in the episode but has no dialogue.
The episode was written by Pamela Hickey and Dennys McCoy. Its production number was 76056.2 The voice cast recorded the episode on September 26, 1986.12
Production notes
Phillip Spade's name and characterization combine two icons of the private-eye genre, Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe, and his voice-over narration throughout the episode evokes that style. Peter does an impression of Bela Lugosi while the team works through the sewers.
The first draft of the script, dated July 25, 1986, differed from the aired version. In that draft, Peter and Ray fled the bulldozer into a junkyard, where Peter spotted a red rusted sports car and remarked he once owned one like it.3 The same draft had Janine fielding calls from Mayor Lenny, the Governor, and an encyclopedia salesman.4
Continuity
The episode is part of The Real Ghostbusters Season 2 and appears on Volume 3, Disc 2 of the DVD box set. By air date it follows The Bird of Kildarby and precedes Cold Cash and Hot Water. In the DVD ordering it sits between Moaning Stones and Buster the Ghost.
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Eatock, James and Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 22. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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Marsha Goodman (1986). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "The Long, Long, Long, etc. Goodbye" (1986).
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McCoy, Dennys and Hickey, Pamela (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Three Disc Five, "The Long, Long, Long, Long, Etc. Goodbye" Script, pp. 6-7. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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McCoy, Dennys and Hickey, Pamela (2009). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection Volume Three Disc Five, "The Long, Long, Long, Long, Etc. Goodbye" Script, p. 10. CPT Holdings, Inc.
