Beach Blanket Bruiser

4 min read

Written By: Pat Allee & Ben Hurst

Air Date: January 21, 1989

Production Number: 166023A

Episode Number (Aired): 20

Episode Number (DVD): 08a

Season: Season 1

Boxset: Vol. 5, Disc 4

Voice Cast: Frank Welker (lead), Cree Summer, Danny Mann

"Beach Blanket Bruiser" is an episode from the Slimer! segments of Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters. Bud takes Slimer and Fred to the beach, where the brutish lifeguard dog Bruiser repeatedly tries to eject Fred for violating the "No Dogs Allowed" rule, only to meet his match in an actual shark.

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Plot

Bud arrives outside the Firehouse in his station wagon. Slimer asks if Fred can come along, and Bud points out that no dogs are allowed at the beach. Slimer whispers a plan to Fred, and the two hide Fred inside a picnic basket for the drive. At the beach, Slimer accidentally shuts the basket lid on Fred's tail, alerting the lifeguards on duty, Mrs. Stone and Bruiser. Stone spots Fred's tail through binoculars and sends Bruiser to remove him. Bruiser confronts Slimer and Fred, points to the "No Dogs Allowed" sign, and ignores Slimer's observation that Bruiser is also a dog before driving them both back to Bud's car.

Slimer and Fred attempt a second entry disguised as one person, but Fred's tail sticks out of the costume's pants and Stone spots it again. Bruiser grabs Fred and winds up to punt him like a football, but Slimer swaps Fred for a watermelon at the last second. The melon lands squarely on Stone's head. She warns Bruiser that one more failure to remove Fred will cost him his job.

Slimer and Fred hide under a beach blanket until Bud devises another approach: taking Fred surfing, which technically bypasses the beach-access rule. Out on the water, a shark fin surfaces near their board, and Bud, Slimer, and Fred flee, only to discover it is Bruiser wearing a novelty fin to prank them. Bruiser's laughter is cut short when a real shark appears and swallows him. He erupts from the ocean and runs straight into Bud's surfboard as a wave hits, sending him back into the shark's mouth a second time. He eventually gets shot back to shore.

The collision takes out a leg of the lifeguard tower, dumping Stone into the sand. She gives Bruiser one final warning, and he responds by launching himself on a rocket glider and strapping rocket thrusters to Fred's surfboard. Slimer pulls Fred free just before the board crashes into Bruiser. The runaway board then carries Stone and Bruiser into the ocean, where the shark resumes its pursuit of Bruiser. Bud, Slimer, and Fred enjoy the meal Stone left behind on the beach, singing the Ghostbusters theme as they finish up.

Characters

Bud is a young boy and Slimer's regular companion throughout the Slimer! segments. He owns the station wagon used to drive to the beach and devises the surfing loophole that nearly solves the no-dogs rule.

Fred is Bud's dog and the reason for the episode's conflict. Though he cannot speak, he plays an active role alongside Slimer and appears alongside him in other Slimer! episodes, including "Cruisin' for a Bruisin'."

Mrs. Stone is the senior lifeguard at the beach. She enforces the "No Dogs Allowed" policy through Bruiser and threatens to send him back to the pound if he fails to remove Fred.

Bruiser is a large, muscular dog who serves as the beach's enforcer under Mrs. Stone. His attempts to remove Fred escalate from straightforward ejection to rocket gliders, and each plan backfires on him, most memorably through repeated encounters with the episode's shark. Bruiser also appears in the Slimer! episode "Cruisin' for a Bruisin'."

The Shark is a recurring threat in the episode's second half. It swallows Bruiser twice and ultimately chases both Stone and Bruiser into the ocean, doubling as comic relief and poetic justice.

Trivia

The episode was recorded on July 27, 1988.
When Bruiser points out the "No Dogs Allowed" sign, Slimer holds up a handwritten sign reading "Isn't he a dog, too" in reference to Bruiser. This is a direct reference to the Road Runner cartoons, where Wile E. Coyote would hold up signs when his schemes against Road Runner collapsed.
In the visual commentary included in The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection, Darrell McNeil identifies the surfing scene as animated by Ed Love, known for his work on the Tom & Jerry series and for developing a full animation style within the constraints of limited animation.
The musical sting that plays as the shark closes in on Mrs. Stone and Bruiser is the theme from Jaws.
Bud and Slimer sing the Ghostbusters theme at the end of the episode while eating Stone's abandoned food.

References

Slimer and the Real Ghostbusters, "Beach Blanket Bruiser" (Season 1, aired January 21, 1989; production number 166023A)
The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection visual commentary (Darrell McNeil on animated sequences)

Beach Blanket Bruiser

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Plot

Characters

Trivia

References