Extreme Ghostbusters (1997)

Starring: Tara Strong, Rino Romano, Maurice LaMarche, Jason Marsden, Alfonso Ribeiro, Pat Musick, and Billy West
Grade: C-

In an attempt to reinvigorate the Ghostbusters franchise for a new generation, a follow-up to the beloved 80s cartoon The Real Ghostbusters was made with a retooled, modern, revamped series known as Extreme Ghostbusters. Though it’s technically a sequel series that continues the legacy of the previous cartoon, it’s vastly different in comparison. In congruence with the darker, late 90s cartoon atmosphere, the style of Extreme Ghostbusters is very much a part of the wave of more mature animated programs like Men in Black: The Series, Batman: The Animated Series, or later with X-Men: Evolution. It’s not as serious as its contemporaries, as it’s still comedy-based and has the typical Ghostbusters flare for fun, but it is a stark contrast from The Real Ghostbusters. While that show was geared to the era of “cartoons and cereal” fun, the updated Extreme Ghostbusters is sophisticated in comparison, focusing on an older demographic of kids. The dialogue is more developed, the characters are much more nuanced and complicated to attract an older teenaged crowd, and Slimer’s role is reduced in an effort to focus on the new group and rightfully so. Gone is the vibrant, Saturday morning cartoon energy. With the Extreme Ghostbusters, fans are treated to a grounded and grimier affair fit for the late 90s era of film and television. It can be seen in the main characters, the villains, the humor, and the environment in general. It may have only lasted a season and didn’t necessarily leave the impression other Ghostbusters-related productions have done, but it does hold up more than viewers may give it credit for.

Still based out of Manhattan in New York City, New York, Dr. Egon Spengler (a returning LaMarche) is the only one out of the original four Ghostbusters who has stayed in the area and still lives in the firehouse station base. Unfortunately, the Ghostbusters have been out of business for years due to lack of supernatural activity, which is why Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Ray Stanz, and Winston Zeddemore all went down different paths in life. Still, Egon remained and the responsibility of watching over the containment unit landed on him. Now, he spends time there while working on his own research, and he went back to teach as a professor at the lowly New York City College. His main class focuses on paranormal studies, and the only four people that take the class end up being the four that become the new team. Obviously, this isn’t the plan from the outset. Though his exploits are known to the college students, ghostbusting was behind Egon as there was no need for it until the two-part pilot to open the show in “Darkness at Noon, Part I” and “Darkness at Noon, Part II“, a great tone-setter for the series. For the record, it goes without saying that this show would have been a lot better had they just revamped The Real Ghostbusters and continued their exploits since they are the reason the franchise is popular in the first place, but the Extreme Ghostbusters was created as the first attempt in doing something new with the concept, which is probably why it didn’t last very long. With that being said and knowing that this was always going to be the direction of this particular show, they did a decent job at introducing the next generation. Aligning with the times, three out of the four college-aged group members are edgier than what you would expect as a Ghostbusters fan. Funnily enough, none of them are all that likable either, which in a screwy way, kind of makes the show likeable in its own right. All four main characters have enough problems with their personalities or character designs that no one is the obvious favorite. Basically, there is no Peter Venkman, a clear-cut star of the show. Whether you consider this a good or a bad thing, Extreme Ghostbusters is all about the ensemble and the team as a whole.

Because of its focus on making the characters rougher around the edges, it’s very 90s, as there is a clear attempt to make them look cooler in comparison to the previous cartoon and appeal to an older teenage crowd. This is the reason for the remixed rock version of the Ghostbusters theme song, which was god-awful and might be in the discussion for one of the worst theme songs I’ve ever heard. Bypassing this before I get in a bad mood, the ambiguous character descriptions don’t work as well as you’d hope, but the attempt is admirable enough to get the viewer to keep watching. It’s one of those cases where had the show gone on for a few more seasons, the development of the characters as they grew could have been very interesting. Sadly, we never got to see the full vision because the test run of the 40-episode first season wasn’t good enough to warrant a continuation. It starts with Eduardo (Rino Romano). They try to make him the Venkman of the crew, but his presentation isn’t strong enough. He doesn’t believe in ghosts at the beginning and only took Egon’s class because he heard it was an easy “A”. He is fun to have around but is almost useless and could be replaced by literally any college student on the campus who has a better temperament or motivation. Then again, he makes things interesting because of how much pushback he brings to whatever happens, so there’s that. Even so, he is lazy, he can be an asshole for no reason, he has no scientific background at all, and he’s not really street smart either. Though he showcases bravery on occasion (The Unseen, Slimer’s Sacrifice, Dry Spell), he is more or less a body. Literally anyone who was placed in this role from a character perspective could have pulled off the same feats Eduardo pulled off and may have been less of a headache to deal with, so he never proves his worth enough to where the others would be like, “Hey, we can’t do this without Eduardo!”. His real purpose to the show, despite his lack of discernible skills, is that he can be amusing at times, though his catchphrase of “I’m a scientist” is not nearly as funny as these writers think it is. His other positive influence over the direction of the show is his love/hate relationship with Kylie (Strong). They tease the chemistry between them, and it becomes something to watch for early. Had the show gone on, this would have been a big part of Extreme Ghostbusters that people would look back on fondly.

As it is with most television programs, the viewer latches onto any hint of a relationship between two main characters. That’s just how it goes. All of this energy is dedicated to the back-and-forth between the argumentative Eduardo and headstrong Kylie (Darkness at Noon, Part 2, The Unseen, Be Careful What You Wish For, In Your Dreams), and it shows enough potential to where you want to see it develop further. If anything, it doesn’t happen enough. Though I still argue that there is no main character because it’s all about the team as a whole, Kylie is the closest thing to becoming the star of the show, surpassing her male counterparts as the most intriguing character by far. Along with the popular goth girl look from that time period, Kylie has a vested interest in the paranormal. She is tough, naturally cool, highly knowledgeable about the supernatural without being annoying about it, and she regularly reads up on it (Witchy Woman, Darkness at Noon, Part 2). Kylie is also the only one out of the four new characters that took Egon’s class because she loves and respects his work. The only reason Garrett Miller (Marsden) took the class is because he wanted to hear the exploits of the Ghostbusters kicking ghost ass. Other than that, he’s indifferent on the subject. He enjoys the job of ghostbusting just because the excitement surrounding it. He lives for the challenge. Now, making the wheelchair bounded character the biggest prick out of the main cast is certainly a strange decision, but the rarity of it is cool. I don’t think we have ever seen a character cofounded to a wheelchair before or since that is as arrogant as Garrett. Because of his physical disability, he overcompensates to an annoying degree to where he starts pulling off stunts that are genuinely not possible. Naturally, if anyone even hints at how he could be at a disadvantage, he flips out. It doesn’t matter if it’s a reasonable concern. He has to prove anyone and everyone wrong. He is athletic and has more upper body strength than any of the main characters, but along with his general attitude and unbelievable abilities, the viewer’s attraction to him may wear thin early on. Once Garrett settles into a certain role as the season moves on and his personality becomes more understood, the character starts to calm down and can be an enjoyable presence. It does take quite a bit of a time though.

The same could be said about Roland Jackson (Ribeiro), though his biggest problem is that he’s too good. The softie is the total opposite of Eduardo, Kylie, and Garrett. He’s nice, open to possibilities and new ideas, and is intelligent enough to have a seat at Egon’s table, helping him in creating new designs, devices, and with things around the firehouse. The problem is that he’s just too good for his own damn self to the point where you just don’t like him. You don’t necessarily hate him. He’s just the odd man out in the group and least entertaining team member, despite being the most useful (Ghost in the Machine, Fallout). Funny how that works. In any Roland-focused episode, you just want to slap him, as the more we learn about his personality, the more annoying he becomes, like how easily he was fooled in “Sonic Youth” or when despite how intelligent he is, he somehow has no idea what a troublemaking asshole his little brother is in “Grundelesque“. Then, there’s him just being a pissy bitch in “The Infernal Machine” and “Moby Ghost“. Along with this mixed bag of central characters, the premise on how they make the leap to actual Ghostbusters is confusing. Despite their lack of talent or experience in the subject, they become Ghostbusters out of necessity and almost overnight in the pilot. As good as the two-part pilot was in bridging the gap between the two cartoons, explaining Egon’s situation, and introducing the new characters, their transition into being successful Ghostbusters relatively quickly is insulting to the viewer and the fans. How are they able to pull all of this off that quickly? They are all mid-level college students with varying degrees of interest in the field of the paranormal. They barely know Egon, yet they take it upon themselves to dedicate their lives to the guy in the wake of supernatural activity. Why? Kylie makes sense because she had respect for Egon beforehand, but what about the others? Is this even a 200-level class? What this turns into for these college students is a lot to ask for what was called an “Easy A” by Eduardo. Speaking of which, Eduardo’s inclusion in the team and success after makes the least amount of sense. He literally had no interest in joining until Garrett basically called him a pussy. That’s all he needed? Really? They stress the idea of Egon not having a choice but to fast-track train them since he’s infected by the disease that is spread around, but the easiness in which they pull it off and automatically look like experienced veterans by the second episode is bullshit.

The reason Venkman, Ray, and Egon got away with a similar story was because they all had PhDs and were well versed in everything going into it. This new crop of talent isn’t a tenth of what the previous characters were, but you’re telling me they can kick this much ass with almost no background? That’s just lazy writing. Enthusiasm and adrenaline can only get you so far. I would think a lot more is needed when it comes to hunting demons, trolls (Rage), a golem (The True Face of a Monster), vampire clowns (Killjoys), the Hraesvelg (Bird of Prey), leprechauns (The Luck of the Irish), and whatever that fucking bug-monster thing was in “The Crawler“.

I understand that a big part of the show is Egon being aged and out of shape, which is why a new team is created. As Ghostbusters fans, we’re not cool with this depiction, but we can allow it to give the show a chance. However, this “aged” Egon is blown massively out of proportion. In “The Sphinx“, it’s revealed that he’s 39, but why is this such a big deal? Why do they treat him like he’s in his 50s or 60s and is some decrepit old man? Being almost 40 is not a death sentence. This was incredibly overdramatic when general realism is taken into account. Janine makes it a point to bring up how Egon has gotten out of shape, and the aforementioned “The Sphinx” episode, along with the two-part pilot, is entirely dedicated to presenting him as this old sack of shit, but not enough happens to where I’m convinced that the team would be better off without him on these missions. With all due respect, there’s no way you can convince me that a slightly older Egon with his wealth of knowledge and experience as a Ghostbuster in the field isn’t a more useful team member than some of these other guys. Cool, Garrett is all about sports and is fearless, but having someone in a wheelchair fighting supernatural entities, demons, and the like is way more of a stretch than a near 40-year-old Ghostbuster still doing his job. The only benefit Eduardo brings to the table is that he’s athletic due to his age. He’s got nothing else going for him. You’re telling me these two dipshits are more crucial to the team’s field work than Egon? Even if he’s a little out of shape, he’s not nearly as bad as they make him out to be. Most of it is just rust because of the lack of activity over the years. Once he gets his reps back and starts working regularly again, his abilities would come back for the most part. It’s just a matter of putting some stress on the body again to build it up. It doesn’t take a scientist on Egon’s level to understand something like this. Had they aged the Egon character into his 60s, then this general take on Egon would make a lot more sense. As it stands though, they didn’t do a good enough job with it considering how it’s such a crucial foundation for the show’s premise and why things turned out the way they did. As far as minor criticisms go, the inconsistencies of the attire of the group were agitating. Though Roland and Garrett try to wear the traditional overalls, Kylie wears armor when on a mission and looks more like she would fit in better with the cast of Buzz Lightyear of Star Command. Then, there’s Eduardo who chooses to wear no protective gear at all. If these guys are a team, they don’t look like it. They don’t look cool either.

I’m just not sure why they went in this direction with it. It made them look mismatched, unkept, and un-Ghostbuster-like. It’s really counterintuitive.

One positive is Slimer, a ghost that has clearly outlived his usefulness but is now just Egon’s buddy after all these years. In The Real Ghostbusters, it was said several times over how Slimer is important because of all the tests that can be done on him, so they can understand ghosts better. It’s why they put up with his antics. In Extreme Ghostbusters, this isn’t brought up anymore. It’s just said that Slimer has developed a closer bond with Egon once everyone else left, so Egon holds him closer to his heart. He still gives Slimer a long leash no matter how many errors he makes, and he tries to give every excuse in the book for him no matter how bad the situation is (Glutton for Punishment). At this point though, it’s okay. He’s not as bad as he used to be. As much as my personal love/hate relationship for Slimer goes, I do appreciate his role on Extreme Ghostbusters a lot more, mostly because it’s lessened in general compared to The Real Ghostbusters. There, he almost superseded the group in importance and became a sensation in himself, which always felt unwarranted. In this series, his role is appropriate as a supporting comedic sidekick that only chimes in to lighten the mood or bring energy in dead spots. Really, it’s the role he always should have had, so I’m glad this was what it turned into. Plus, it wouldn’t have fit the vibe of Extreme Ghostbusters had it been any other way. Had Slimer been the same as he was before, it would have felt too cartoonish. Considering the darker tone of the series in the metaphorical and literal sense, they adapted Slimer well to fit the tone without sacrificing what made him popular. Nevertheless, his change in character design was ugly and unnecessary. Why they gave him Popeye’s forearms was beyond me. They literally could have just recreated what he looked like in the original series and kept the darker color from the first two seasons, and it would have been just fine.

Despite there only being 40 episodes to choose from, there are a lot of great ones. There’s the team facing off against monsters that represent their internal fears, which results in such an awesome and simplistic solution that I was mad I didn’t think of it myself (Fear Itself), the scariest trio of villains they face in the show by far (Deadliners), Eduardo being stuck in a ghost realm within a mirror (The Ghostmakers), Eduardo going to save Slimer in the containment unit (Slimer’s Sacrifice), Egon reconnecting with old colleague Edward Kirilian (Heart of Darkness), Kylie getting transported to the future and trying to fulfill her destiny as one of the world’s saviors (Ghost Apocalyptic Future), Kylie and Eduardo at their best (The Unseen), learning more about Eduardo and his issues with his cop brother (Rage), arguably their best example of teamwork (Casting the Runes), the baffling realization of how clueless Egon is to Janine’s attraction to him (The Crawler), Egon outsmarting the horrific Sphinx (The Sphinx), Garrett at his best feuding with the FBI (Grease), Egon realizing how important Janine is (Fallout) and of course, the team-up they have with the return of The Real Ghostbusters in the nostalgic two-part episode in “Back in the Saddle, Part 1” and “Back in the Saddle, Part 2“. That one was hard to beat. You can’t help but feel good seeing the gang back together.

Again, why couldn’t this show just be a continuation of the old one? The fact that arguably the best episode of Extreme Ghostbusters was when the original crew returned should tell you the crux of the problem with this series.

Extreme Ghostbusters was the first of many attempts to revitalize the franchise with a new crop of characters taking over the proton packs. Unfortunately, it didn’t go over that well. All things considered however, the sole season they had was a decent showing. Kylie had potential, the villains were imaginative and arguably creepier than ever before, and the mature approach in tone and dialogue was a good move to update things. The problem is that as a collective, there wasn’t a single element of the show that made the viewer beg for more. It was decent entertainment if there was nothing else to watch, but in terms of continuing the legacy of a franchise, being passable simply won’t cut it. It wasn’t the worst Ghostbusters offering, but it just wasn’t good enough to pursue further.