The Ghost Busters facts for kids

Quick facts for kids The Ghost Busters
Larry Storch, Forrest Tucker and Bob Burns as Spencer, Tracy and Kong
Created by	Marc Richards
Starring	Forrest Tucker Larry Storch Bob Burns
Theme music composer	Diane Hildebrand Jackie Mills
Opening theme	"Ghost-Busters" Theme (sung by Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch)
Ending theme	"Ghost-Busters" Theme (instrumental)
Composer(s)	Yvette Blais Jeff Michael
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	15
Production
Executive producer(s)	Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer Dick Rosenbloom
Producer(s)	Norman Abbott
Production location(s)	United States
Running time	31 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s)	Filmation
Distributor	NBCUniversal Television Distribution
Release
Original network	CBS
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 6 (1975-09-06) – December 13, 1975 (1975-12-13)
Chronology
Related shows	Ghostbusters (1986 TV series)

The Ghost Busters is a live-action children's sitcom that ran in 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Fifteen episodes were produced. The show reunited Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch in roles similar to their characters in F Troop.

The series is unrelated to the 1984 film Ghostbusters (though Columbia Pictures did pay Filmation for a license to use the name). Like the film, the series spawned its own animated sequel in 1986.

The series utilizes slapstick, with scenes centered on the perpetual bumbling of the characters, good and evil alike. The series also makes references to classic cinema; the names "Spencer" and "Tracy" were taken from the actor Spencer Tracy, while the name Kong – not given to the gorilla – was a clear homage to King Kong.

Premise

Spencer, Tracy, and Kong billed themselves as "The Ghost Busters", bumbling paranormal detectives. Kong (Tucker) was the leader of the trio with Spencer (Storch) as his partner, and Tracy (a gorilla, played by Burns) as their assistant who also drove their barely-functional jalopy. Their headquarters was situated in a run down office building in an unspecified city (Spencer's name on the door was misspelled "Spenser" while the opening credits spelled his name "Spencer"). Outside of normal office equipment, plus a large armoire on which Tracy hung numerous hats including his trademark beanie with a propeller, the office itself was also dilapidated, with peeling wallpaper and a pay phone near the door as the Ghost Busters' only means of communicating with prospective clients.

Each episode consisted of the same formula: in the pre-credits teaser, a ghost or monster (usually accompanied by a half-witted sidekick), would manifest and vow to wreak havoc or vengeance on a particular person, the city, or even the world. After the credits, Kong would send Tracy and Spencer to a general store to get their next assignment from the unseen "Zero" (Scheimer). The tape-recorded message was usually hidden inside an everyday object such as a bicycle, typewriter, or toy. In a parodic homage to Mission: Impossible, the recording would end with Zero saying, "This message will self-destruct in five seconds"; after Tracy counted down the seconds, the message (and often the item in which it was hidden) would explode in Tracy's face.

The Ghost Busters' assignments would invariably take them to the same place, a spooky castle with an adjoining graveyard on the city's outskirts (Kong would point out that the castle was the only one in or near the city), and after a series of farcical chases, the ghouls would be cornered and dispatched back to the netherworld by a "Ghost De-Materializer", usually activated by Kong as he triumphantly shouted "Zap!"

Ghosts and monsters

The show frequently made use of ghostly characters and other supernatural characters from popular and literary culture, as well as real-life historical figures. These included:

• Dr. Frankenstein and his monster
• A Mummy
• The Red Baron
• The Canterville Ghost
• Count Dracula
• Billy the Kid
• Belle Starr
• The captain and first mate of the Flying Dutchman

Regular cast

• Forrest Tucker as Kong
• Larry Storch as Eddie Spencer
• Bob Burns as Tracy (credited as the gorilla's "trainer")
• Lou Scheimer as the voice of Zero

Sequel

In 1986, after the success of the Columbia film, the show was revived in animated format with Kong and Spencer's sons, Jake and Eddie Jr., inheriting their fathers' business (and Tracy the Gorilla) in Ghostbusters. Kong's first name was never mentioned in the original series. Spencer is named as Eddie in the second episode, "Dr. Whatsisname."

Syndication repeats

In mid-2011 re-runs of The Ghost Busters aired on the Retro Television Network.

Episodes