Worst of early RGB vs. best of later RGB

[The Joker]

Let's have a little discussion...OK, so most of it agree that the early eps (network and syndicated Season 1) were by far the best, and that the show went downhill from there. So, which eps stood out from each as bucking that generalisation?

My worst of early RGB:

Apocalypse - What, NOW? - A good premise (the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on the loose) wasted in a quagmire of lame puns, subpar animation, and dumb slapstick Venkman characterisation.

Adventures in Slime and Space - loses its rewatch value fast.

A Fright in the Opera - Ow, my eyes! Did Filmation animate this episode or something? The supporting characters were pretty annoying too, especially the Diva.

I Am The City - Zzzzzzzzzzz. Wake me up when something interesting happens....

The Old College Spirit - the animation was simply horrible.

Ghostbuster of the Year - I don't know, this one really drags for me. They should have played up the 'competition vs. teamwork' aspect more.

Strange how many of the weaker eps were written by the Eden brothers...

And my best of later RGB:

The Bogeyman Is Back - here we really get to see the true wrath and lust for fear of the Bogeyman. OK, it has the Junior Ghostbusters, but the original Bogeyman ep had kids too. Egon falling from the WTC is an image that stayed with me right into my teenage years.

Robo-Buster - a well-animated episode that builds on a great idea. I mean, surely there are people out there who would like to use the Ghostbuster's unique technology for their own ends? Egon and Janine get some nice characterisation, and Kath Soucie even gets to portray an angry Janine for a change.

Poultrygeist - for the spiffy animation, the cool opening sequence, and the sight of Egon as a chicken.

The Brooklyn Triangle - so that's where thing's go when they're missing...Good to see Winston's father and also a rare villain-who-isn't a villain.

Future Tense - creepy as hell.

Janine, You've Changed - need I explain?

Ghostworld - Egon's mother...enough said.

[Fritz]

That's a pretty good question. Many hate to admit that some of those early episodes were clunkers, but heck, even JMS had some stuff I raised some eyebrows at. For example, in "Noone Comes To Lupusville", one of the vampires (if I recall correctly) makes a proton pack explode by hitting a button on the back of it--contradicting the self-destruct mechanism set up in "Ragnarok and Roll" JMS contradicts himself. And that's not even getting to the simplistic portrayal of vampires and werewolves in that story (so simplistic I had to basically say, for GBI purposes, that "a lot was simplified and downplayed for syndicated TV standards blah blah blah")

Mostly the agreement comes in some citations of shaky animation; you forget the one I consider most notable: "Hanging By A Thread". It was very late in the syndicated episodes and I figure they were running out of money and the actors were tired--that's the only way to explain the bad animation and the limp performances here. The Muses were especially awful voice acting wise. If not for the funny scene with Charon, this would end up circling the drain as one of the worst of the entire series.

The Bogeyman Is Back - here we really get to see the true wrath and lust for fear of the Bogeyman. OK, it has the Junior Ghostbusters, but the original Bogeyman ep had kids too. Egon falling from the WTC is an image that stayed with me right into my teenage years.

Yeah, the one episode the Junior Ghostbusters came closest to not ruining. Creepy and intense...and the World Trade Center has just got to make it creepier now.

Robo-Buster - a well-animated episode that builds on a great idea. I mean, surely there are people out there who would like to use the Ghostbuster's unique technology for their own ends? Egon and Janine get some nice characterisation, and Kath Soucie even gets to portray an angry Janine for a change.

Yeah...Egon's jealous rage is wonderful to behold. I still think they dropped the ball some in the second half of that one--Egon cooled off too much. He should've been the one in Smart's face more instead of Venkman.

Poultrygeist - for the spiffy animation, the cool opening sequence, and the sight of Egon as a chicken.

Definitely had it's moments...though the Dumb Wierd Science of Egon's "weather control machine" didn't work for me. Both too implausible in the real world and, more importantly perhaps, doesn't seem to "fit in" with his other inventions. Not as dumb as the comic where he nonchalantly recreates the Mister Hyde formula, but pretty unbelievable.

Some other late ones I actually liked:

"Short Stuff" Mostly because I thought the "Punk Cinema" bounty hunter was kind of neat. And Janine trying to cast magic spells.

"You Can't Teach An Old Demon New Tricks" The double feature with "Janine You've Changed". Not as good as "Cabinet of Calimari", maybe, but a good Ray story with a nifty wierd science twist at the end.

"If I Were A Witch Man" Great spotlight on Egon's family history. And the utterly surreal spectacle of him and Venkman in drag. Top that off with a pretty menacing villain, I thought, and you get one that actually worked quite well.

[The Joker]

admin said:

That's a pretty good question. Many hate to admit that some of those early episodes were clunkers, but heck, even JMS had some stuff I raised some eyebrows at. For example, in "Noone Comes To Lupusville", one of the vampires (if I recall correctly) makes a proton pack explode by hitting a button on the back of it--contradicting the self-destruct mechanism set up in "Ragnarok and Roll" JMS contradicts himself. And that's not even getting to the simplistic portrayal of vampires and werewolves in that story (so simplistic I had to basically say, for GBI purposes, that "a lot was simplified and downplayed for syndicated TV standards blah blah blah")

I don't know, I really liked NoCTL, what with the plot twists and the dark nighttime setting. And of course the Young Frankenstein and Wizard of Oz references.

Mostly the agreement comes in some citations of shaky animation; you forget the one I consider most notable: "Hanging By A Thread". It was very late in the syndicated episodes and I figure they were running out of money and the actors were tired--that's the only way to explain the bad animation and the limp performances here. The Muses were especially awful voice acting wise. If not for the funny scene with Charon, this would end up circling the drain as one of the worst of the entire series.

True, the animation was pretty marginal, but I thought it was action-packed enough. I liked the head demon and his mistreatment of his henchman.

Definitely had it's moments...though the Dumb Wierd Science of Egon's "weather control machine" didn't work for me. Both too implausible in the real world and, more importantly perhaps, doesn't seem to "fit in" with his other inventions. Not as dumb as the comic where he nonchalantly recreates the Mister Hyde formula, but pretty unbelievable.

Maybe so, though Egon's rainstorm machine in the classic "The Man Who Never Reached Home" is arguably up there as well.

Incidentally, one ep I nearly included but didn't was your all-time favourite, Fritz..."Chicken, He Clucked". The jokes were pretty funny, but I found Cubby and his bizarre crusade a bit too weird...almost like JMS was trying to cross RGB with Monty Python or something. The animation wasn't that great either.

[Fritz]

I reread my previous post and realize that maybe it did make it sound like I hated "Noone Comes To Lupusville"...far from it. I liked it despite it's logic holes...and frankly, after some of the later stuff, those logic holes don't seem so glaring.

I hadn't seen "The Man Who Never Reached Home" in a long time, so I forgot the rainstorm machine part. I still think it's a little too far from reality and the movie technology to really work for me.

I guess the "Monty Python weirdness" of "Chicken He Clucked" is what made it work so well for me. A lot of episodes, especially later on, tended toward goofiness. A very few tended closer to the intense and dark (ie "Ragnarok and Roll") "Chicken He Clucked" was, to me, the one that best melded both at the same time. A disturbed guy selling his soul for the assinine purpose of getting rid of all the chickens in the world was hitting the same vibe as having a world-stomping demon take the form of a cute marshmallow mascot.