40 Years Ago on TV, Ghostbusters Expanded in a Way That the Movies Couldn’t for Decades

“Who ya gonna call? If you were anywhere near a television, radio, toy aisle, or playground in the mid-1980s, there was a pretty good chance you knew exactly what came next. Ghostbusters wasn’t just a hit movie. It was the kind of hit that seemed to escape the theater and follow you home. The movie was a box-office success, the theme song was everywhere, and suddenly everybody had an opinion about which Ghostbuster was the coolest. Peter? Obviously. Egon? For the science kids. Winston? The underrated answer. Ray had the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, so he had a case.

Then something happened on television that changed how fans could experience that world. Suddenly, Ghostbusters didn’t have to wait for another theatrical adventure to return. The characters could come back every week, encounter something completely new, and get into supernatural trouble that would’ve been difficult to squeeze into a two-hour movie. It became a television series—but was animated as a Saturday morning cartoon in 1986. But there was a reason fans kept coming back to it. For the first time, that world didn’t have to wait for another movie to have another adventure. And now, there might even be a new animated Ghostbusters movie in the works.

The Real Ghostbusters Turned One Movie Into a Much Bigger World

The biggest thing The Real Ghostbusters gave the franchise wasn’t another villain. It was more mythology and stories. Lots of it. Instead of spending an entire movie building toward one enormous supernatural catastrophe, the series could throw the Ghostbusters into the most imaginative situations and encounters with supernaturally odd ghosts. One week might involve the Boogieman. Another could bring in some ancient supernatural menace. Then there was Slimer, who somehow went from sliming Peter Venkman in the movie to becoming the Ghostbusters‘ resident adorable green roommate.

That last part was a huge twist that added a much-needed dynamic to the show. These guys were literally running a ghost-removal business, and now they had a ghost living at the firehouse—rent-free. But that’s exactly where the cartoon’s freedom became useful. It could take the basic Ghostbusters formula and keep adding to it without worrying whether every idea was big enough for a movie. Fans were getting the sense that ghosts were everywhere and that New York had an entire supernatural ecosystem. Now, the Ghostbusters had somehow become the people you called when something from the other side started causing problems. The formula was fresh and manifested a pseudo-RPG world that was immersive and full of spooky fun and adventure.

The Cartoon Helped Cement the Ghostbuster Legacy

Ask a fan why they became enamored with the Ghostbusters, and the first answer will probably involve the movies. Fair enough. That’s where it all started. But ask somebody who grew up with The Real Ghostbusters, and the answer can get a lot longer. There was the firehouse, the Ecto-1, Janine, Slimer, and all those strange ghosts that needed busting. The cartoon made it feel like the team had a regular job in a world that was just slightly more haunted than ours. The distinctive personalities of Egon, Peter, Ray, and Winston were developed more fully, along with their relationships. Slimer was a huge hit and became every kid’s dream pet to have as a best friend.

The cartoon also brought the Ghostbusters crew into the world of merchandising. From 1986 to 1991, Kenner’s toy line took the franchise to the next level. Suddenly, kids (as well as adults) could get their hands on fun, cartoony action figures of the crew, Slimer, and some of the gross ghosts. And everything else followed. There were clothes, more posters, keychains, the quintessential ’80s lunch pail, comics, replicas of the PKE meter, and, of course, the iconic proton pack. If you were a fan of the Ghostbusters, you could have an entire bedroom, man cave, or home fully furnished with branded gear, along with all the action figures. It was a great time to be a fan of the IP.

The Real Ghostbusters did more than keep the franchise alive. It expanded the mythology, deepened the characters, introduced a generation to the world of Ghostbusters, and made the supernatural feel like an everyday part of life. It gave fans something the movies couldn’t: a Ghostbusters world that felt endless. No wonder that even though they were cartoons, these Ghostbusters were truly real.