Ghostbusters

This article or section is incomplete. Please improve the article, or discuss the issue on the talk page.

Ghostbusters is a supernatural comedy franchise about a team of professional ghost hunters. It began with Ghostbusters in 1984, which starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as the titular Ghostbusters, with Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and Annie Potts in supporting roles. The movie was a box-office hit and a cultural phenomenon, and catchphrases from the movie, such as "Who you gonna call?" quickly made their way into the pop culture lexicon. A sequel, Ghostbusters II, followed in 1989 and did well at the box office, but wasn't as successful as the first movie. The 1990s and 2000s saw several abortive attempts at a sequel, but they paused in 2014 when Harold Ramis passed away. A remake film appeared in 2016, featuring women in the Ghostbusters roles, but did not do well. In 2021 a second sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, appeared, with the storyline focusing on the daughter and grandchildren of one of the original Ghostbusters.

The Ghostbusters franchise has also given rise to video games, comic books, and two animated television series. Following the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, an animated film and a live-action prequel television series were in development.

Ghostbusters has been referred to several times in the Simpsons universe.

References to Ghostbusters in The Simpsons

Television episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 13 276 "Brawl in the Family" When the Simpsons first meet Gabriel the social worker, Homer thinks he's an angel, like "Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife, or Will Smith in Bagger Vance, or Slimer in Ghostbusters." 283 "Tales from the Public Domain" Homer tells Bart that Hamlet was made into a great movie called Ghostbusters. The family then dance to the theme music. 21 453 "Boy Meets Curl" Ivan Reitman is mentioned as being Canada's "most famous director" for bringing Ghostbusters. The "Ghostbusters" theme is then played.

Comic stories

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Simpsons Comics #111 Know It All in the Family Marge takes a science class from Professor Frink and learns how to rebuild a microwave oven into a portable ray gun. The gun resembles a proton pack from Ghostbusters. When Marge uses it at the dinner table to heat up food, Homer is disappointed, as he thought that she had become a Ghostbuster. Simpsons Comics #207 Snooze Alarm! Chief Wiggum has a dream where he is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, fights the Ghostbusters and eats Ernie Hudson's character. Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #13 Prop, Prop, Whiz, Whiz! Comic Book Guy's shop is shown to have a collection of cursed movie props and DVDs in the back room. Whoever touches an item is transported into the world of that movie. Among the victims were Carl, Lenny, Moe, and Barney, who touched a Ghostbusters DVD and ended up fighting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #22 Ghøst Bashers The franchise is parodied throughout the story. The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Hoodoo Voodoo Brouhaha Comic Book Guy's Best Costumes Ever - Part 2 Comic Book Guy dressed up as Ray Stantz for Aykroyd Con in 1996.

Books

Picture Book Reference Comic Book Guy's Book of Pop Culture Peter Venkman's quote, "Back off, man. I'm a scientist", is mentioned in Comic Book Guy's list of the "Greatest Quotes of All Time".

Common cast and crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in the Ghostbusters franchise Role on The Simpsons Shohreh Aghdashloo Provided the voice of Gozer in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Voiced Mina bin Laden in "MyPods and Boomsticks". Dan Aykroyd Played Ray Stantz. Voiced Postage Stamp Fellow in "The Dad-Feelings Limited". Cheech Marin Had a cameo appearance as a dock supervisor in Ghostbusters II. Voiced himself in the season 22 episode "A Midsummer's Nice Dreams". Paul Rudd Played Gary Grooberson in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Voiced Dr. Zander in the season 22 episode "Love Is a Many-Strangled Thing", and himself in the season 25 episode "Steal This Episode" and in the season 32 episode "Three Dreams Denied". J. K. Simmons Played Ivo Shandor in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Voiced J. Jonah Jameson in the season 18 episode "Moe'N'a Lisa", a tabloid editor in the season 18 episode "Homerazzi", JJ Gruff in the season 29 episode "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage", Dr. Jessup in the season 30 episode "Daddicus Finch" and Victor Kleskow in the season 30 episode "Girl's in the Band".

External links

• Ghostbusters (franchise) at Wikipedia

Greatest Quotes of All Time
Pvt. William Hudson (Aliens) • Veronica Quaife (The Fly) • Peter Venkman (Ghostbusters) • Short Round (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom) • The Black Knight (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) • Cole Sear (The Sixth Sense) • Superman (Superman)

Cultural references

Television The A-Team • All in the Family • Alvin and the Chipmunks • America's Funniest Home Videos • Animaniacs • Barney & Friends • Battlestar Galactica • Baywatch • Beauty and the Beast • Bewitched • The Big Bang Theory • Black Mirror • Bob's Burgers • The Brady Bunch • Breaking Bad • Charlie's Angels • Cheers • The Critic • CSI • Dallas • Davey and Goliath • DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Disenchantment • Doctor Who • The Dukes of Hazzard • Family Guy • The Flintstones • Frasier • Futurama • Game of Thrones • Garfield • Gilligan's Island • Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. • Happy Days • The Honeymooners • Gunsmoke • I Dream of Jeannie • I Love Lucy • The Jetsons • King of the Hill • Late Show with David Letterman • Law & Order • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • Lost • Lost in Space • Married... with Children • Marvel • M*A*S*H • Matlock • Monty Python's Flying Circus • Mork & Mindy • The Munsters • The Muppets • My Little Pony • MythBusters • The Odd Couple • Orange Is the New Black • Peanuts • Pokémon • Popeye • The Powerpuff Girls • The Ren & Stimpy Show • Rick and Morty • The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show • Sailor Moon • Scooby-Doo • Sesame Street • Seinfeld • The Smurfs • The Sopranos • South Park • SpongeBob SquarePants • Stargate • Starsky & Hutch • Star Trek • Stranger Things • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Teletubbies • That '70s Show • Thriller • The Tracey Ullman Show • Transformers • The Twilight Zone • The Walking Dead • When Animals Attack! • Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? • The Wonder Years • The X-Files Films 2001: A Space Odyssey • Alice in Wonderland • Alien • Alvin and the Chipmunks • Apocalypse Now • Avatar • Back to the Future • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • Das Boot • C.H.U.D. • Charlie's Angels • Casablanca • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • Citizen Kane • A Clockwork Orange • Close Encounters of the Third Kind • DC Comics • Dial M for Murder • Die Hard • Dracula • The Dukes of Hazzard • The Exorcist • Fantasia • The Fly • Frozen • Garfield • Ghostbusters • The Godfather • Godzilla • Gone with the Wind • Harry Potter • Home Alone • The Hunger Games • Indiana Jones • It's a Wonderful Life • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • King Kong • Laurel & Hardy • The Lion King • The Little Mermaid • The Little Rascals • The Lone Ranger • Looney Tunes • The Lord of the Rings • M*A*S*H • Mad Max • Marvel • The Marx Brothers • The Matrix • The Odd Couple • Pirates of the Caribbean • Planet of the Apes • Pokémon • Popeye • Psycho • Pulp Fiction • RoboCop • Saw • Scooby-Doo • The Shawshank Redemption • The Shining • The Silence of the Lambs • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • The Sound of Music • Soylent Green • SpongeBob SquarePants • Star Trek • Star Wars • A Streetcar Named Desire • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Terminator • Thelma & Louise • They Saved Hitler's Brain • The Three Stooges • Thriller • Titanic • Toy Story • Transformers • When Harry Met Sally... • The Wizard of Oz Video games Angry Birds • Candy Crush Saga • Donkey Kong • Grand Theft Auto • The Legend of Zelda • Mario • Minecraft • Pokémon Magazines Cracked • MAD • The New Yorker • Playboy • Rolling Stone Books Alice in Wonderland • Beauty and the Beast • Ben-Hur • The Catcher in the Rye • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • A Christmas Carol • A Clockwork Orange • Dial M for Murder • Dracula • The Exorcist • Fahrenheit 451 • The Fly • Game of Thrones • The Godfather • Gone with the Wind • Goosebumps • Harry Potter • The Hunger Games • James Bond • Jaws • Jurassic Park • The Little Mermaid • The Lord of the Rings • Moby-Dick • The Old Man and the Sea • Planet of the Apes • Psycho • The Silence of the Lambs • The Shining • Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs • A Streetcar Named Desire • The Wizard of Oz Comics DC Comics • Dennis the Menace • Dilbert • Garfield • Life in Hell • Marvel • Mary Worth • My Little Pony • Peanuts • Popeye • Sailor Moon • The Smurfs • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles • Tintin • The Walking Dead Other Art references • Gilbert and Sullivan • Hindenburg disaster • References in other media