Episode 054 - Ghostbusters (1984) Live Commentary!

The phone-in topic Today: "Ghosts and Ghostbusting." The controversy builds, more sightings are reported, some maintain that these professional paranormal eliminators in New York are the cause of it all.

That's right film fans... as promised some time back, it's time for another audio commentary, and this week- on the release day of the reboot, no less- we're doing a full-length commentary of Ivan Reitman's immortal classic, 1984's Ghostbusters! Of course starring Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd, Sigourney Weaver, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts, and William Atherton, this film is a classic in absolutely every sense of the word, with unforgettable performances and a movie that is quoteable from beginning to end. It sits high atop the list of films that I have seen hundreds of times, and could watch a hundred more and never get tired of it. It is so layered with amazing comedy that it still causes movie-goers to laugh uncontrollably some thirty plus years later.

If you're trying to listen to our commentary along with the film, the audio track is synchronized with the very start of the film, so just start them both at the same time! 

Some facts about Ghostbusters:

~AFI's 100 Years, 100 Laughs list... #28

~IGN's Greatest Comedy Ever in 2005.

~Funniest Movie of the past 25 Years by Entertainment Weekly in 2006.

~Total Film's readers voted the film the 44th greatest comedy of all time in 2000.

~The film was also selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2015. 

~Ackroyd & Ramis originally wrote roles for John Belushi (Venkman) and John Candy (Louis Tully). John Candy did not commit to the project, which led to Rick Moranis being cast, and after Belushi died, Bill Murray came on board.

~John Candy's original concept for Louis Tully was that the character should be German, and own two dogs. These concepts were rejected, leading to Candy's rejection of the part.

~Eddie Murphy was the actor originally considered for the part of Winston.

~Slavitza Jovan played Gozer, but she did not voice her- the voice was done by Paddi Edwards.

~Slimer was intended to be a tribute to John Belushi, specifically his character Bluto from Animal House. 

~Gozer was originally to have been Ivo Shandor, a slender man in a business suit, played by Paul Reubens. This was the form taken by Ivo Shandor in the video game that came out in 2009, wherein Shandor was revealed to have been the architect of the slime tunnels used in Ghostbusters II as well. 

~Pauline Kael said of the film, "Murray is the film's comic mechanism ... but nobody else has much in the way of material, and since there's almost no give-and-take among the three men, Murray's lines fall on dead air."

~Ivan Reitman provided the voice of Slimer, as well as the voice of Zuul when Dana is possessed by the evil spirit.

~Mr. Stay Puft's marshmallow was actually shaving cream!

~Last year, Ernie Hudson revealed that the character of Winston was originally in the script from the beginning as an Air Force demolitions expert, but the part was trimmed considerably in the script he was given the night before shooting started. He said, "I love the character and he’s got some great lines, but I felt the guy was just kind of there. I love the movie, I love the guys. I’m very thankful to Ivan for casting me. I’m very thankful that fans appreciate the Winston character. But it’s always been very frustrating—kind of a love/hate thing, I guess."

Thanks for listening, and we'll see you at the movies!

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We'd like to Thank:

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A huge thank you to all of the fans who contributed to the episode with your favorite moments:

Kyle of the Geek Yogurt Podcast, Leo of the Afterburn739 Podcast, Fear Innes of the FYFCast & host of FEARCast, Roel Santos Jr. of the World of Ro, Flicks XRayed Podcast, So Wizard Podcast, Emily of the Classy Little Podcast, and Robert Moreno & Jarrod Taylor! 

We also had two moments come in after the recording so we didn't get a chance to include them, but thank you to Dan Hill of the Dan and Kody Podcast for their moment, which was simply: Winston didn't die! And thank you to Stephen Walsh for his moment, right in line with Robert & Jarrod, "Yes, it's true. This man has no dick." 

Other Tidbits:

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"Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr. from the original Ghostbusters motion picture soundtrack. Purchase the entire soundtrack at https://www.amazon.com/Ghostbusters-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B0007US7V2.