40 Years Later, This Iconic Fantasy Series Is Officially a Hit on Apple TV
40 Years Later, This Iconic Fantasy Series Is Officially a Hit on Apple TV
Collier JenningsTue, September 15, 2026 at 12:52 AM UTC
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Image via Apple TV
In 1984, Ghostbusterstook the world of cinema by storm thanks to its high-concept premise, biting humor, and star-studded cast. Most fans of the original movie know that Ghostbusters became a bona fide franchise, launching multiple movies, including a female-led reboot in 2016 and a legacy sequel in Ghostbusters: Afterlife. They'd also point out that the first-ever Ghostbusters spinoff was an animated series that launched 40 years ago, and now that same show is making waves on Apple TV's streaming charts.
The Real Ghostbusterspremiered in 1986, continuing the adventures of Peter Venkman, Egon Spengler, Ray Stantz, and Winston Zeddemore as they hunted ghosts in New York City. Ironically, the series is called The Real Ghostbusters because Filmation wanted to bring back a similarly titled series. It became one of the most beloved stories in the Ghostbusters franchise, and that love is spreading to a new generation. According to FlixPatrol, The Real Ghostbusters is currently in the #1 spot on the Apple TV Store charts. It's well deserved, as the series builds on the original Ghostbusters in ways no sequel or reboot has matched.
'The Real Ghostbusters' Perfectly Captures The Spirit of The 'Ghostbusters' Movie
Image via ABC
The Real Ghostbusters is so beloved because it's a rare cartoon based on a moviethat actually follows its inspiration. All the Ghostbusters are portrayed exactly like they are in the movies: Egon is a fountain of wisdom, Ray still gets excited about hunting ghosts, Venkman provides endless wisecracks, and Winston is the everyman thrust into a strange world. Add in the concept of encountering different ghosts and supernatural creatures, and it's no surprise that the series lasted for seven seasons. During an interview with Den of Geek, series writer Dennys McCoysaid thatJoe Medjuck and Michael C. Gross, who produced the Ghostbusters movie, were a large part of The Real Ghostbusters' success.
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"The most brilliant thing they did was to not change a thing from the movie...When you mess with that formula, you inevitably fail. Ghostbusters has a very tight structure of four friends, or five if you count Janine. You have to base everything out of their relationship, no matter what you do."
Animation also let The Real Ghostbusters tackle stories that wouldn't fit in a movie. Season 1 alone was swinging for the fences with episodes like "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me a Dream", where Winston is the lone Ghostbuster standing against a malevolent sleep spirit, and "XMas Marks the Spot," where the Ghostbusters capture the three spirits of Christmas that plagued Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. Perhaps the biggest leap The Real Ghostbusters made was having Slimer, the slobbering poltergeist that appears briefly in Ghostbusters, befriend the Ghostbusters. Slimer's antics added the right amount of levity to the series, and even led to his reappearance inGhostbusters II.
'The Real Ghostbusters' Continues To Influence The 'Ghostbusters' Franchise
In addition to making Slimer the de facto mascot for the Ghostbusters franchise, The Real Ghostbusters has continued to influence other Ghostbusters projects. One of the most ironic moments concerns the idea of the "Junior Ghostbusters," a group of kids who joined The Real Ghostbusters in Season 3. While fans of the series hated this change, Ghostbusters: Afterlife would take it a step further by actually having teenagers as Ghostbusters. The video game Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashedwould also feature monsters from The Real Ghostbusters, most notably the spirit of Halloween, Samhain.
After The Real Ghostbusters concluded, another animated series would introduce a new generation of Ghostbusters to the world:Extreme Ghostbusters. Extreme Ghostbusters keeps the ghost-hunting concept that defines the Ghostbusters franchise, with the twist that its protagonists are college students. Further connecting it to The Real Ghostbusters is the reveal that Egon Spengler is a teacher at the new Ghostbusters' college, with a two-part episode uniting both generations of Ghostbusters. Netflix is also planning to release a new Ghostbusters animated series, Ghostbusters: Night Shift, in 2027. When all's said and done, The Real Ghostbustersremains one of the best things to ever happen to the world of Ghostbusters.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
