The Real Ghostbusters - Creatures of the Night
Though the Ghostbusters' live-action adventures came to a halt in 1989 with the release ofGhostbusters II, the characters created by Dan Akyroyd and Harold Ramis have enjoyed an extraordinarily long life in animation, with no less than three shows devoted to them.The Real Ghostbusters, which ran from 1986-1991, was the first and the best of the cartoon spin-offs. What set this series apart from most of the Saturday-morning fare was the quality of the stories, many of which were penned by J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5); the episodes took its spooks seriously, and made commendable efforts to retain the humorous tone of the feature films as well. Such qualities built a considerable fan base for the series, which continues (in cyberspace) to this day; however, said audience might not be too thrilled by the presentation on this disc and the two otherReal GhostbustersDVDs, which randomly compile four episodes from the show's seven seasons. Featured onCreatures of the Nightare "Killerwatt" (a ghost takes over New York's electrical power), "Night Game" (Winston must play baseball to save a soul), "The Bird of Kildarby" (the 'busters battle a giant bird at a castle--in the middle of Manhattan), and "Lost and Foundry" (a ghost merges with a prototype steel). No other extras are included on the single disc, but for longtime fans of the series, having the show in any format is probably pleasant enough.--Paul Gaita