The Collect Call of Cathulhu

"The Collect Call of Cathulhu" is an episode of the animated series The Real Ghostbusters that incorporates elements of the Cthulhu Mythos. It includes several in-jokes relating to Mythos authors. It was written by Real Ghostbusters writer Michael Reaves, and first aired October 27, 1987 on the ABC network.
In the episode, Miskatonic University professor Ted Klein and New York Public Library librarian Clark Ashton come to the Ghostbusters' New York City headquarters to report the theft of the only English translation of the Necronomicon, which was on loan from Miskatonic to the library. Egon of the Ghostbusters warns that the book could be used to open gates to the Old Ones, particularly Cathulhu: "He makes Gozer look like Little Mary Sunshine." The Ghostbusters are then attacked by Spawn of Cathulhu, and barely escape.
Deciding they need more info on the Cult of Cathulhu, Ghostbusters Ray and Winston consult the Book of Dzyan and Pnakotic Manuscripts, while Egon and Peter fly to Arkham, Massachusetts, to consult with Alice Derleth at Miskatonic. Alarmed, she returns with them to New York.
Derleth and the Ghostbusters track the cult to Wagner's Occult Shop in East Greenwich Village. The cult sends a Shuggoth after them, which Derleth turns to stone with a spell.
Ray suggests that a friend's collection of pulp magazines may have the answer, and they find an old issue of Weird Tales in which Cathulhu is defeated. Hurrying to Coney Island, where the cult has already summoned Cathulhu, they follow the clue in the Weird Tales story that Cathulhu is vulnerable to electricity, and lure the entity onto the Cyclone roller coaster, where he is destroyed by a lightning strike. With their deity dispelled, the cult is defeated, and its leader is unmasked as--Clark Ashton!
At show's end, Alice Derleth and Peter are going on a date; she suggests an exhibit on the Eltdown Shards at the Natural History Museum, followed by a lecture on the Zanthu Tablets at Columbia University.
==Namesakes==
The guest characters in the episode are named after Mythos writers:
*Ted Klein is an homage to T. E. D. Klein.
*Clark Ashton is a reference to Clark Ashton Smith.
*Alice Derleth evokes August Derleth.
*Wagner's Occult Shop seems to be a call out to Karl Edward Wagner.
==External Link==
The Collect Call of Cathulhu at Ghostbusters Wiki
Category:Expanded Mythos Film & Television
Category:Crossovers
Category:Michael Reaves works