Streaming Sci Fi TV: Tracking down sci fi and fantasy shows of interest available on the streaming services. Note that these shows can be pulled from the services at any time with little notice.
What Is It?
This animated television series continues the adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, Winston Zeddemore, Janine Melnitz, and Slimer after the events of the original Ghostbusters film. As they operate their paranormal investigation and elimination business in New York City, the team battles ghosts, demons, ancient gods, and supernatural threats while mixing spooky adventures with humor, expanding the mythology of the Ghostbusters universe far beyond what was seen in the movies.
Aired: ABC/Syndication, 1986-91, 7 Seasons Totaling 140 Episodes
Starring: Lorenzo Music, Maurice LaMarche, Frank Welker, Arsenio Hall, Dave Coulier, Buster Jones, Laura Summer
Developed By: Joe Medjuck, Michael C. Gross
Why Watch It?
After the sci-fi/supernatural comedy Ghostbusters became a huge hit in 1984, there was an immediate scramble to find ways to continue the franchise. A sequel was the obvious next step, and that did hit theaters in 1989. But an even quicker way to keep the property alive was an animated TV series, and that debuted as part of ABC’s Saturday morning lineup in the Fall of 1986. It acted as a direct continuation of the movie, very much following the spirit of that film and delivering some pretty witty scripts with a young J. Michael Straczynski onboard as story editor.
The best episodes of this series came from the first two seasons, with the second delivering 65 episodes straight to syndication and airing at the same time as the Saturday morning show (the same creative team worked on both). With the third season, ABC demanded changes and had the show put a stronger emphasis on the Slimer character because he had greater appeal to younger audiences. From that point forward, the show saw a drop in quality, but more than half of its run came from the first two seasons (78 episodes), and those are the ones most worth seeking out. It can definitely be a fun little series when at its best, and fans of the Ghostbusters franchise should certainly check this one out, as should anybody who enjoys a well-done animated series.
Where Is It Streaming?
The first six seasons of the show have been streaming on The Roku Channel, and starting on Wednesday, the first five seasons will be available on Tubi TV. Those are both free streaming services (with ads) that are very similar to Hulu when it first got started. In addition to The Real Ghostbusters, both offer quite a selection of sci-fi and fantasy television shows and movies. The ad breaks are not terrible, usually 90 seconds or less, and they certainly offer a good way to check out any number of sci-fi TV and film entries. And both have the first two seasons of The Real Ghostbusters, which delivered the best episodes.
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