History Trivia / TheRealGhostbusters

* TheWikiRule: [[http://ghostbusters.wikia.com/wiki/Ghostbusters_Wiki Ghostbusters Wiki]], the compendium of ghostbusting.

* ActingForTwo: Of the main characters, Creator/FrankWelker voiced both Ray and Slimer. Welker would also voice a number of antagonists, such as the Bogeyman and Sandman. Creator/MauriceLaMarche also voiced a number of roles, too. Creator/LorenzoMusic also voiced Peter's dad, with Dave Coulier taking over later. And since Laura Summer (who originally played Janine) is the only voice actress credited, she voiced several female roles in the series until she was replaced by Creator/KathSoucie.

* TropeNamer: TheRealSpoofbusters

** ABC forbade the writers to use the famous fictions book, the Necronomicon, despite them already have done so in a couple of episodes, apparently operating under the belief that it was a real occult book. When JMS tried to tell them that the Necronomicon was not a real book, but just a plot device invented by Creator/HPLovecraft, that the writers had included in the show as a ShoutOut to him, the executives just insisted that it was real. JMS would later reflect with quite a bit of amusement in an interview on how he had then challenged the executives in question to actually find a physical copy of the Necronomicon and show it to him to prove that it indeed was real as they claimed it was. According to JMS the only response he got to that request was just another insistence that the Necronomicon was a real book with only the evidence being BecauseISaidSo.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Disney fans will spot Linda Woolverton's name on "Drool, the Dog-Faced Goblin." It was likely one of her first writing gigs before going on to ''WesternAnimation/BeautyAndTheBeast.''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Creator/ErnieHudson auditioned to [[RoleReprise reprise his role]] as Winston Zeddemore before the casting of Creator/ArsenioHall.
** Creator/{{Filmation}} was in talks to animate this series. If they had, at the very least, [[WesternAnimation/FilmationsGhostbusters their show]] never would've happened.
** In light of falling ratings after the Slimer ReTool, producers asked JMS to return as head writer for Season 6. JMS had other projects at the time, though he agreed to write a few episodes (chief among them "Janine, You've Changed").
** The executives softened Janine's character to be more "motherly" but they also wanted to make her a full-fledged Ghostbuster as opposed to just a secretary who only occasionally got involved with the plot. Quite a few fans think this might have actually been a good idea, especially if it had been thought up during the show's peak.
** An early four minute [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XN5V2c1nN6s pitch promo/workprint]] featured an entirely different character design for Peter Venkman (one that came closer to the more blue collar looks of live action Venkman Creator/BillMurray than the chiseled pretty boy design they ultimately went with), the Ghostbusters wearing their beige movie jumpsuits instead of the multi-color coded jumpsuits they wore in the finished series, a slightly different animation style, and Slimer still appeared to be an antagonist rather than a team pet and mascot. Clips from it appeared in some ABC promos ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1f6yogvJDGo one for the show]], and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ubnARStpgQ&t=10m21s one for their Saturday lineup that season as part of their "Together" image campaign that year]]) before the show debuted.
*** In early storyboards for the promo pilot, Winston had facial hair. It was later removed to keep his design simple.
** The casting call for "The Devil to Pay" lists Samhain and has "(originally William E. Martin)" crossed out, which appears to indicate that the illusion of Samhain seen in the episode was originally intended to have dialogue.
** [[https://twitter.com/straczynski/status/705681256705470464 According to J. Michael Straczynski]], the titular EldritchAbomination from "The Collect Call of Cathulhu" ''should'' have been called "Cthulhu", but the typographer for the title changed the spelling to "Cathulhu" thinking it was a typo.

* TalkingToHimself: Creator/FrankWelker (Ray, Slimer, sometimes also voices ghosts -- he's a ManOfAThousandVoices) and Creator/MauriceLaMarche (Egon, the Umpire in "Night Game" and several others).

** Creator/ErnieHudson (Winston in the movies) auditioned to [[RoleReprise reprise his role]].

** The recasting of Peter's voice actor from Lorenzo Music to Dave Coulier in Season 3 was that Creator/BillMurray complained to the studio that the character sounded too much like Garfield. [[note]][[{{Irony}} Ironically]], Bill would go on to voice Garfield in the [[Film/{{Garfield}} live action movies]], largely out of penance for this act since he did like Music, and by that point Music had passed away due to cancer.[[/note]]

** Q5 had also wanted Straczynski and the other writers to ditch Ray, as they felt he was a pointless character. Ray had always been the warm, friendly one, but by this time, the other cast had been rendered so safe and bland, they decided he was redundant. However, this was one change that was quickly and successfully vetoed.

** After the syndicated episodes, Dave Coulier replaced Lorenzo Music as Peter and Kath Soucie replaced Laura Summer as Janine. A season later, Arsenio Hall left for his talk show and was replaced by Buster Jones.
** In the second season, whenever the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man appeared, Frank Welker handled any vocal effects. In Season 3's "Sticky Business," Maurice [=LaMarche=] took over the role. Later in Season 5's "Partners in Slime," Welker again voiced the character for a brief cameo.

** Arsenio Hall was unavailable for the recording of the episode, "The Ghostbusters in Paris", and Maurice [=LaMarche=] filled in as Winston.

* CrossRegionalVoiceActing: Toronto-situated actor Derek [=McGrath=] voices Quegg in "The Man Who Never Reached Home". Similarly, Creator/BrianGeorge, also still working out of Toronto, recorded for a few episodes in various roles.

* ActingForTwo: Of the main characters, Creator/FrankWelker voiced both Ray and Slimer. Welker would also voice a number of antagonists, such as the Bogeyman and Sandman. Creator/MauriceLaMarche also voiced a number of roles, too. Lorenzo Music also voiced Peter's dad, with Dave Coulier taking over later. And since Laura Summer (who originally played Janine) is the only voice actress credited, she voiced several female roles in the series until she was replaced by Creator/KathSoucie.