The Ghostbusters are supposed to meet up with a crowd of people at a plane, but they're late because they (except Peter) want to catch a fish ghost. Meanwhile, Janine is sulky because she wasn't invited as well, and she reveals that the Ghostbusters are on their way to California to make a movie (and Slimer, who was also uninvited, sneaks along on the back of the car). When they arrive at the airport, the crowd (except one man) has left, much to the dismay of the TV host. On the plane, the Ghostbusters find out that Slimer has stowed away when they find that he's eaten some peanuts without opening the packs.
They land, and enter the studio, which has a replica of the firehouse. Peter and Egon read the script, Winston follows the producer, while Ray walks off and tells Slimer to stay out of trouble. Unfortunately, Slimer sees a woman with a fruit hat and follows her to get the fruit.
While two men find a ghost in an old basement, the producer shows the Ghostbusters around. He takes them to a set which resembles outer space, where they run into what appears to be a monster. They attack it, but it turns out to be a giant robot made for another movie, making the director mad. While the ghost from the basement flies into the robot, Peter and the director argue, and by the time the Ghostbusters are leaving the room, Peter has bruises on his face.
The producer has the Ghostbusters leave their proton packs in a storage area, claiming that it's for safety reasons. Egon briefly gets a PKE reading, and the producer says to leave the PKE meter in the room too. Then, some men deliver the prop proton packs and take the real ones into storage because the production people only asked for four.
Backstage, the robot starts attacking the producer and director. The Ghostbusters see the crowd running away from the robot, but initially they think it's a publicity stunt until Egon gets a PKE reading from it. The Ghostbusters try to fight the ghost that's inhabiting the robot off, but accidentally put on the props instead of their real proton packs.
The producer and director has everyone evacuate the studio, except the Ghostbusters, who are assigned to deal with the ghost. They are in the basement and decide to split up into two teams (Peter with Egon and Ray with Winston) to search for the proton packs. Meanwhile, the haunted robot continues to run rampant, and Slimer flies around the building in confusion.
While Ray and Winston are searching the basement, Ray finds an old movie prop and geeks out about it. Then, the haunted robot shows up, so they run away. Meanwhile, Peter and Egon find the basement where the ghost was and Egon determines it was a "sleeping ghost"; a ghost who prefers to spend all their time sleeping and gets "very cranky" when awakened. They contact Winston and Ray (who have reunited with Slimer) and tell them to be quiet. Peter and Egon then find the proton packs and tell Winston and Ray to meet them at the firehouse set and if they see the robot, to try to get it to follow them... but it already is.
The four of them unite, then try to shoot at the robot to get the ghost out and trap it, but it jumps onto a catwalk, where they can't shoot or it would fall on them. Egon realises that the containment unit is quiet so it shouldn't mind being caught, but the problem is they can't explain that to someone who keeps telling them to be quiet. Egon gets an idea and takes his proton pack off and walks up to the haunted robot. He then starts signing to it, revealing that he knows sign language.
The ghost flies out of the robot, then the director and the security guards show up. The Ghostbusters fire at the ghost and trap it, but the director is more concerned about his robot prop being broken. Then, the Ghostbusters and Slimer watch the movie.
This episode provides examples of
- Actually Pretty Funny: Peter smirks in response to Ray's "plans" to deal with the situation: "They all call for us to be about 3,000 miles east of here."
- Agony of the Feet: At one point, Ray accidentally stands on Winston's foot.
- All Part of the Show: Since the robot is a movie prop, when a ghost inhabits it and makes it attack the production staff, the Ghostbusters initially think it's a publicity stunt.
- Astonishingly Appropriate Interruption:
- Peter says, "Your own genuine, authentic..." then he sees the giant robot and says, "Monster?!".
- At one point, a car can be seen with an automated machine that repeats, "The door is open." The haunted robot attacks it in the middle of saying, "The door..." and then it finishes, "...is a mess", since its message for such a situation is "The car is a mess", which it then repeats.
- When Ray is about to quote a movie character, he says, "He said,...", then the haunted robot says, "Quiet!", and Ray says, "No, no, he said..." and Winston says, "We gotta get outta here," which coincidentally turns out to be the quote.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Slimer sees a woman, he wolf-whistles, making it seem like he's attracted to her, but it turns out he just wants the fruit on her head.
- Big "NO!": Slimer says, "No!" when Egon confronts the ghost in the robot.
- Big "SHUT UP!": The haunted robot's main shtick is yelling at others to be quiet, since the ghost wants to sleep.
- Biting-the-Hand Humor: The studio executive gives the guys a copy of the script in case they want to suggest any changes, only to say the studio won't actually follow through on their suggestions. Looking over the cast list also provides this gem.
- Circling Birdies: Slimer sees stars and birds when he crashes into the wall.
- Comically Missing the Point: When the robot says, "Quiet" to Ray, Ray says, "No, no, he said..." because before being interrupted, he was going to share a quote from a movie character. Then, when Winston says, "We gotta get out of here," Ray thinks Winston was quoting the movie, since that's what the character said.
- Damned by Faint Praise: Looking over the script, all Egon can say is that it's in English.
- Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
- Peter says to the ghost, "Okay, buster, I hope you have a hall pass, 'cause otherwise you're in a lot of trouble".
- He then says, when it complains about noise, "Noise? You ain't heard nothing yet!".
- Dramatic Irony: Egon gets a PKE reading but thinks his device is malfunctioning. We've already seen that there is indeed a ghost in the studio. Later, the Ghostbusters assume the robot's attack is a publicity stunt, when we've already seen that said ghost is inside it.
- Ectoplasm: When Slimer bumps into the wall, he gets green gunk all over it.
- "Eureka!" Moment: After Ray agrees that the ghost would prefer the quietness of the Containment Unit to the movie studio, Winston asks how they're supposed to tell that to something that hates noise so much. Egon then realizes that sign language is the answer and gets to work.
- Everyone Has Standards: Peter chastises the movie director for caring more about a prop than about the lives of the crew.
- Eye Scream: Implied. Peter is seen arguing with an aggro director, and in the next scene, he (Peter) has a bruise around his left eye.
- Flat Joy: One man, who was the only fanboy not to leave out of impatience, says, "Yay" in a flat voice (though sincerely) twice.
- Hand Signals:
- Seeing the ghost entering the laboratory set, Winston tries to signal Ray that they've got company and to stop talking. Ray doesn't see this, though, and gets a big surprise when he turns around.
- Since the ghost hates noise so much, Egon uses sign language to tell it about the peace and quiet of the Containment Unit.
- "I Can't Look!" Gesture: Slimer covers his eyes when Egon walks up to the robot.
- Implied Death Threat: When Peter threatens to blast the director who hit him, Egon says that the proton packs are only meant to be used on ghosts. Peter replies, "I can take care of that".
- Irony: Egon reflects on how the ghost absolutely hates all noise and keeps opposing the team, even though it could get all the quiet it wants in their Containment Unit.
- Jerkass: The movie director cares more about his giant prop than about the lives of the crew workers.
- Joke and Receive: When Egon claims to have a reading from the robot, Peter jokingly says, "Next thing you're gonna be telling me there's a ghost inside it". Egon replies, "Precisely".
- Large Ham:
- The TV show host makes dramatic gestures and rants emotionally, causing Peter to joke that he has a sugar high.
- When the Ghostbusters break the giant robot prop, the director for that movie bares his teeth and yells, "Get these men OFF MY SET!" and then tears them all a new one.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Due to likeness issues, the animated characters had to look different from their movie counterparts. When seeing the movie, Peter remarks the guy playing him doesn't look anything like him.
- Literal-Minded: When the pilot asks Slimer how long he's been flying for, he replies three years, since that's how long he's been undead and had the power of flight.
- Mirthless Laughter: The director chuckles nervously when the robot attacks him.
- Mythology Gag: When Winston is reading the actors' names who are playing them, he says, "Murray, Akroyd, and Ramis?!", which are the last names of Peter, Ray, and Egon respectively in the movie.
- Oh, Crap!:
- When the Ghostbusters realise that they aren't holding their real proton packs, Egon points out that they're in trouble.
- When Winston sees the haunted robot in the basement, he says, "We gotta get out of here", then when Ray finally sees it, he says, "Whoa!".
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: The robot's eyes flash red when the ghost inhabits it.
- Say My Name: When Ray, Winston, and Slimer meet up with Peter and Egon, Ray says, "Peter!", and Winston says, "Egon!".
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- When the ghost possesses the giant robot, the director and his crew run for their lives.
- While hiding, the only plans Ray can come up with call for the guys being back on the east coast.
- Sleepyhead: According to Egon, certain ghosts spend most of their time asleep and are "cranky" when awakened.
- Speak in Unison: When Winston says, "Who could eat a bunch of honey-covered peanuts without opening the packets?!", the rest of the Ghostbusters say, "Slimer!" in unison.
- Sweet Tooth: Discussed when Peter wonders if the reason the TV host is so animated is that he has a "high-sugar diet".
- Understatement: After realizing they just trashed a movie set prop by mistake, there's this exchange, as the director literally boils with anger.Ray: Uh, Peter?
Peter: Yes, Ray?
Ray: I think you just made a slight error in judgment.
Peter: Good guess. - Wingding Eyes: Slimer gets hearts in his eyes when he sees the woman's fruit hat.
