History Trivia / Ghostbusters

* ActorAllusion:
** All over the place in the [[ComicBook/{{Ghostbusters}} comic book]] from Creator/IDWPublishing. In the first issue alone we have Ray being visited by the ghost of [[Film/TheBluesBrothers Joliet Jake]] and [[Film/{{Caddyshack}} Peter talking about golf]].
** One of the results of the photo shoot in issue two of "The New Ghostbusters" has Ron Alexander (who's based on Creator/ChevyChase) [[Film/NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation in a pig suit]].
** Ray's preference for deep-dish pizza is probably a nod to his ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' and ''Series/{{SCTV}}'' roots. (Pizza is SeriousBusiness for New Yorkers, and liking Chicago's is tantamount to treason.)
** In ''Ghostbusters 101'', it's revealed that Jillian Holtzmann (of ''Film/Ghostbusters2016'') has a counterpart in the 1980's universe who's [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS25E1Homerland an FBI Agent]]. Plus Jillian eventually introduces Peter to her mentor, Dr. Rebecca Gorin, who was played by Creator/SigourneyWeaver, and he asks Rebecca if she's ever been turned into a dog.
** It's also mentioned that in one of the alternate universes the Ghostbusters visited via their portal, Peter's counterpart [[spoiler:[[Film/{{Caddyshack}} blew up a golf course]]]].
** In the second crossover with the Ninja Turtles, Peter and Michelangelo end up in an AlternateUniverse populated by FunnyAnimals -- including turtle Ghostbusters. Each is named after the actors who played their counterpart in the original films and ''The Real Ghostbusters''; for example, Ray's counterpart is [[Creator/DanAykroyd Dan]] [[Creator/FrankWelker Welker]].

*** One of the results of the photo shoot in issue two of "The New Ghostbusters" has Ron Alexander (who's based on Creator/ChevyChase) [[Film/NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation in a pig suit]].

** A third ''Ghostbusters'' film was eventually released in 2016, but it just reboots the franchise with an all-new (and [[DistaffCounterpart all-female]]) team of Ghostbusters who have no connection to the original franchise. This [[BrokenBase naturally]] proved controversial and divisive for many reasons [[RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment which we don't need to belabour here]], and an IDW comic book series published in 2017 further places the 2016 film in it's own continuity from the earlier films.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[AuthorExistenceFailure Harold Ramis' death]] in February 2014 was the final nail in the coffin for ''Ghostbusters III'' (though Egon's appearance in the film was supposedly going to be very brief anyway), and most likely contributed to the third film becoming a ContinuityReboot instead.

** The notorious 2016 reboot however was a more direct compromise, but is considered to be FanonDiscontinuity, and it was only until Ghostbusters 101 that IDW themselves even wanted to touch it.

* ActingForTwo: In one DeletedScene Creator/BillMurray and Creator/DanAykroyd play two random homeless men.

** Vigo's full name was [[AllThereInTheManual later revealed to be]] Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf. When Vigo steps out of the painting, he is played by German wrestler Wilhelm von '''Homburg''' and baby Oscar was played by twins William T. and Hank J. '''Deutschendorf'''.

* AFIS100Years100Laughs: The original film was ranked at #28.
* CastingGag: Michael Ensign, who played the hotel manager in ''Ghostbusters '84'', had previously been in the 1982 film adaptation of ''Music/TheWall'' as... a hotel manager. Both movies even have said hotel eventually getting trashed by the protagonists point.
* CreatorBacklash:
** Ivan Reitman didn't like the deluxe [=LaserDisc=] edition of his movie, because the higher-density lighting that the format allowed made a lot of the matte work in his film too obvious for viewers to ignore.
** Creator/BillMurray was unhappy with the second film.
--> "Those special-effects guys took over. It was too much of the slime and not enough of us."
** Wilhelm von Homburg, the actor who played Prince Vigo, was not pleased when he learned all of his lines were dubbed over by Creator/MaxVonSydow. He left the premiere of the movie in anger upon seeing this.
* CreatorCameo: Ivan Reitman does the demonic Zuul voice ("There is no Dana only Zuul!").
* TheDanza: Two throwaway examples in the first ten minutes: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Drummond Alice Drummond]] has an opening-scene cameo as Alice the frightened librarian, and [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Runyon Jennifer Runyon]] as Jennifer, the test subject for whom Peter compromises the scientific method.
** Almost in this case: Ilyssa Selwyn is voiced by '''A'''lyssa Milano.
* DeletedScene:
** One such scene in the second movie helped explain the moment when [[spoiler:Vigo possesses Ray]] during the final showdown. During the first museum visit, the guys examine the painting of Vigo and fans may remember [[spoiler:Ray being hypnotized and needing to be snapped back to reality]]. This was supposed to lead into a sequence where [[spoiler:Vigo tries to use Ray to crash Ecto-1 and kill the Ghostbusters in a traffic accident]]. [[spoiler:Winston manages to grab the wheel and save the day, while Ray - no longer under Vigo's influence - can't account for what just happened]]. Note that a couple of clips from this sequence were used in the montage - specifically [[spoiler:Ecto-1 crossing through an intersection and Peter in the car, looking bewildered]].
** Many sequences were shot but removed from the first film (a couple of the following were added as extras to the Criterion Collection CAV laserdisc release) :
*** Several shots in the sequence where Venkman, Stantz, and Spengler are thrown off campus were cut.
*** Several scenes throughout the film with Janine and Egon were cut.
*** The first time Venkman leaves Dana's apartment, he says to Louis "What a woman."
*** The "green slimer" ghost is discovered by two newlyweds at the Hotel Sedgewick. Also cut was a Ghostbuster inspection of the room.
*** A policeman tries to ticket the Ectomobile, but the car won't let him.
*** Creator/BillMurray and Creator/DanAykroyd play two bums that witness Louis being chased by the terror dog. This scene was removed because the filmmakers felt the audience would be confused by seeing Murray and Aykroyd in different roles in the same movie.
*** Ray and Winston inspect Fort Detmerring, where Ray dresses in an old General's coat and falls asleep. When he awakes, he sees a female ghost above his bed. This part of the sequence was kept and used in the montage in the middle of the film.
*** Louis encounters two muggers in Central Park during the ghost montage.
*** Venkman and Stantz discuss matters with the mayor outside City Hall.
*** Janine giving Egon a coin for luck before he goes off with the other Ghostbusters to fight Gozer; they are interrupted by Venkman.
*** The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man sequence ends with his large hat falling to the ground.

** The dream ghost was nicknamed by the cast and crew as, of course, "Succubus".

* DevelopersForesight:
** Ivan Reitman shot alternate scenes removing much of the profanity for television broadcast, with dialogue just as good as the original.
** A series of alternative takes for the Ghostbusters' little commercial recently came out on the internet; many of these contain alternative names for their business in case a deal with Creator/{{Filmation}} (the studio which created the live-action series ''The Ghost Busters'') couldn't be brokered. Such names include "Ghoststoppers" and "Ghostblasters" (ironically enough, there's an interactive dark ride called "Ghost Blasters").
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** According to Creator/ErnieHudson, this is the reason why the sequel isn't seen as the same level of quality as the first. After executives saw how popular the first movie was with kids, they forced some changes onto the second movie to make it more appealing to a younger audience. Much like what happened to later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', they tried to fix something that wasn't broken; thankfully, the movie didn't suffer too much from it.
** Also the reason Winston is a lesser character -- when Hudson signed on, Winston was in the script from page eight (rather than toward the end of act 1), and was by far the most technically competent and qualified of the Ghostbusters. [[WordOfGod Aykroyd]] apparently still blames himself for Hudson's character being sidelined. (as WhatCouldHaveBeen below shows, the more prominent Winston was even written with Creator/EddieMurphy in mind)
* IAmNotSpock: According to the DVD commentary, the first movie ruined William Atherton's life, what with random people yelling "Hey, dickless!" at him on the streets.
* PlayingAgainstType: Before this film, Creator/SigourneyWeaver was known for serious movies, but she had done a lot of comedy at Yale Drama School and wanted to show that side of herself.
* RealLifeRelative: Ivan Reitman's son and future director Jason Reitman plays the boy at the birthday party in the beginning who tells Ray [[SelfDeprecation "My dad says you guys are full of crap"]], and Jason's sister plays the girl with the puppy in Egon's experiment.
* RecycledSet: The hallway scenes were shot on a set originally built for the movie ''Film/RichAndFamous''.
* RefittedForSequel: From the second film, the scene where a woman gets attacked by her fur coat coming to life after she walks through a slime puddle was originally written for the first film.
** Also, the part where Ray knocks out the whole city's power is a refit from the original screenplay: Egon's prototype Proton Pack, which needed to be plugged into a heavy-duty outlet (for safety reasons, he hadn't fitted the particle accelerator yet). Plug in, switch on, and...[[GoneHorriblyWrong the power went back through and melted the cable, reached the outlet, and knocked out all of New York's power]].
* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The Ray Parker Jr. iconic ThemeTune led Music/{{Huey Lewis|And the News}} to sue over the similarity of the melody to that of "I Want a New Drug". The matter was settled out of court.
* ThrowItIn: There are varying accounts of how much of the final films were improvised, from a few select lines to a good majority of the films.
** In the Ghostbusters' commercial, Egon looking down to find his mark was an actual flub by Creator/HaroldRamis that everyone agreed fit the character.
** The part where the bookcase falls over and Venkman asks Ray "Has this ever happened to you before?" was not part of the original script. The bookcase actually fell over of its own accord (possibly from being disturbed by various crew members) and the subsequent lines were ad-libbed. It was decided to leave this material in as it added an extra element of mystery to the atmosphere as to whether it was a natural occurrence, or a malicious act on the part of the ghost that the soon-to-be ghost busters were looking for.
** When Venkman mentions the time Spengler tried to drill a hole in his head, Spengler's response ("That would have worked if you hadn't stopped me") was actually ad-libbed by Ramis.
** The party scene where Louis Tully mingles with his party guests (commenting on the price of the salmon, and so on) is not only taken in one continuous shot, but is almost entirely improvised.
** The crossing the streams at the end was written at the last moment to figure out a way the Ghostbusters would be able to defeat Gozer.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: For a great movie, ''Ghostbusters'' varies tremendously from its original concept. Creator/DanAykroyd's original script called for multiple groups of ghostbusters who traveled through time and fought ghosts in different dimensions wearing SWAT-like gear and using wands to battle ghosts. This idea was rejected as technically unfeasible in 1985. Supposedly, the special effects would have cost over $300 million. Ivan Reitman re-purposed the script as a "going into business" story to make it more accessible to audiences.
** Many actors were switched out or not intended as their original performers, the part of Ray Stanz being by far the most stable as it was designed for co-writer Aykroyd almost from the start.
*** The part of Venkman was written for Creator/JohnBelushi, [[AuthorExistenceFailure but he died before that could become a reality]]. The part was then offered to fellow ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' alum Creator/ChevyChase, but he declined. Creator/BillMurray, the driving force of the movie, was a last-minute addition to the cast. While Murray made the role his own, several lines are clearly intended for Belushi, such as the speech after the university fires them. It sounds corny from Murray, who usually plays a cynic, but Belushi was good with such bombastic speeches.
*** Creator/EddieMurphy was to play Winston, who would have been part of the original group along with Ray, Peter and Egon. He was described as a former Marine and Ph.D.-level scientist, the original script called for Winston, not Venkman, to be slimed in the Sedgewick Hotel. Murphy was left out because they didn't want the movie to be perceived as an ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''-inspired film (even though Creator/HaroldRamis was never an ''SNL'' cast member; he was on ''Series/{{SCTV}}'', which some people see as a LighterAndSofter Canadian version of ''SNL''), and because he was busy with ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' at the time. Winston was then re-written as more of a blue-collar everyman and eventually given to Creator/ErnieHudson, though WordOfGod has it that Winston was a [[SemperFi Marine]] and a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] before joining the Ghostbusters (this never comes up in the films or the animated series, the latter of which has two episodes stating that Winston was previously a construction worker).
*** The part of Louis Tully was initially offered to Creator/JohnCandy, who wanted to play him as an odd German guy who owned dogs. The directors didn't like this idea, since there was already so much dog imagery in the movie, but couldn't bring themselves to replace him. Fortunately, Candy passed on the role, and they offered it to Rick Moranis, who had a much better take on the character. It helped, too, that Moranis, Candy, and Ramis were all friends since Second City together, and understood that the best guy for the role was the best guy for the role.
*** Creator/HaroldRamis was not originally intending to play Egon, he never had much success as an actor and was just interested in writing for the film. After a hard time casting for Egon (Creator/JeffGoldbum, Creator/JohnLithogow, Creator/ChristopherLloyd and Creator/ChristopherWalken were considered), Aykroyd and Reitman suggested that Ramis would be perfect for the role and as soon as he read for it everyone agreed.
*** Creator/MichaelKeaton was offered the choice of playing either Venkman or Egon Spengler and declined both.
** The Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man was on the chopping block. The producers were worried that audiences wouldn't buy the character, and were prepared to produce a different ending if test audiences didn't react positively. Fortunately, they did, even though the test version of the movie lacked completed special effects, making him more of an UltimateEvil.
** The second movie was apparently supposed to start getting into the "other dimension" aspect of the mythology but that was changed at the last minute to something closer in plot to the first movie. Creator/BillMurray was upset with the radical changes to the script and it is another reason why the third movie has been in DevelopmentHell. Unfortunately, it is this similarity to the first movie that contributes to its overall poor reception. The Game was able to ''finally'' get into this aspect of the premise, being cheaper to do than a movie format.
** Originally Gozer was going to take the form of a man in a business suit and would have been played by Creator/PaulReubens. Reitman was the one to devise the androgynous form at the last minute, believing it would work better as a supernatural manifestation rather than the rather mundane look. However, the Video Game's design of Ivo Shandor is said to be based upon what Paul Reubens might look like in ten or fifteen years' time.
** The librarian ghost's OneWingedAngel form was originally even scarier. The original model was later used in ''Film/FrightNight1985'' as Amy's vampire face.
** The Ectomobile was originally going to be painted black until it was pointed out that most driving would be at night and the car would be difficult to see. It was then repainted white.
** Ray Parker Jr. almost refused to do the theme song, as he had no idea how to work the title into it. However, when he saw the advertisement sequence, he was inspired to make it call-and-response.
*** On that note, Music/FleetwoodMac's Lindsay Buckingham was set to do the theme, having done the theme from ''Film/NationalLampoonsVacation'' already. Because of that success, he declined.
** According to Creator/ChevyChase the script he read was much darker, scarier and more violent than the film that actually got made.
** Aykroyd's original script was said to have been much more epic in scope, with the Ghostbusters as a kind of large scale police force with more members on call for people to contact when in danger, but he was told his idea was simply too expensive for what could be achieved on a 1980s budget so he scaled it back until it became the film we know and love today.
** The original version of the script began with the Ecto-mobile flying out of Ghostbusters HQ, but Reitman suggested that it would be better to show how the team got started.
** The Stay-Puft marshmallow man was originally supposed to come up out of the water right next to The Statue of Liberty, to get a contrast of size, but the scene was too hard to shoot.
** [[AuthorExistenceFailure Harold Ramis' death]] in February 2014 was also the final nail in the coffin for ''Ghostbusters III'' (though Egon's appearance in the film was supposedly going to be very brief anyway), and most likely contributed to the third film becoming a ContinuityReboot instead. Fan response to the continued work on the film is almost entirely ''extremely negative'', with one of the reasons being that fans consider it insulting to Ramis' memory. What didn't help was that GhostbustersTheVideoGame both featured Ramis AND was set shortly after the second film.
* WordOfGod: Creator/HaroldRamis stated in the commentary that it was one of the first movies to use the word "slime" as a verb.
* WorkingTitle: ''Ghostsmashers''.
** Also ''Ghoststoppers'' and ''Ghostblasters''. These alternate titles were all considered in the event that Filmation didn't allow Columbia to use the name ''Ghostbusters''. There are even alternate takes of the commercial available online where the other names are used just in case.
* WrittenByCastMember: Creator/DanAykroyd and Creator/HaroldRamis, specifically.
----

* DevelopmentHell: That damned third movie. Rumors of it ever getting made started as early as the release of ''Film/GhostbustersII'' and only even ended because Creator/HaroldRamis ''died''. While Creator/DanAykroyd had written a treatment, in which the team go to hell, Ramis's falling out with Creator/BillMurray during the production of ''Film/GroundhogDay'' stood in the way of physical production ever beginning (the two men wouldn't patch things up until just before Ramis passed away). The notorious 2016 reboot was seen as a compromise.

** [[AuthorExistenceFailure Harold Ramis' death]] in February 2014 was also the final nail in the coffin for ''Ghostbusters III'' (though Egon's appearance in the film was supposedly going to be very brief anyway), and most likely contributed to the third film becoming a ContinuityReboot instead. Fan response to the continued work on the film is almost entirely ''extremely negative'', with one of the reasons being that fans consider it insulting to Ramis' memory.

** Ivan Reitman didn't like the deluxe laserdisc edition of his movie, because the higher-density lighting that the format allowed made a lot of the matte work in his film too obvious for viewers to ignore.

* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything:

** A definite example is the majority of Louis' party in the first film, which was not only one continuous take, but almost entirely improvised.

* CreatorBacklash: Ivan Reitman didn't like the deluxe laserdisc edition of his movie, because the higher-density lighting that the format allowed made a lot of the matte work in his film too obvious for viewers to ignore.

* DevelopmentHell: That damned third movie. Rumors of it ever getting made started as early as the release of ''Film/GhostbustersII'' and only even ended because Creator/HaroldRamis ''died''. While Creator/DanAykroyd had written a treatment, in which the team go to hell, Ramis's falling out with Creator/BillMurry during the production of ''Film/GroundhogsDay'' stood in the way of physical production ever beginning (the two men wouldn't patch things up until just before Ramis passed away). The notorious 2016 reboot was seen as a compromise.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: For a great movie, ''Ghostbusters'' varies tremendously from its original concept. Creator/DanAykroyd's original script called for multiple groups of ghostbusters who traveled through time and fought ghosts in different dimensions. This idea was rejected as technically unfeasible in 1985. Supposedly, the special effects would have cost over $300 million. Ivan Reitman re-purposed the script as a "going into business" story to make it more accessible to audiences.

* OffTheShelfFX: Venkman's ghost-sniffer, also known as the "Bacharach Chemical Sniffer," which is used primarily for detecting gas leaks. This also carries over into the guys' HomemadeInventions (a kitchen colander with wires and things on it, for one).
** The ectoplasm was made from methylcellulose ether, a thickening agent used in processed foods.
** The "marshmallow" goo was actually shaving cream. More than 50 gallons was dumped on William Atherton, almost knocking him to the ground.

* CreatorCameo: Ivan Reitman does the demonic Zuul voice ("There is no Dana only Zuul!").

*** One of the results of the photo shoot in issue two of "The New Ghostbusters" has Ron Alexander (who's based on Chevy Chase) [[Film/NationalLampoonsEuropeanVacation in a pig suit]].

* CreatorCameo: Director Ivan Reitman does the demonic Zuul voice ("There is no Dana only Zuul!").

** From the first film, during the GoodTimesMontage, Ray is shown dreaming about a female ghost hovering over him and unbuttoning his pants for some spectral loving. This was actually part of a larger scene later in the film where he and Winston were investigating an army fort, and this was where they were coming back from before the "dead rising from the grave" scene.
** A number of scenes from the first film were either originally longer (such as the confrontation with the Dean when Peter, Ray and Egon are fired, Peter arguing with Dana in her apartment after he checks out her fridge, Peter and Ray talking with the Mayor before going off to face Gozer followed by Peter interrupting a moment between Egon and Janine) or completely cut (the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man's hat falling on the crowd at the end).

** According to Ernie Hudson, this is the reason why the sequel isn't seen as the same level of quality as the first. After executives saw how popular the first movie was with kids, they forced some changes onto the second movie to make it more appealing to a younger audience. Much like what happened to later seasons of ''WesternAnimation/TheRealGhostbusters'', they tried to fix something that wasn't broken; thankfully, the movie didn't suffer too much from it.
** Also the reason Winston is a lesser character -- when Hudson signed on, Winston was in the script from page eight (rather than toward the end of act 1), and was by far the most technically competent and qualified of the Ghostbusters. [[WordOfGod Aykroyd]] apparently still blames himself for Hudson's character being sidelined. (as WhatCouldHaveBeen below shows, the more proeminent Winston was even written with Eddie Murphy in mind)

** In the Ghostbusters' commercial, Egon looking down to find his mark was an actual flub by Harold Ramis that everyone agreed fit the character.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: For a great movie, ''Ghostbusters'' varies tremendously from its original concept. Aykroyd's original script called for multiple groups of ghostbusters who traveled through time and fought ghosts in different dimensions. This idea was rejected as technically unfeasible in 1985. Supposedly, the special effects would have cost over $300 million. Ivan Reitman re-purposed the script as a "going into business" story to make it more accessible to audiences.
** Many actors were switched out or not intended as their original performers, the part of Ray Stanz being by far the most stable as it was designed for co-writer Dan Aykroyd almost from the start.
*** The part of Venkman was written for John Belushi, [[AuthorExistenceFailure but he died before that could become a reality]]. The part was then offered to fellow ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' alum Chevy Chase, but he declined. Bill Murray, the driving force of the movie, was a last-minute addition to the cast. While Murray made the role his own, several lines are clearly intended for Belushi, such as the speech after the university fires them. It sounds corny from Murray, who usually plays a cynic, but Belushi was good with such bombastic speeches.
*** Creator/EddieMurphy was to play Winston, who would have been part of the original group along with Ray, Peter and Egon. He was described as a former Marine and Ph.D.-level scientist, the original script called for Winston, not Venkman, to be slimed in the Sedgewick Hotel. Murphy was left out because they didn't want the movie to be perceived as an ''Series/SaturdayNightLive''-inspired film (even though Harold Ramis was never an ''SNL'' cast member; he was on ''Series/{{SCTV}}'', which some people see as a LighterAndSofter Canadian version of ''SNL''), and because he was busy with ''Film/BeverlyHillsCop'' at the time. Winston was then re-written as more of a blue-collar everyman and eventually given to Ernie Hudson, though WordOfGod has it that Winston was a [[SemperFi Marine]] and a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam veteran]] before joining the Ghostbusters (this never comes up in the films or the animated series, the latter of which has two episodes stating that Winston was previously a construction worker).

*** Harold Ramis was not originally intending to play Egon, he never had much success as an actor and was just interested in writing for the film. After a hard time casting for Egon, Aykroyd and Reitman suggested that Ramis would be perfect for the role and as soon as he read for it everyone agreed.

** The second movie was apparently supposed to start getting into the "other dimension" aspect of the mythology but that was changed at the last minute to something closer in plot to the first movie. Bill Murray was upset with the radical changes to the script and it is another reason why the third movie has been in DevelopmentHell. Unfortunately, it is this similarity to the first movie that contributes to its overall poor reception. The Game was able to ''finally'' get into this aspect of the premise, being cheaper to do than a movie format.
** Originally Gozer was going to take the form of a man in a business suit and would have been played by Paul Reubens. Reitman was the one to devise the androgynous form at the last minute, believing it would work better as a supernatural manifestation rather than the rather mundane look. However, the Video Game's design of Ivo Shandor is said to be based upon what Paul Reubens might look like in ten or fifteen years' time.

** According to Chevy Chase the script he read was much darker, scarier and more violent than the film that actually got made.

** Apparently, Sigourney Weaver had offered to make a [[RemakeCameo cameo appearance]] in Paul Feig's reboot... [[http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a633276/sigourney-weaver-offered-to-play-slimer-in-ghostbusters-reboot.html#~poRzq8LjHZbXxi as Slimer.]] Feig turned the idea down, though Weaver endded up filming a cameo anyway.
** The long-retired Rick Moranis also declined an offer to make a cameo in the reboot.

** Ray's preference for deep-dish pizza is probably a nod to his ''Film/TheBluesBrothers'' and ''Series/SCTV'' roots. (Pizza is SeriousBusiness for New Yorkers, and liking Chicago's is tantamount to treason.)

* OneOfUs: Ray in the cartoon. He's very into cartoons and superhero comic books.

** In the comic, a guide who helps Ray through his dreams bears a resemblance to Creator/JohnBelushi (specifically, in ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''), who would have been in the films, had it not been for his untimely death.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The Ray Parker Jr. iconic ThemeTune led Huey Lewis to sue over the similarity of the melody to that of "I Want a New Drug". The matter was settled out of court.

*** Music/MichaelKeaton was offered the choice of playing either Venkman or Egon Spengler and declined both.

** Apparently, Sigourney Weaver had offered to make a [[RemakeCameo cameo appearance]] in Paul Feig's reboot... [[http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/news/a633276/sigourney-weaver-offered-to-play-slimer-in-ghostbusters-reboot.html#~poRzq8LjHZbXxi as Slimer.]] Feig turned the idea down.
*** The long-retired Rick Moranis also declined an offer to make a cameo.

* FanNickname: The all-female ''Ghostbusters'' (2016) cast are mockingly referred to as the "[[FeministFantasy Patriarchy Busters]]" by those who are cynical about the reboot..

* FanNickname: The all-female ''Ghostbusters'' (2016) cast are mockingly referred to as the "[[FeministFantasy Patriarchy Busters]]" by those who are cynical about the reboot.
* HeyItsThatGuy:
** Creator/BillMurray's brother Creator/BrianDoyleMurray has a cameo as the psychiatrist in the second film. (Point of fact: Brian has a bit part in a lot of little brother Bill's movies.) He is also the voice of the mayor in the 2009 video game (see HeyItsThatVoice below) as well as one of the voices of Peter's father from the cartoon.
** Ben Stein has a bit part in the second film when the mayor decides to call in the Ghostbusters.
** [[Creator/CheechAndChong Cheech Marin]] is a dock worker in the second film who witnesses the arrival of the ''Titanic'' and says, "Well, better late than never!"
** Reginald [=VelJohnson=], most famous for playing a policeman in ''Series/FamilyMatters'' and ''Film/DieHard'' shows up here as... [[TypeCasting A policeman!]]
** Adult film star Ron Jeremy was a crowd-scene extra in the first film; as one online commenter noted, "this was one of the few movies where he didn't [[IncrediblyLamePun slime anyone]]." Becomes HilariousInHindsight once you realized that he's slated to appear in Hustler's adult spoof ''[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nHaU6q5SM8 This Ain't Ghostbusters XXX]]''.
** Dana's violinist friend from I is the BigBad from ''Film/BeverlyHillsCopIII''
** [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/DoctorWhoS17E6Shada Professor Skagra]] is working as a head-waiter in the sequel.
** The [[{{Gainaxing}} very bouncy]] blonde woman who briefly dances with Louis Tully is Jean Kasem, wife of voice actor & radio personality Creator/CaseyKasem. In fact, Jean's [[OneSceneWonder very brief role]] in the film is one of her best known roles, aside from being Loretta on ''Series/{{Cheers}}''.
*** Speaking of her husband, he was heard in the first film on the radio in Dana Barrett's apartment, discussing the Ghostbusters on his program ''Radio/AmericanTop40''. Funnily enough the title song was heard on the countdown itself for much of 1984.
** The Hotel Sedgewick's Matire d'Hotel is [[Film/WarGames General Beringer's second-in-command]].
** [[{{Film/Transformers}} Sam Witwicky's dad]] had a bit part in the second film as a psychic who was a guest on Venkman's TV show.
** [[Series/{{Today}} Al Roker]], [[OneOfUs a fan of the films]], is set to cameo in the 2016 reboot.
* HeyItsThatVoice: The Mayor is [[WesternAnimation/TheMarvelousMisadventuresOfFlapJack Captain K'Nuckles]] (Creator/BrianDoyleMurray who is the older brother of Creator/BillMurray who plays Peter Venkman) -- or more on the topic of ghosts, also [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarepants The Flying Dutchman]].
** ''Creator/MaxVonSydow'' is the voice of Vigo in the second film as well as the game.
** Alyssa Milano is Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn in the game.
** Peter [=MacNicol=], who portrayed Janosz in ''II'' is also the voice of [[spoiler: the [[VideoGame/BatmanArkhamCity Mad Hatter]].]]
** Paddi Edwards, the voice actress who gave Gozer its voice, also gave her voice to a familiar pair of [[Disney/TheLittleMermaid electric eels]].