A boy named Johnny is getting ready for bed, when a ghost named Buster enters through his bathroom mirror. He goes to take Johnny's fallen tooth, like the Tooth Fairy, but is a bit inept and relies on the guidance of a sentient watch, at one point trying to give Johnny a dental check-up. He wakes up and calls for his parents, then Buster escapes but gets caught by the "Tooth Police". This puts him in a slump, but then he feels elated to see a Ghostbusters ad and find they have "the same name" as him.
Buster comes to the firehouse and declares to the Ghostbusters that he's come to join them, adding that he's a good cook. Everyone agrees to this, except for a very dubious Egon. The next morning, Buster makes a big feast for breakfast. Later, Buster does dentistry on Ray, then they get a call. However, Buster thinks the way the Ghostbusters operate is dangerous and tries to think of a safer way.
By the time the Ghostbusters are finished with their job, it's night time, and they arrive home to find that Buster has invited every ghost in New York to the firehouse. The Ghostbusters try to sort out the mess by tricking the ghosts with proton packs that are turned off and shoot water instead, but have trouble, then Egon and Ray discover that the ghosts are making holes in the universe.
The Ghostbusters trap Buster and set him free on the roof, where they reveal the truth. Buster still wants to be the guys' friend, so they get him to help. He lures the ghosts away with the promise of food, while the Ghostbusters use a machine to send all the ghosts away. The next day, the Ghostbusters clean up and reveal that they got Buster a job as a custodian in California, but he let them keep the talking watch.
This episode provides examples of
- Animate Inanimate Object: Buster's watch can talk.
- Bad "Bad Acting": The Ghostbusters sound quite stilted during their commercial.
- Big Eater: After Buster cooks a massive breakfast too big for four humans, Slimer ensures there will be no leftovers. It later turns out that he's all in on the party because Buster has kept cooking.
- Character Tics: Buster winks a lot.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Buster's watch frequently warns him when he's doing something too crazy.
- Everyone Has Standards: Winston supports letting Buster stay on the grounds it'd be cruel to toss someone out on the street.
- Extreme Omnivore: One ghost eats film reels.
- Finger Gun: When Buster says he wants to kill himself, he makes a finger gun gesture to his head.
- Forgot About His Powers: Lampshaded when the watch reminds Buster that he doesn't need to tiptoe as he's a ghost.
- Friendly Ghost: Buster, while very incompetent, only wants what's best for humans and wants to make friends.
- From Bad to Worse: Ghosts overrun the firehouse and while not malicious, they're partying is trashing the place. Then it turns out that this many ghosts is causing an imbalance that could cause untold destruction in the city and beyond.
- I Don't Think That's Such a Good Idea: Egon is not onboard with taking in Buster.
- I Just Want to Have Friends: When the Ghostbusters reveal their job, Buster says, "I thought I'd finally have some friends!".
- I Warned You: Egon is the only one to know that letting Buster stay will cause them problems. Seeing the ghosts swarming the firehouse because of Buster, Egon won't say this outright to Peter, but his tone certainly conveys it.
- I Will Show You X!: When Winston claims he and the others have never done anything logically, Peter responds, "I'll show you logic, smart guy!".
- Jerkass to One: Though friendly as can be to just about everyone, Buster admits he's always disliked zombies, due to their awful teeth.
- Lampshade Hanging: At the very end, the talking watch points out the oddity of Egon's Anime Hair.
- Loose Tooth Episode: Downplayed — what starts out the plot is Buster collecting a boy's fallen tooth.
- Mistaken for Undead: Peter once hastily fires at someone who sneaks up behind him, thinking it to be one of the ghosts, but it's Winston. Luckily, his proton pack was turned off and rigged to spray water at the time.
- Mythology Gag: Like in the first movie, the guys' commercial concludes with them saying, "We're ready to believe you."
- Nice Guy: Buster is so unfailingly nice and polite that even Peter takes a shine to him.
- Oh, Crap!: Janine when she comes back in the morning and sees what a mess the firehouse is.
- Only Sane Man: During the search for Buster, the Audience Surrogate takes note of the team's usual approach to business.Peter: We're not going about this logically.
Winston: We've never gone about anything logically. - Post-Victory Collapse: All the Ghostbusters look a bit tired after sending the ghosts away, with the exception of Winston. Peter even falls asleep.
- The Pratfall: Ray is once accidentally knocked over onto his butt (while carrying a stack of books no less) by Peter.
- Pun: Buster mentions he was a ghost writer once.
- Quaking with Fear: Johnny's dad shakes with fear when he sees Buster.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder: When Buster says he and the other ghosts will "party 'til [they] drop", Peter says, "How long 'could that be?". Egon calculates it to be 14,000 years or so.
- Silly Spook: Buster is quite foolish, has a strange obsession with dentistry, and wears a too-big dress shirt.
- Slapstick:
- Johnny's dad trips on Buster's cane and falls.
- Peter falls backwards on his chair when he sees Buster.
- Ray is thrown across the room after trying to pry a film reel out of a ghost's mouth.
- Peter accidentally sprays Winston in the face.
- Speak in Unison:
- In the ad, the Ghostbusters say, "We're the Ghostbusters!" in unison.
- When Peter asks, "Remember when you were in college parties? Where did you always wind up?", he and Winston reply, "In the kitchen!" in unison.
- Supreme Chef: Buster is a very skilled cook, and makes some popular eggs and bacon.
- Take That!: Egon lists New Jersey as one of the places that could be affected by the ethereal imbalance.
- Tears of Joy: Buster cries happily upon finding an organisation with the same name as him.
- Tempting Fate: Peter dismisses Buster's claim of "We'll party 'til we drop" with "How long can that be?", only to find out it's 14,000 years or so.
- Visible Odor: The smell of the eggs and bacon is illustrated as steam.
- We Need a Distraction: Buster keeps the party guests distracted with talk of food, while the guys set up in the basement.
- "You!" Exclamation: Ray in response to one ghost eating his film reels.
