The Real Ghostbusters is a cartoon series based on the hit movie Ghostbusters. It ran from 1986 to 1992. The events of the series take place between the events of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II. This cartoon series focused on the adventures of Peter Venkman, Ray Stanz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zedmore. Other characters include Jenine Melnitz, and Slimer. Lewis Tulley was later added to the series. The show's head writer from 1986 to 1988 was J. Michael Straczynski.

Slimer was the gluttonous green ghost from the film (called Onionhead by the film crew and "the ghost of John Belushi" by Dan Aykroyd). The cartoon gave him more personality and made him more of a sympathetic character. The versatile Frank Welker provided his semi-intelligible gibberings.

For season four (premiering on Sept. 10, 1988), the show's title was changed to Slimer and The Real Ghostbusters because the producers, recognizing Slimer's popularity. This new series presented a much more "cartoonesque" approach and was frequently more focused on Slimer than on the Ghostbusters. The horror and dark themes were also toned down, probably to be less scary and hit younger audiences. A couple of arch-nemeses were introduced: a scruffy cat named Manx and an obsessive scientist named Norman Dweeb, who constantly pursues Slimer.

The show was given the Real adjective to distinguish it from a Filmation cartoon based on an earlier live-action series called The Ghost Busters.

A more recent, however short lived, incarnation was Extreme Ghostbusters, which featured four younger Ghostbusters led by former Ghostbuster Egon and Janine.

Trivia

In one episode of The Real Ghostbusters, the "boys" (Peter Venkman, Ray Stantz, Egon Spengler, and Winston Zeddemore) have just finished destroying the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man at the climax of the film. Several episodes later, they are supervising the production of a film based on that incident, lending credence to the story that the animated series shows the "real" Ghostbusters, and the film is an adaptation.

Quotes from the series

Winston: (reading the cast list for the movie based on their adventure) Murray, Aykroyd, and Ramis. Sounds like a law firm.

Egon: I have a plan.
Winston: No electric shock, Egon.
Egon: I have another plan.