As far as “made just to sell toys” goes, remember that, especially for it's time, the cartoon was remarkably not influenced by the toy line.

Compare it to the 80s GI Joe and Transformers, where Hasbro basically dictated development to the TV and comic writers by saying “We're phasing out some of these toys and introducing some new ones. So write out these characters and introduce these.” Hell, the Transformers 1986 movie was all about killing off all the characters who's toys were off the market and introducing the ones who'd just come out.

RGB, on the other hand…well, start with “Station Identification” where they actually took potshots at toy lines and cartoons (“Our sponsors are gonna love us for that” JMS joked in Starlog) How many of the ghosts Kenner came up with actually appeared on the cartoon? Did the ECTO-500 or the Ghost Sweeper ever make an appearance? No. (The Ecto-Bomber did, but the show had decayed so far by then that it didn't really stick out the way it would have a few years earlier)

Heck…I remember sitting at the TV in 1988 for the season premiere, half expecting the Ghostbusters to start wearing the Fright Features uniforms. It was the way every other cartoon of the time did things, right?

One more reason the Ghostbusters cartoon was a cut above all the rest. It sold a lot of toys, sure, but that was by having appealing characters and, for a sizeable amount of it's run, top notch writing and plots. The toy companies weren't writing it.

I agree with doc fritz 100%. That was some great input on the subject.

I completely agree with Fritz.

I actually have the opposite opinion. I think I like the show more now.

Nothing will ever replace the wonderment of watching the show as a kid. But as an adult, I appreciate the interaction between the characters. As a writer, I find the references to pop cultur and mythology to be hilarious and particularly enjoy the character development.

There are several cartoons tha hold up well IMO. Real Ghostbusters is one of them. My wife and I have really enjoyed watching it over the last several months.

The only faults i can bring to mind after watching the first season is that the art is sometimes VERY hit or miss, take when halloween was forever, the animation is terrible, nearly unwatchable.

Misfit;150613
The only faults i can bring to mind after watching the first season is that the art is sometimes VERY hit or miss, take when halloween was forever, the animation is terrible, nearly unwatchable.

Are you meaning the Egon/Peter switch during the climax? Yeah that was annoying.

Misfit;150613
The only faults i can bring to mind after watching the first season is that the art is sometimes VERY hit or miss, take when halloween was forever, the animation is terrible, nearly unwatchable.

That episode's art is easily better than the style used in Fright at the Opera or Boo Dunnit.

after i watched all the episodes when i got my set in I stopped watching them for a while until the game came out and got me watching them while im working on homework or cleaning. Watching it now i realize that i can understand the plot of each episode better. seeing chars that appear in real life mythology, all the references to other movies. and the humor. God i love that show. all i need is my EXB episodes in a nice box set and i will be happy

I remember watching RGB as a kid, but I could never remember any specific details of any episode.

Now I got season 1, I watch them all and I remember them.Thats the biggest difference in my opinion.

As for it being totally unrealistic cause they have a helicopter and the faa would have to approve, well maybe they did but they didn't show it in the cartoon cause it wouldn't be interesting. Its whatever logic the story tellers want to use. I beleive that almost everything in the cartoon is possible, I mean alot of people believe in ghosts. Alot of people believe there are good and bad ghosts, why not get rid of the bad ghosts? Why is a proton gun so unrealistic? Science comes up with so much stuff every day.

Its called Imagination, maybe people do lose it as an adult, I haven't.

I think part of it is that we are in a more cynical time.

The 80's, in many ways, was the last decade where it seemed okay to dream and be upbeat and be a little silly.

by the 90's, everyone seemed to be jaded and depressed and anything involving fantasy was “uncool” and obviously a corporate product.

To some extent, people became too smart for their own good. At the very least, they began to believe a little too much in their own intelligence.