The Ghost Busters

The Ghost Busters
Larry Storch, Forrest Tucker, Bob Burns
Created by	Marc Richards
Starring	Forrest Tucker Larry Storch Bob Burns
Theme music composer	Diane Hildebrand Jackie Mills
Opening theme	"Ghost-Busters" Theme (sung by Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch)
Ending theme	"Ghost-Busters" Theme (instrumental)
Composer(s)	Yvette Blais Jeff Michael
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	15
Production
Executive producer(s)	Norm Prescott Lou Scheimer Dick Rosenbloom
Producer(s)	Norman Abbott
Location(s)	United States
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s)	Filmation
Release
Original network	CBS
Audio format	Mono
Original release	September 6 – December 13, 1975
Chronology
Related shows	Ghostbusters (1986 TV series)

The Ghost Busters was a live-action children's situation comedy that ran in 1975, about a team of bumbling detectives who would investigate ghostly occurrences. Fifteen episodes were produced. The show reunited Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch in roles similar to their characters in F Troop.

The series was unrelated to the 1984 film Ghostbusters (though Columbia Pictures did pay Filmation for a license to use the name). Like the film, the series spawned its own animated sequel in 1986.

The primary humor of the series was slapstick, with scenes centered on the perpetual bumbling of the characters, good and evil alike. The series also made references to classic cinema; the names "Spencer" and "Tracy" were taken from the famous actor Spencer Tracy, while the name Kong – ironically not given to the gorilla – was a clear homage to King Kong.

Spencer, Tracy, and Kong billed themselves as "The Ghost Busters", bumbling paranormal detectives. Kong (Tucker) was the leader of the trio with Spencer (Storch) as his partner, and Tracy (a gorilla, played by Burns) as their assistant who also drove their barely-functional jalopy. Their headquarters was situated in a run down office building in an unspecified city (Spencer's name on the door was misspelled "Spenser" while the opening credits spelled his name "Spencer"). Outside of normal office equipment, plus a large armoire on which Tracy hung numerous hats including his trademark beanie, the office itself was also dilapidated, with peeling wallpaper and a pay phone near the door as the Ghost Busters' only means of communicating with prospective clients.

Each episode consisted of the same formula: in the pre-credits teaser, a ghost or monster (usually accompanied by a half-witted sidekick), would manifest themselves and vow to wreak havoc or vengeance on a particular person, the city, or even the world. After the credits, Kong would send Tracy and Spencer to a general store to get their next assignment from the unseen "Zero" (Scheimer). The tape-recorded message was usually hidden inside an everyday object such as a bicycle, typewriter, or toy. In a parodic homage to Mission: Impossible, the recording would end with Zero saying, "This message will self destruct in five seconds"; after Tracy counted down the seconds, the message (and often the item in which it was hidden) would explode in Tracy's face.