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Ghostbusters is a supernatural comedy franchise about a team of professional ghost hunters.
The franchise began with Ghostbusters in 1984, which was directed by Ivan Reitman and starred Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Ernie Hudson as the titular Ghostbusters, with Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, William Atherton and Annie Potts in supporting roles. The movie was a box-office hit and a cultural phenomenon. Catchphrases from the movie, such as "Who you gonna call?" quickly made their way into the pop culture lexicon. The movie's theme song, written and performed by Ray Parker Jr., was also a hit and reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
A sequel, Ghostbusters II, followed in 1989 and did well at the box office, but wasn't as successful as the first movie. The 1990s and 2000s saw several abortive attempts at a second sequel, but they paused in 2014 when Harold Ramis passed away. In 2016, a remake film (subtitled Answer the Call in its home video release) which featured women in the Ghostbusters roles appeared, but did not do well. In 2021 a second sequel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, appeared, with the storyline focusing on the daughter and grandchildren of one of the original Ghostbusters.
The Ghostbusters franchise has also given rise to video games, comic books, and two animated television series: The Real Ghostbusters, which aired from 1986 to 1991; and Extreme Ghostbusters, which aired in 1997. Following the release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, an animated film and a live-action prequel television series were in development. A live-action sequel, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, was released in 2024.
Ghostbusters has been referred to several times in the Simpsons universe.
References to Ghostbusters in The Simpsons[edit]
Episodes[edit]
| Picture
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Season
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Episode number
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Episode name
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Reference
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13
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276
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"Brawl in the Family"
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When the Simpsons first meet Gabriel the social worker, Homer thinks he's an angel, like "Denzel Washington in The Preacher's Wife, or Will Smith in Bagger Vance, or Slimer in Ghostbusters."
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283
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"Tales from the Public Domain"
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Homer tells Bart that Hamlet was made into a great movie called Ghostbusters. The family then dance to the theme music.
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21
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453
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"Boy Meets Curl"
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At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Ivan Reitman organizes the opening ceremony. Television commentator Bob Costas introduces Reitman as "Canada's most famous director" and "the man who brought us Ghostbusters".
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During the Parade of Nations, the Ghostbusters theme music plays, and the stadium announcer says "Who you gonna call?" followed by each nation's name as its delegation enters. By the time the competing nations finish entering and the observing nations come in, the announcer's voice is exhausted and reduced to a croak.
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26
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559
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"Blazed and Confused"
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One of the Blazing Guy participants is dressed like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters.
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27
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578
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"Halloween of Horror"
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When the kids get off the school bus wearing their costumes and go into the school building, Üter is dressed as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
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35
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755
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"Treehouse of Horror XXXIV"
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Matt Selman's credit "Stay Puft Mattselman Man" is a reference to the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
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759
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"Murder, She Boat"
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Richard and Richard's father dress as Ghostbusters.
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| Picture
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Comic issue
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Story name
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Reference
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| Simpsons Comics
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Simpsons Comics #111
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Know It All in the Family
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Marge takes a science class from Professor Frink and learns how to rebuild a microwave oven into a portable ray gun. The gun resembles a proton pack from Ghostbusters. When Marge uses it at the dinner table to heat up food, Homer is disappointed, as he thought that she had become a Ghostbuster.
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Simpsons Comics #207
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Snooze Alarm!
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Chief Wiggum has a dream where he is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, fights the Ghostbusters and eats Ernie Hudson's character.
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| The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror
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Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror #13
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Prop, Prop, Whiz, Whiz!
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Comic Book Guy's shop is shown to have a collection of cursed movie props and DVDs in the back room. Whoever touches an item is transported into the world of that movie. Among the victims were Carl, Lenny, Moe, and Barney, who touched a Ghostbusters DVD and ended up fighting the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
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The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror #22
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Ghøst Bashers
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The franchise is parodied throughout the story.
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The Simpsons Treehouse of Horror Hoodoo Voodoo Brouhaha
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Comic Book Guy's Best Costumes Ever - Part 2
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Comic Book Guy dressed up as Ray Stantz for Aykroyd Con in 1996.
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| Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book
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Comic Book Guy: The Comic Book #1
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The Death of Comic Book Guy! (Part One)
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When Comic Book Guy and Graphic Novel Kid make it through the "maze of glaze", Comic Book Guy says "how Ghostbusters!" and Graphic Novel Kid says "more like Ghostbusters 2!"
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Common cast and crew[edit]
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Name
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Role in the Ghostbusters franchise
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Role on The Simpsons
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Shohreh Aghdashloo
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Provided the voice of Gozer in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
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Voiced Mina bin Laden in "MyPods and Boomsticks".
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Dan Aykroyd
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Co-writer of Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II (along with Harold Ramis); creator of The Real Ghostbusters; played Ray Stantz in Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Afterlife and Frozen Empire; had a cameo appearance in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Postage Stamp Fellow in "The Dad-Feelings Limited".
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Ed Begley, Jr.
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Played Ed Mulgrave in Answer the Call.
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Voiced himself in the season 10 episode "Homer to the Max" and the season 20 episode "Gone Maggie Gone".
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Andy García
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Played Mayor Bradley in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Slick in the season 23 episode "The Book Job".
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Maurice LaMarche
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Voiced Egon Spengler in The Real Ghostbusters and Extreme Ghostbusters.
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Recurring guest voice actor.
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Cheech Marin
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Had a cameo appearance as a dock supervisor in Ghostbusters II.
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Voiced himself in the season 22 episode "A Midsummer's Nice Dreams".
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Melissa McCarthy
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Played Abby Yates in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Calvin in the season 34 episode "Step Brother from the Same Planet".
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Kate McKinnon
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Played Jillian Holtzmann in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Hettie Mae Boggs in the season 27 episode "Gal of Constant Sorrow".
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Kumail Nanjiani
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Played Nadeem in Frozen Empire.
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Voiced Theo in the season 33 episode "You Won't Believe What This Episode Is About – Act Three Will Shock You!".
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Patton Oswalt
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Played Dr. Hubert Wartzki in Frozen Empire.
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Voiced T-Rex in the season 24 episode "The Day the Earth Stood Cool" and Bart's guilt in the season 28 episode "The Cad and the Hat". Also wrote the Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror comic story They Draw.
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Al Roker
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Had a cameo appearance as himself in Answer the Call.
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Voiced himself in the season 24 episode "Moonshine River".
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Paul Rudd
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Played Gary Grooberson in Afterlife and Frozen Empire.
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Voiced Dr. Zander in the season 22 episode "Love Is a Many-Strangled Thing", and himself in the season 25 episode "Steal This Episode" and in the season 32 episode "Three Dreams Denied".
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J. K. Simmons
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Played Ivo Shandor in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.
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Voiced J. Jonah Jameson in the season 18 episode "Moe'N'a Lisa", a tabloid editor in the season 18 episode "Homerazzi", JJ Gruff in the season 29 episode "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage", Dr. Jessup in the season 30 episode "Daddicus Finch" and Victor Kleskow in the season 30 episode "Girl's in the Band".
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Cecily Strong
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Played Jennifer Lynch in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Megan Matheson in the season 29 episode "Homer Is Where the Art Isn't".
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Max von Sydow
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Provided the voice of Vigo the Carpathian in Ghostbusters II.
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Voiced Klaus Ziegler in the season 25 episode "The War of Art".
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Frank Welker
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Voiced Ray Stantz, the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, Slimer and other characters in The Real Ghostbusters; voiced Ray Stantz in Extreme Ghostbusters.
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Voiced many animal characters, most notably Santa's Little Helper and Snowball II.
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Kristen Wiig
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Played Erin Gilbert in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Calliope Juniper in the season 22 episode "Flaming Moe" and Annie Crawford in the season 25 episode "Homerland".
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Zach Woods
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Played Garrett the tour guide in Answer the Call.
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Voiced Zane Furlong in the season 31 episode "The Miseducation of Lisa Simpson".
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| Picture
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Name
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Role in the Ghostbusters franchise
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Role on The Simpsons
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Derek Casari
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Dubbing engineer for Ghostbusters II.
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Dialogue engineer on The Simpsons Movie.
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Jim Fitzpatrick
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Sound re-recording mixer for Ghostbusters II.
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Sound re-recording mixer for 23 episodes in seasons 2 and 3.
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Will Goldman
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Choir singer for Frozen Empire.
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Sang songs in "Bobby, It's Cold Outside" and "Undercover Burns".
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James Hayden
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Choir singer for Frozen Empire.
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Sang songs in the season 31 episode "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?".
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Bill Higley
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ADR Mixer for Frozen Empire.
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HSR dialogue recordist for The Simpsons Movie.
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Sara Mann
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Choir singer for Frozen Empire.
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Sang songs in the episodes "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?" and "Cremains of the Day".
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Greg Orloff
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Foley mixer for Ghostbusters II.
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Sound re-recording mixer in seasons 3 through 9.
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Jasper Randall
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Choir conductor for Frozen Empire.
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Sang songs for three episodes: "Todd, Todd, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?", "Bobby, It's Cold Outside", and "Undercover Burns".
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Bill Recinos
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Visual effects animator for Ghostbusters.
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Character layout artist for 13 episodes in seasons 30 and 31.
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Suzanne Waters
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Choir singer for Frozen Empire.
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Sang the song "The Way We Were" in the season 31 episode "The Way of the Dog".
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External links[edit]
