The Real Ghostbusters Animated Series to Start Releasing for Free on YouTube

The Real Ghostbusters, the hit animated series that ran from 1986 until 1991, is coming to [...]

By Russ Burlingame

The Real Ghostbusters, the hit animated series that ran from 1986 until 1991, is coming to YouTube, beginning with a free premiere and teasing more for fans who subscribe to the Ghostbusters YouTube account. Set in the world of the original Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters spawned toys, comic books, and other spinoffs -- including a new generation of merch in the last few years. The show, which ran for seven seasons, was called "The Real Ghostbusters" because it competed with another animated series called The Ghostbusters, based on a 1975 film from Filmation, the producers of which had struck a deal with Columbia Pictures to allow the 1984 movie to use the name.

The Real Ghostbusters is likely showing back up again because of the upcoming release of Ghostbusters: Afterlife, a film that ties directly back to the first two Ghostbusters movies and ignores the 2016 "Answer the Call" reboot. The movie has been delayed as a result of the pandemic, and while it was originally set for a release last summer, it is currently scheduled to hit theaters on June 11, 2021.

You can see the tweet announcing the Real Ghostbusters release below.

This is not the first time the show has been made available -- you can buy it on DVD and digital from Amazon, for instance, or get one or the other from a number of retailers -- but it is the first time at least in recent memory that episodes will stream for free, rather than being rented or sold on a per-episode or per-season basis.

The Real Ghostbusters was a sillier, less sexy, and more colorful take on the world of the 1984 movie, with no sign of Dana Barrett, and no Louis Tully prior to season five (when Ghostbusters II came out and he became a semi-official member of the team). It also featured Slimer, the memorably gross monster from the first film, as a lovable comic foil for the Ghostbusters, rather than something they trapped away in a containment unit.

A new line of The Real Ghostbusters action figures and accessories is currently in Walmart stores, designed to faithfully resemble their classic '80s counteparts aesthetically while having increased posability.

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