How a network and focus group ruined The Real Ghostbusters

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by PaulKTF, Jul 30, 2015.

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  1. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    The Real Ghostbusters was a popular and well-loved cartoon.

    Then, the network and their focus group got ahold of it and made some changes...

     
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  2. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    Lesson learned:

    Never, ever, EVER listen to focus groups.
     
  3. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Well, sometimes focus groups are useful... but you have to balance what they say with a healthy dose of common sense.
     
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  4. drmaynard

    drmaynard Well-Known Member

    The host guy is a satirical character, right?
     
  5. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Essentially, yes; but underneath the silly voice mannerisms he's being sincere.
     
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  6. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Here's a really cool 3-d remake of the opening.



    This just makes me want to see a 3-D CGI Real Ghostbusters series. :)
     
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  7. Well, one of the points here is that there weren't any focus groups or research involved - just a consulting firm with a bunch of ideas on what's supposed to make a kids show work. And it would've been nice if our stoned host here could've paused his kvetching to let us know why the suits would've given any weight to what these Q5 consultants had to say. Like, what were their credentials?

    Anyway: not only can't I believe this video is 48 minutes, I can't believe I watched the whole thing.
     
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  8. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    I was at my local library a week or so ago, and I read the full version of the L.A. Times article that was highlighted in the video. It showed a before-and-after sketch of Janine, as well as an additional quote from Straczynski, calling Q5 "Evil".

    It was on the front page of the Calendar section.
     
  9. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    While, yes, the first version of the show (first ABC season and Syndicated episodes) was much better, there were some episodes from the second version that I did like, such as "The Grundel" (surprised the reviewer didn't mention this Straczynski-written episode), "The Copycat", "Robo-Buster", and "Future Tense".
     
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  10. antoniod

    antoniod Forum Resident

    "YOU CAN'T MENTION THE NECRONICON, IT'LL MAKE KIDS COMMIT SUICIDE!-YEAH?-WE CONSULTED AN EXPERT!"
     
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  11. Even as a kid at the time I noticed the changes and lost interest. When it became the Slimer show I gave up completely, thinking, who the hell wants this? Where is Venkman?!
     
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  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    I worked on the Rambo cartoon series for six months, and in 50+ episodes, we never had a guy get shot and nobody ever died... and that wasn't even a network show. Focus groups made sure it was "kid friendly." They could at least pick up guns and fire them, which is more you can do on most cable or network cartoon series.
     
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  13. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    When I found out they made a Rambo cartoon I thought "Wait... They made a cartoon for kids out of THAT license?!". I'm still kind of baffled. I assume there was an action figure line to tie-into the cartoon which is probably the only reason they made the cartoon.
     
  14. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Yeah, back in the 1980s and early 1990s, the toy companies basically formed a production company and would hire an animation company to build a cartoon show around the toys. We did a whole slew of those -- Jem & The Holograms, Transformers, Gobots, Laser Tag, Rambo... it goes on and on. Eventually, the FCC and the FTC saw through this ruse and forced the cartoon producers and the toy companies to split up, which put a lot of cartoon studios out of work. I think it also eventually led to the end of Saturday morning TV as a kid's medium.
     
  15. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I know those cartoons are all pretty awful, but I still have a soft spot for them in all their 80's cheesy glory:

    Have you heard of the term "Toyetic"?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyetic
     
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  16. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    The Syndicated episodes of The Real Ghostbusters had quite of bit of darker and scarier elements, that the network wouldn't touch with a ten-foot-pole.
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2015
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  17. Texastoyz

    Texastoyz Forum Resident

    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Paul, I'm surprised you never knew that there was a toyline for Rambo.

    [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  18. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Ah! Okay now that I see that I do kind of vaguely remember the figures. I was more interested in Masters Of The Universe. :)
     
  19. hi_watt

    hi_watt The Road Warrior

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    The first two seasons of The Real Ghostbusters was nice and creepy and dealt with sophisticated supernatural concepts that helped to set the show apart from other Saturday morning cartoons. With that said, the show went downhill after Lorenzo Music stopped being the voice of Venkman and there was more of a focus on Slimer. Plus, the Japanese animation was dropped by that time and it began to seem cheaply done. Even as a nine year old at the time, I could tell!
     
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  20. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
  21. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    I like how most episode guides list the Syndicated episodes as season 2, when they were produced the same year as the first network season, not to mention the fact that the series bible for the 1987 episodes on ABC listed them as the second season.

    Also, the correct production codes are the ones listed in the Time-Life DVD. "Killerwatt" was the first episode they produced.
     
  22. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    No, but that's a pretty good word. I did a whole slew of these shows... another was Mega Man, which I know was a huge best-selling toy. This was yet another show where Ruby-Spears figured out a way to get a funny anthropomorphic dog into the show (similar to Astro from The Jetsons or Scooby Doo, which R-S created).
     
  23. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mega_Man_(TV_series)

    I haven't seen this cartoon but I know the dog originated in the video games (but I don't know if it talked in the video games).
     
  24. The Wanderer

    The Wanderer Seeker of Truth

    Location:
    NYC
    'focus' groups = 'yes' puppies
     
  25. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Not really. In most cases executives are so eager to pander to focus group' responses that they change (read: ruin) a show/movie in the process.
     
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