Who's The Doctor? A TL
- Thread starter DAv
- Start date
Possibly. He isn't one of the candidates for future Doctors though. A companion perhaps, but not the Doctor himself.
He's another good choice. Certainly could fit into either end of the Whoniverse, might have to watch out for him.
Thank you for those words. If there's anything you feel can be improved upon, just let me know.
Glad you're enjoying it. Hopefully the next few updates will be just as good, although they're turning away from Doctor Who for the time being.
Might be in slightly more detail, but for now, that'll all people will be getting on it as other things are going to be covered first.
Michael Jackson & The Rat Pack
Part Twelve: Me And my Shadow:
“Funny how it all started when you think about it. Frank was at the Grammys, ready to accept his award for his album and Mikey was there because there was a rumour going round that John Lennon was attending but turned out he was in England at the time. Mikey was the centre of attention of course, guy was becoming the hottest thing in music since us. It was at a mingling session before or after the awards, I forget which, and Mikey was there talking about that Doctor Who show, it being really popular at the time. He was going on about how scary it was and how the monsters were giving him nightmares. Well, there was Frank not far from him and he was looking over like Mikey as if he'd wet his pants or something. Frank, being Frank, eventually just told him to toughen up and if he wanted to do that, he could come down to Vegas for a week while Frank was doing a show and he'd show Mikey how to toughen up. Mikey, being Mikey, took him at his word.”
- Extract from an interview with Dean Martin, 1991
The relationship was a strange one to many who knew either Michael or Frank in 1981. The former was the rising star of the decade, but ultimately quite naïve and still marked by his childhood as a member of the Jackson Five. The latter was a veteran of show business for forty years, having known everyone and done almost everything he could during his time on top. Their respective personalities alone would make many think it'd be an unlikely friendship and, it turned out to be just that. Unlikely, but a friendship all the same. One that would see Michael's own career outlook change greatly.
- Extract from 'Man in The Mirror', 2010
Musically, it was clear from the outset that Sinatra and Jackson were two different kinds entirely. Jackson was reaching the top of his game with Thriller becoming a smash success in 1982 and 1983. In that sense, Jackson didn't need Sinatra's guidance. Instead, Sinatra helped Michael in a business sense and in guiding him away from more bizarre urges. In many ways, Sinatra acted as more of a father figure for Jackson than his own father did, looking more towards tough love as he took Jackson under his wing. This was added to during the gradual reunion between Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior throughout the 80's that saw the Rat Pack being joined by Michael semi-frequently during their spots in Vegas. It was due to this that the Pack members saw a rebound in their careers later on in the 80's, Sinatra even giving advice during Jackson's Pepsi advertising campaign when it was filmed in Vegas in 1984. With Sinatra's career experiencing a rebound as he associated himself with Jackson, so too did the pop star find himself given more straightforward advice on where to take his career.
- Extract from 'Time at The Top: The Later Years of Frank Sinatra', 2006
“What the Hell is this Mikey? You can't be serious about telling the press about this!”
“Well I just thought the attention.”
“Attention?! Attention?! You do this Mikey and the only attention you'll be getting is part of a freak show! You ever go to the carnival Mikey? You ever pay to see the freak show?!”
“Well, no...”
“That's because no one pays to see the freak show! They pay for the main event! You want to be the main event, or get laughed at with the rest of the freaks?!”
“... I wanna be in the main event Frank.”
“That's good Mikey, that's good. Just keep it together and I'll make sure you do OK.”
- Alleged telephone conversation between Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, 1985
Michael's affiliation with the Rat Pack continued throughout the 80's, gaining some fame as if he would be part of the 'new generation' of such a group. Such speculation would never come to fruition but Michael's continued friendship with the group would lead to results that fans of all of them would love. The joint Sammy Davis Junior and Michael Jackson produced album Shadows would be released in 1987 to high success. The high point of this collaboration in popular culture would come at the 27th annual Grammy Awards.
- Extract from 'Man in The Mirror', 2010
“Well, I didn't know if you could get away with skits on the Grammys. But I guess when the Rat Pack and Michael Jackson go up to you with an idea, you go through with it.”
- Extract from an interview with Cyndi Lauper, 1989
[After accepting his award for best video album, Michael Jackson is interrupted by the Rat Pack on stage, the group coming up to Michael in an amiable fashion.]
[The Rat Pack pauses as the audience laughs at this, causing Dean to turn to Sammy.]
[Another pause from the Pack as the audience laughs at this. Sammy tags in Frank.]
[In response, Michael takes off his hat and throws it into the audience. He starts off with his dance moves, speeding up as they get more extrovert an smooth with it culminating in a moonwalk across the stage that has the audience cheering wildly and the Rat Pack watching on dumbly.]
“A lot of what I learned about how to show myself in public came from Frank. I was potentially going in a strange direction in the 80's before he pulled me back from it. He taught me not to rely on shocks and let my talent do the work for me. It was something I learned a lot from Dean and Sammy as well, to just let my music do my talking for me and keep away from gossip that could wreck a career. I owe a lot to him, Sammy and Dean. I honestly don't think my career would have been the same without them.”
- Extract from an interview with Michael Jackson 2009
JACKSON CONTRACT WITH VIRGIN SIGNED
- Headline from 'The Times' cultural section regarding Michael Jackson agreeing to compose music for various video games under Virgin's new handheld release, 1997
“Funny how it all started when you think about it. Frank was at the Grammys, ready to accept his award for his album and Mikey was there because there was a rumour going round that John Lennon was attending but turned out he was in England at the time. Mikey was the centre of attention of course, guy was becoming the hottest thing in music since us. It was at a mingling session before or after the awards, I forget which, and Mikey was there talking about that Doctor Who show, it being really popular at the time. He was going on about how scary it was and how the monsters were giving him nightmares. Well, there was Frank not far from him and he was looking over like Mikey as if he'd wet his pants or something. Frank, being Frank, eventually just told him to toughen up and if he wanted to do that, he could come down to Vegas for a week while Frank was doing a show and he'd show Mikey how to toughen up. Mikey, being Mikey, took him at his word.”
- Extract from an interview with Dean Martin, 1991
The relationship was a strange one to many who knew either Michael or Frank in 1981. The former was the rising star of the decade, but ultimately quite naïve and still marked by his childhood as a member of the Jackson Five. The latter was a veteran of show business for forty years, having known everyone and done almost everything he could during his time on top. Their respective personalities alone would make many think it'd be an unlikely friendship and, it turned out to be just that. Unlikely, but a friendship all the same. One that would see Michael's own career outlook change greatly.
- Extract from 'Man in The Mirror', 2010
Musically, it was clear from the outset that Sinatra and Jackson were two different kinds entirely. Jackson was reaching the top of his game with Thriller becoming a smash success in 1982 and 1983. In that sense, Jackson didn't need Sinatra's guidance. Instead, Sinatra helped Michael in a business sense and in guiding him away from more bizarre urges. In many ways, Sinatra acted as more of a father figure for Jackson than his own father did, looking more towards tough love as he took Jackson under his wing. This was added to during the gradual reunion between Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Junior throughout the 80's that saw the Rat Pack being joined by Michael semi-frequently during their spots in Vegas. It was due to this that the Pack members saw a rebound in their careers later on in the 80's, Sinatra even giving advice during Jackson's Pepsi advertising campaign when it was filmed in Vegas in 1984. With Sinatra's career experiencing a rebound as he associated himself with Jackson, so too did the pop star find himself given more straightforward advice on where to take his career.
- Extract from 'Time at The Top: The Later Years of Frank Sinatra', 2006
“What the Hell is this Mikey? You can't be serious about telling the press about this!”
“Well I just thought the attention.”
“Attention?! Attention?! You do this Mikey and the only attention you'll be getting is part of a freak show! You ever go to the carnival Mikey? You ever pay to see the freak show?!”
“Well, no...”
“That's because no one pays to see the freak show! They pay for the main event! You want to be the main event, or get laughed at with the rest of the freaks?!”
“... I wanna be in the main event Frank.”
“That's good Mikey, that's good. Just keep it together and I'll make sure you do OK.”
- Alleged telephone conversation between Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra, 1985
Michael's affiliation with the Rat Pack continued throughout the 80's, gaining some fame as if he would be part of the 'new generation' of such a group. Such speculation would never come to fruition but Michael's continued friendship with the group would lead to results that fans of all of them would love. The joint Sammy Davis Junior and Michael Jackson produced album Shadows would be released in 1987 to high success. The high point of this collaboration in popular culture would come at the 27th annual Grammy Awards.
- Extract from 'Man in The Mirror', 2010
“Well, I didn't know if you could get away with skits on the Grammys. But I guess when the Rat Pack and Michael Jackson go up to you with an idea, you go through with it.”
- Extract from an interview with Cyndi Lauper, 1989
[After accepting his award for best video album, Michael Jackson is interrupted by the Rat Pack on stage, the group coming up to Michael in an amiable fashion.]
SAMMY:
Hey Mikey! Looking good!
FRANK:
Not bad there Mikey, even if it's only for videos.
DEAN:
Tell me about it. You had all those shambling dead things moving about there Mikey, what were they supposed to be?
MICHAEL:
Well I thought it was obvious Dean, they were your careers.
Hey Mikey! Looking good!
FRANK:
Not bad there Mikey, even if it's only for videos.
DEAN:
Tell me about it. You had all those shambling dead things moving about there Mikey, what were they supposed to be?
MICHAEL:
Well I thought it was obvious Dean, they were your careers.
[The Rat Pack pauses as the audience laughs at this, causing Dean to turn to Sammy.]
DEAN:
You're up Sammy. Give 'im Hell.
SAMMY:
Look Mikey, what we're trying to say is that there are some things you don't need. I mean that video was all style, you need the substance to go with it. I mean, look at you, and then look at us, what do you have that we don't?
MICHAEL:
My original hips?
You're up Sammy. Give 'im Hell.
SAMMY:
Look Mikey, what we're trying to say is that there are some things you don't need. I mean that video was all style, you need the substance to go with it. I mean, look at you, and then look at us, what do you have that we don't?
MICHAEL:
My original hips?
[Another pause from the Pack as the audience laughs at this. Sammy tags in Frank.]
SAMMY:
I'm done, I'm out.
FRANK:
Look, Mikey, we're trying to give you advice here. I mean, you want to be as well known as us, right?
MICHAEL:
I don't know Frank. I mean, after all [Starts to sing], I have heard, now and then, you are called forgotten men.
SAMMY:
Is that what they're saying?
DEAN:
Terrific.
FRANK:
What a swell evening this is...
MICHAEL:
And have you heard, around this time
We gonna get another show from Sondheim
DEAN:
Oh, more soap opera
SAMMY:
Tune in tomorrow.
FRANK:
What a swell evening this is.
[Pointing towards Michael's Grammy] What gold, what a shock.
DEAN:
That they've got four of these for rock?
MICHAEL:
It's beautiful!
SAMMY:
That's enough already!
FRANK:
You ain't gonna see as many as us anyway.
SAMMY:
Now that's a sin.
FRANK:
What is?
DEAN:
Up next is Phil Collins.
SAMMY:
That's what I was gonna say!
MICHAEL:
I think he's a great artist!
FRANK:
Ah please don't go to far Mikey.
Have you heard about Turner?
Got this one and now she'll be on the back burner.
DEAN:
No!
SAMMY:
She's old, needs a rest.
MICHAEL:
Sure that's Tina?
Sounds like all three of ya.
FRANK:
Have you heard of miss Lauper?
MICHAEL:
Oh now what?
FRANK:
Got set up with some wrestler.
SAMMY:
Gorgeous George still playing?
FRANK:
Nah, it's the Captain.
SAMMY:
Did you ever?
DEAN:
What a swell evening this is...
MICHAEL:
It's great!
FRANK:
Less grand.
MICHAEL:
It's grand!
RAT PACK:
It's Wonderland!
SAMMY:
We sing!
DEAN:
We sing!
SAMMY:
So rare!
DEAN:
So rare!
RAT PACK:
Like old Camembert,
Like baba au rhum.
FRANK:
Ba, ba, ba bum!
MICHAEL:
Don't dig that kind of crooning guys.
FRANK:
[To the audience.] Forgive him, he's new here. [Back to Michael.] So what is it time for?
I'm done, I'm out.
FRANK:
Look, Mikey, we're trying to give you advice here. I mean, you want to be as well known as us, right?
MICHAEL:
I don't know Frank. I mean, after all [Starts to sing], I have heard, now and then, you are called forgotten men.
SAMMY:
Is that what they're saying?
DEAN:
Terrific.
FRANK:
What a swell evening this is...
MICHAEL:
And have you heard, around this time
We gonna get another show from Sondheim
DEAN:
Oh, more soap opera
SAMMY:
Tune in tomorrow.
FRANK:
What a swell evening this is.
[Pointing towards Michael's Grammy] What gold, what a shock.
DEAN:
That they've got four of these for rock?
MICHAEL:
It's beautiful!
SAMMY:
That's enough already!
FRANK:
You ain't gonna see as many as us anyway.
SAMMY:
Now that's a sin.
FRANK:
What is?
DEAN:
Up next is Phil Collins.
SAMMY:
That's what I was gonna say!
MICHAEL:
I think he's a great artist!
FRANK:
Ah please don't go to far Mikey.
Have you heard about Turner?
Got this one and now she'll be on the back burner.
DEAN:
No!
SAMMY:
She's old, needs a rest.
MICHAEL:
Sure that's Tina?
Sounds like all three of ya.
FRANK:
Have you heard of miss Lauper?
MICHAEL:
Oh now what?
FRANK:
Got set up with some wrestler.
SAMMY:
Gorgeous George still playing?
FRANK:
Nah, it's the Captain.
SAMMY:
Did you ever?
DEAN:
What a swell evening this is...
MICHAEL:
It's great!
FRANK:
Less grand.
MICHAEL:
It's grand!
RAT PACK:
It's Wonderland!
SAMMY:
We sing!
DEAN:
We sing!
SAMMY:
So rare!
DEAN:
So rare!
RAT PACK:
Like old Camembert,
Like baba au rhum.
FRANK:
Ba, ba, ba bum!
MICHAEL:
Don't dig that kind of crooning guys.
FRANK:
[To the audience.] Forgive him, he's new here. [Back to Michael.] So what is it time for?
[In response, Michael takes off his hat and throws it into the audience. He starts off with his dance moves, speeding up as they get more extrovert an smooth with it culminating in a moonwalk across the stage that has the audience cheering wildly and the Rat Pack watching on dumbly.]
FRANK:
… [To the Rat Pack]Time to call it a night boys.
MICHAEL:
Wait! Just one more thing.
FRANK:
What's that?
MICHAEL:
While we're here, among the stars
Can't you see we're gonna go far?
Well did you ever?
MICHAEL & RAT PACK:
What a swell evening, a swell evening, a swellegant, elegant evening, this is!
- Extract from the performance by Michael Jackson and the Rat Pack at the 27th Grammy Awards… [To the Rat Pack]Time to call it a night boys.
MICHAEL:
Wait! Just one more thing.
FRANK:
What's that?
MICHAEL:
While we're here, among the stars
Can't you see we're gonna go far?
Well did you ever?
MICHAEL & RAT PACK:
What a swell evening, a swell evening, a swellegant, elegant evening, this is!
“A lot of what I learned about how to show myself in public came from Frank. I was potentially going in a strange direction in the 80's before he pulled me back from it. He taught me not to rely on shocks and let my talent do the work for me. It was something I learned a lot from Dean and Sammy as well, to just let my music do my talking for me and keep away from gossip that could wreck a career. I owe a lot to him, Sammy and Dean. I honestly don't think my career would have been the same without them.”
- Extract from an interview with Michael Jackson 2009
JACKSON CONTRACT WITH VIRGIN SIGNED
- Headline from 'The Times' cultural section regarding Michael Jackson agreeing to compose music for various video games under Virgin's new handheld release, 1997
Not as such since none of the OTL 80's cast are involved...
Pretty much what I was going with here. A lot of tough love from Sinatra and the others helps Jackson turn around a fair bit and get away from the oddness. He wears a lot more snappy suits than uniforms ITTL.
Jackson was just about to start getting into rumours he slept in a special sort of tank meant to keep his youth or something similar to that. Here, Frank kills it in the cradle. There's no real 'Whacko Jacko' ITTL.
The Ghostbusters TV Series
Part Thirteen: Strange Rivals:
“If it hadn't been for that phone call, God knows how things would have turned out. Dan had phoned up during a meeting with Paramount execs, they wanted me to be in a new National Lampoon movie that had disaster written all over it. Dan was on the line, telling me to skip it, that there'd be other projects and he was right. Before I hung up though, he said that he'd gotten tapes of that Doctor Who show that was really making the rounds at the time and did I want to come have a look at it? Truth is, I knew he was worried about me so this seemed like an opening for him. I took it though I stopped by on the way to his place, picked up some heroin and prepared to have the night as I usually did. I got round Dan's house and we started watching this show and I was laughing my ass off at it. Here was Dan, trying to tell me it was a serious piece of art and you had some poor asshole trying to look scary while he had bubble wrap stuck around his head.”
“We just spent a few hours watch all this, having a blast when I remembered the heroin. I got up with the excuse I was gonna take a piss and went to Dan's bathroom. I got out the needle and started to get prepared to do it when I caught my eye in the mirror and I just thought “Jesus... What am I doing?” Here I am, in my friend's house, prepared to shoot up when I know the guy is worried about my habits. The Hell kind of person that make me? Dan found me ten minutes later, curled up in a ball and crying like a baby and we knew that I needed help bad. We managed to find the number of a rehab place and I got booked in, Robin also getting in touch and coming down to Dan's so he could help him take me down there and keep an eye on me and keep my spirits up. Was one of the weirder road trips we'd ever had, got pulled over about five times by cops who were just looking for excuses to get autographs from us.”
“During all this, Robin was keeping me calm and kept on joking that he could probably book himself in as well. His act kinda got stale after a few hours and I just said that he should yell at me and get it over with. Robin said he'd never do that so that's when I made our bet. If I could get him pissed off before they left me at rehab, I'd get to pick his next movie role. Course, if I knew what it would have done for the asshole's career, I'd have lost the damn thing.”
- Extract from an interview with John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd, 1990
“It'd been a long trip from Dan's place to the clinic, several stop overs before we arrived and even then I needed to go badly. I managed to find a toilet just as Dan was talking with a doctor about John staying over. What I didn't know was that John had wandered off and gotten a few orderlies to come along with him, telling them that I was the one having to be put into the clinic. I tried to explain things and John just kept on pushing it...”
- Extract from an interview with Robin Williams, 2001
“As you can see, Robin here is in need of some real help.”
“John...”
“His addiction's out of hand, it's ruining his life. Just by looking at him, you can tell he's unable to even look after himself.”
“Oh come on!”
“And, even worse, he's become prone to outbursts of anger and frequent denial.”
“YOU LYING ASSHOLE!”
- Conversation that took place between John Belushi and Robin Williams in a rehab clinic, 1982
“... Yeah, did not help myself.”
- Extract from an interview with Robin Williams, 2001
“It was during John's first stint in rehab that I got together with Dan after Ivan Reitman had seen his first script idea regarding Ghostbusters. It was initially for a film but Dan's idea was too big and too complicated and he got together with me to make it more practical to film. It was during the few weeks we were trying to hammer something out that he started talking about Doctor Who and how he was thinking about ideas about a TV series. I looked down at this script, the idea of a bunch of guys setting up a ghost hunting business in New York and I said “You've got one right here Dan.” After that, his eyes lit up and we both started to really get into this idea of a potential TV series around it. We wouldn't have the budget that we'd get for a movie but a TV series was something Dan saw real potential in to explore his idea and we managed to hammer out a broad outline of what to do with the series, aiming just as much for comedy as for action. When John got out of rehab, the idea was in the process of getting green lighted by executives at ABC. We owed a lot to the success of Doctor Who in getting that, as well as the new Star Trek show that was just starting that ABC wanted to compete with.”
- Extract from an interview with Harold Ramis, 1993
Cast List:
Peter Venkman – John Belushi
Ray Stanz – Dan Aykroyd
Egon Spengler – Harold Ramis
Winston Zeddemore – Eddie Murphy
Louis Tully – Billy Crystal
Dana Barrett – Christine Ebersole
- List of major cast members from the Ghostbusters TV series, 1984 – 1987
Casting for the show turned out to be a fairly simple process. With his own contacts and friendships, Dan Aykroyd was able to fill out the main character list with various actors and Saturday Night Live talents that Aykroyd knew and found were interested in the project. It was easy to fill in the main three slots as Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and John Belushi were eager to take on the project. The slot for the fourth character, envisioned to be an 'everyman' that would be used for exposition for the audience at home regarding the Ghostbusters' equipment and backstory. The eventual casting choice went to Eddie Murphy after his attempt to get cast in the 1984 comedy, Beverly Hills Cop, floundered after the original casting of Mickey Rourke was settled on. A talented stand up comic and actor, Murphy took on the role on the expectation that the show would only last a single season and it would simply allow him to show he could take on full character roles as his movie career was momentarily in a dry patch. This would change after the series ended, although it took four years to do so.
- Extract from 'Twenty Years of Busting: The Ghostbusters Story', 2004
“When it came to the budgeting, we realised from the outset that we weren't going to be able to rely on special effects to get people's attention. When people said that the first or second season was their favourite, I think it's down to the fact that me, Dan, John and Eddie just cut the dialogue down to one thing “Will people enjoy this?” It's what we came to rely on rather than action scenes and really helped us get through a rough start regarding what money we could get for the episodes. The jump upwards in the third and fourth seasons came later on when we were contacted by the Graphics Group and we spoke about getting their help with special effects going on the series. With how successful we were at the time, the network was happy to help foot the bill for a lot of it and you can see how things improved as we were able to do a lot more action scenes as time went by. I do agree that we focused less on the writing as time went by because of that but not to any real detriment to the show.”
- Extract from an interview with Harold Ramis, 2002
The beginning of the Ghostbusters franchise was not as clear cut as initially foreseen. The new science fiction show was to face competition in terms of the return of Star Trek to television. With the success of the film franchise and Doctor Who showing that a science fiction television series could be successful with a wide audience, the decision was made by executives at Paramount and NBC to begin a new Star Trek series. Rather than use the cast of the movies though, the idea of using unknown actors in a new series of the franchise was taken. With Gene Rodenberry brought in to head creative, it was felt that the show could recapture the feel of the 60's show and capitalise on the success of the more recent films.
-Extract from 'The Silver Age of Science Fiction: 1983-1993', 2009
'Urban Sci-Fi' – A term used to describe a certain sub-genre of science fiction that is usually established in the present day, displaying everything as perfectly relatable and normal to the audience apart from one aspect which makes up the fantastic elements of the show. Popularised after an interview with Eddie Murphy, the term has come to encompass a wide section of science fiction, ranging from comedic to more dramatic pieces and has some overlap with Cyberpunk or Post-Cyberpunk stories.
- Extract from Wikiepdia's introduction for 'Urban Sci-Fi'. 2009
“It was something we were all looking forward to, to be a part of this new series and I especially was hoping for a great break in my career. Being cast as the Captain of the new Star Trek series was supposed to have been a real stepping stone for my career. Sadly, it didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Partly because of backstage issues and partly because we later directly competed against the Ghostbusters.”
- Extract from an interview with Alan Rickman, 2004
“If it hadn't been for that phone call, God knows how things would have turned out. Dan had phoned up during a meeting with Paramount execs, they wanted me to be in a new National Lampoon movie that had disaster written all over it. Dan was on the line, telling me to skip it, that there'd be other projects and he was right. Before I hung up though, he said that he'd gotten tapes of that Doctor Who show that was really making the rounds at the time and did I want to come have a look at it? Truth is, I knew he was worried about me so this seemed like an opening for him. I took it though I stopped by on the way to his place, picked up some heroin and prepared to have the night as I usually did. I got round Dan's house and we started watching this show and I was laughing my ass off at it. Here was Dan, trying to tell me it was a serious piece of art and you had some poor asshole trying to look scary while he had bubble wrap stuck around his head.”
“We just spent a few hours watch all this, having a blast when I remembered the heroin. I got up with the excuse I was gonna take a piss and went to Dan's bathroom. I got out the needle and started to get prepared to do it when I caught my eye in the mirror and I just thought “Jesus... What am I doing?” Here I am, in my friend's house, prepared to shoot up when I know the guy is worried about my habits. The Hell kind of person that make me? Dan found me ten minutes later, curled up in a ball and crying like a baby and we knew that I needed help bad. We managed to find the number of a rehab place and I got booked in, Robin also getting in touch and coming down to Dan's so he could help him take me down there and keep an eye on me and keep my spirits up. Was one of the weirder road trips we'd ever had, got pulled over about five times by cops who were just looking for excuses to get autographs from us.”
“During all this, Robin was keeping me calm and kept on joking that he could probably book himself in as well. His act kinda got stale after a few hours and I just said that he should yell at me and get it over with. Robin said he'd never do that so that's when I made our bet. If I could get him pissed off before they left me at rehab, I'd get to pick his next movie role. Course, if I knew what it would have done for the asshole's career, I'd have lost the damn thing.”
- Extract from an interview with John Belushi & Dan Aykroyd, 1990
“It'd been a long trip from Dan's place to the clinic, several stop overs before we arrived and even then I needed to go badly. I managed to find a toilet just as Dan was talking with a doctor about John staying over. What I didn't know was that John had wandered off and gotten a few orderlies to come along with him, telling them that I was the one having to be put into the clinic. I tried to explain things and John just kept on pushing it...”
- Extract from an interview with Robin Williams, 2001
“As you can see, Robin here is in need of some real help.”
“John...”
“His addiction's out of hand, it's ruining his life. Just by looking at him, you can tell he's unable to even look after himself.”
“Oh come on!”
“And, even worse, he's become prone to outbursts of anger and frequent denial.”
“YOU LYING ASSHOLE!”
- Conversation that took place between John Belushi and Robin Williams in a rehab clinic, 1982
“... Yeah, did not help myself.”
- Extract from an interview with Robin Williams, 2001
“It was during John's first stint in rehab that I got together with Dan after Ivan Reitman had seen his first script idea regarding Ghostbusters. It was initially for a film but Dan's idea was too big and too complicated and he got together with me to make it more practical to film. It was during the few weeks we were trying to hammer something out that he started talking about Doctor Who and how he was thinking about ideas about a TV series. I looked down at this script, the idea of a bunch of guys setting up a ghost hunting business in New York and I said “You've got one right here Dan.” After that, his eyes lit up and we both started to really get into this idea of a potential TV series around it. We wouldn't have the budget that we'd get for a movie but a TV series was something Dan saw real potential in to explore his idea and we managed to hammer out a broad outline of what to do with the series, aiming just as much for comedy as for action. When John got out of rehab, the idea was in the process of getting green lighted by executives at ABC. We owed a lot to the success of Doctor Who in getting that, as well as the new Star Trek show that was just starting that ABC wanted to compete with.”
- Extract from an interview with Harold Ramis, 1993
Cast List:
Peter Venkman – John Belushi
Ray Stanz – Dan Aykroyd
Egon Spengler – Harold Ramis
Winston Zeddemore – Eddie Murphy
Louis Tully – Billy Crystal
Dana Barrett – Christine Ebersole
- List of major cast members from the Ghostbusters TV series, 1984 – 1987
Casting for the show turned out to be a fairly simple process. With his own contacts and friendships, Dan Aykroyd was able to fill out the main character list with various actors and Saturday Night Live talents that Aykroyd knew and found were interested in the project. It was easy to fill in the main three slots as Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and John Belushi were eager to take on the project. The slot for the fourth character, envisioned to be an 'everyman' that would be used for exposition for the audience at home regarding the Ghostbusters' equipment and backstory. The eventual casting choice went to Eddie Murphy after his attempt to get cast in the 1984 comedy, Beverly Hills Cop, floundered after the original casting of Mickey Rourke was settled on. A talented stand up comic and actor, Murphy took on the role on the expectation that the show would only last a single season and it would simply allow him to show he could take on full character roles as his movie career was momentarily in a dry patch. This would change after the series ended, although it took four years to do so.
- Extract from 'Twenty Years of Busting: The Ghostbusters Story', 2004
“When it came to the budgeting, we realised from the outset that we weren't going to be able to rely on special effects to get people's attention. When people said that the first or second season was their favourite, I think it's down to the fact that me, Dan, John and Eddie just cut the dialogue down to one thing “Will people enjoy this?” It's what we came to rely on rather than action scenes and really helped us get through a rough start regarding what money we could get for the episodes. The jump upwards in the third and fourth seasons came later on when we were contacted by the Graphics Group and we spoke about getting their help with special effects going on the series. With how successful we were at the time, the network was happy to help foot the bill for a lot of it and you can see how things improved as we were able to do a lot more action scenes as time went by. I do agree that we focused less on the writing as time went by because of that but not to any real detriment to the show.”
- Extract from an interview with Harold Ramis, 2002
The beginning of the Ghostbusters franchise was not as clear cut as initially foreseen. The new science fiction show was to face competition in terms of the return of Star Trek to television. With the success of the film franchise and Doctor Who showing that a science fiction television series could be successful with a wide audience, the decision was made by executives at Paramount and NBC to begin a new Star Trek series. Rather than use the cast of the movies though, the idea of using unknown actors in a new series of the franchise was taken. With Gene Rodenberry brought in to head creative, it was felt that the show could recapture the feel of the 60's show and capitalise on the success of the more recent films.
-Extract from 'The Silver Age of Science Fiction: 1983-1993', 2009
'Urban Sci-Fi' – A term used to describe a certain sub-genre of science fiction that is usually established in the present day, displaying everything as perfectly relatable and normal to the audience apart from one aspect which makes up the fantastic elements of the show. Popularised after an interview with Eddie Murphy, the term has come to encompass a wide section of science fiction, ranging from comedic to more dramatic pieces and has some overlap with Cyberpunk or Post-Cyberpunk stories.
- Extract from Wikiepdia's introduction for 'Urban Sci-Fi'. 2009
“It was something we were all looking forward to, to be a part of this new series and I especially was hoping for a great break in my career. Being cast as the Captain of the new Star Trek series was supposed to have been a real stepping stone for my career. Sadly, it didn't turn out as I'd hoped. Partly because of backstage issues and partly because we later directly competed against the Ghostbusters.”
- Extract from an interview with Alan Rickman, 2004
Likely to be doing so. He'll be popping into the next update quite possibly as the Ghostbusters and new Star Trek series really take off.
Yep, he's TTL's Spoony alright. And the rivalry between the fandoms has a few reasons you've probably already guessed.
Yeah, I do believe in knock-on effects a lot more than butterflies, hence why all these have roots in Doctor Who's growth of popularity in the US due to John Denver than random chaos. But the effects are steadily growing.
Also, have to apologise for essentially stealing the idea of a Ghostbusters TV show from another TL whose name eludes me at the moment. I've read nothing of the TL save its TV tropes page and am trying to keep it like that so I'm not tempted to do the same. Hopefully I'll manage to make my incarnation of the idea much different than whatever theirs is like.
Aye, that's the one. Trying a lot not to read anymore of that at all. Shame really, looks like a really good TL.