Does anyone know why the RGB cartoon never had a single episode scripted around Dana Barrett? It is factual that her only RGB-styled appearance was in the comic books.
I still want to know whether or not the producers of RGB ever alluded to using Dana in the cartoons?
~Ben
Aside from her depiction in the three-part NOW comic based on the GBII film, I honestly have no idea whether or not the producers alluded to using Dana in the cartoons.
Nope, never even mentioned in the show. It makes a certain degree of sense, as having her as a recurring character meant either they’d have to change her to make her work as a Ghostbusters employee (like they did Louis in GB2) or have her constantly being harassed by ghosts and demons, which would probably get old fast.
It also meant that they could play up the “Venkman on the make” angle a lot easier than they could if he had a recurring love interest. Though that went a way a lot after JMS quit, probably because “pro-social values blah blah blah”
The decision to not include Dana did mean that this was one area where RGB and GB2 synergized well: like the characters, the audience hadn’t seen Dana for five years either.
The RGB comics had a little more leeway, apparently. While her only actual appearance was in the aforementioned GB2, she was namedropped a number of times in the Marvel UK series (apparently the occasional mention in the text stories about “Peter was out on a date with Dana”), and was mentioned in the first issue of the Now RGB comic. You can see the scan here:
The problem with Dana as a recurring character is there’s no neutral way to use her. She’s the one thing that will make Peter drop whatever he’s doing, ditch the guys, and take off for non-specified amounts of time. No matter what context she appears in, she stops the show right in it’s tracks.
I enjoy imagining that Janine and Egon will finally be able to be together once there are younger, smarter people doing their jobs better and they themselves are too old and senile to give a ■■■■ anymore.
Peter will leave to be with Dana the very instant Dana decides she wants him. He won’t turn around, he won’t look back, he won’t give his life in the Firehouse a second thought. Dana will call and he’ll come. That’s all it would take.
Fortunately for the Ghostbusters, Dana doesn’t want him…or at least not right now. Not for keeps. She needs him from time to time, and I’m convinced she’ll always love him, but she doesn’t want him around her kid and she doesn’t want any part of his dangerous Ghostbusting life.
That might be a way to END the series, if Dana returned, but you couldn’t use her as a recurring character. Every time she showed up, she’d hit like a wreaking ball. It’d mess up the team’s chemistry.
She actually appears once in the Marvel Comics RGBs. She’s on a date to the opera with Peter. I think it’s issue 150.
Well, the resource I use on the Marvel UK books didn’t make it to that one, so I didn’t know about it. :lol:
Yeah I remember the issue. From memory the story was that Egon, Ray and Winston were going on a bust but left Peter behind to clean up. Peter wanted to go on a date with Dana so he got their old Robocop Ghostbuster out of the closet and set him to work cleaning the place.
ECTO-X, from Marvel UK’s RGB#50, and reprinted by Now in RGB#21:
Yeah that was the original story. Issue 150 was the sequel story which featured Dana.
I thought that Dana was name-dropped in an episode somewhere. Maybe it was in GB the Video Game, not sure.
I think that there could be a combination of factors here. One is likely licensing of some sort. There is usually money tied into something somewhere.
I also agree with M. Thunder. Sadly, and even with the new IDW comics, Dana is used mostly as a plot device instead of as a fleshed-out character in her own right. Every time she appears, some level of relationship tension between her and Peter shows up, and a major cross-rip of some sort is bound to occur. Dana is like the GB equivalent of November 12, 1955 for Back to the Future. She is a central source and subject of spiritual turbulence in the tri-state area.
We really know nothing about her when compared to the other characters. Heck, even Janine and Lewis are employees of the Ghostbusters and take part in their shenanigans at some point. Dana is just kind of there to have bad stuff happen to. She is part of the Ghostbusters “family” but not in the same way as the others.
In the comic’s defence, they might’ve been able to use Dana to a greater degree had there not been restrictions on the character prior to the 30th anniversary.
Well, what do Peter and Dana really have in common? What do they talk about when there’s no ghosts or supernatural threats around? Do they like the same movies, books, music? She’s a classical musician slash art restorer, and Peter seems more like a classic rock sort of guy who draws kittens on priceless paintings… what about their dreams for the future? She want a family? Kids? I can’t see Peter going for that. What about their backgrounds? Their families? I still cling to my theory that Dana was born rich, and that’s why she can afford absolutely everything, but in RGB specifically (and Ghostbuster headcannon more generally), Peter’s father was a con artist and his mother was a kind but fragile older lady who (it is implied) died before Peter ever really got to know her. How would THAT affect their relationship?
Maybe THAT is why they kept braking up between movies. Maybe it’s that except for the supernatural stuff, Dana and Peter just don’t have very much in common. It turns out their lives and lifestyles just don’t overlap very much.
And it’s sad, because she loves him. As aggravating as he is, she can barely think about him without an involuntary smile. And she…she’s the capital-letters Great Love of Peter’s life. She’s the special one. He’d kill for her, die for her, do just about anything for her.