It’s finally here! The prologue episode in a new Ghostbusters web series. Enjoy!
I love it!! Whens the next one??
I just noticed the skull vodka on the table
Nice job! I like it! Looking forward to the next one. Does this take place in the “Ghostbusters Fanfilm Universe,” with “Ghostbustin’ 911,” and the ALGB, LAGB, GBSLC, and the other interconnected fanfilms?
I like how defined the characters are. “Todd-Bro” is the handsome, competent, talented, but directionless one. And Ryan is…goofy. That seems to be his one personality trait right now, but it’s distinctive and there will be time for him to develop more depth. He’s loyal and fun-loving and content to let his friend make the choices. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been sticking around for a while.
I am confused by how the package got to his door though. I imagine it’s a training kit that Ryan sent away for (the same one being advertised on TV) but can’t even PKE meters be dangerous in the wrong hands or used improperly? And that’s why they come covered in warning labels? I know it’s not a PACK, but if you’re going to operate on the assumption that this tech is real, then it’s really dangerous. The Twin Cities guys blew up an army base with a faulty pack. You’re supposed to have a PHD to even turn it on…I know our guys commonly DON’T, but theoretically this stuff should only be handled by people who have been trained and cleared to work with it. That’s why finding enough qualified personnel is always a problem, and in extension why some people get handed packs who definitely should not be trusted with them.
I have to say, my biggest question right now though is what did Todd-Bro used to do? Really? What was it? Not only has it left him convinced of his general badassery, but he now views lion taming as a …step down? And that he never doubts that he’ll have no problem being a Ghostbuster, despite the complex and volatile equipment and dangerous conditions, not to mention the enormous manuals and the chance of sterility, cancer, and disintegration.
…Unless of course it’s NOT a real piece of equipment and it’s either just a toy or a greatly de-powered version of the real thing, meant to wet your appetite and make you want to get your hands on a real one.
Where do PKEs even come from, anyway? I imagine it was the Stantz/Spengler lab that used to supply them, but they ran a LAB, not a factory. Do they have them assembled somewhere else? How do they protect their patents on the schematics then?
I imagined once, actually, that like a Jedi making their own lightsaber, constructing and successfully testing your own proton pack is an important right of passage for a Ghostbuster. But now that I think about it, that doesn’t seem to be practical. I do think Proton Packs must still be constructed by hand, but each franchise probably has an expert who specializes in that stuff, and the kits are probably assembled and distributed by a home office.
…this is what I do. I ask too many questions. Hi, I’m Thunder, and I hope all my questions don’t offend or scare you. Overthinking things is a thing I do a lot. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens to Todd-Bro and Ryan next. I imagine they’ll head down to the bald-headed man in the commercial’s franchise. He’s got to be in trouble, trying to run an operation all by himself. No wonder he’s advertising for more help.
Anyway, again, looking forward to seeing where things go from here.
I’m so tempted to bet you for a leather PHE holster that the ‘bald headed man’ in the video is not even close to being the leader of the GB BC franchise. Not for the foreseeable future at least.
As for equipment shipments, I think Ryan and Todd are ok. I mean, Matty has Venkman Inc stamped on the manuals for the gear they put out. It kind of makes sense. It beats the different franchises hunting down shoe polishers, and prevents Ghostbusters Inc from being strapped with an anti-trust lawsuit. Who knows, there could still be assembly required :roland:
I want one of those, but I won’t take that bet. I say Baldy has gotta be alone because the other times we’ve seen franchise-specific commercials, the whole team has appeared, which I think is a tradition going back to the Founders. The advertisement for the BCGB only has one guy in it, and I know it’s an advertisement for a training program, not for the franchise’s services, but still, I made assumptions.
Really? How do you mean?
Some uniformity in equipment is definitely practical and expected. Still, that they’d send someone they don’t know a completely functional PKE meter in the mail, where it could get lost or stolen, says they either have too many PKEs around (unlikely, unless theirs is the one franchise not suffering from some kind of equipment shortage), or it’s not a real PKE, or they already know who Todd is, really wanted him, and went all-in to get him interested in a career as a Ghostbuster.
And Venkmann didn’t actually develop the PKE tech. Stantz and Spengler did. Venkmann’s name’s not on those patents. He could, however, patent the likeness rights and authorize Matty to sell things that look and sound like PKE meters without needing the schematics for what’s actually supposed to go inside of one.
Mostly, my biggest logistical question about Ghostbusters in the real world is what do you do about the HUMANS who would steal your super powerful, super-awesome portable accelerators and resell them on the black market?
Think about it. That stuff can melt through tanks and take down airplanes. Every military contractor in the world would want it.
It’s a big unanswered question and I haven’t seen any franchise really deal with that problem yet. I’d be curious about the solution.
I don’t even think ‘Baldy’, as you call him, is even a full BCGB member, if even one at all. At least not at this time. I am willing to bet you a leather holster for PKE meter, gizmo, and trap that he is not. Call it a hunch. And if you don’t like hunch, just remember that Ryan was talking about Todd starting a business. Ryan looks like great leadership material. It’ll be great to see him lead the team
Spengler and Stanz may invent it, but Venkman is the business man. I don’t think he’d cheat his friends, but he would split the company if legal reasons dictated
You know, I’ve been wondering about the military thing myself. Maybe there will be an episode about that. We can give it the ‘broad side of a barn’ test.
I’m wondering, was it being that drunk on the phone that gave Todd the skills of persuasion to convince a rush delivery of a PKE meter to his house? Or was it a clerical error? This is a company run by people that accidentally shot at a maid and called it a successful test
Can’t view from mobile device. Any possibility of that happening soon?
Works on my iPhone.
Outstanding! Looking forward to more!
Hoping once again that I don’t scare or offend you with my microanalysis. This is just what I do.
What am I supposed to call him? He hasn’t been named yet!
I REALLY want one of those, but again, I can’t take that bet. I have a hunch you know something about the unnamed TV host that I don’t.
But why wouldn’t he be a Ghostbuster? He sure looks like one! Is he not based in BC? Why’s he making ads for instructional videos? How’d he get that job? Who is he and how does he fit into the organization?
Ryan would be the leader? I didn’t get a “leadership” kind of vibe from that guy, unless you count leading Todd-Bro out of bed.
And for what my opinion is worth… I know we don’t actually know what background Todd and Ryan have or what their skill-sets actually are. But I doubt that Ghostbusting is something you can just pick up and do right. Physics, metallurgy, thermodynamics, engineering, noneuclidian geometry, parapsychology, ancient religions and languages, history and folklore…all of these are required, one way or another.
I agree, but I don’t think he’d fight his friends for control of the Ghostbusting tech, and if a Proton Pack is not a toy, it’s probable that a PKE Meter isn’t either. Peter was willing to sell dancing toasters full of mood slime, but Ray and Egon probably wouldn’t let him put their volatile tech in products intended for a mass audience. Not that that would stop peter from selling certified official stuff that looks like the real thing. Everybody’s kid brother wants a Proton Pack, after all. There is money to be made!
I’ve thought about it quite a bit and all I can figure is the Stantz/Spengler patents must have clauses written in them that says they cannot be used for military purposes. The schematics for proton packs and ghost traps must be guarded like Coke guards it’s secret formula. Protecting their tech from being misused on that level is perfectly doable.
The biggest potential problems I can see are the chance of a human leak. Maybe a corporate spy joining a franchise with the help of some phony references and a bogus resume. This person gets the training, gets the gear, gets a look at the notes and resources, and reports all of their findings back to the real boss, maybe even “disappearing” pieces of tech so that their own corporate labs can reverse-engineer them. They’d be paid a huge amount for this, and what would the GBs even do if they found out? Sure they could fire the spy, call the cops and charge them with corporate espionage, but the damage would already be done by that point. The information the spy passed on could not be recalled. Warfare itself would change. Anti-tank lasers and spirit grenades that scatter hostile ghosts into enemy encampments would become a thing. It would be worth billions.
I think Corporate could counter this problem by vetting potential applicants UP THE BUTT. They are vetted, re-vetted, and then vetted again. ..In theory. In reality, sometimes a franchise just needs help, and people are recruited who should never have been recruited. The famously irresponsible Twin Cities crew recruited a girl based on her debts. I guess no one told her that even handling that gear could cause cancer, sterility, and who knows what else. But she never even wanted to be a Buster, and if given the chance to trade in her pack for a seven-figure check and her own private jet, why wouldn’t she have done it? They got lucky, I guess, that some LA producer got to her first.
And that even leaves out the biggest danger, I think: the smash-and-grab. Mere theft. Someone either mugs a Ghostbuster, steals an Ecto, breaks into a firehouse, or …something else, but they make off with the gear and wind up either selling it, or using it as a weapon against other humans. Burning down the headquarters of a rival gang and that kind of thing.
Fortunately for you guys, Canada isn’t really known for it’s aggressive militarism. But where there’s power, there are people who will abuse it. You definitely don’t keep the genie in the bottle by being careless.
Why would they send it to someone who was drunk? And judging from the huge size of the manuals that came with it, they know they just sent a meter to someone who doesn’t know how to use it… so why did they do that?? ?Why don’t they do that training with actual, in-person supervision? And why was it delivered in an unsealed cardboard box? Can’t it contaminate things at the post-office if …I don’t know, something leaks?
Again, I know we don’t know what Todd used to do, or what his skill-sets are. Maybe someone learned who he was and said “Holy ■■■■, YES, send a PKE to this guy!” .. but again, why? I hope we get an explanation for this, because this didn’t make any logical sense.
If we’re going from the video game cannon, that maid then got a restraining order against the Ghostbusters that requires that all equipment must remain off while in populated areas. Just because they got away with acting irresponsible on their first ever bust doesn’t mean they’d keep being irresponsible 30 years later.
Again, don’t take my ranting personally, this is just something I do. Looking forward to where things go from here!
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Neither can I on Android
I don’t know. How about 'the guy in the video, or maybe the advertiser, or man in uniform. You could check the credits for the actor’s name. Maybe listen real close to the audio and hear him call himself Hugh Jenks, and that he works for Venkman Inc. Heck, you could even scroll down the fan videos section of the site to May 25th and see the full video for yourself
Sorry, I got their names mixed up.
And no I don’t think Venkman would fight his friends. I think he’d just handle the business legal juggling, and name the company after himself for kicks. Not steal the tech at all. But this thread is about the BC GB
I’d like to talk more, but I’m a little busy. I have to go polish the sheen on my forehead before I take my son swimming
…Well, I got told.
I apologize. I should have done my homework before running my mouth.
And I will say, for someone who’s not a Ghostbuster… he did bust a ghost.
True, but if the BCGB are going to be dealing with Venkmann Industries for equipment and training then it’s related.
I wonder where Venkmann Inc is located… Logic would dictate New York, but I don’t think he’d be above moving his own branch of the company somewhere else, for tax reasons.
I hope it won’t just be training videos. I hope there’s some form of inspection and approval process before a new franchise gets the stuff it would need to blow up a city.
I apologize for the bald comment. Your forehead is lovely, and I hope you and your son have a great time. 
Might we be over analysing things just a bit?
Who, me? Nawww…
…Point taken. I will tone it down.
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Really looking forward to the future episodes! Well done!
Up Next - “Job Haunting”
I like the effects! Very well done. And the atmosphere is suitably creepy.
“Look what they did to me…” = Murder victim! This should be good…I mean bad! I mean…you know what I mean.
“Please hang up and dial 911 immediately.” … I don’t know. What if it’s zombies? I’ve seen what zombies can do to paramedics. I thought they had 24/7 on-call service for exactly this reason, but maybe they haven’t set that up yet. They are a new franchise, after all.
… I’m kidding.
Anyway. I love the look of this series. It’s very cool.
The 911 message is actually a relatively standard practice with a lot of companies phone-in services. I’m not sure if it’s meant to absolve them of any perceived liability or what. I do know I was required to recite it at several of the call centers I worked for in the event that I was connected to dead air. I’d have to recite the 911 spiel and then disconnect the call. So for ghostbusters, which aren’t techinically a government sanctioned emergency service, there’s no doubt their automated phone system would require such a disclaimer.
Also, do zombies fall under the purview of ghostbusting? Or are they strictly non corporeal only? things to think about 
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