The Best Jokes You Never Got

Ghostbusters Discussion General Ghostbusters Discussion
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One of the great things about Ghostbusters is its appeal to all ages. There are jokes for kids and adults. With each view of Ghostbusters I find something new to laugh about. I’d like to hear you all share some of the humor you picked up years after being introduced to Ghostbusters. It can be jokes you got as you aged or ones you just never realized were there until some one explained it.

My personal favorite (which was brought to my attention thanks to a member on here) was the line “Go get her Ray!” said by Venkman during the confrontation with Gozer. I had never made the connection between that line and Ray’s library line of “Get her!” and how it was Pete’s way of making a joke at Ray’s expense. It’s now one of my favorite jokes in the film.

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“What a crime…”

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(my signature)

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The whole drilling a hole in the head thing. I didn’t realize it’s a brain capacity method in the 15th century until I looked it up. I thought they were just messing with each other.

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Self-trepanation is never a joke. :crossarms:

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There were a couple for me that Really stand out:

“Listen! Do you smell something?”

“…what a crime”

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One of the best jokes I never got was in GB2 when Egon, Ray and Winston are about to go into the sewers and Egon says to Peter “Yeah, change your clothes. We’ll wait for you” as though they’re assuming he’s going to give up his date with Dana to go on their slime hunt.

As a kid, I was attracted to Ghostbusters because it freaked me out rather than because of the humour; especially the Magic montage scene.

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There were a lot of jokes I didn’t get simply because I was watching the edited for TV version. Between pan-and-scan, scene clipping and dialog editing the first time I saw the theatrical version it was like a new movie.

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Agreed, I can remember the realization that things were missing on my first VHS copy.

Back in college (88-92), my friend Scott commented about how he loved the gag when Egon was signing ‘4’ and ‘1’ to Peter when they were billing the Sedgewick. I had no recollection of this piece of nonverbal business, so we cued up the tape and discovered Egon was completely cropped out.

Back then we weren’t quite as knowledgeable about screen ratios as everyone is now, but my Radio-TV-Film professor talked about it in a class on the history of the TV set, so I began to research more on the aspect ratios, and figured out why pieces were hidden from my favorite films.

As a result, I began special-ordering letterbox VHS copies of movies long before it became trendy to do so. I had the Star Wars trilogy, both Ghostbusters, and the first Jurassic Park, if memory serves.

Seeing a widescreen VHS copy of Ghostbusters for the first time-- complete with Egon’s hand-signals-- was such a welcome change from the Pan&Scan version, I couldn’t stand watching cropped films after that.

Another thing on this tangent… if I recall correctly, the store-bought Pan&Scan, the one I taped off cable, and the ‘edited for TV’ one that I taped off network TV (was it ABC?) didn’t always match.

I remember seeing one version where when Peter asked “This happen to you before?/First time?”, they kept the crop centered on Murray, and Aykroyd’s silent head-shake and nod were a total mystery. Stupid way to crop that one!

But I also had one where the crop stayed on Aykroyd, with Murray just an off-camera voice. Finally seeing them both on my TV screen at the same time was so much better.

Likewise, you know that epic shot with Peck in the foreground and Stay-Puft off in the distance? One version cropped out Peck, the other cropped out Stay-Puft! I thought they were alternate edits of the movie!

It was a mighty revelation to finally see the entire frame on my specialty-order tape and realize it was one shot that had been broken up two ways.

Alex

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Well you have taught me! I never got that line either…at least in that way.

I suppose what I have discovered about Ghostbusters, is that once I saw a lot of the edited out material. After did research on the time constraints and other aspects of making the film, it made me realize was a miracle it is that we got such a fantastic movie at all.

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Well it was a few years in before I learned what menstruating was so Pete’s library Q&A with Alice went right over my child-sized head! lol

But this thread once again reaffirms GB’s amazing age-crossing likability :smiley:

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as a kid… no idea what Egon meant

Peter Venkman: Hi, Egon. How’s school? I bet those science chicks really dig that large cranium of yours, huh?

Egon: I think they’re more interested in my epididymis.

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I just noticed this last night and thought it was hysterica. After the boys catch slimmer at the Sedgwick, and Venkman is telling the Hotel Manager how much the bill will cost. Pay attention to Egon, he singles how much to charge.

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For some reason the part in the first movie where venkman and stantz are discussing the buisness and where the funds are gonna come from always cracks me up.

When venkman does that little dance and takes a drink.

“I don’t know…I..don’t…know…”

Hahahahahaha

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Yes that one went over my head as well as a kid.

I also didn’t notice Egon’s gestures to Peter until years later. Though that is likely due to the fact I didn’t get hold of a widescreen version until I got the DVD of it.

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Last Oct when they were screening the film in theatres again, Funk pointed out Egon’s feet as they back away from the library ghost.

Let’s just keep this as a surprise and an excuse to watch the movie again.

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As a kid I didn’t get the joke in GB2 where Peter ask ray if he was sleeping with the slime and they all looked at Egon funny. My thoughts were sure that’s weird but he’s just laying by it.

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not really a huge funny one but the Sizzler line in GB2, when I was younger I never knew about how bbq ribs are so messy to eat, Venkman implied they were wearing rainsuits to eat dinner…

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*- All this.

Yeah, for the longest time I only had the Edited for TV Ghostbusters, complete with commercials on VHS for the better part of the 90s. It wasn’t until 10 years ago that I finally got the DVD and was shocked at the “new footage” :smiley:

Also, while most of the stuff did fly over my head, for the most part I got all those jokes… but there is always something I miss in the movie and occasionally find. The last time I noticed something new was a few years ago when I noticed Egon signalling to Venkman. Though not at the hotel scene, but at the firehouse when Peck was threatening to shut down the Containment Grid. I always noticed them slowly making their way out as they finally give up, but I never saw Egon silently going “Boom” and indicating with his hands an explosion with Peter looking to the stairs and following his lead.

I just always assumed Peter knew. I had a big laugh when I realized he didn’t.

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Another joke that got by me until I was a bit older was where Stay Puft arrives and Peter says “This guys a sailor. He’s in New York. We get this guy laid we won’t have any problems.”