# For Those That Watched Both Cartoons (The Real Ghost Busters and TMNT) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 14, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470 "2014-09-14T12:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![regularshow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@regularshow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/regularshow)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/1 "2014-09-14T12:12:51Z")
Which one of these fun to watch cartoons seemed more ADDICTIVE to watch? The Real Ghost Busters **or** Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/2 "2014-09-14T12:55:59Z")
I don’t quite understand the question. When I was a kid, I watched the cartoons that were on TV. If I missed a show, it was because I was at a friend’s house or playing outside. No worries. I could still catch the episode some other month. Netflix, On Demand viewing, or DVD copies of the show didn’t exist. (I guess I could have taped them on VHS, but who did that for cartoons?) Regardless of how “addictive” the show was, once it was finished I knew I had to wait for the next day (or Monday if it was Friday) to watch another one. No binge viewing. That said, I did love my TMNT toys. I never asked for Real Ghost Buster toys. (Voltron was the best! I had all 5 lions that formed Voltron. It was awesome!) ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/3 "2014-09-14T18:39:00Z")
Ghostbusters was a better show. I still remember the plots of some episodes. TMNT was pretty forgettable as a show. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/4 "2014-09-14T18:47:27Z")
Never saw either of them. I watched [_The Ghost Busters_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ghost_Busters). ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/5 "2014-09-14T19:43:04Z")
God, I loved Ghostbusters! ---
**Author:** ![DJ\_Motorbike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90ced4/32.png) [@DJ\_Motorbike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DJ_Motorbike)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/6 "2014-09-14T21:06:11Z")
I preferred TMNT. I liked the voice acting and some of the crazy villains and settings (i.e. the Technodrome). Plus at that age there was something indescribably appealing about April O’Neil. Though I know I watched it I don’t remember much about the Ghostbuster’s cartoon. I didn’t like Slimer as a character. Also, the voices weren’t right. It’s a little unfair to judge the voice acting against the performances of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroid & Harold Ramis (r.i.p) but that was the precedent and there’s no getting around it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/7 "2014-09-14T22:47:20Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > Ghostbusters was a better show. I still remember the plots of some episodes. > TMNT was pretty forgettable as a show. See, I’d say pretty much the opposite. I’m not sure that made TMNT more addictive, though. Neither was really addicting. I just liked TMNT more. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2014, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/8 "2014-09-14T23:35:22Z")
Who would watch either one of those when [Robotech](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotech)was an option? 😛 OK, so if I have to pick, TMNT. And not based on the merits of the actual TV show, but based on the comics. If you’re too young to remember the black and white TMNT comics, here is a cherished image from my childhood: [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/12/123441/3476276-tmnt+leo+vs+shredder+%2320+(12).png](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/12/123441/3476276-tmnt+leo+vs+shredder+%2320+%2812%29.png) - that right there is enough awesome to make me look for the good in TMNT and overlook the silly and stupid that took over in the TV series. The Real Ghostbusters, on the other hand, never had that moment of truly awesome in the original, and the series didn’t have the quality or continuity to convince me it was “real” anything. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/9 "2014-09-15T16:57:03Z")
Of the two, I much preferred Ghostbusters. Though Voltron was way cooler than either. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/10 "2014-09-15T17:07:33Z")
I preferred The Real Ghostbusters but, as said, we watched whatever was on. I recognized that Ghostbusters had better stories though. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/11 "2014-09-15T17:29:32Z")
When I was in 5th grade or something I had to go to a lady’s house in the neighborhood when my mom went to work in the morning and my brother went to middle school. The lady watched a bunch of kids and she made sure I got on the bus. I watched these two cartoons at this lady’s house, because the younger kids watched them. I don’t think I ever watched them otherwise (as in, at home). Come to think of it I guess we only ever watched news before school at my house (or did the rational thing and slept until the bus was at the door!) Anyway, I think I liked Ghostbusters more for the stories but they all just blurred together for me. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/12 "2014-09-15T18:06:11Z")
Wasn’t Ghostbusters a Saturday morning cartoon, while TMNT was weekday afternoons? The Saturday ones always felt more special to me. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/13 "2014-09-15T18:55:07Z")
> [@dracoi](#): > > OK, so if I have to pick, TMNT. And not based on the merits of the actual TV show, but based on the comics. If you’re too young to remember the black and white TMNT comics, here is a cherished image from my childhood: [http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/12/123441/3476276-tmnt+leo+vs+shredder+%2320+(12).png](http://static.comicvine.com/uploads/original/12/123441/3476276-tmnt+leo+vs+shredder+%2320+%2812%29.png) - that right there is enough awesome to make me look for the good in TMNT and overlook the silly and stupid that took over in the TV series. > > The Real Ghostbusters, on the other hand, never had that moment of truly awesome in the original, and the series didn’t have the quality or continuity to convince me it was “real” anything. See, that’s precisely why I _hated_ the TMNT cartoon as a kid. The comics were awesome! They were all dark and gory. And they took themselves _totally seriously!_ The cartoon had all this ridiculous pizza bullshit and surfer lingo, and what the fuck? They took my completely adult comic about talking turtles fighting ninjas, and turned it into something for _kids_!\* The Real Ghostbusters, on the other hand, was my favorite cartoon ever. For a Saturday morning cartoon, it did a good job of keeping the tone of the original movie. There was some genuinely clever writing, and a sometimes surprising knowledge of it’s pop culture roots, [like that time they fought Cthulhu](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94-DqjR0b58). \*I was twelve. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/14 "2014-09-15T19:01:31Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > See, that’s precisely why I _hated_ the TMNT cartoon as a kid. The comics were awesome! They were all dark and gory. And they took themselves _totally seriously!_ The cartoon had all this ridiculous pizza bullshit and surfer lingo, and what the fuck? They took my completely adult comic about talking turtles fighting ninjas, and turned it into something for _kids_! That was pretty close to my reaction as well. I should definitely specify that I didn’t exactly like TMNT, I just liked it better than Ghostbusters. When it came to things I liked, neither one held a candle to Robotech. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/15 "2014-09-15T19:25:10Z")
I didn’t really find either one addictive but I liked Turtles better. Had lots of action figures. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2014, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-watched-both-cartoons-the-real-ghost-busters-and-tmnt/698470/16 "2014-09-15T19:36:52Z")
Huh, I remember really liking the Ghostbusters when I was a little kid, but thinking I was too old when TMNT came around. But looking at wikipedia, the runs of the shows were only different by one year. Weird. But Ghostbusters was the better show in anycase. In my memory it was awesome, and I’ve wisely avoided seeing it as an adult, since I suspect kid-me was an idiot and it probably wasn’t actually that good.