How a series jumps the shark in one easy lesson: Slimer! (1988)

 In 1988, as a means of appealing to toy-centric kids, ABC, DIC, & Columbia decided to expand The Real Ghostbusters to an hour, giving the 2nd half of the show to the team's mascot, Slimer. The exclamation point in the title is due to Slimer (Frank Welker) signing his name over the logo.

The Slimer half of the show had three short features, with a completely different animation style (if you had been a Real Ghostbusters fan up to this point, you know what I'm talking about). It was during this season that Buster Jones (ex-Super Friends) took over the role of Winston from Arsenio Hall, whose talk show was still four months away when the season began, and he'd spent the time between seasons filming "Coming to America" and recording an album.

If Slimer! wasn't your cup of tea, I can well understand, and sympathize.

Following is a sample half hour of Slimer!: 

Some things should be left alone. Giving Slimer his own half hour was a mistake. Only one season's worth of episodes were cycled through for three years.

Rating: B--.