Production details
The episode carries production number 76047 and appears as episode 060 in the DVD ordering, after airing as the 56th episode broadcast.2 It was recorded on November 21, 1986.2 On the home-video release, it is found on Volume 2, Disc 5 of The Real Ghostbusters Box Set.
Plot
The Mayor of Tombstone addresses a crowd in front of Boot Hill Cemetery. Dewey Lamort has made a generous investment to build "Six Guns Over Tombstone," billed as the greatest Western theme park in southeastern Arizona. After introducing Dewey and his wife Dorothy, the Mayor presents Dewey with a pair of boots that once belonged to Wyatt Earp. A photographer in the crowd suggests Dewey put the boots on. Ectoplasm seeps out of them and a ghost manifests: Wyatt Earp. Earp forms his hand into a make-believe gun, fires ectoplasmic bullets to scatter the crowd, then shoots the Six Guns banner off the Boot Hill sign.
Back at the Firehouse, Egon tests a new Ghost Trap built with twice the psychokinetic suction of the older model. Slimer dons a helmet and volunteers to help. The trap works, but it also pulls a chunk of the ceiling, then its own remote pedal, and finally itself, vanishing entirely. Slimer drops back down from the second floor in tears as Ray, Winston, and Egon agree more testing is needed.
Janine takes a phone call from Dewey Lamort. Peter rushes down, makes a deal, and announces the team is heading to Tombstone. The others have no idea who Lamort is, so Peter identifies him as the greatest Western writer and starts rattling off his book titles. Slimer stows away on the exterior of their West Air flight to Tucson Airport.
The team takes a rental car, but the radiator overheats and forces them to pull over. Slimer tumbles out of the exhaust. Egon spots a limo in the distance; its driver, Lamort, simply waves and drives off. The car behind him stops, and the Ghostbusters meet Boris Mealey, the photographer from the dedication. Boris explains that Lamort flew to New York for a luncheon and asked him to show them around instead. Boris works for Random Choice Publishing and is tasked with getting publicity shots for Lamort's new book "Earpo." Only Ray notices Slimer on the bumper and quietly tells him to lay low.
At Boot Hill, Egon's P.K.E. Meter leads the trail into Tombstone, where Earp's footprints multiply into four sets. Peter declares they belong to Virgil and Morgan Earp and Doc Holliday. The team splits up. Boris heads to a nearby Foto-Fast hut to pick up more film while Winston investigates the Tombstone Epitaph. Virgil Earp appears and buries Winston under a stack of flying newspapers. Ray, with Slimer's help, escapes a checkup from Doc Holliday in a dental office. Egon runs into Morgan Earp at the General Store, which is leveled in the encounter.
The Earp Gang regroups at a saloon. Peter walks in, does a bad John Wayne impression at the bar, and is surprised when someone answers. He joins the Earp Gang's poker game, and every player reveals the same hand: aces and eights, the Dead Man's Hand. When Peter turns over four aces, the gang accuses him of cheating and opens fire. Peter quips that they must be playing with a Canasta deck. Slimer drops a welcome sign on the ghosts to create a distraction so Peter can flee back to Boot Hill. Winston's newspaper turns out to be a challenge: the ghosts want to reenact their battle with the Clanton Gang. The team agrees, marches into town, and is quickly forced to run.
Blinded by a splash of water from a trough, Peter trips and finds sixteen horseshoes. He hides four Ghost Traps in the street, and when the Earp Gang rides in on their Ghostly Horses, he activates all four traps at once and captures them. Boris takes a final photograph at Boot Hill, and Slimer naps on the bumper as the team departs.
Ghosts and one-off characters
Doc Holliday and the Earps are the four ghost antagonists: Wyatt Earp is the first to manifest, conjured from a pair of boots once belonging to him. He is soon joined by his brothers Virgil and Morgan Earp and their ally Doc Holliday, each assigned to a different part of Tombstone to harass the team. They ride spectral horses and plan to replay their historic gunfight using the Ghostbusters as stand-ins for the Clanton Gang. Peter ultimately traps all four at once by hiding Ghost Traps beneath the street where they ride in.
Dewey Lamort is a celebrated Western author who bankrolled the "Six Guns Over Tombstone" theme park. He is a parody of the real-world author Louis L'Amour, right down to the book titles Peter recites (all plays on actual L'Amour titles). Lamort conveniently flies to New York the moment things go wrong, leaving his photographer to deal with the situation.
Boris Mealey is a publicity photographer employed by Random Choice Publishing (a play on Random House). Tasked with getting photos for Lamort's new book "Earpo," he ends up accompanying the Ghostbusters through most of the episode and gets the victory shot at Boot Hill.
Background and references
Dewey Lamort is a play on the popular Western author Louis L'Amour, and the book titles Peter recites parody L'Amour's own works. Boris's employer, Random Choice Publishing, is a play on Random House. During the episode the team recalls their childhood pastimes: Egon had a chemistry set, Ray went to horror movies, Winston played basketball, and Peter liked Westerns. Peter also mentions reading Lamort's novels throughout college.1 When Ray first meets Doc Holliday he quotes Bugs Bunny with "What's up, doc?"
The poker scene draws on Western lore: aces and eights is the Dead Man's Hand, historically associated with Wild Bill Hickok. Peter's wisecrack about a Canasta deck (a game played with two standard card decks) is his explanation for why everyone holds the same hand.
The Foto-Fast hut Boris visits in Tombstone has "KODAK" inscribed on the booth. The newspapers that bury Winston carry the headline "Oh My Gosh." The episode sprinkles in a string of Western clichés and genre one-liners, including "A ghost's gotta do what a ghost's gotta do," "This town ain't big enough for the both of us," "Well, howdy pilgrim," and "O.K." used as a pun on the famous corral.
Several details differed in the earlier script dated September 4, 1986. Wyatt blew up Lamort's limo, the rental car came from Fred Mertz of Mertz Rent-A-Car, Boris hailed from New Jersey rather than Pennsylvania, Winston took piano lessons instead of playing basketball, Peter answered "Night Baseball" when the gang asked his game, and Boris was left behind at the end.34567 In that draft, Slimer appeared only to help test the new Ghost Trap.
Comic appearances
The "Oh My Gosh" newspaper headline seen in the episode reappears in the IDW Publishing comics. It is printed on the back of a newspaper above the photograph of the Necronomicon on the subscription cover of Ghostbusters Volume 2 Issue #1, and it is draped over Ray's chair on page 17 of Ghostbusters International #8. On page 18 of Ghostbusters Crossing Over Issue #4, the P.K.E. Meter display from this episode appears twice as background detail, including the readout shown when Winston detects Wyatt Earp.
Episode navigation
In broadcast order, "Ghost Fight at the O.K. Corral" followed "Sea Fright" and preceded "Cry Uncle". In DVD order, it followed "The Devil in the Deep" and preceded "Ghostbuster of the Year".
References
