Plot
One evening, a police helicopter is on patrol when a witch and her cat fly past in the night sky. One officer asks his sergeant whether he saw the witch too, and the sergeant tells him to lay off the coffee. The witch then appears right in front of them and spooks the crew, delighting in the prank, but her cat Twinkie tumbles off the broom in the process.
Down below, Slimer takes delivery of a pizza just as Twinkie lands on the box. The two take an immediate liking to each other, and Twinkie grabs the pizza and bolts into the Firehouse. In the garage bay, Ray Stantz is working on Ecto-1 and humming the Ghostbusters theme. The cat and Slimer race past him, startling Ray into banging his head on the hood and somehow shredding the lower half of his jumpsuit. Upstairs, Egon Spengler is running a delicate experiment when Twinkie and Slimer charge in and wreck it.
After Slimer scolds the cat and blurts out that he wishes it hadn't done that, Twinkie glows and the ruined experiment, along with Ray's shredded jumpsuit, is restored to the way it was. Scanning the cat with his P.K.E. Meter, Egon identifies it as a familiar, and Ray explains that a witch's cat focuses her supernatural power. Louis Tully grabs Twinkie and wishes for a billion dollars, but nothing happens. The familiar's powers, Ray notes, only work for supernatural beings like Slimer, not for humans. Judging unlimited wishes too dangerous, Egon takes Twinkie away and the cat is given a makeshift bed in a corner of the kitchen.
Across the city, the witch returns home and tries a location spell, but without Twinkie to focus her power, her cauldron gives only a cloudy picture. She vows to teach whoever has her cat a lesson anyway.
That night Twinkie wanders out of its bed, finds Slimer asleep in the bunk room, and curls up on him. Slimer dreams of food, and the contents of the refrigerator come to life. Louis, up for a midnight snack, ends up tied in sausage with animated food trying to leap into his mouth. His scream ruins another of Egon's experiments. Realizing Twinkie has slipped away and is granting Slimer's dreams, the team scrambles as the refrigerator transforms into a giant robot that pelts them with plastic fists and hands them proton packs that only shoot water.
The wishes keep escalating: a Christmas tree and presents appear, snow falls outside, and a choir blocks the team's path to Slimer. The strange weather draws the real witch to the Firehouse. Inside, the men collide with Santa Claus, who insists they tell him what they want; Egon tricks him into leaving by wishing him gone. They finally reach the bunk room just as the witch swoops in and reclaims Twinkie. Before the cat goes, Slimer whispers one last request, and as Egon, Ray, and Louis settle in for sleep, Slimer produces an enormous sub sandwich and digs in.
Production
The episode carried production number 201012 and was recorded on June 21, 1989.2 On the DVD releases it is identified as episode 109B and was placed on Volume 4, Disc 3 of The Real Ghostbusters box set.
Peter Venkman, Winston Zeddemore, and Janine Melnitz do not appear, making this the second episode in which not all four Ghostbusters are present. Even so, Kath Soucie did not reprise Janine here; according to the episode call sheet and SAG report she instead provided two incidental voices.2
According to The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History, the network reaction was strongly positive. Dennys McCoy recalled, "We got a note back from Jennie Trias at ABC that just said, 'No notes. We love this episode'."3
The episode also leans on contemporary pop culture in its gags: one of Slimer's wishes turns the refrigerator into a Transmogrifier robot in the mold of the Transformers franchise.
In broadcast and DVD order, Kitty-Cornered follows Surely You Joust and precedes Slimer's Curse.
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Eatock, James & Mangels, Andy (2008). The Real Ghostbusters Complete Collection booklet, p. 34. CPT Holdings, Inc.
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Marsha Goodman (1989). Episode Call Sheet and SAG Report, "Kitty-Cornered" (1989).
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Benjamin, Troy & Goldberg, Craig (2025). The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History, p. 98. Dark Horse Books, Milwaukie, OR, USA. ISBN 9781506749273.
