That Time ‘The Real Ghostbusters’ Infuriated “Religious Nuts” Everywhere With an Episode They Thought Was About the Devil (It Wasn’t)
Parents and being mad at horror go hand in hand, as was the case with an episode of ‘The Real Ghosbusters’.
Religious parents and being angry at anything horror-related go hand in hand. The outrage against featuring a killer Santa in Silent Night, Deadly Night, remains my personal favorite. Though, as TVLine reminds us this morning, The Real Ghostbusters once drew that ire, as well.
For those that don’t recall, the cartoon features the continued adventures of Egon, Peter, Raymond and Winston. It ran from 1986-1991 and is beloved by many. Unless, of course, you’re a “right-wing religious nut”, as co-writer Dennys McCoy recalls regarding the episode “The Devil to Pay“.
In the episode, the gang appears on a game show hosted by a demon named Dyb. Despite his horned appearance, he isn’t actually the Devil. He’s a dybbuk. Still, that didn’t stop parents around the country from losing their minds.
The outlet notes that, in Troy Benjamin and Craig Goldberg’s book, “The Real Ghostbusters: A Visual History,” episode writer Pamela Hickley mentions that “parents were pissed off that the Devil was in it. But they didn’t pay attention, because he wasn’t the Devil, he was a dybbuk.”
People freaking out about something they don’t understand? I’m shocked, shocked! Well, not that shocked.
Dyb is even explicitly revealed to not be the Devil, with Ray outright stating as much to Winston. Still, “We had every evangelical right-wing religious nut in the world complaining about it,” said McCoy. “Even my own brother, who was born again, gave me shit about it.”
McCoy also noted that the episodes were largely free of restrictions, giving the beloved monster-of-the-week series free rein to do as it pleased. But with that comes risk, and “The Devil to Pay” must have seemed like Hell for McCoy and the other creators as a result.
If anything, it just goes to show that people will complain about anything and everything without actually taking one moment to understand it. In a world like that, all you can ever do is give it your best shot and not let fears over that kind of reaction inhibit the creative process. Creators should always go big and bold, and not worry what Carrie White’s mom would think.