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1984 (Year One)
GHOSTBUSTERS (AMG 19671)(First part of the film)
Egon Spengler, Peter Venkman, and Ray Stantz investigate a haunting at the New York Public Library; though they have...little success in dealing with the problem, Egon manages to get reading that confirm the ionization properties of ectoplasmic entities--it could be possible to capture a ghost, and contain it indefinitely. Their triumph appears short lived as they return to discover that the Board of Regents has terminated their grant and Dean Yaeger is throwing them off campus with great glee. Venkman decides that it's fate--they must go into business for themselves. He cons Ray into getting three mortgages on his parents' house to start up the world's first paranormal investigation and elimination agency: Ghostbusters.

The new company purchases an abandoned firehouse to be their headquarters--it's in a run-down neighborhood, but Ray loves the fire pole. Using their new discoveries, Ray and Egon create the proton packs and the first Containment Unit. A plucky Brooklyn girl, Janine Melnitz, is hired as their secretary and immediately develops a crush on Egon. Ray purchases a 1959 Miller Meteor Cadillac Hearse/Ambulance which is modified to become their vehicle, the ECTO-1.

The Ghostbusters' first client is cellist Dana Barrett, who encounters a terror dog in her refrigerator shouting the word "Zuul" at her. Venkman goes to her apartment and checks it, but there is no sign of the creature. By now it's obvious Venkman wants to bag Dana, too.

The Ghostbusters' first case involves a call to the Sedgewick Hotel, where they successfully bust a gluttonous, green, potato-shaped Class Five Full Roaming Vapor. After this, there seems to be a virtual explosion of paranormal activity in the New York area, so much that the team advertises for a fourth member: vet Winston Zeddemore is hired for the job. The Ghostbusters also draw the attention of the government, particularly an EPA hatchet man named Walter Peck. Peck and Venkman don't get off on the right foot, and Peck promises revenge...

"The Zeddemore Factor" (XU GBZF 1-01)
A few hours after hiring Winston, the Ghostbusters get a call to the Museum to battle dinosaur ghosts. Despite a slow start (he forgets to turn on his proton pack), Winston proves himself as a Ghostbuster by being instrumental in catching the entities.

This was 88MPH Studio's "Convention Exclusive" released between the first and second issues of the Legion mini-series. Besides the contemporary references (Tyra Banks wasn't famous in 1984) I otherwise regard it as now the "canonical" story of Winston's first case

Sighting of Ellen Gold, the former Headmistress of Wander Hills Orphanage, the fifth manifestation since the destruction of the Orphanage in 1920

Ghostbusters #2 It is possible, but not confirmed, that the manifestation is a result of the PKE buildup in New York City during the impending manifestation of Gozer.

GHOSTBUSTERS (AMG 19671) (Second part of the film)
November. Dana and her neighbor, CPA Louis Tully, are possessed by Zuul ("The Gatekeeper") and Vinz Clortho ("The Keymaster") respectively, and when Peck opens the Ghostbuster's containment unit, they draw on the psychic turbulence to release their master, Gozer the Gozarian, a powerful Sumerian deity. Gozer adopts the form of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and begins destroying midtown Manhattan before a risky plan by the Ghostbusters thwarts him, sending his intelligence back to his home dimension, along with Zuul and Vinz Clortho.

The November time frame of the Gozer battle is established in Ghostbusters Vol.2 #11

Louis Tully parlays media attention after the Gozer case into a deal as spokesman of "Keymaster Cologne"; he's rich and famous for about fifteen minutes. At some point between 1984 and 1989, Louis Tully augments his CPA with a law degree, though he mostly concentrates on tax law

Ghostbusters; Legion and Ghostbusters 2 Louis is seen as rich and famous in the mini-series, but in a universe where GB2 occurs he would have to essentially lose it all at some point between 1984 and 1989

Despite saving the city, possibly the world, lawsuits are filed against the team for thier activities in leveling Central Park West

Ghostbusters 2. The movie insinuates that the team disbanded immediately after Ghostbusters, but in the continuity of Ghosbusters: Legion it is assumed the cases meandered in court for some time before action is taken against the Ghostbusters.

The Ghostbusters rebuild the firehouse, and build a bigger containment unit.

Ghostbusters: Legion #1 and the presence of Stay Puft in the Containment Unit as revealed in Ghostbusters: Infestation. The larger ECU, and its design seen in both mini-series, are clearly inspired by the one in The Real Ghostbusters. As the original ECU is blown up in GB1, this is arguably the most justifiable carryover from the animation.

The marshmallow substance of the Destructor is collected and placed in the new containment unit. It recongeals into the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man, but without Gozer's intelligence it is mostly mindless.

Conjecture. Fans of the cartoon and the Classic Timeline know that this idea was used to explain the presence of Stay Puft in the ECU in episodes such as "Cry Uncle" and "Sticky Business". Ghostbusters: Infestation establishes Stay Puft's presence in the ECU in the New Timeline, and confirms its connection to Gozer

1985 (Year Two)
"Legion, Part One" (XU GBL 1-01)
Venkman is interviewed by "Allmusic TV". Shortly after, a couple of strange cases occur where the ghosts involved have essentially been "lobotomized" somehow.

Micheal Draverhaven establishes mental domination over Slimer (the ghost from the Hotel Sedgewick), and uses him to secure his release from the Albany Psychological Corrections Center

Six months after the battle with Gozer; Slimer's name comes from the cartoons, and while it isn't actually mentioned in Legion, since it was also used in the credits of GB2 and in other licensed products, I'm going ahead and using it here.

"Legion, Part Two" (XU GBL 2-01)
Another "brain dead" ghost is caught at a Krazy's restaurant. The Ghostbusters are called about Draverhaven's escape, and Egon and Winston go to Albany to investigate.

"Legion, Part Three" (XU GBL 3-01)
Ray finds Draverhaven and Slimer, and Micheal tells him why he went insane--he'd developed the power to talk to and command ghosts. Ray tries to reason with him, but Draverhaven tells him it's too late--an entire legion of entities is about to attack New York.

"Legion, Part Four" (XU GBL 4-01)
The city is overrun with entities, and Egon, Venkman, and Winston fight to free Ray and Slimer from Draverhaven. Ray manages to break free, and knocks Draverhaven out, breaking his control over the entities. They disperse peacefully, and Slimer wanders off, eventually ending up hanging around the firehouse.. Draverhaven, now catatonic, is sent back to the Hospital. Egon agrees to go on a date with Janine.

88MPH had originally planned to have their own ongoing series set after these events, including a return of Vinz Clortho and the promised date between Egon and Janine, but the company went out of business and the series never materialized. Slimer appearing at the firehouse at least part of the time is established by GB2.

Late 1985 through 1988

Dana Barrett breaks off her relationship with Venkman because he won't commit to her. She marries violinist Andre Wallance (a fellow member of the orchestra) and gives birth in 1989 to a son, Oscar, before divorcing him.

Ghostbusters 2 Sigourney Weaver once conjectured, during an appearance on Arsenio Hall's talk show (promoting GB2) that Oscar's father was a character seen briefly in the first movie, a violinist from Dana's orchestra referred to as "The Stiff" in the movie (she called him "Mr. Nose Spray")--an idea Ivan Reitman and Harold Ramis later confirm in the commentary track of the Ghostbusters DVD. Andre has only been given a name in once place: the novelization of the first movie (so thanks to Miss Janine for supplying the answer to that nagging question!).

Several protracted lawsuits against the Ghostbusters dating back to the Gozer incident of 1984 are brought to court. Rather than go to trial, the team is forced to accept a plea agreement wherein they accept an injunction against acting as paranormal investigators.

Ghostbusters 2. The suggestion that the Destructor body was placed in the ECU leads to the suggestion that the Ghostbusters rebuilt shortly after the Gozer case, which in turn leads to the possibililty they were not shut down immediately, and had other cases before doing so (as both The Real Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters: Legion detail, though only the latter counts here.)

Having had to give up thier lives as Ghostbusters, the team finds new ways to get by. Egon Spengler returns to research, specializing in new theories on psychomagnetheric resonance in human emotional states. Peter Venkman becomes host of a cheesy, low budget TV program called World of the Psychic. Ray Stantz keeps busy as the proprietor of an occult bookstore, and appearing with Winston Zeddemore in Ghostbuster costume at children's parties.

Ghostbusters 2. What Janine Melnitz is up to during these two years was never noted. Considering how differently she's portrayed in GB2, becoming a crack whore doesn't seem totally implausible.

As noted in the Classic Timeline, both the animation and Ghostbusters: Legion assume that the team was NOT shut down immediately after the Gozer case. RGB, of course, didn't know that GB2 would establish a shutdown three years after they'd started airing. The only movie canon evidence to support such an idea is Venkman's line, when putting on his pack in GB2, to it being "a couple of years" (emphasis added) since he'd last used it, theoretically leaving as many as three years between GB1 and the shutdown (which works out just about right in the Classic Timeline, of course)

1988 (Year Five)
Death of Professor Harold Teplitz, preeminent scholar of condensed matter and particle physics. He is proceeded in death by his wife, and survived by his son, Harold Junior. Teplitz's ghost refuses to accept his death, and is "haunted" by his wife and parents.

Two years before Ghost Busted

1989 (Year Six)
Birth of Oscar Wallance to Andre and Dana; the two divorce soon after when Andre gets an offer from a European orchestra that is too good to pass up. Dana has also given up her musical career, and works restoring paintings at the Manhattan Museum of Art under the supervision of Janosz Poha.

Ghostbusters 2 takes place late in 1989, and Oscar is only a few months old, so he was born in the same year. Oscar's full name was a complete mystery until Miss Janine uncovered the name of his father from the GB1 novelization.

November. Jock Mulligan is elected Mayor of New York City to succeed outgoing Mayor Lenny Clotch. Clotch's term does not officially end until after New Year's, however. Clotch plans to run for Governor of New York in the 1990 election

A combination of historical events, Ghostbusters 2, and Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Clotch was the Mayor seen in both movies, while Mulligan comes from the Video Game. In the Real World, the 1989 Mayoral election was won by Democrat David Dinkins, to succeed long time Mayor Ed Koch. Clotch's ambitions to the Governor's Mansion were mentioned in GB2, and a Real World gubernatorial race was run in November 1990. In the Real World, Mario Cuomo won his third and last term in the position; it has never been established anywhere in official Ghostbusters canon whether Clotch succeeded in attaining the office.

GHOSTBUSTERS 2(AMG 19672) (First part of the film)
Five years after her victimization by Gozer, the supernatural has again set it's sights on Dana Barrett--and her son Oscar. She consults with Egon Spengler, who brings Ray Stantz into the case. Venkman finds out and also intervenes. The three former Ghostbusters find a river of pink slime flowing through the lines of the old New York Pneumatic Railway--and big trouble with the law.

Louis Tully is hired to defend them in the court of Judge Steven Wexler, but it is the appearance of the Scoleri brothers that forces Wexler to rescind the Ghostbusting injunction and dismiss the case.

The Ghostbusters return to business, with a new two-fingered symbol and a new vehicle, the ECTO-1A. Winston and Janine also return to the company, and Louis is hired as legal consultant. Janine flirts with Louis for a brief time. Egon and Ray experiment on the slime, discovering that it is responsive to human emotion---and that it's power is building, fed by all of the patented New York hostility it's soaking up.

Sighting of Ellen Gold, the former Headmistress of Wander Hills Orphanage, the sixth manifestation since the destruction of the Orphanage in 1920

Ghostbusters #2 It is possible, but not confirmed, that the manifestation is a result of the PKE buildup in New York City from the buildup of the River of Slime.

Christmas Eve. The Ghosts of Christmas Past and Future visit Woodrow Wainwright Fraser III, as they had ever Christmas Eve since he was 22. They once again fail to convince the unrepentant "Have more" to mend his ways, or the Ghost of Christmas Present to release its possession of him. With the Ghostbusters back in business, Fraser threatens the two ghosts with an assertion that next Christmas Eve would be different.

Past, Present, and Future.

GHOSTBUSTERS 2(AMG 19672) (Second part of the film)
December 29. Late in the day, some of the pink slime emerges from Dana Barrett's bathtub and attempts to abduct Oscar. Dana flees the apartment with Oscar, and goes to Venkman.

December 30: Egon and Ray have tracked the river of slime to the emerging essence of medieval madman Vigo Von Homborg Deutschendorf, alias Vigo the Carpathian, living in a self-portrait at the Manhattan Museum of Art. Oscar is kidnapped in full sight of Dana, Janine, and Louis by a ghostly clone of Janosz Poha. Poha, by the way, is deeply under Vigo's domination. Jack Hardemeyer, a mayoral aide, has the Ghostbusters committed to Parkview.

December 31. A cloud of black energy foretells Vigo's return. The Ghostbusters are freed, and using Vigo's own weapon--the psychomagnetheric slime--against him, animate the Statue of Liberty and break the shell around the museum just before midnight.

1990 (Year Seven)
The very end of Ghostbusters 2
January 1. The Ghostbusters foil Vigo's attempt to possess Oscar. He then tries a desperate ploy, dominating Ray, but fails. The madman is defeated and destroyed.

The very first scene establises Ghostbusters 2 as happening five years after Ghostbusters. The latter part of the movie can be given very specific dates, as the events center around New Year's Day.

Dr. Janosz Poha is committed to Parkview Hospital after the battle with Vigo. He is kept there for an unknown number of years, and his sister's family breaks off all contact with him. During that time, he becomes aquainted with Ismael McEnthol, who has been receiving visions of the dead god Dumazu. Through McEnthol, the slumbering essence of Dumazu plants the idea in Poha's head to seek the shards of the Relic of Nilhe. To that end, after his release, Poha eventually enters the employ of the American Museum of Natural History.

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime. Ironically enough, the script mentions Poha as being committed in 1989, which would be inconsistent with the battle with Vigo being resolved in the early hours of January 1, 1990, but consistent with the January 1, 1989 date of the Classic and GBI/Ectozone Timelines. While it is vastly tempting to use this citation to move the events of the movies back a year and bring this Timeline into synchronization with the others, the 1984/1989 dates will stand for the time being

After New Year's, The team returns to their original Ghostbuster logo.

Conjecture, as the the two-fingered Ghostbusters 2 logo are not used in anything other than GB2. IDW's comics do depict the vehicle they drive as the ECTO-1A, albeit with the original no-ghost logo.

Jock Mulligan is sworn in as Mayor of New York City, succeeding Lenny Clotch.

As mentioned above, a combination of Contemporary Accounts, GB2, and the GBVG

Dana Barrett and Peter Venkman part ways once more, though the circumstances remain unrevealed.

Ghostbusters #7 definitively establishes that Dana and Venkman are no longer an item, though says nothing about the reasons why. Ghostbusters Vol.2 #13-15 make it clear that she is still in New York, and Venkman does know where she lives. The "real" reason Dana and Venkman break up, of course, is that Sigourney Weaver did not agree to be in the Video Game, and IDW did not have the rights to use the character before 2014.

Louis Tully resigns from GBInc. and moves in with his mother in Ocala, Florida.

Ghostbusters Vol.2#15 Louis is not seen in the Video Game and early IDW material, and he's mentioned somewhat dismissively as "That geek Janine used to date" in Ghostbusters #2, implying he didn't last very long with the company. This is just me, but I like to think Louis quit because he realized Egon was plotting to send him to the Netherworld or something. As with Dana, the "real" reason is that Rick Moranis did not appear in the Video Game, and IDW was unable to use the character until 2014.

Winston Zeddemore begins taking night classes, including in the law field. He hopes that should GBInc shut down again, he won't have to go back to holding children's parties.

Ghostbusters #2 Winston furthering his education is also an element of the Video Game, but IDW choses to not follow the game in having Winston established as a PhD. As I personally think Winston works better as an everyman, and the GB universe is one place not having a doctorate makes you a little more special, this Timeline will follow IDW's continuity on this issue

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