THE UNOFFICIAL

NEW TIMELINE

Compiled by Fritz Baugh

Also known as "Doc Fritz", "Veedramon", or "Doctor Weird 67"

The Ectozone is a member of GBComm, the Ghostbusters Community, by and for the fans!!!

Legal Notices

Ghostbusters is (c.)1984 Columbia Pictures The new Ghostbusters comic is (c.)2003 Columbia Pictures/Sony and 88MPH Studios. The use of names and events detailed in this document are for reference purposes only, and are not intended to challenge any of the above copyrights.

This is a fan work, and the authors thereof are not affiliated with Sony or 88MPH Studios

In February 2004, 88MPH Studios will begin publishing a new Ghostbusters comic book, the first time since 1997 a new, officially licensed story about the legendary characters will be released. The project is going to be a "reboot": a fresh start with the same beginning as the original continuity: the first movie. This isn't a new idea--DC Comics relaunced Superman after Crisis On Infinite Earths and the Legion of Superheroes after Zero Hour, while Marvel updated Spider-Man, the X-Men, and the Avengers with their "Ultimate Marvel" line (while keeping the versions that had been running since the Sixties!)
Ghostbusters 2003 Timeline begins with the framework of the Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline but, of course, is far less comprehensive. There are several guiding principles:

1. All biographical details about the actual Ghostbusters are advanced twenty years from the Omnibus Timeline. As the battle with Gozer takes place in 1983 in the Omnibus, and presumably in 2003 in the new comic, this is indeed the presumed interval. For example, in the Omnibus Timeline, I conjecture Venkman's birthday as October 25, 1954. In the New Timeline, his birthday is conjectured as October 25, 1974.

2. All supernatural references in the Ghostbusters' histories is removed unless or until the new comic "restablishes" them. Most notably, there are no references to the Boogeyman in Egon's history: it would be cool as heck if Red and company reestablished that, with a retelling of arguably the best episode of Real Ghostbusters NOT written by J. Micheal Straczynski, but until they do Boogey is out.

3. Obviously, some biographical details will have to be completely changed. Venkman wasn't even born in 1969, meaning he couldn't have attended Woodstock as asserted in RGB's "Lost and Foundry". Janine similarly couldn't have attended the 1964 World's fair. Winston couldn't have fought in Vietman, but I do conjecture him as a Gulf War and Somalia vet.

4. Thusly, the only canon at this point is Ghostbusters. All other references are conjectural until/unless 88MPH reestablishes them.

5. Any conjecture is subject to revision or even removal if contradicted by the new comic book. For example, if they come along and say Ray's dad's name is "Julius", any reference to "David Stantz" would be removed. Let us begin...

c.3500 BC

The Sumerian civilization forms in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians invent writing (cuniform) and the pantheon worshipped by the Sumerians and their successors, the Babylonians and Hittites, include many colorful figures such as Marduk, god of the city; his nemesis, the great dragon Tiamat; Gozer the Gozarian, and it's minions Zuul and Vinscortho; and the elemental spirits Anshar and Khishor.

The rise of Sumeria is from Historical accounts. Gozer, Zuul, and Vinz Clortho are, of course, from Ghostbusters.

c.1600 BC

An Egyptian chronicle mentions a powerful Hyksos diety known as "Zuul, the Gatekeeper, minion of Gozer"

Ghostbusters, from the research Venkman quotes to Dana Barrett. Louis Tully, posessed by Vinz Clortho, relates colorful details of Gozer's career during such events as "the third rectification of the Meketrex supplicants" and "the last reconciliation of the Vuldronaii" but there are no dating contexts given

1620

Ancestors of Dana Barrett emmigrate to the English colonies of North America, presumably on the Mayflower.

Conjecture

c.1650

Some members of a family of German scholars, the Spenglers, emmigrate to the English colonies of North America, settling in the town now known as Lewistown, Massachussetts, and converts from Judiasm to Christianity (possibly a Puritan brand). At some point prior to the Twentieth Century, another faction would settle in Ostrov, Poland.

Conjecture. Spengler is a legitimate German surname--Harold Ramis admits in the GB1 DVD he got the name from German philosopher Oswald Spengler

1689

Elias Spengler settles in Lewistown. Massachussets. Elias's descendants will include Zediciah, 18th century wizard, and 21st century Ghostbuster Egon Spengler

Conjecture

1742

Zediciah Spengler is a deranged dabbler in the occult, and self-proclaimed "wizard". The scholarly Spengler family comes to regard him as an embarrassment: one descendant would label him one of the "loons and scoundrels of the family"

Conjecture

1860's

A Russian family emigrates to the United States. Ghostbuster Ray Stantz would be a descendant of this family.

Conjecture.

1910

Ivo Shandor, an Albanian medical student, forms a cult dedicated to the worship of Gozer the Gozarian, an ancient Sumerian deity also known as The Destructor and The Traveller. Shandor believed that society was too sick to survive, and performed many "unnecessary" surgeries, experimenting with the pacifiction of humans. His cult had over one thousand members at the time of his death. He was also the architect of 550 Central Park West in New York, the 2003 residence of Dana Barrett and Louis Tully

Ghostbusters From Ray and Egon's research. The production notes included in the DVD release reveal that the name "Gozer" actually came from a documented haunting in New England (the notes unfortunately do not include a date, or you can bet I'd cite it), though the creature's history as a Sumerian god is fictional.

1920's

Members of the Stantz family immigrate to the United States from Switzerland, and start a dairy farm in Islip, New York. They would have at least two sons, the younger of which is the grandfather of Ghostbuster Ray Stantz

Conjecture. Dr. Riddle of Ghostbusters.net confirms the name Stantz is of legitimate Swiss origin. The dairy farm is inspired by both an RGB reference ("Dairy Farm") and Venkman's line in an unused scene in GB2 ("They came looking for new kinds of cheese, right?")

1940's

The parents of Edison and Cyrus Spengler, originally of Ostrov, Poland, emmigrate to the United States and settle in Cleveland, Ohio. Thier two sons would follow in the family tradition of scientific pursuits, becoming a physicist and a biochemist respectively.

Conjecture. I theorize the Polish branch of the Spenglers are still nominally Jewish, in part because Harold Ramis is Jewish. More on Edison and Cyrus below...

1950

October 31. Charlie Venkman is born to a circus ticket taker in Sedalia, Missouri; raised in the atmosphere of the sleazy circus (most circuses are not sleazy, but this one was) he grows up with some very warped values.

Conjecture. In the novelization of the first movie, Richard Mueller actually conjectures this background for Peter Venkman, but as it would contradict the background as estalished elsewhere, this is transferred over to Charlie. Thanks to Miss Janine for the information, and Dr. Riddle for the compromise idea

1950's

A son of the Stantz family that immigrated to the US in the Early 20th Century marries a descendant of the Russian family that immigrated in the 1860's. They would have at least three children: Gaylord, Lois, and David.

Conjecture. The name David Stantz is conjectural from Shiela Paulson's stories.

1959

Among the Miller Meteor Cadillac Hearse/Ambulances manufactured this year is one vehicle that, when aquired by the Ghostbusters in 2003, would become the famous ECTO-1

Ghostbusters. The exact model year of the ECTO comes from a post by Zack on Ghostbusters.net

1970's

Edison Spengler meets Katharyn Melton, a distant relative who's mother is descended from the Lewistown Spenglers. In part because of his resemblance to her notable ancestor Elias, Katharyn pursues Edison and the two marry.

Conjecture Notes on the names are below, in 1977. Katharyn's maiden name Melton is my own conjecture.

THIRTY YEARS AGO (1973)

May 2. Birth of Winston Zeddemore, the son of construction worker Edward Zeddemore. Winston has at least one sister.

Conjecture. Fandom seems to have latched onto the idea that Winston is older than the other three original Ghostbusters. The day was provided by Dr. Riddle. (Ernie Hudson' birthday: Dec. 17, 1945). Ryedale also believes the name "Zeddemore" is fictitious.

TWENTY NINE YEARS AGO (1974)

Peter Charles Venkman is born on October 25, in Brooklyn, New York, to Charlie and Margaret Venkman. Charlie is an intinerate salesman and con-man. Margaret dies early, and young Peter spends much of his childhood moving around to avoid the law and disgruntled marks.

Conjecture. The date was provided by Dr. Riddle of Ghostbusters.net. Venkman's middle name and the names of his parents are from Shiela Paulson fan fiction. (Bill Murray was born Sept. 21, 1950). "Venkman" does not appear to be a legitimate surname, but is probably derived from the same root words as "fink" (The word “Fink” means a contemptible person, someone who’s considered mean, low, a coward or a cheat.)

TWENTY EIGHT YEARS AGO (1975)

October 8. Dana Barrett is born

Conjecture. About all we really know about her family is that her parents are still alive in 2003, and might live too far away to see their daughter regularly (Ghostbusters). A line in the Ghostbusters script would suggest she's yet another Scorpio, too...Sigourney Weaver was born October 8, 1949.

TWENTY SIX YEARS AGO (1977)

April 18. Birth of Louis Bartholomew Tully, the second son of Andrew and Florence Tully. His brother, Albert Robert Tully, would sire a son, Louis's nephew Lawrence. The also have a cousin, Sherm.

Date is conjecture from Rick Moranis's birthdate of April 18, 1954; in Ghostbusters Louis throws a party to celebrate four years as an accountant; assuming he graduated from a four year program, he would be twenty-six in 2003. (Thanks to "born2bustheads" and "PrincessArtemis" for pointing this fact out) Name "Bartholomew" is conjectural, based on the middle initial "B" that appears in Ghostbusters International The names of Louis's parents and brother are conjectural, and suggested by Dr. Riddle.

November 21. Egon Spengler is born in Cleveland, Ohio, to Dr. Edison Spengler and his wife Katharine. His uncle, Cyrus Spengler, will run his own research firm, Spengler Labs. Egon is given a very strict upbringing stressing academic success, so much that he was allowed no toys and reportedly an A- on a test brought a harsh reaction from his parents.

Conjecture. Harold Ramis was born on Nov.21, 1944. Shiela Paulson's name for Egon's father is Elliot, while I called him Newton in my old stories--I decided to split the difference and suggest the name Edison. Katharyn is named again from fan fiction.

TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO (1978)

October 28. Janine Melnitz is born to Fritz and Denise Melnitz, and raised in the Canarsie area of Brooklyn. She has an older sister, Deann (who later gives birth to her bratty nephew Victor), an Aunt Bella, and a cousin named Michelle Jacobs.

All conjecture in this continuity. Annie Potts' birthday is October 28,1952. The names of her parents and sister are conjectural. It is assumed, though not established, that the Melnitz family is Jewish--one more reason I posited the Ostrov Spenglers as being of Jewish descent (more common ground for Egon and Janine). Dr. Riddle confirms that "Melnitz" is a legitimate surname, but has been unable to confirm it's origins. Presumably of either Hebrew, Slavic, or Germanic origin.

TWENTY FOUR YEARS AGO (1979)

October 13. Birth, in the Bronx, of Raymond Francis Stantz to Dr. David Stantz and his wife, the former Carolyn MacMillan of Scotland. A steady diet of comic books and pulp adventure would feed his interest in the supernatural. David Stantz would take him on visits to the Toad Island park in Red Hook, Brooklyn. He grew up in the upstate New York community of Morrisville, part of a large family with at least one cousin and a wise maiden aunt. Apparently he had some wierd pets and the people of Morrisville didn't think he'd amount to much. His first crush would be a girl named Elaine Fuhrman. Alan Favish was his childhood nemesis. He also had an interest in stage magic.

Exact date is conjecture provided by Dr. Riddle.(Dan Aykroyd was born July 1, 1952) Middle name is a fan conjecture derived from Ghostbusters ("Come here, Francine...") David and Carolyn's names are, again, from Shiela Paulson fiction. Two of Ray's uncles are conjectured: Uncle Gaylord, owner of a joke shop and Andrew MacMillan of Scotland, presumably his mother's brother. Ray's parents are deceased by 2003: the property he puts up for collateral in Ghostbusters was left to him by them.
The novelization of the first movie suggestt that Ray has two siblings: an older brother, Carl, who is in the USAF and is married with two sons; and younger sister Jean, who is divorced with a daughter, and lives a bisexual lifestyle in California. It also suggests that Ray's father was a doctor and his mother was a housewife. Thanks to Miss Janine for this information.
Fan fictions by Shiela Paulson conjecture that Ray was about eleven (1990) at the time David and Carolyn died in an auto accident, and that afterwards he was raised primarily by rather uncaring foster parents. This is all fan conjecture, however. As a counterpoint, Richard Mueller's novelization of GB1 suggests that Ray's parents die in an airplane crash about a year and a half before the movie (??? late 2001??? Airplanes??? Maybe I better not go there...) To add Carl and Jean to the story, Dr. Riddle suggests that perhaps Ray was David and Carlolyn's clear favorite, which would explain why he got the house they were born in and, by the novel's accounts, neither of the three Stantz siblings talk to each other (I can also imagine Carl disapproves of Jean's life style) (It gets really wild in a "what if" story she did, "Father to the Man", which speculates on a really shocking true identity of David Stantz...

1989

The Woodstock 20th Anniversary music festival is held. Peter Venkman claims to have attended and gotten high there

Conjecture. Venkman would've been fourteen at the time (being before his fifteenth birthday in October) Though it''s certainly not impossible for Venkman to have been this big a juvenile delinquent...

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO (1990)

Child prodigy Egon Spengler gets his first degree at the age of 12. At some point, he becomes a student of Professor Ian Epimetheus, an early researcher into dimensional physics.

Conjecture. Egon obviously attains a lot of learning in his time--remember, he's only 26 at the time of Ghostbusters. Having him be one of those college prodigies explains both his vast knowledge and maybe some of his social problems. An excised line from Ghostbusters would've established that Egon had a doctorate in Physics from MIT.

TWELVE YEARS AGO (1991)

Winston Zeddemore, son of construction worker Edward Zeddemore, enlists in the Marines. He serves in the Persian Gulf and Somalia

Conjecture. Winston's service in Vietnam is a popular fan assumption, though unsupported by any canonical evidence--though nothing I know of refutes it either,

TEN YEARS AGO (1993)

Peter Venkman enters college. He eventually attains doctorates in parapsychology and psychology. He is also a pledge to the Tri Kuppa Bru fraternity.

Date is conjecture, assuming a graduation date of May 1993 (Venkman was born Oct. 1974). Venkman's doctorates are established in Ghostbusters, though there's always the sneaking suspicion that he earned them at one of those "Send us your money we send you a doctorate" Correspondance Schools--the script for Ghostbusters credits Egon for making Venkman finish grad school. The exact timing of Venkman's meeting with Egon Spengler is unknown.

SIX YEARS AGO (1997)

Ray Stantz attends Columbia University. After attaining a degree in Occult Sciences, he bounces from job to job, including at least one in private research.

Conjecture. Ray was born in 1979, so he is 18 in 1997; like Egon, he may actually be a prodigy and entered earlier; he certainly attained a doctorate by 2003, probably earlier. Ray's bad experience with private research comes from a line in Ghostbusters. As mentioned above, the exact timing and place of his meeting Peter Venkman and Egon Spenger is undefined.

FOUR YEARS AGO (1999)

Louis Tully graduates college with a degree in accounting, and begins working as a CPA

Four years before Ghostbusters

THREE YEARS AGO (2000)

Dr.s Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman are employed by Columbia University to do parapsychological research. By 2003, they are under the department management of Dean Yaeger.

Conjecture. It is never established, but the impression is given that Egon and Venkman met in college, and worked together since. Dean Yaeger is from Ghostbusters

LAST YEAR (2002)

Dr. Ray Stantz is hired by the university, and he is assigned to work with Egon Spengler and Peter Venkman.

Conjecture. As detailed above, Ray worked in the private sector at some point (Ghostbusters), presumably running into Venkman and Egon later--he may have met them earlier than this, however; the Ghostbusters script suggests Venkman introduced Ray and Egon to each other.

THIS YEAR: 2003--YEAR ONE

Ghostbusters (GB1)--first part of the movie
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 buisness 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 sets her sights 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 celloist 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, particullarly 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"
An account of Winston's first night with the company

This was to be a "preview" comic, a #0 issue, but is not yet on the schedule due to the departure of Billy Dallas Patton from the project

Ghostbusters (GB1)--second part of the movie
Dana and her neighbor, CPA Louis Tully, are posessed 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 thier master, Gozer the Gozarian, a powerful Sumarian diety. Gozer adopts the form of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and begins destroying downtown New York before a risky plan by the Ghostbusters thwarts him, sending his intelligence back to his home dimension, along with Zuul and Vinz Clortho.

2004--YEAR TWO

"Legion"
(The second 88MPH story line, it features an "old foe from the Ghostbusters' pasts;it will start six months after the battle with Gozer in mid-to-late 2003)

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