| Janine Melnitz | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | Ghostbusters (1984) |
| Last appearance | Ghostbusters: The Video Game (2009) |
| Created by | Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis |
| Portrayed by | Annie Potts (Ghostbusters, Ghostbusters II, Ghostbusters: The Video Game) Laura Summer Kath Soucie (Real Ghostbusters) Pat Musick (Extreme Ghostbusters) |
| Information | |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Secretary Ghostbuster |
| Nationality | American |
Janine Melnitz is a fictional character in the Ghostbusters series. She is the Ghostbusters' secretary and confidante.
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On numerous occasions, Janine has been forced to take up a Ghostbusters uniform and proton pack to bail the guys out of trouble in episodes "Mr. Sandman, Dream Me A Dream", "Janine’s Day Off", "Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster" and "Jailbusters". In episode "Janine Melnitz, Ghostbuster" from Season 2, she borrows one of Peter Venkman's uniforms, and in the Extreme Ghostbusters episode "A Temporary Insanity" she borrowed one of Egon Spengler's.
Throughout most Ghostbusters media, Janine is often displayed as having a romantic attraction to Egon Spengler. This is shown in the first movie and more prominently in the Real Ghostbusters cartoons. In Ghostbusters II, however, she becomes involved with Louis Tully, who has become the team's financial advisor and lawyer. Despite this, Janine retains her attraction to Egon throughout the entire Real Ghostbusters series, and even into the Extreme Ghostbusters series. In Janine's Genie, in which Janine encounters an evil genie after receiving a possessed lamp (unaware that the genie is evil), one of her wishes was for Egon to fall in love with her, and in one instance when she is driving Ecto-1, Egon comments "Janine, you're beautiful when you drive."
Egon and Janine share a handful of tender moments throughout the series, but Egon's somewhat stilted emotions often create a barrier between them.
In Ghostbusters, Janine is hired as the secretary of the Ghostbusters. In Ghostbusters II, Peter Venkman assigns her to baby-sit Dana Barrett's baby Oscar. She asks Louis Tully to babysit with her.
Janine is the youngest daughter of a working class family. Though her parents, sister, nephew and grandmother all live in Canarsie (as seen in "Janine's Day Off"), she has remained in Brooklyn Heights, where she grew up. She tends to wear loud, blocky jewelry and (in early seasons) tends to wear a mini-skirt at work.
In 1987, Janine owns a convertible red Volkswagen Beetle, which is severely damaged after being loaned to the Ghostbusters in "Beneath These Streets". In "Baby Spookums" she has a yellow Renault 5 Le Car, although it is not known if this is a loaner/rental or her own car; in later instances she owns a pink Beetle convertible.
She has a sharp, sarcastic sense of humor and has been known to make jokes about the Ghostbusters, either to their faces or under her breath, but most of the time she usually gets along with Ray and Winston, while usually having a kind of sibling rivalry with Peter.
Season 3 of Real Ghostbusters features severe changes to the character: a new voice actor, a new character design, and a softened personality.
In the Season 5 episode "Janine, You've Changed", it is revealed that her changes were the result of her wishes to a "makeoverus lotsabucks" (the name likely a swipe at ABC by J. Michael Straczynski), a demon posing as a fairy godmother (and even referred to as such by Janine herself). (This was one of a handful of episodes Straczysnki wrote as a favor to the show's producers, as he could not return as a full time writer due to other working commitments he had at the time). As such, the demon fed off of Janine's insecurity regarding her looks, and frustration in failing to win Egon's heart. The demon used her magic to blind Egon (and the other Ghostbusters) to Janine's changes, thus making Janine more dependent on the demon for "improvements" on her appearance in hopes Egon would notice her. None of the Ghostbusters noticed until Slimer showed them pictures of Janine in their photo album. They demonstrated her startling changes over the years. When Janine leaves the firehouse to meet the demon alone, the Ghostbusters go after her. In the car, Egon tells the others, just as he's realising, how much Janine means to him, now he could lose her forever. In the climax of the episode, Janine becomes similar to the demon herself, temporarily possessing its powers (allowing her to change her own appearance at will). She lashes out at Egon when he comes to her rescue, blaming him for hardly ever acknowledging her affection for him. Egon defeats the demon's hold over Janine by confessing his love for her. (The NOW and Marvel UK comics ignore these changes). Egon's confession proves sincere (and is not just a way of defeating the demon), as he and Janine are later seen sitting on a bench together, watching the sun set. It is here Egon puts his arm round Janine and asks her out on a date.
Strangely, by the time of Extreme Ghostbusters, Janine reverted back to the way she was before Season 3. It can only be theorized that over time the effects of the demon changing Janine's physical appearance (and voice) gradually wore off.
Janine's character was changed at the suggestion of consultants, who said that they wanted to change the shape of Janine's glasses (which they thought would frighten children), and change her from a feisty character to the "mother" of the Ghostbusters group as they felt she was "too abrasive".[1] Additionally, the Brooklyn accent was discarded with a change in voice actresses. This, among other reasons, was why writer J. Michael Straczynski left The Real Ghostbusters.[2]
Set 6 years after the series finale of The Real Ghostbusters, Janine had bounced from various jobs since the Ghostbusters closed down in 1991. Having been recently downsized from her last job she returned to school at the New York City College and amongst the various (and unmentioned) courses she was taking was a paranormal one, where she was reunited with Egon, going on to help him form the new team.
Janine has had brief appearances in the Extreme Ghostbusters Game Boy Color game (only released in Europe) and in the Extreme Ghostbusters game, Code Ecto-1 for the Game Boy Advance.
Annie Potts reprised her role as Janine in the Ghostbusters: The Video Game, once again being the team's secretary, warning them about what's going on, either by calling them or by radio, and of course, making sarcastic comments about the situation. Her physical appearance is quite similar to the way she appeared in the second movie.[3]
In the film series, she was portrayed by Annie Potts. In the cartoon series Real Ghostbusters, she was originally voiced by Laura Summer and later by Kath Soucie. In the cartoon series Extreme Ghostbusters, she is voiced by Pat Musick.
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