“This is almost as much fun as catching bowling balls with my teeth.”
- Dr. Peter Venkman; The Real Ghostbusters
Dr. Peter Venkman was one of the original Ghostbusters.
Personality
Peter is the de facto leader of the Ghostbusters, but in actuality his role is more along the lines of spokeman for the group. Although, he usually is the one who chooses whether the team will take a case or not. He has the same personality as his movie counterpart, almost identical. A good-natured, low-key slacker with a hint of con artist and womanizer thrown in.
Peter is a lot smarter than he lets on, and has almost as keen a grasp on paranormal science as Egon and Ray. He admits he generally adopts the guise of an easygoing slacker because it makes it harder for opponents to second guess him. He has on occasion come up with some particularly shrewd plans.
Peter does reveal in the money and glory the job sometimes brings him. In fighting the Sandman it is revealed that Peter dreams of being rich and famous, with fancy cars and winning awards and accolades. But the well-being of his teammates and the safety of innocents overrides any ego trips he may have.
Peter is shown to be a con artist, like his father and a bit of a womanizer. He's usually the one who tries to hit on any attractive women in their adventures. Peter honed his gift for gab working his way through college as a carnival barker on Coney Island.
History
In the movies he was the leader of the Ghostbusters and much like the movie he was the attention getting member of the team.
For more information of the movie version of this character go to the movie article.
The Real Ghostbusters
After the fall of Gozer, Peter and the other Ghostbusters fixed up the firehouse after it was severely damaged by the escaping ghosts. Upon the completion of the firehouse, the Ghostbusters adopted the green ghost who had slimed Peter (now known as Slimer) as a pet mascot. Though Peter at first wouldn't forgive the little ghost for their encounter at the hotel, he soon grew to love him like the rest of the Ghostbusters.
Peter's personality is more party-minded, making excuses to get out of work to either relax, or hit on women. While on the team, Peter acted as the "unofficial" leader of the Ghostbusters, usually being the last say on deciding if they would take a case. While Peter came across as lazy, he still had a background in science, and could come up with successful plans and theories when he chose to.
He was also would blackmail Egon at times to learn what he was up to and was always out to spread the word of the Ghostbusters (and himself). As a result, he was usually the butt of the Ghostbusters' pranks and always pushed to go in to dangerous missions that the others didn't want to do. Throughout the years, Peter worked with his team to recapture all the escaped ghosts and a number of new and dangerous ones that popped up around town. Peter helped capture such villains as the Boogieman, Samhain, the Grundel and many others that opposed the Ghostbusters.
Upon seeing the Ghostbusters movie after a successful bust in Hollywood, Peter claimed that the actor portraying him (Bill Murray) looked nothing like him.
His father was named Charlie Venkman, an unsuccessful con artist. Charlie was a lousy father and wasn't there for him, off making one scam after another. This caused a rift between him and his son. Peter often spent Christmas alone, until the capture and release of the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future softened his attitude about the holidays.
Changes Through the Seasons
| Specifics: Like a progression pic like for Janine |
Like Janine, Peter's character was updated heavily in season 3. He now doesn't fight with Slimer all the time and he isn't trying to get a date every chance he gets. His leadership seemed less noticeable, and it seemed more like Egon had taken over leadership. The voice actor also changed from Lorenzo Music to Dave Coulier.
Slimer!
He cared about the spud in this show, much like later seasons of The Real Ghostbusters, sometimes coming off sounding like a big brother.
Extreme Ghostbusters
As seen in Extreme Ghostbusters
After years on the job, Peter finally stepped down as a Ghostbuster, as did Winston and Ray. However, they did return years later for Egon's birthday. Peter said he became a director in Hollywood. He apparently did a number of movies about the Ghostbusters, he had been planning to do another one but never got it going, he said he was "waiting for Brad Pitt to become available." (a possible joke towards the long awaited and never made Ghostbusters III). It seems that he has arthritis now.
Peter's statue as seen in "A Temporary Insanity"
The Extreme Ghostbusters keep a statue of Peter Venkman (complete with uniform and working original Proton Pack) in the firehouse. An interesting note is that the face is digitized out. Perhaps there is some licensing restriction in place keeping Adelaide from using the exact character designs from The Real Ghostbusters (produced by DIC), as Egon, Janine, and the other original Ghostbusters (seen in "Back In The Saddle") have been redesigned at least slightly.
Relationship to Others
Egon Spengler
"You know, we're all descendants from fish. It would be no trouble at all to flip back in time, find the fish you descended from, and stuff it into a Cuisinart." -Egon to Peter
Egon is usually indifferent to Peter's sarcasm, or points out flaws in his logic. While Peter commonly makes light of Egon's more elaborate scientific terms and social awkwardness, the two maintain a solid working relationship despite their differences in personality and scientific approach. Peter does, however, hold Egon's expertise in very high esteem.
Ray Stantz
Peter normally teases Ray about his child-like enthusiasm and overexcitement in the paranormal. Despite the jokes made towards each other, the two are old and loyal friends, and work well as team members.
Winston Zeddemore
Peter and Winston usually fall back and hang out on the sidelines when Egon and Ray get into more of the technical speak of equipment and the paranormal.
Janine Melnitz
Peter and Janine tease and make fun of each other in an almost sibling-like manner. Despite this they do like each other, even if they get on each others nerves.
Louis Tully
Louis and Peter don't really interact much, but they seem to get along reasonably well. If Peter lets Louis hang around the Firehouse and do their finances one could assume he holds Louis' skill in high enough esteem.
Slimer
Slimer and Peter had a love/hate relationship. Unlike the other Ghostbusters, Peter was not as forgiving towards Slimer (mainly because of his initial sliming by the "ugly little spud" at the hotel). However, despite his constant criticisms towards Slimer, Peter began to mellow towards the ghost after Egon's observation that perhaps Slimer's behavioral tendencies are the result of the Class 5 being a ghost that lives with people whose job it is to bust ghosts. While Peter regularly vocalized his intent to get rid of or "blast" Slimer, he was quick to defend him if Slimer was hurt on a job, and would non-chalantly give (or sneak) the green ghost snacks or a pizza. Peter will even accept help from Slimer when the situation calls for it.
His father Charlie Venkman
Peter's knack for fast talking is definitely inherited from Charlie. Peter still displays more personal ethics than his father. In the show its shown that Peter doesn't get along well with his father but does care about him.
Kylie Griffin
Peter likes her take- charge attitude.
Eduardo Rivera
Being of like minds, they got along great. Many times Eduardo was near Peter as Peter would show off.
Roland Jackson
Garrett Miller
It appears that Peter and Garrett get along good.
Trivia
- Supposedly saw (part of) the lipsticked, "Venkman, burn in Hell!" graffiti and Bill Murray "playing" him in episode "Take Two". Said that he doesn't look a thing like him.
- Dave Coulier was also the voice of Charlie Venkman, Pete's dad.
- Dan Aykroyd's brother is named Peter.