Following the return of the popular '80s animated television series The Real Ghostbusters to YouTube this weekend, another ghost bustin' cartoon will be coming soon. Extreme Ghostbusters, the follow-up animated series that aired in the late '90s will also be uploaded to the official Ghostbusters YouTube channel.
An episode of Extreme Ghostbusters will be uploaded every Wednesday of each week. The series ran for one season which was comprised of 40 episodes.
If my math is correct, the release of one episode per week for the entire season would lead up directly into the theatrical release of the upcoming Ghostbusters: Afterlife movie. Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which serves as a sequel to the original two Ghostbusters films, is slated to hit theaters on November 11, 2021.
While Extreme Ghostbusters probably won't have any direct relation to Afterlife, it is a follow-up series to The Real Ghostbusters, which was a spinoff/sequel to the 1984 Ghostbusters movie. And, of course, episodes of The Real Ghostbusters are also being uploaded to YouTube every Saturday.
While not confirmed, it feels like this is a marketing attempt by Sony in an attempt to drum up hype for the upcoming movie while familiarizing younger audiences with some of the original characters. The Real Ghostbusters followed the adventures of the original Ghostbusters -- Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Egon Spengler, Dr. Ray Stantz, Winston Zeddemore. Extreme Ghostbusters was actually set years after the end of The Real Ghostbusters series, with the original Ghostbusters no longer in business due to a lack of supernatural activity. When ghosts start to reappear, Egon recruits some of his college students to become the "next generation" of Ghostbusters to track down and capturing them these supernatural spirits.
Extreme Ghostbusters didn't have the same success as The Real Ghostbusters (due to various reasons), but it did take the franchise in a bold direction. It had more of an adolescent feel with a tougher edge to it and pushed the boundaries when it came to horror in kids' shows.