Janine Melnitz

History

Ghostbusters

"Ghostbusters, whaddaya want?!"

Janine was the first person hired to work at the Firehouse. She staffed the phones and kept track of appointments, calls, messages, etc. She showed a romantic interest in Egon Spengler, but he didn't return her advances. While initially extremely bored with her job, once the boys picked up more and more clients, she began to complain of being overworked. After Dr. Venkman implied that perhaps she'd find more pleasure in another low-wage job, she took offense, but stopped her complaints. When Walter Peck showed up to shut down the storage facility, she tried to stop them, but the Police Captain, along with all of Walter's paperwork, gave her no choice. Before the explosion at the firehouse, she kept watch with Egon Spengler over Louis Tully.

After the guys blew-up the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, sending Gozer back to its own dimension, Janine is seen at the entrance of the building, hugging Egon, as he heads to the Ecto-1.

Other Media

Film

Ghostbusters (1984)

Actress Annie Potts plays Janine Melnitz.

Animated

The Real Ghostbusters

"Oooh, men! Can't live with 'em, can't sell 'em for parts!"

While not much is known about her history, she is from Brooklyn as her voice suggests. From the start, she treated the whole Ghostbusters Secretary thing as "only a job" and that's it. However, she also is well known for her crush on Egon Spengler. That in many ways brought her back in 1997 to work with the new team. Janine mainly worked as the secretary of the Ghostbusters. However, she became more than that while working with the team. Janine served as the Ghostbusters' link to the world outside of ghosts. She was usually the one preparing for celebrations and Halloween parties. She also took care of most bills and ordering items and Firehouse maintenance.

At one point, Janine was fed up with working behind the desk and went along with the Ghostbusters on a bust at the docks. She picked an old brass lamp as payment and accidentally released a Genie. After the ordeal was taken care of, Janine decided it was best she stick with her job as secretary. But Janine continued to work the Proton Pack over the years when the situation demanded it. She was voiced by Kath Soucie from season 1 to 2, then by Kath Soucie from season 3 to 7 and by Pat Musick in Extreme Ghostbusters.

Video Game

Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Xbox 360 / PS2 / PS3 / PC)

Annie Potts reprises 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 making sarcastic comments about the situation.