Hey Sony! Here's what you do with your franchise.

Hullo, Sony! Gee, this Ghostbusters thing is a freakin' mess, huh? Anticipation and toy sales should be through the roof already! Why isn't it? Amy's gone and Ivan's cranky since the leaks. Your dapper director is melting down on twitter and doing damage control. Your big box office draw star is confused about the historically, epically bad trailer and doing MORE damage control. If I know studio execs, you're already distancing yourself from this and pinning it on Pascal. So what do we do next? Pull up a chair. It's time for some TOUGH LOVE!

I think the best shot at doing something watchable with Ghostbusters would be a 10 episode streaming series on Netflix. Loosely serialized, building up to an insane showdown. Chronicle the ups and downs of a GB franchise, expand the mythology, give it a nice gritty blue collar pest control crossed with mad science vibe. Get some good up and coming comedians, a head writer that gives a shit... someone DYING to tell stories in this universe and bursting with ideas, not someone like Feig who has to be courted by duplicitous studio hacks.

Instead of RUNNING from the implications of a "world with ghosts" like Feig did: dive the fuck into it as it's RIPE for satire. We're humans, if this shit happened we'd cover it in bureaucracy! Licensing, franchise jokes, government regulation... ie, classic Ghostbusters-style confrontations.

Reitman and Akyroyd get honorary producer titles and their advice politely listened to. The best gets used. The worst gets smiled at. If they seem glum on it, promise them to salvage Hellbent as the series arc of season 3 or something and dedicate it to Ramis, ensuring some of his DNA is woven into the show. Rewrite the shit out of it because it needs expanding -- but the alternate universe Hell NYC is a great concept! Too expensive for a one shot, but if they spread the cost throughout an entire season it might be able to be pulled off.

Continue the original timeline and feature whichever of the originals want to turn up. Give Ernie Hudson some STUFF to do, he'll be coming off Twin Peaks season 3! If you write him properly, with a serious connection to one of the leads instead of just a fucking cliche Cadillac delivery system... a few episodes with a featured role, he could be the heart of the show in more ways than one. Think Wilf in Doctor Who.

The man has earned it. Let him ride out his career making peace with the mixed hand fate dealt him, instead of the faint bitterness he'll have a role to be proud of. Plus, he can totally pull it off! Drawing on decades of nostalgia, I guarantee you they could make grown men WEEP writing the conclusion of his arc correctly... not just crowbar in a "hey it's that guy!" cameo. Not just a "Winston gets cancer from hanging around Egon's equipment too long," something with poignancy and resonance... that tackles our heroes aging and isn't embarrassed of it.

We'll have embarrassment covered: Akyroyd still runs the occult bookshop and tosses in jargon, exposition, and a crowbarred contractual obligation crystal skull vodka reference despite desperate pleading not to. But it'd be a fun device to fill in a few gaps in the chronology with a few shot-on-16mm-film flashbacks.

Besides the plug: take chances, actually have character development, balance the horror and comedy. Don't reboot or remake, how can you possibly measure up? Instead just try to do good work and tell original stories. Hire a crazy mix of young horror writers AND comedy writers.

If Murray likes what he sees in season 1, he's welcome to do a weird cameo for the season 2 premiere to find out what happened to Venkman, only vaguely spoken of until then.

Tell me that wouldn't sit at the top of TRENDING NOW for ages and get renewed for a few seasons, keeping the brand a going concern right in people's faces. Crossover audiences, spinoffs, swank tee vee and cinematic universe CASH REGISTER NOISE HERE.

(makes call me gesture)