If you're only gonna call one person for advice on how to make a high-spirited comedy, chances are you're going to find a boom in Harold Ramis' work rather than a bust.

Quite simply, the multi-talented filmmaker's name is synonymous with comic movie greatness. As a writer and director, he steered the ship on "Caddyshack," "Groundhog Day," "Analyze This" and "Analyze That." If that isn't enough to impress you, consider his involvement in these greats: He co-scripted "Animal House," directed "National Lampoon's Vacation" and co-wrote and starred in "Stripes."

Yet, for all his success, there's something just a bit more special about "Ghostbusters" and its sequel. Co-written by Ramis and Dan Aykroyd and co-starring Ramis, Aykroyd and Bill Murray, "Ghostbusters" made him a rock star.

"It was just amazing," Ramis told me in a recent @ The Movies interview. "I've always looked a couple years younger than I am, but when "Ghostbusters" came out, I was 39 years old. Forty is a big age, because you're supposed to be hitting your mid-life crisis and here we're in the most successful comedy of all time. When it came out, we were in New York working on my next film and just walking down the street and the 'rock star' thing was actually happening. People were recognizing me everywhere."

The funny thing is, Ramis had earned himself a reputation for "Second City Television" (aka "SCTV") and "Stripes" but his involvement in "Ghostbusters" resulted in some unexpected perks.

"'Stripes' was my first on-camera appearance and people already knew me somewhat from that, but nothing like 'Ghostbusters.' Fashion models were interested in me," Ramis cracked.

These days, Ramis, 60, is a married father of two children, ages 10 and 15. They grew up with the film and he's thrilled that they still admire it. Released in 1984, there's no question that "Ghostbusters" has stood the test of time, even thought it's special effects seem primitive by today's standards.

"Special effects are enough for a lot of people and if they just want that thrill ride and high speed chases. All the big effects movies I've seen lately, you can just see the video game in the movie," Ramis observed. "But in 'Ghostbusters,' for me, all that stuff it was all there to serve the comedy. The thrills were totally secondary. If people were scared, fine, but for me, we were just telling a great joke."

For those who have yet to see the films, "Ghostbusters" follows a trio of university parapsychologists -- Dr. Peter Venkman (Murray), Dr. Raymond Stantz (Aykroyd) and Dr. Egon Spengler (Ramis) -- who lose their research grant and decide to open their own business, called "Ghostbusters," to handle spirits that have taken hold of Central Park and New York City.

Both directed by Ivan Reitman, the films -- which also star Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, Annie Potts and Ernie Hudson -- are new double feature DVD gift set (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment) this week.

The idea for "Ghostbusters" came from Aykroyd, who brought the concept to Reitman. The filmmaker (who previously produced Ramis' "Vacation," directed Ramis and Murray in "Stripes," and directed "Meatballs" -- which was co-written by Ramis and starred Murray) then got his friend and colleague Ramis on board to co-write the script. The filmmakers both immediately knew that there was something magical about the script.

"Dan has many interesting sidelines and he's fascinated by the world of paranormal. It's part of his family history, in fact," Ramis told me. "He has relatives he claims were spirit mediums. He also believes in alien visitation and there is some speculation that Dan is an alien. He's so genuinely enthusiastic about the stuff. That's what was on the page when he showed it to us."

On the DVD commentary, Ramis and Reitman couldn't stress enough that, despite the comedy and the special effects, the film still had to be grounded in reality.

"Approaching it skeptically, I wanted to know if you were going to make a sincere scientific investigation, what would be the parameters of that," said Ramis, a Chicago native. "We actually called the jet propulsions scientists in Southern California and asked, 'How would you detect the presence of ghosts?'

"As consultants, they actually delivered to us a fairly detailed scientific proposal that told us they would look for small changes in temperature and air pressure, as well as odors and vapors of different kinds," Ramis added. "So, all of our equipment design was predicated on the 'what if?' reality."

Even though it's a question he's no doubt heard several times before, I still couldn't resist asking Ramis if he himself believed in ghosts.

"I've never been a big believer in ghosts or the spirit world, and for me, that was part of the point of the movie," Ramis said. "What the 'Ghostbusters' represented was the triumph of human courage and human ingenuity. People create their own monsters. Our fears come from within us, not outside."

And, if there's a serious point to every comedy, that's the point of "Ghostbusters," Ramis said.

"If people work together, if they can keep a cooperative spirit and use their ingenuity and balance it all with good humor and good will, then there's nothing to be afraid of. That's the sappy part of it," Ramis said. "On the other hand, every Halloween for many years when my kids were trick-or-treating I would put on my 'Ghostbusters' jumpsuit with a police flashlight to protect all the kids from ghosts."

Who You Gonna Call?

In addition to the great story, visuals and countless laugh-out-loud and scary moments in the film, "Ghostbusters" also has that unforgettable theme song by Ray Parker Jr.

And just how memorable is it, 21 years after its release? When I had the opportunity to talk with the fourth Ghostbuster, Ernie Hudson, a couple years back, he told me at the time that not a day goes by without somebody asking him, "Who you gonna call?"

Ramis said he gets that every day, and more.

"I've been lucky enough to work on these movies that have lasted," Ramis said. "I get a line from 'Animal House,' 'Stripes,' 'Ghostbusters,' 'Vacation' and 'Caddyshack' every day of my life. I go to Starbucks in the morning, and every morning I'm reminded of one of those films. They don't go away and lines just keep floating around and 'Who ya gonna call?' is certainly a familiar one."

And, we must not forget about "getting slimed" -- something that should not be mistakenly credited to the kid's game show on the Nickelodeon network.

"I totally claim that it was us that turned 'slimed' into a verb," Ramis enthused.

Of course, you can't have slime without a "Slimer," and as it is revealed in the first film's DVD commentary (which features Ramis, Reitman and producer Joe Medjuck), we learn that the famous green apparition was referred to as the ghost of Aykroyd's Blues Brother-in-arms: The late John Belushi.

"Dan imagined this gluttonous ghost -- that John's spirit was still around scarfing up everything in site," Ramis said, laughing. "That was John. His life was about being excessive in so many ways, but for every bad habit he had, he was excessive in his generosity."

Answering Another Call?

Considering the monstrous success of the first two "Ghostbusters" films, it shouldn't come as too big a surprise that a third film for the series was considered.

But, as the years have gone by, several cast and crewmembers careers have soared even higher into the stratosphere.

But if the stars align and the likes of Ramis, Aykroyd, Murray, Weaver and Reitman find the time to get together again (Ramis alone has two films on his director's plate -- the action comedy thriller "Ice Harvest" with Billy Bob Thornton and John Cusack, and an untitled project with Owen Wilson) could we see them all taking another plunge?

"Dan had a great idea for a third one and spec'd out a script," Ramis told me. "The idea was wonderful. It saw the Ghostbusters going to hell. I thought, 'That's perfect.' We actually talked about it, wrote a story for it and did another draft, but we could not make the deal. Everyone had gotten so big that to get Ivan, Bill, Dan and I all packaged together, there wasn't enough in it for the studio.

"Plus I'm not so sure Bill was wildly enthusiastic about putting the suit on again," Ramis mused. "Maybe he would be in it if he could play a ghost."