Even now, there's a weird... almost disownment of Real Ghostbusters compared to the movie nostalgia - despite it being a very popular show in it's own right in the early 90's. I wonder if that is because the creative direction of the show/IP was seen as outsourced and therefore it's popularity almost competed with the direction of the movie franchise rather than being supplemental? The show fleshed out the characters and lore in a way that is the most satisfying out of any incarnation of Ghostbusters imo.
I myself am starting to wonder if there was a struggle with certain rights issues. Look at
Extreme Ghostbusters--the statue of Venkman with a blurred-out face; the RGB equipment that isn't
quite RGB equipment; the redesigns of Egon and Slimer so that they're recognizably their RGB selves without actually
being their RGB selves (and this goes for the rest of the guys in "Back in the Saddle")...The only thing from RGB that actually remains is the containment unit, and I suspect that's why it wasn't introduced until the new trap input had been installed (do correct me if I'm wrong).
My hypothesis has been that, while Columbia Pictures own the IP rights to the name
Ghostbusters, DiC had the rights to the particular look of the characters and the equipment they used, all of which would have been designed by DiC employees, and this is why
Real Ghostbusters is now quasi-dormant outside of the 2016 DVDs and the very limited Walmart exclusives.
The acquisition of DiC's properties and holdings by Cookie Jar and later DHX Media (and now WildBrain) might have complicated things further--it seems nobody is particularly interested in coming to some kind of accord.