Winston did have his own purpose in the movie and I know it didn't seem as big as the rest of the GBs, but it raises the question “would it be the same without Winston?” I think that answer to that one would be no. He had the view of everyone else out there that was hearing about these guys running around and catching ghosts, and because of that he was the level headed one. He even got the last line of GB1 (if I'm right and unless you count Louis' “Does anybody wanna interview me? I wanna go with them, in the car..” which you don't really hear). So to me and pretty much everyone else here (I think), Winston is on the same level of importance as Egon, Peter, and Ray.

I agree, he is on the same level of importance. Equal to Janine? I don't think so. He's just the same as everyone else, and the reason he doesn't recieve the respect he is due (and that we Ghostbuster fans give him) is the mere fact that his role in the movies was a supporting role. I couldn't see any other reason. Oh, and you forgot…
“Next time someone asks you if your a God, you say YES!”

1) Hey, the Golden Girls are cool.
2) Winston is just as cool as the rest of the guys. He plays a crucial role in my fanfic.
3) Let's not turn the Winston thing into a “Racism” cry….I've heard just about enough of that.

What, again? Winston ceased to be the hired help after GB and during RGB, when was the last time you heard the others debating to tell Winston that they couldn't pay him or he wasn't getting a raise?