Fifty-Difty-Doo!: Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (V1 full / 79)

Scooby...
Meet Scrappy.
He's... your nephew.

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The Scooby-Doo Show (76-78)

Hi everyone. I’m Andrew, and I welcome you back to Fifty-Difty-Doo!

Meet Fred.

No, not this Fred.

This Fred.

Fred Silverman is a legendary television executive and producer who, during his decades-long tenure at all of the Big 3 Networks, is directly responsible for shepherding some of the most iconic and memorable long-running hit TV series of all time. Specifically, At CBS he went from heading daytime to leading the entertainment division, and for nearly wholesale changing TV schedules and in turn helping making TV history. From sitcoms (M*A*S*H, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show (and its spinoffs Rhoda and Phyllis, All in The Family (and its spinoffs The Jeffersons and Maude [and it's in-turn spinoff Good Times]), to dramas (The Waltons, Cannon, Barnaby Jones and Kojak) to game shows (most of the shows by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman including revivals of The Price is Right and Match Game), Silverman was a wunderkind of television and helped -- no, lead CBS to continue it’s gargantuan record at the top of the Big 3 networks during his tenure.

After leaving CBS in 1975, Silverman took his talents to ABC where he successfully turned around that network’s fortunes. Some of TV’s most iconic and memorable long-running series of all time also aired on the Alphabet network during Silverman’s reign: including Charlie’s Angels, Three’s Company, Eight is Enough, Soap, Fantasy Island, Donny & Marie, and several hit games shows like Family Feud -- whether these series were hits because of their characters, stories and classic moments or because of female characters with big boobs and butts (this was known in industry circles as “Jiggle TV”), you can thank Silverman for the changes he made to make ABC a major success on TV in the mid- to late-70s.

One of those successes is a little-known cartoon about a small group of  tenacious teenagers and their dippy, daffy, ‘dorable dog with their awesome adventures capturing vile, vicious and vicarious villains who just want to ruin other people’s businesses and lives on pure greed and domination.

Oh, and let’s also throw in some family members for the titular character to lighten up the situations that don’t need lightening up. Yeah.

Welcome to The Scooby-Doo Show.

After two seasons of our favorite gang solving mysteries for an hour and with our favorite icons of entertainment, it’s back to square one. As it back to a half-hour and back to just them solving mysteries with no more or less. The gang are still at it and haven’t missed a beat despite (or even because of) their major network move. Sure, it's still the same format in and of itself, but at ABC it had much more of a sense of security, as not only new episodes air to major success, ABC made sure to actually give the show a renewal every year, no matter the title or format.

Oh and yeah, The Scooby-Doo Show isn’t the actual official title of the series. It’s actually a package name for it during its run in syndication, as during it’s three-year run on ABC, it aired as part of three(!!!) hour-long duo series along with three other shows. (Those shows: Dynomutt, Dog Wonder (76), Laff-A-Lympics (77), and Scooby’s All-Stars (78) were the second half of the hours of powers).

As mentioned earlier, this series introduces members of Scoob’s family -- which, outside of Scrappy, I had no idea was a thing. I guess watching a lot as a kid then forgetting as you grow can do a lot to surprise you when you come back to it. Appearing in The Show is Scooby-Doo's cousin Scooby-Dum. And as you can tell by the name, he's a genius. Just kidding, he's a moron. While Dummy-Dum does help his... sensible cuz and the gang with solving their mysteries, he's also an unnecessary character. His stupidity is irritating, his Southern accent is ah-noI-yin’, and he's even more of a punk than Scoob and Shaggy combined -- which is the worst of them all. And to be honest, the fact that he partially shares Scooby's name (making me think the rest of his family have names like the native Chinese) is also…well, Dum.

And then there's Scooby-Dee, sweet as can be. Lovely as a cherry blossom tree. Always brings the joy and... splee. ...I don't care for thee. (But she's better than Dum in most aspects despite appearing in less episodes.)

Now a few tidbits about the production:

• The animation is on-par with the franchise so far. Great drawings with simple, flat looks and near-flushed yet slightly-bright colors and shadings -- especially during night scenes. While most viewers didn’t assume much as they just want to watch the show, help solve the mysteries with Fred, Daph and Velm, and laugh along to Shag and Scoob’s latest antics (me included), some thought this was a case of a smaller budget. Wouldn’t put it past me. One place to spot is Velma’s hair -- which is lighter than usual.
• Speaking of, Velma has a new voice actress: Pat Stevens who succeeds Nicole Jaffe, who retired after WAY! and The New Movies (fitting as it’s the first S-D show on a new network).
• Even the background music is very scary here. This series features new incidental music that fits very well like a glove. And it’s not the same stock (used nicely) background tunes we’ve heard (and sometimes hummed to) ever so fondly from the last two series. Yes, they’re still there but sparsely (although still noticeable) here. I like the new music-- it’s well done, adds to the intensity and drama of the mystery and ghost scenes. I am happy the old stuff keeps making appearances here.
• Then comes the theme song. Despite the darker tone this series took over the previous two, this one sounds and feels much lighter and cheery, despite the shrieks of alien noise (?) throughout, especially the beginning (which turns it up from The New Movies and even WAY!). I guess it’s a warning for the kiddies to prepare themselves for the super scary stuff to slip in soon.

There were some episodes that, while great, felt weird under the surface. And especially “The Spirits of ‘76”, which felt like a random mystery in DC disguised as a commercial for our nation’s capital and the Smithsonian Institute of Natural History (even though I won’t lie, I fell for the ad and I’m planning a trip there as we speak. It’s for late August.)

Now to what you guys wanted the most. The Scooby-Doo Show introduces some of the most memorable and even best villains and monsters of the franchise. These baddies came with the same intentions: to steal stuff, make themselves rich and scare people away to reap in the undeserved rewards. The Show takes it all to the next level. They’re not just being evil, they’re being vicious with their motives. They’re not just stealing money, jewelry and treasures; they’re also coming close to beating or even killing people to keep their plans under wraps and on track. The tension as their plans progress while Mystery Inc. are steps behind them is palpable and the scares feel more genuine than the ones in the other series combined. It’s real impressive that two series across five years and another three years plus a move to another network can really energize the staff of Scooby-Doo to put out some damn good product and quality.

Let’s meet the Rogues Gallery.

--The Spirits of ‘76: The “ghosts” of Benedict Arnold, William Demont and Captain John Andre (a British soldier), three of the most infamous traitors in mankind history. Their worst moment was charging at the gang snarling and foaming, with a car chase coming close to running them over.

--The Ghosts of “The Ghost of the Bad Humor Man”: Three ice cream color-coordinated ghosts haunt --of all things-- an ice cream factory. But they’re not making the food that makes kids happy; they’re making Mystery Inc. feel petrified.

--Mamba Wamba: a witch doctor who uses voodoo on victims.

--Doctor Coffin, a creepy mad doctor ghost with a scary evil laugh, an organ that he can play blood-curling music on and terrifying glowing eyes that can turn your blood into ice water.

--The Ghostly Gondolier, a hooded "ghost" from Venice whom terrorizes and… does terrible things to people from the shadows. Not who you want to give you a fancy boat ride on the Tuscan river.

--The ghost of Ebenezer Crabbe, with his blue hair, deep yellow eyes and one spine-tingling laugh. And you won't believe what happens in his episode "High Rise Hair Raise" when his sister arrives.

--The Headless Horseman; if you read the story of Ichabod Crane, you know where this is going. In fact his relatives are featured in his eponymous episode. And there's a reveal that'll shock the crud out of you.

All these guys are the definition of “villain” and them some. The producers and writers really had their creative juices flowing here, and I’ll forever admire and respect them for their talents on this show.

Rive Ravorite Monsters: (so many here, but I’ll stick with five)

- The Spirits of ‘76

- Ebenezer Crabbe

- The 10,000 Volt Ghost (I also find it cute for some reason)

- Doctor Coffin

- The Headless Horseman

Rive Ravorite Scares (again, so many but):

- The reveal of HH's new… friend

- The Spirits of '76 chasing the Scoobies

- Crabbe's sister

- All scenes with The 10,000 Volt Ghost

- The Salem-style torture on Shaggy and Scooby

Rive Ravorite Laughs (all of course courtesy of Shag and Scoob):

- Them pretending to work on a movie to evade the episode's monster in "A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground"

- Scooby bumping into a skeleton and then it gaining sentience and running like Scoob ("A Highland Fling With a Monstrous Thing")

- Shaggy's response to this line by Daphne

"That mean old demon stuffed me into this piano!"

"What a dirty trick. But it could have been worse: At least he didn't stuff you into a harmonica."

- Scoobys Doo and Dum's creepy weirdo crush on Scooby-Dee (again, their cousin). Plus, the kisses she gives them after saving him were NOT on the cheek. (I am not surprised with southern hick Dum, but Eww. Come on, Doo.) I don't know what dogs think about and do when it comes to family, but hopefully not that. I thought southern white people were into that.

- Shaggy impersonating a girl to bait a vampire villain.

So, the original Scooby gang were back (on ABC) and better than ever. The Scooby-Doo Show was only the third outing (or technically third, fourth and fifth outings, depending on your view) in the franchise, but it firmly (and deservedly) cemented it in the American public consciousness and became the pop-culture phenomenon still running strong for the next several decades. It was also not only the first time we’ve had family members in Scooby’s family… it won’t be the last.

Next week, we'll take a look at Series #4 and the one that pretty much saved the series and kept it going...and going...and going today.

And despite the… (unwanted… unnecessary… unnerving… unhealthy) hate towards him, you gotta admit, without him this franchise wouldn't have continued the way it has been and still does today (unless WB would've began the DTV series somewhere in the late 2000s at least). Yeah, I'm sure you know where I'm going with this.

Next Sunday, it's Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo.

Hope to see you then! But for now, I'm Andrew Pollard saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roo!"

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The New Scooby-Doo Movies (72-73)

Rello. Relcome to a rextravaganza of repic rares, rexcitement and raughs! Relcome to... Fifty-Difty-Doo! A Scooby-Doo 50th Ranniversary Relebration!

When I was a kid in a family with access to cable and satellite (and during spells where we just used the cords and boom! Instant un-encryption, I was open to many types of TV shows of the classic nature: sitcoms, dramas, variety, sports, specials, TV movies and especially cartoons. Like any kid, animation was not only a fun time for me, but it was escapism; watching cartoons felt like a chance to get away from real life and enjoy the laughter and zaniness with your favorite characters. So what do you get when you mix some of the most famous personalities of each of the genres of TV into 60 minutes of one weekly cartoon? Let’s find out, gang.

After the out-of-the-blue monster (rardon the run) success of the first series of what is at this point a franchise, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, executives at CBS have decided to do the first steps of helping create and grow out a television phenomenon: constantly air reruns. From the WAY!’s end in 1970 (on Halloween no less!) and throughout that year, ‘71 and ‘72, the Eye network got the eyes of the youngsters tuned into the (grand)daddy of the litter, and from that collected the revenue they never realized they could make from any Saturday morning cartoon before and since. But on the other side of the office, the creators and producers at Hanna-Barbera wanted to actually continue the franchise with new shows, even wanting another season of Where Are You! since they realized how much of a 300-pound gorilla they had on their hands. After months of negotiations and back-and-forth, CBS finally agreed to a new Scooby-Doo series. And this series would be extravagant: scarier villains, guest stars, music, and double the length of typical WAY! Episode! And the viewers were all for it.
But it would be the beginning and end of Scooby-Doo as we knew it!
(Well, end for CBS, and beginning for the franchise itself.)

It’s The New Scooby-Doo Movies.



So, for this one, our favorite gang from Mystery Incorporated is joined on their usual snooping investigations with some of our favorite icons of entertainment.

Season 1:
- Jonathan Winters – Himself and Maude Frickert (character) / “The Frickert Fracas”
- Phyllis Diller – Herself / "A Good Medium Is Rare"
- Sandy Duncan – Herself / "Sandy Duncan's Jekyll and Hyde"
- Sonny & Cher – Themselves / "The Secret of Shark Island"
- Laurel and Hardy - “Themselves” / "The Ghost of Bigfoot"
- Davy Jones (The Monkees) – Himself / "The Haunted Horseman of Hagglethorn Hall"
- Jerry Reed (Country music star) – Himself / "The Phantom of the Country Music Hall"
- from The Addams Family:
-- John Astin – Gomez Addams
-- Jackie Coogan – Uncle Fester
--Ted Cassidy – Lurch
-- Jodie Foster (future award-winning actress) - Pugsley Addams [yes, she voiced a boy; it’s not new]
-- Carolyn Jones – Morticia Addams / “Wednesday is Missing”
S1 Multiple Episodes: - Don Knotts (The Andy Griffith Show, later Three’s Company) – Himself / "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?" and "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry"
- From The Three Stooges:
-- Pat Harrington (The Inspector, One Day at a Time) – Moe
-- Daws Butler (voice acting legend) – Larry & Curly Joe / “Ghastly Ghostly Town” and “The Ghost of the Red Baron”
- The Harlem Globetrotters - Themselves / "The Ghostly Creep from the Deep" and "The Loch Ness Mess" (plus "The Mystery of Haunted Island" [Season 2 premiere])

Season 2:
--Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show) – Himself /
"The Spirit Spooked Sports Show"
-- Don Adams (Get Smart, later Inspector Gadget) – Himself / "The Exterminator"
--Cass Elliot (The Mamas and the Papas, later a solo musician) –
Herself / "The Haunted Candy Factory"
--Dick Van Dyke (The Dick Van Dyke Show, later Diagnosis: Murder) – Himself / "The Haunted Carnival"
And the casts of:
--Jeannie (the sort-of cartoon version of I Dream of Jeannie) / (“Mystery in Persia”) {I’m honestly surprised no one mentioned or even played a subplot about how Daphne and Jeannie look like twins}
-- Speed Buggy (“The Weird Winds of Winona”) and
-- Josie and the Pussycats (including Casey Kasem [again] also voicing Alexander Cabot, essentially voicing two versions of the same character) /
"The Haunted Showboat" (all in Season 2)

While it may not seem like much back then (maybe it does, I don’t really know), I see this format as something epic. Some of the biggest names of television, film and music joining one of my favorite cartoon ensembles to get to the bottom of some questionable wares in an abandoned location in 60 minute installments. What’s not awesome about it?? Well...

- While I kind-of enjoyed the hour-long format, I feel there’s some lengths of padding in each episode. There are some moments in the padded scenes I do like, but they mostly drag until we reach the case of the week again and get closer to finding the villain.
- And when M.I. and the special guest(s) finally do reach the villain, the shock awe and surprise don’t come in as strong or the revealed people don’t appear as much in the episodes - making their appearances blink-and-you-miss-it moments while also making their unmaskings dull (or at least to me). As for the episodes, I blame the trend of combo hour shows influencing the decision of the hour-long show story-wise, but hey, more adventure is still fine by me, I suppose. While the writers tried their best to keep the viewers hooked throughout (and I appreciate it greatly), it didn’t with me (which might explain why the show was split in half like 60s Batman for syndication; to have some modicum of interest from the first half to the second).
- Also, unlike Where Are You!, The S-D Movies doesn’t have the high amounts of tension or genuine scares (or at least that’s what I think when I was a kid). While I enjoy this one for its own merits of entertainment, this (along with the padding) feels like a turn-off to me.
-Also, a turn-off, the way the gang just so happens to meet the special guest by happenstance -- if not plot-based contrivance. It's one thing to meet your favorite star where you know they'll be at (even if you run into them), but meeting them as the plot calls for it makes little to no sense. Especially when they meet the characters from another Hanna-Barbera show (see when they meet the cast of Jeannie or Josie and the Pussycats. Unless they're all in the same universe, they must watch CBS on Saturday mornings like the rest of us. Well, rest of you, I wasn't even a sperm/egg in 1972).
- Plus, the fact that despite being titled The Scooby-Doo Movies, it’s obvious that each episode really not. Then again, after the decade where TV-movies and miniseries reigned supreme, anything these days can count as a movie (just ask Nickelodeon during the 2000s to now), so I’ll give this a pass.
I also love that, years and generations down the line, that The New S-D Movies introduced many kids to these guest stars -- especially those they’ve never heard of (like in my instance: Phyllis Diller, Jonathan Winters, Laurel & Hardy, Cass Elliot (and later The Mamas and The Papas), The Harlem Globetrotters, Davy Jones (and later The Monkees) and Tim Conway. Thanks to The S-D Movies, I now have a great appreciation for these actors/singers/ and their works and appearances on other shows.

Finally, after over two years of rerunning Where Are You!, The New Scooby-Doo Movies debuted on CBS on September 9, 1972. With its characters, mystery aspect, goofy co-main characters, and the fact it came after the first series, it - like its predecessor - was an instant success. Kids loved it, critics enjoyed it. And it later got its second season (which aired from September 1 where it also received high ratings. Then… CBS went back to rerunning it and WAY!. Why? Because, according to one source, as thought by the execs at the time, the network could make as much money rerunning old shows instead of making new ones with Hanna-Barbera. (Like, while that is all fine and good for like one year, this annoys me, because the folks at Hanna-Barbera have said they were open to more S-D shows or even new episodes of New Movies or Where Are You!--and the popularity was there. But to CBS’ Eye, the almighty dollar won out) Reruns of The New Scooby-Doo Movies (along with Where Are You!) continued for almost three more years from November 3, 1973 until the network’s option on the franchise ran out on August 25, 1976.

While Scooby-Doo and Mystery Inc. may have solved its last mysteries here on CBS, it wasn’t the end of their adventures as thanks to a namesake certain television executive whom taken the gang with him to his next destination: ABC.


I don’t have many (or any, really) favorite villains from this series. Because of the hour-long format, the dragging, the weak scares, and the fact that I can guess who it is within the first fifteen minutes. So here are my five favorite guest stars, scenes and funny scenes (known hereafter in honor of the franchise I'm reviewing as my "Rive Ravorites".)
Rive Ravorite Guest Stars:
- The Three Stooges
- Don Knotts
- The Addams Family
- Phyllis Diller
- The Cast of Josie and the Pussycats

Rive Ravorite Scenes:
- Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases ("Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The key scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Any scene with any Addams (“Wednesday is Missing”)
- The introduction of Maude Frickert (“The Frickert Fracas”)-  All scenes involving Shaggy and Alexander together (knowing they're both voiced by Casey Kasem). ("The Haunted Showboat")

Rive Ravorite Laughs:
- Again, Don Knotts’ costuming and changing fracases (Again, "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner?")
- The Globetrotters' bank shot ("The Ghostly Creep from the Deep")
- Every scene with Laurel & Hardy ("The Ghost of Bigfoot")
- Shaggy, Scooby & Alexander jumping ship... to a lower level ("The Haunted Showboat")
- Anything with Uncle Fester (“Wednesday is Missing”)

The series is d available on DVD and digital on Warner Home Video. But… a funny story to tide over. When it was released to VHS, not every episode was released because of licencing rights pertaining to the estates of the special guests or the company that owns the shows that feature the guests (that being The Addams Family episode [and very aptly-titled at that] “Wednesday is Missing”). And the DVDs didn’t get better in that regard, as only all but eight episodes got cleared for release on the plastic disc as The Best of The Scooby-Doo Movies. That is, until on June 4, 2019 (five days ago as of posting this), when WHV released those eight other episodes under the title “The Lost Episodes”, and almost all episodes on DVD and Blu-Ray as The (Almost) Complete Collection. “Wednesday is Missing” is still missing (unless...).

In conclusion, The Scooby-Doo Movies was a fun, intriguing, entertaining and hilarious literal hour of stars, scares, scams, solves and Scooby. It's not my favorite of the franchise, but it's still a "wail" of a good time. regardless.

Thank you everyone for joining me for the start of the Fifty-Difty-Doo! A Scooby-Doo! 50th Anniversary Relebration. Tune in next week when I discuss the first S-D series during its thrice-as-long run on ABC, the start of a decidedly darker nature than before, and the first under more names than Saturday Night Live: The Scooby-Doo Show.

I'm Andrew, and until next week... Rooby-Rooby-Roo!!!