Fifty-Difty-Doo!: 8 - A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Welcome back, everyone, to Fifty Difty Doo!

After the… success of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, ABC awarded the franchise and the particular series’ staff with… nothing. After 13 Ghosts’ four-month run in 1985, Scooby-Doo never had another series, effectively ending the verse’s original run on the Alphabet network. (Heck, the reruns never aired either) For a time, it seemed like the kiddos would never see their favorite Great Dane and his height-, weight- and gender-assorted companions of Mystery Incorporated battling evil non-humans or humans convoluted-ly cosplaying as non-humans destroying facets of humanity ever again…

That is until 1988, when Jennie Trias (then head of children's programming at ABC and huge fan of Scooby-Doo) wanted to bring back our favorite ralking rog in a big, bold new way. She went to Tom Ruegger, whom was a writer and story editor for the franchise for the five years to that point, on an idea to breathe new life into the new show. He wanted the gang to freak out Tex Avery-style, while she wanted a stronger appeal with the kids. The two decided to converge their ideas and thus Scooby was reborn.

Ladies and gentlemen, He’s A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.



Welcome to Coolsville, a snappy, groovy, awesome, happenin’ town with the sensibilities of green grass, rockin' music, malt-shops, model Ts, apple pie, kids playing and all the ease and fun worth living in, and the monsters and ghosts possibly not worth living in.

Our favorite gang of Mystery Inc-- uhh, I mean, the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency (that’s what their collective was named at the time) are now children. Despite the prequel plot and their younger ages, they’re still solving mysteries and saving the day in Coolsville (a town the kids live in, with that name revealed in the series).

The characters in A Pup Named, Scooby-Doo are completely different from those we’ve known throughout the Scoobyverse thus far. Instead of having personalities that are usually found in regular teenagers, these kid versions are more exaggerated versions of the gang we knew and loved then (and still know and love now).
--Daphne is a vapid, stuck-up, pampered rich girl with an unbelievable for ghosts you’ll never hear the end of. (Picture Jackie Burkhardt from That 70s Show but less... lovestruck.)
--Velma is much more quiet and introverted with her speaking even one word being a quick surprise to the rest of the agency. (funnily enough, her trait originally was speaking just one word [you know that word]
--And Fred is a loud, dim conspiracy-theorizing loon
-While all three went through noticeable changes in character with this series to more entertaining and memorable returns, Daph and Vel’s redo’s are nothing compared to Freddy’s. While the girls had good traits (Daphne was the pretty, sweet girl with glamorous style and penchant to be captured by creepy grown men in costumes, and Velma was known for her heightened smarts and analytics and penchant to lose her glasses), Fred goes through it the most; for much of the Scoobyverse, Fred was just the leader --  the basic, standard leader without much of a personality. Sure, he’s sweet, smart, caring and a great leader (and personally, I dig Fred as much as the rest of the gang - maybe even more), but the most you’d remember about him is his usual outfit and the fact the orange ascot he wears that most casual fans would first think of him that comes to mind.
--Shaggy & Scooby are the same. Cause how could you crank up what was already ridiculous?
-And speaking of Shaggy, in this series, we finally reveal his first name: Norville. (Not a bad name -- pretty distinguished, actually. But I can see why he got Shaggy as a nickname. Cause what person would name their child that?)

--And to really prove that the gang are kids on A Pup Named…, three-fifths of the gang also got new voice actors. For Daphne, Kellie Martin replaces Stephaniana Christopherson and Heather North; For Velma, Christina Lang replaces Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, and Marla Frumkin (oy); and For Fred, Carl Stevens replaced Frank Welker. And in Fred’s case, APN… is the only Scooby series in which Welker does not voice Fred (he does take on other roles here). Shaggy and Scooby are the only characters to keep their original voice actors -- Casey Kasem and Don Messick, respectively. (In fact, Kasem and Messick have voiced Shag and Scoob since Where Are You! Back in 1969. That’s quite a feat, and well deserved. Cause no one can voice the two like these guys… (Well, we’ll get to their replacements soon. And they’re very good.)
Back to the young voice actors, they give great performances of their characters. Martin performs young Daphne’s posh, vain and snobby yet alert and caring characteristics and sarcastic and un-enthused wit wonderfully; Lang brilliantly portrays the understated yet well-bred intelligence of Velma (in fact she was initially planned to say just “Jinkies!”, but thankfully she got more lines which work in Lang’s favor); and Stevens played off the wild, gonzo, and borderline-scatterbrained antics and untenable, unflappable voice of Freddy (in fact, I think Steven’s performance is my favorite of the cast because of the work he puts in to Freddy’s dimness, even as his voice dropped as he Reveled In Puberty).

Despite the changes in the gang not named Shaggy or Scooby (whom ironically are the most normal of the gang now), A Pup Named Scooby-Doo features some of the best friendship moments of the franchise. Besides Scoob and Shag being the best buds ever as usual, . Like the gang going to the defense of , and the best moment of all: when in "The Computer Walks Among Us", Velma is accused of thefts taking place thanks to her computer, with the rest of the gang believing she really did the crime (Freddy immediately points the finger, while Daph and Shag come close before changing their minds). Scooby was the only one who believes she's innocent, and stuck by her to the very end, even refusing Scooby Snax to go into a dark closet! He only does so for Velma. (Don't worry, she's cleared, thank Jebus). This and many moments between Scooby and Velma are one of my favorite moments of the series. They were written real well and showcase just how cute they are; and not just because he's acting sweet to her for some more Scooby Snax.

While this series boasts the most openly outlandish version of the gang yet-- nah, ever (*remembers Be Cool…*) oh yeah right, yet, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo also includes one of the franchise’s most memorable and equally-eccentric secondary characters ever--(*remembers Mystery Incorporated*) wait… I mean, up to that point.

The most dickish of them all: Red Herring.
Red is the neighborhood bully. No matter what the kid or time of day, he’s always there to beat up and terrorize to his ever-indignant self-gratification. He’s also the main (and only) target of accusation and ire from Freddy during investigations. I find him entertaining and only a bit annoying because of his incessant bullying of the gang. He obviously doesn’t deserve Fred’s finger-pointing, but really deserves his comeuppance for the crap he throws against pretty much everyone that isn’t him. Plus, the performance by Scott Menville also well-done and well worth the praise and fond nostalgia. (Also, the one episode where he isn't falsely accused of a crime. Check that out.)

Since A Pup Named… takes place in the early 60’s (before WAY! [1969 when they were teenagers]), the background music and tone on the show is heavily inspired by two of the most iconic genres of the medium -- Rock n’ Roll and Motown. As a kid growing up in a household that plays classic R&B, R&R and soul, the incidental compositions played were just a big plus. (And since I’m black, it awakens my love of the unadulterated, powerful, well-constructed and repeatedly-stolen--I mean replicated sounds of my family’s enders’ youth that’s ever so intristically and complexly linked in my DNA.) The music speed goes from usually goes from brief and soft (the start of an episode), to snappy midtempo (when the gang begins their detective-ing) to fast, fun and uptempo (during monster chase scenes). The BGM is fun to hear no matter what clip or tone is used… and no matter how many times you hear a variation of “Scooby(-Dooby)-Doo” over and over. It’s like the world’s first use of subliminal messaging by something towards itself (...or towards the 38 versions of itself, I dunno). And I still dance in my seat and using along whenever the stock “Doo-Doo Scooby” song plays.

And speaking of music, let’s quickly discuss the theme song. It’s awesome.
Throughout it’s short runtime, it mentions the S-D.D.A., their work, the plot and atmosphere and the wacky tone of the series. Just like the incidental music, it also has inspirations from rock n' roll and7 Motown, and it shows throughout its runtime. The lyrics well encapsulates the Motown influence, and are brilliant and catchy. The cat who sang the theme did a damn great job too. The title sequence is also brilliant with its taste of the series through visual aids-like peeks of the Agency, said work, plot and tone. It all plays together incredibly and is so much far and away one of my definitive favorites of the Scooby-Doo TV series theme songs.

The writing is on the same footing as The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo: self-parody, sight gags, self-referential humor and breaking the fourth wall. As a kid, I loved the humor on this, because I loved wacky, breathless, fast-paced, over-your-head humor (amongst many types). That’s why Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry and other classic cartoons like them (Seriously, thank God for CN and Boom; but considering the wild things I’ve done parroting moments from these ) Even though through research that it actually wasn’t as praised as it is today. Back when it first aired, APN… was derided by critics for its limited, recycled animation (even though pretty much every other Hanna-Barberra production till this point was known for it), heavy use of parody, by-the-book, paint-by-numbers plots and being one the big trend in the 80s and 90s of baby/kid versions of popular cartoons. Several fans of Where Are You! Also dislike A Pup Named… because of the aforementioned reasons, and also because of the change in character (or dumbing-down) of Fred. While I agree that Fred’s drop in intelligence and overexcitement in his conspiracies is irritating half the time, but I still find it funny. Plus, Fred is a kid on this show (which takes place before WAY!), and - if you think about it - becomes more mature and competent come Where Are You!. (Although his change in character is a different discussion for a different day) That’s (literally) their opinion, and I’m cool with it but clearly mine is the opposite.

I also love the animation, which is the most smooth, warm, bright and colorful the franchise has ever been up to that point. Even taking out the Tex Avery-style freakout reactions, the characters’ movements and expressions are more rubbery and fluid in comparison to (literally?) almost every other S-D show before it. The designs of the characters not only are really cute - especially Scooby, Velma and like Shaggy’s baby sister Maggie (known as Sugie) - they perfectly represent the decade APN… takes place (as if it needed any difficulty). And even if they’re meant to be much less threatening and seen in a more lighthearted limelight, they still look sorta menacing, and that’s impressive.

While my love for the franchise is strong (as you’ll see here), I think few
 series have been a major part of my young cartoon-watching life: Where Are You!, New S-D Movies, and A Pup Named -- with this one being second in the few that I hold near and dearly. I’ve watched APN… near-religiously when I was a young cat; whichever network it was on -- Cartoon Network or Boomerang, whichever chance I get, I watch. The kid versions of the characters I already knew and love related and resonated with me in a lot of ways. (because they’re kids, I can watch in a way I was cool with). Ironically, rewatching as an adult makes it all the more entertaining; catching jokes, gags and character tics again and more closely and clearly makes them much more funnier and memorable.

I’m very grateful for this series. It was still around in reruns at a time I didn’t know I needed it, it was always at a time I’d watch fully and it was always entertaining -- especially these days when I’m aware of everything else that made it so iconic. Truly one of the best series in the Scoobyverse by far.

It’s just as well, because it really is interesting that the best series of the franchise so far (to me at least) turned out to be a reboot of it.

And in two weeks, it all starts over again. Our favorite gang are back to being Mystery Inc., they’re back to solving mysteries around the world. And more importantly, they’re back to being teenagers… or are now adolescent; like, I dunno -- it’s still hard to tell.
It’s the return of Scooby-Doo! on television with - appropriately - What’s New, Scooby-Doo!

Later this week, in the meantime, it’s time to bridge the old guard with the new school, as I’ll review my favorites of the Scooby-Doo TV- and DTV-movies. (And maybe give small reviews of some more. We’ll see…), beginning with the first three TV-movies:
Scooby-Doo Meets the Boo Brothers (1987),
Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School (1988) and
Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf (also '88), along with
the hour-long special Scooby Goes Hollywood (1979).

See you then.

And that takes care of another review from me, Andrew Pollard & A Pup Named… (in his voice) “Rooby-Rooy-Roo!!”

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

Greetings, mere mortals; ghosts, gremlins and ghouls alike.

You are about to enter a recollection so weak, so boring, so passe … other reviews are much more suffice.
Only you can reach the end and return to your possibly better lives…

because you clicked the link!

These are… The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.



This series is probably one of the best (if not the best) series of the franchise so far.
Oop, too early.

This series is the Scooby-Doo’s franchise’s series of firsts.
It’s the first to entirely drop the same old of mysteries involving “guy-in-costume” monsters and even actual monsters and have our favorite gang face real ghosts. It’s the first to drop the format of a story involving such for a story arc involving capturing said ghosts. It’s the first (if not one of the first) to use self-referential humor. It’s the first series to officially last just one season. It’s the first series where the Mystery Machine got an upgrade. And It’s also the first where Daphne and Shaggy have an overhaul to their usual outfit.
So much to handle.

This series begins with Daphne and S-Club 3 (Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy) on what they think is the start of a trip (on their own plane no less; don’t ask how they got it -- that never got a ref) to Hawaii, but get sidetracked by Scooby misreading the map leading the gang to go to the Himalayas instead. But the troubles have only begun, as in a nearby castle, two ghosts - Bogel and Weerd - await them. Their plan is for one of them to open a chest that encrypts 13 of the most evil, dangerous and terrifying demons the world has never seen. And since you already know what happens next, we’ll get to that. Shag and Scoob are tricked Bogel and Weerd into opening… The Chest of Demons. During that time, the crew - and us the viewers - meet Flim Flam McScam (voiced by Susan Blu) - a child con artist who’s trouble for the local village he pillaged, and Vincent Van Ghoul - a mystick warlock with a brilliant sense of magic and a penchant for a damn good evil laugh (yes, the good old guy has an evil laugh); he was modelled after and voice by the one and only man/myth/legend Vincent Price. These two come became part of Mystery Inc. world by chance. Flim Flam joined after trying to scam the gang and later helped get their plane back, and now help them on their trek to capture the 13 Ghosts. Van Ghoul meanwhile helped the gang with his magic and contacted them by crystal ball from his place of residence (one with his person and the other en route with the group). On the other side of the coin, the ghosts did everything in their power to stop Mystery Inc. and Flim Flam from ending their plans of ruining some part of the planet and whomever inhabited it and sending them back into the Chest, with Bogel and Weerd as their second-hand henchmen. It’s almost a fight to the afterlife to capture all of the Ghosts and a return to (some) normalcy.

Let’s start with a walk on the dark side:
Up to this point, Scooby-Doo has been pretty scary (emphasis on pretty) with splotches of goofy, touches of cheesy and a big old dash of corny. But it also was entertaining and memorable -- for many reasons bad and good. This series meanwhile took scary and cranked it up to 12 AND A HALF, MEN. Instead of guys in a costume (some of such were genuinely menacing) that want to steal money and scare people away from a random warehouse, the following are actual spirits that commit some messed-up shit.
So let’s meet the haunted hoosegow :
Maldor the Malevolent - a Dark Age warlock who can fight you for a certain shiny utensil.
Queen Morbidia - a bossy ruler with a spider for a minion
Reflector Specter - the mirror demon that can trap victims in a parallel dimension
Zomba - transporter to media
Captain Ferguson - leader of a cruise ship the gang travelled on
Nicara - an enchantress that can steal a warlock’s powers with a kiss
Marcella - a witch from another dimension wanting freedom
Time Slime - a time-travelling ghost that can show a bad future
Demondo - who can trap you in random objects (including comic books)
Rankor - a vampire demon
Professor Phantasmo - the evil ringmaster of a haunting travelling circus
and Zimbulu - a lion demon

These ghosts do some unspeakable travesties  throughout the series and didn’t care about who or what was left in their wake barely in one piece (living almost literally be damned). While few ghosts have made me cringe with a chill, this motley crew left me almost screaming something fierce and fearing the dark during the day. Lord alive, these ones were not to be messed with.
There was a reason they were stored in the Chest of Demons in the first place.

Back to Bogel and Weerd, they’re an interesting duo. What they want more than anything is for the 13 Ghosts to acknowledge them. So they want outright dim fools to open the Chest of Demons to unleash them, kiss their backsides and be their bootlickers (enter Shaggy and Scooby). Evil and cunning, yes. But after Episode 1, these two knuckleheads become more (and very, I might add) entertaining. Their attempts to help the Ghost of the Half-Hour succeed in destroying a part of the world and piece of humanity (and smooching their ass sore) is nothing short of hilarious. They certainly add levity to the buzzsaw-cutting tension and scares throughout the series. Their banter certainly was one of the main things to love, even if the are the main recurring villains of the series.

The characters of this series have a lot going for them here (starting on our main four):
--Daph continues her role from The New Scooby-Doo (and Scrappy-Doo Show/Mysteries) as the brilliant leader and is now more of an action girl, actually fighting against the monsters to save the day. Plus, her new outfit of a tracksuit is perfect, as her dress and scarf aren’t worth acing off against these
--Scrappy continues on his maturity streak, abstaining from fighting random tall dudes for no reason (although seriously he can do it) and is just as aware of the craziness as Daph. Although he talks a lot here. (Nope, still not annoying to me.)
--Shaggy & Scooby are still their usual goofy dippy selves, but even they get serious here. And their iconic friendship and loyalty is as strong and powerful as ever here, and is tested in heartbreaking ways in a few episodes (especially “It’s a Wonderful Scoob” when a ghost exposes Scoob to a bad future where everyone is trapped in horrible fates, Shag screams at him in painful insanity for his return after he quits the gang temporarily.

It’s very refreshing to see our favorite gang solidify their traits from the last... (either two shows or one series) and become a more awesome team to fight the villains.

And now let’s meet the new members of the team:
Flim Flam (as mentioned earlier) is a child con artist. While his oil selling is irritating the people of the Himalayan village he frequents, he does become somewhat more useful when he helps, saves and joins Mystery Inc. on their journey. Emphasis on somewhat, because his plans rarely go what and befallen the gang into more turmoil. Fortunately, his work with the rest does save the day.
Here’s a shock: Flim Flam... doesn’t really annoy me. And even funnier, I expected to find him annoying before watching. I see him as an okay character, and someone who’s able to help the rest of the team whenever necessary - goof ups aside. Anyway, I find this funny: while Scrappy-Doo is seen as the abomination that forever tainted the franchise (the hell he did), he’s generally not the most hated thing about The 13 Ghosts -- Flim Flam is. I can understand why (maybe), but to me he’s not as reprehensible as many other people do find him. He’s a-okay in my book, but I do find his scratchy voice (by Susan Blu) pretty irritating in some episodes, his confidence and cockiness being obnoxious, his flip-flopping between overconfident cockiness and begging not to be hurt being aggravating, his somehow being friends with Vincent (he affectionately calls him Vince [ironically, Shaggy once called him just that, and Van Ghoul shaded him for it]) baffles me, although his friendship with Scrappy is pretty cute…



Oh. Never mind.

And finally, probably the real reason why The 13 Ghosts is awesome and is still fondly remembered years after its first airing is Vincent Van Ghoul. As a warlock, he is incredible incarnate. His powers are awe-inspiring. His voice is both chilling and charming (with brilliant touches of comic seriousness in it too; the guy does it well). His suit game is on-point. And he has the most awesome evil laugh any hero can produce. Makes sense, as he is modeled after and voiced by Vincent freakin’ Price. And when I hear him speak, I’m caught on every word; his voice has so much charm, charisma and character, whether he’s being serious or funny (or even both), is calm or hammy, you’ll know you’re in for his own brand of entertaining in any in every episode. And it’s very clear Mr. Price himself had a grand old time in the booth portraying the character the producers made for him. And the fact that the producers made Van Ghoul for Mr. Price and based much on him and the characters he portrayed throughout his legendary career, says so much - like they loved his works and thought he’d be perfect to star in a Scooby-Doo series. Sweet Trilogy of Terror, they were so right. Whether good guy or not, Mr. Van Ghoul was - still is - and always will be one of the best characters in all of the Scooby-Doo franchise.


Now a bit about the tone: It’s scary as shit. But it’s also funny as fuck.
As I said earlier, The 13 Ghosts is the scariest and darkest incarnation of the S-D franchise. Actual ghosts committing actual carnages that would scare even The 10,000 Volt Ghost, Miner 49er and the Ice Cream Ghosts into fetal positions; characters going through shit that would put them in an insane asylum; and animation that some probably wouldn’t even watch in the day. While its dark tone is brilliantly done, so is its funny side. The humor was also cranked up to beyond bizarre levels. Besides the usual goofy antics of Scooby and Shaggy, sight gags of many types were featured and written very well. And I think the reason why is because had these gags and the ramped-up humor not been a part of The 13 Ghosts, there’s a chance the horror and thriller aspects would scare and turn off young viewers, causing them to turn off ABC during its timeslot. Even without that in consideration, The 13 Ghosts has to be the funniest Scooby-Doo series I’ve ever seen (and so far, the last was New Scooby and Scrappy). It’s use of breaking the fourth wall is also a plus; really, it’s so blatant, it’s like the characters are saying to you “Yes, we just broke the fourth wall”, without ever uttering it. And it’s like they had a hundred fourth walls at the ready for one joke and get three more for the next;  And as someone who loves referencing self (especially in the deprecating type causeImugly), The 13 Ghosts is chock full of SRH; what with punchlines based on from Scooby’s raccent, the ghosts being weirded out by the main group’s randomness, the show itself, the franchise itself, how everyone got on random outfits and props out of thin air (unless they came from Flim Flam’s hoodie pocket), this show went way past out there to be funny, and it worked. All of this can make your head spin if you think hard about it, but it makes you laugh your butt off when you just go with it.
Really, you’ll be on the floor in seconds.

If you’re well-versed on the Scoobyverse -- or even if you’re not, the work on The 13 Ghosts is by the staff fronted by a dude by the name of Tom Ruegger (whom has worked with the franchise before starting with New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, and later gained heightened praise throughout the 90s as creator and producer of Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, along with being  the next series in the franchise). Honestly, this guy is incredibly talented and deserves high regard in the television animation industry. There’s no end to his genius.

Oh, and speaking of no end, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo infamously ended its 13-episode run on December 7, 1985 with Mystery Inc, Flim Flam and Vincent capturing only 12 ghosts. This was a shocking development that made me wonder why. But since typical Saturday morning cartoons were usually 13 episodes long (previously 16 or 17 in the first season, then to 8 for some reason in the second [seriously can someone explain this to me please?]). Also, it was a smart call to have the first episode set up the overall story and get the gang and Flim Flam on their way to find fight and capture the titular collective of ceased colorful criminals, with Mr. V helping from afar and doing whatever Vincent Van Ghoul do that’s too cool for school. But that leaves twelve episodes left; why did we have a steady stream of one ghost per episode? It would’ve been better to have one or two episodes that have two ghosts team up and get captured. Plus, in my opinion, I didn’t like that the ghosts were introduced sometime after the start of an episode. Either way, it would’ve been great for just one more episode that introduced the 13th and last ghost and have the gang fight it in a bang-up of a final battle that finally brings The 13 Ghosts of Scooby to a fiery and satisfying conclusion…

Oh wait, there is.

Scooby-Doo! And the Curse of the 13th Ghost.
On February 5, 2019, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment released a direct-to-video feature film follow-up to the series, and it more than does give us that...along with more questions. The main characters are back with Fred and Velma joining the ride and a fantastic performance by Maurice LaMarche as Ms. Van Ghoul (taking over for Mr. Price, whom passed years after its non-ending). I’ll give it a review soon.

But for now, this is the end. The end of Scooby-Doo on ABC, the end of the original incarnation(s) of Scooby-Doo, and the end of a legendary franchise. For now…

Next week, Scooby is reborn. Join him and Mystery Inc as they solve mysteries… while they’re still in elementary school, and he’s barely house-trained. He’s A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

For now, though, tis the end of another passible review to another rip-roaring, wild, crazy and iconic show seen anew. I'm Andrew Pollard,saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roo!"

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

More Fifty-Fifty-Doo!

Is it the same show? Is it its own show?

That … is its own mystery.

That is, The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries.

During the last series, Daphne returned to Mystery Incorporated as an investigative reporter, and brought her newly-brilliant expertise with her to help Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy solve mysteries the world over -- or rather help Scrappy, as Shag and Scoob are too busy making viewers laugh. Now, in this series, our favorite gang (at least in the second episode) are all certified reporters for Daph’s employer Peep-Hole Magazine (which sounds less like an investigative piece collective and more like a ripoff rag of Playboy and Penthouse). This development makes some sense, as it gives Mystery Inc some bigger clout to continue travelling the world to solve them and fight crime. At least it’s all on Peep-Hole’s dime and not for some reason come out of wherever they store money -- cause it damn sure ain't their pockets.

And now, to this theory: As I implied during my last review, I pondered as to whether The Scooby-Doo Mysteries is either yet another incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise or actually the second season of The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show.

Here’s why:

-The characterization I mentioned during my review of TNS-D&S-DS (smart reporter Daphne, smart and mature Scrappy) has been firmly cemented;

The gang still travels the world to get to the bottom of random mysteries;

The episode format is still two-shorts;

Even the title card is the same (in fact, that title card has been the exact same card since Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo in 1979 with rare changes [3/4ths of the gang appear in the background but stay until season 3 of V2]. I guess the budget is so important for everything but the title card, since it has the title characters’ names in it so ehhh close enough [even though this show’s title doesn’t have Scrappy’s name]). Just...nah.

The reason I say this is because Wikipedia calls S-D Mysteries the second season of TS-D&S-DS. Other places say otherwise for sake of convenience.

The only thing different here are the show’s title, title sequence, theme song and animation.

And speaking of…

The animation is better than the last series, everything is more fleshed out, the movements are more fluid, and colors are still vast and sometimes bright, if not still pretty flushed (in fact, a bit more flushed than New S-D and S-D). Later episodes do much better and give a more clearer, brighter and warmer appearance and atmosphere -- that’s thanks to a very neato (yet primitive) pioneering animation technique Hanna-Barbera used in the 80s in which its cartoons' ink and paint are drawn digitally, instead of physically by hand with a camera recording the process. This technique and technology all sound awesome. The episodes painted under the system start from "A Code Through the Nose" to "The Nutcracker Scoob".

Like last time, the group crossed paths with “guys-in-costume” villains and real monster villains. Honestly, I’m cool with a mix of both; I’ll never know which I’ll get until the end of an episode and while it’s corny for me to say the reveals of this kids show legit surprises me, I haven’t watched any of them in this franchise in years. So… I’m legit surprised by the reveals of this kids show. It’s the fun of guessing it all.

Some of the best were in “Happy Birthday, Scooby” and “Scoo-be or Not Scoo-be”.

But the most important surprise came in the first episode… Fred and Velma are back!

Yes, folks, after an absence of five years, the other two members of the gang have returned and have appeared in occasional roles in several episodes. In their absence, Velma brought her brilliant mind and awesome analytic skills to NASA as an assistant research science apprentice, and Fred took his talents of leading and… helping...solve mysteries to become an aspiring mystery novelist. Their disappearances from the series/franchises were heavily felt, and even if it took me a couple weeks of rewatching to get to see them again, I’ve missed them a lot -- and I feel sorry for the fans of either or both to wait all that time to see them again, even if for a few episodes in a single year. Their fates during their time away though are perfectly created and obviously fit their skills nicely, and they both deserved nothing less. Good on the writing staff for that. Velma appears in “A Night Louse at The White House”, Fred pops up in "Sherlock Doo" and "A Nutcracker Scoob", and both are in “Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo”, "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle" and “Ghosts of the Ancient Astronauts” (all two-part episodes). (Also, when Scoob immediately figures them out as guests of his televised birthday party [from their catchphrases no less], his reactions with both strongly heartwarming [no surprise that he missed them as much as we did and that he was so happy] and extremely hilarious [him jumping into Velma’s arms like she was Shaggy, and especially knocking over Fred and licking his face]).

The writing was alright, and consistent with the rest of the franchise. Some good laughs, genuinely fascinating mystery solves and reveals (especially in “Scoo-be or Not Scoo-be” which I didn’t see coming, and whom I rightly knew did it was the first villain), but nothing to write home about. It’s all good fun though, and that’s the point here.

Oh yeah, the theme song. It’s frickin’ awesome!

It pretty much rips off “Thriller” by Michael Jackson based on his late-Motown and early-Epic eras of his career. It’s hot, fun, upbeat and instantly memorable. Every time I play it, I’m dancing in my seat and singing the lyrics (especially the high notes, cause I’m tone-deaf like that); it’s that infectious. It’s mostly replicated twice in the title sequence where typical monsters are doing the most iconic part of the music video's iconic dance -- as in thrust-raising their arms like an egyptian on one side then on the other. It’s funny, cute and incredible all at once. The rest is just typical Mystery Inc. hijinks, except with more Hip-Hop and graffiti. It’s the same we’ve seen before in other Scooby titles, but I’ll call this the best since New Scooby-Doo Movies because of its bouncy, colorful atmosphere ang likable goofy nature (especially when seeing the fact that Scooby moonlighted for a long time despite one year passing).

And for now the mystery is solved.

That’s The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. 

Next week is probably something we’ve all waited for. And I’ve got TH1RTE3N reasons why. It's The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.

See you then.

I'm Andrew Pollard saying "Rooby-Rooby-Roo!"

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: The New Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show (82-83)

Fifty-Fifty-Doo time again!

She’s baaaaack!

Yes everyone, Daphne has returned after three years -- and one show’s (or version?) -- of television silence to rejoin Mystery Incorporated and our S Club-3. In her absence, she became an investigative reporter for a major… let’s say news service, and utilizes her occupation to get hot, fresh scoops involving (or discounting) the usual “bad-guy-in-costume” hoax and unusual oddity involving the supernatural. But this is Scooby-Doo, so guess what happens.

Welcome to The New (and Improved?) Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show.

We’ll get to more on Daph in a moment, but first...

As you know, the franchise has gone through a lot of changes since the addition of Scooby’s nephew Scrappy-Doo to the franchise in 1979.

• His addition
• A new name
• Less of Fred, Velma and Daphne
• The show morphing from one-story eps to a three-shorts format
• Changing from bad guys in costumes as monsters to actual monsters
• The same show and format going back to two-show hour-block form
• Fred, Vel & Daph being dropped altogether
• The change of partners of the hour-block, and
• Change in location from wherever the monster is to a detective agency

(If you think learning about all this makes your head spin, try typing it down from memory.)

Fortunately, the staff decided to cut loose the extra stuff (We barely knew ye but ye won’t be forgotten, Yabba-Doo and Deputy Dusty.) and take us back to basics here. Sure, ghosts and monsters are still around, but the “guy-in-costume” villains are back, one of the human members of the gang is back (bringing us back to half of it) and the show is now in a longer-but-now-split-in-half two-shorts format (this format was never done before), and unlike the three-shorts format I like this more because I can watch two stories in a snappier-yet-satisfying pace.

Daphne also got some major character development during her time away: she’s now the leader of Mystery Inc. and is more smarter. While she was never stupid or unaware of her surroundings before, throughout the franchise she was known by the rest of the gang as “Danger-Prone” -- as in captured by villains and monsters and used to their creepy advantage a lot. Fortunately this trait has been toned down gradually as the show(s) come and go, and Daph is more capable of taking care of herself -- as in not get herself in any major crap by the villains. Because Fred and Velma are still out of the picture, the staff decided to give her their well-known characteristics -- Vel’s intelligence and skills in analytics and Fred’s leadership and skills in driving the Mystery Machine (succeeding Shaggy during V2 ...and Scrappy-Doo [probably for the better]). Episode 4 also introduces family members of Daph’s -- her high-school-aged cousin Jennifer in “The Creature Came From Chem Lab” and her parents (along with the reveal that her fam is loaded) in “No Thanks, Masked Manx”.

(Speaking of fam, Scooby has yet another cousin in Dooby Dooby Doo as introduced in “The Dooby Dooby Doo Ado”

One thing I find weird about Daphne’s new employment here is: While she has made very clear is that she is a reporter, she never mentions which news company she works for. Even during the first episode, nothing has been mentioned there isn’t even any exposition about her rejoining Mystery Inc. The series just begins with her back in the gang as if nothing happened. I know it shouldn’t matter cause Daph is back anyway, but it’s just baffling to think about. Anyway, it's great to have Daphne back in the franchise and I think it's in a much better state since her return.

Scrappy too got some needed development: He’s also smarter and less oblivious to danger, with less of an urge to fight  While he wasn’t dumb either, his new smarts are much more noticeable as he is more engaged in converstations about the monsters/villains of the week with Daphne (while Uncle Scooby and Shaggy take care of the comedy as usual). His wanting to beat monsters (and the excitement of such) also gets toned down more here, and there are even times where Scrapps even backs down from actual threats. (This trait should be refreshing to see for everyone, because that’s all people who hate him see him as -- but with more of the jittery-ness of a squirrel on LSD laced with sugar). And his adoration for his unc was toned to only when Scooby accidentally finds a clue integral to solving a mystery (which is very cute). Plus, his voice has matured along with his new characteristics, sounding much less like a child and more like a growing puppy (even if he is still a puppy height-wise).

The animation here is unpleasant to me in two ways:

--The ink and paint here look cheap and flat, like a show by DFE Films or if The Christmas Tree got a slightly bigger budget. The characters movements are wooden and robotic, the backgrounds look like they were drawn by a really talented child, and the colors look both bright and flushed. There is a positive, as the characters do look the same as before (thin outlines notwithstanding).

--Another positive, as the animators do make the monsters actually look scary and threatening. The most haunting are The Baskerville Hound (“Hound of the Scoobyvilles”), The Gremlin (“The Fall Dog”), The Chem Lab Creature (“The Creature Came From Chem Lab”), and that damn building in the title sequence.

If that ain’t the definition of chilling, I don’t know what is.

There’s a brilliant balance of comedy and mystery on this series. Since there are now four members of Mystery Inc. a split creates two teams that perfectly go their own ways. While Shag and Scoob bring the laughs as usual, Daphne and Scrappy team to scrounge for and analyze the clues, and converse about the oddities surrounding the town and people they’re visiting. It's this balance that makes this incarnation one of the best in the classic era of Scooby-Doo.

I think The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show is one of the best classic-era Scooby-Doo incarnations ever. Why? Lemme count the ways...

-Daphne returning, with bigger smarts and new reigns as leader

-Scrappy being smarter and mature

-Leaving the laughs to Scooby and Shaggy

-Going back to guys-in-costume villains, and

-Surprising us every so often

I'm surprised I didn't watch this version a lot more as a kid, because I never remembered or seen even the theme song and title sequence before. Which is a shame as Wikipedia cites this as a full series with the next series as it's second season. Maybe Boomerang skipped it from rotation or did air it in some fashion and I missed it. Speaking of…

Coming up soon, I'll review that "second season" … or full series (whatever) of Scooby-Doo, entitled The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries. We'll see if there's enough evidence to prove it's the former. (Either way, I swear at this point this franchise has become a bit of the television version of The Fast and the Furious.)

I'm Andrew Pollard saying, "Shaggy-Shaggy-D"--

I mean... "Rooby-Rooby-Roo"!

Fifty-Difty-Doo!: Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo (V2 3-shorts / 80-82)

Literally the same show...

but fifteen minutes less...

times three...

plus yet another Doo.

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!!!