Introduction to Scooby Doo

Introduction to Scooby Doo

The Scooby-Doo TV series and its subsequent various formats

Scooby-Doo is a very popular American, animated cartoon franchise, consisting of many television series produced from 1969 to present day. The original series in this franchise was called Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, and was written by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1969. This series is about four teenage students named Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, their talking dog named Scooby-Doo, and their many adventures as they solve mysteries and catch various masked villains. After the release of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! many spin-off and follow-up shows were made including 10 television series, and a new one coming out in 2015, two theatrical films, eight television specials and animated telefilms, two Live-action telefilms, twenty-two direct-to-video films, six direct-to-video specials, one puppet direct-to-video films, seventeen video games, and three stage plays.

 

 

Scooby-Doo and the other shows it has inspired

The Scooby-Doo series have aired on various television channels throughout the years. The first two series in the Scooby-Doo Franchise, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! andThe New Scooby-Doo Movies, both aired on CBS. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! aired until 1971, and was very popular. It was known for having as high as 65% of the CBS Saturday Morning audience watching it. The show also inspired several other animated shows like itself. These include Josie and the Pussycats, The Funky Phantom, The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Speed Buggy, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, and others. However, none of these shows lasted as long or grew to be as popular as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The New Scooby-Doo Movies began to air in 1972. Instead of only lasting thirty minutes, each episode lasted one-hour long. All of this series’ episodes comprised of Scooby-Doo, Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and a real or fictitious guest star, solving mysteries and catching crooks. Some of the fictitious guest stars include characters from Harlem Globetrotters and Speed Buggy. Some of the real guest stars included Cass Elliot, Phyllis Diller, and Don Knotts. This show ran until 1974 and consisted of two seasons and 24 episodes.

 

The impact of the Scooby-Doo series

From 1976-1993, the Scooby-Doo Series aired on ABC. These series includedThe Scooby-Doo Show and Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo shorts, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show, and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. In the 1979 show, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, producers decided to add a new character to the Scooby-Doo series, as an attempt to boost ratings. This new character was named Scrappy-Doo, and he was Scooby-Doo’s nephew. After adding Scrappy, ratings did boost, and the producers decided to drop the characters of Fred, Daphne, and Velma all together in the series called Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. This show was about Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy’s adventures as they run into various supernatural villains. Fred Daphne and Velma, did not return to the Scooby Doo series until 1985. The show they featured in was called The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo.

Scooby-Doo, is still one of the longest running cartoon shows in America and one of the most loved. Many children, teens, and even adults, still enjoy watching Scooby-Doo, and are excited for the new series coming out next year. No matter how many new cartoons are made, Scooby-Doo will always be one of many people’s favorites.