Scooby Doo 102
The Scooby Doo Show
With ABC, the show underwent many format changes, as well as changes to the name of the programming block as well (The Scooby Doo/ Dynomutt Hour, Scooby’s All Star Laff-A- Lympics, and Scooby’s All- Stars, which were eventually packaged together for syndication under the title The Scooby Doo Show). From 1976- 1978, a total of 49 new episodes aired, along with showings of the original (seasons one and two) episodes. It is during this time that Scooby’s cousin, Scooby- Dum, was introduced as a recurring character. These episodes were pretty good as well, and although I found Scooby- Dum’s voice to be somewhat irritating, his presence on the show was sometimes funny.
Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo
1979 saw the advent of Scrappy Doo, Scooby’s pup nephew. Scrappy was added to boost the ratings, and appeared with the cast in several episodes. In 1980 it was decided to focus more on Scrappy Doo, so most of the regular cast was scrapped (pun intended) and the show continued to air with just Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy. Unlike the original episodes where villains turned out to be humans in disguise, in the episodes with Scrappy Doo, these villains- monster or otherwise- were real in the context of the show.
Daphne was added back into the show in 1983, and in 1984 Fred and Velma made recurring appearances.
Personally, I found the episodes with Scrappy to be the worst. I didn’t think he was needed, and I didn’t find him funny- but apparently many people disagreed, as the ratings improved when he made his debut.
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo
In another strange twist of casting, a series called the 13 ghosts of Scooby Doo appeared in 1985. This cast, featuring Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy, was augmented by the addition of two others- Flim Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul. Their goal was to travel around the globe and capture “13 of the most terrifying ghosts upon Earth”. This series ran for only a year, after which no new episodes aired for two years, only reruns. I found the additional characters to be unnecessary, and forced, and I don’t think this format honored the original format of the series at all.
A Pup Named Scooby Doo
1988 saw the debut of a middle- school aged Mystery, Inc. in a series called A Pup Named Scooby Doo, also not one of my favorites. Fred was portrayed as kind of stupid, always jumping to the wrong conclusions and dead set on blaming every crime on Red Herring, another boy in the school who had a reputation for being mischievous, but was hardly ever the culprit.
With ABC, the show underwent many format changes, as well as changes to the name of the programming block as well (The Scooby Doo/ Dynomutt Hour, Scooby’s All Star Laff-A- Lympics, and Scooby’s All- Stars, which were eventually packaged together for syndication under the title The Scooby Doo Show). From 1976- 1978, a total of 49 new episodes aired, along with showings of the original (seasons one and two) episodes. It is during this time that Scooby’s cousin, Scooby- Dum, was introduced as a recurring character. These episodes were pretty good as well, and although I found Scooby- Dum’s voice to be somewhat irritating, his presence on the show was sometimes funny.
Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo
1979 saw the advent of Scrappy Doo, Scooby’s pup nephew. Scrappy was added to boost the ratings, and appeared with the cast in several episodes. In 1980 it was decided to focus more on Scrappy Doo, so most of the regular cast was scrapped (pun intended) and the show continued to air with just Scooby, Scrappy, and Shaggy. Unlike the original episodes where villains turned out to be humans in disguise, in the episodes with Scrappy Doo, these villains- monster or otherwise- were real in the context of the show.
Daphne was added back into the show in 1983, and in 1984 Fred and Velma made recurring appearances.
Personally, I found the episodes with Scrappy to be the worst. I didn’t think he was needed, and I didn’t find him funny- but apparently many people disagreed, as the ratings improved when he made his debut.
The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo
In another strange twist of casting, a series called the 13 ghosts of Scooby Doo appeared in 1985. This cast, featuring Daphne, Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy, was augmented by the addition of two others- Flim Flam and Vincent Van Ghoul. Their goal was to travel around the globe and capture “13 of the most terrifying ghosts upon Earth”. This series ran for only a year, after which no new episodes aired for two years, only reruns. I found the additional characters to be unnecessary, and forced, and I don’t think this format honored the original format of the series at all.
A Pup Named Scooby Doo
1988 saw the debut of a middle- school aged Mystery, Inc. in a series called A Pup Named Scooby Doo, also not one of my favorites. Fred was portrayed as kind of stupid, always jumping to the wrong conclusions and dead set on blaming every crime on Red Herring, another boy in the school who had a reputation for being mischievous, but was hardly ever the culprit.
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Scooby Doo 101
Scooby Doo 103
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