Dog Of Mystery.

If the Energizer Bunny were a dog, he'd be Scooby-Doo.

Scooby has been going and going and going for 45 years. That's longer than even "The Flintstones."

I liked the idea of a mystery-solving dog and four teenagers. So did Fred Silverman. But he had trouble getting it on the air, out of concern that kids would be frightened. He solved the problem by....listening to "Stangers In The Night," which ended with the lyrics "Scooby Dooby Doo," But I'll point out that that line had previously been used in "Denise" by Randy And The Rainbows. Plus, Barney Rubble and Pebbles had said it in the "Flintstones" episode "The Big Move." And, as I mentioned in another thread, Scooby was Tom and Tub's pet seal. Finally, several months before the dog and the meddling kids took Saturday morning by storm, Sly And The Family Stone sang it in their classic, "Everyday People."

Anyway, the series was a hit from day one. I eagerly watched as Freddy, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby went after various ghosts and monsters, eventually revealing them to be people in disguise. Seeing Velma lose her glasses at the worst possible times, or Shaggy and Scooby chowing down on odd food combos, or Scooby doing the job for a Scooby Snack made the show memorable.

Since audiences couldn't get enough, the show was expanded to an hour in 1972, and became "The New Scooby -Doo Movies." For this, real life celebrities voiced their own animated likenesses and joined in the mystery solving. There were even crossovers with other H-B shows of the early '70's. I found these to be just as good, whether they teamed up with Batman and Robin, or Sonny and Cher.

When Fred Silverman moved to ABC, he took Scooby with him. "The Scooby -Doo/Dynomutt Hour" premiered in 1976. Some of the Blue Falcon and Dynomutt's adventures had Scooby and company lending a hand. And the new "Scooby Doo" episodes were nice, too. These began to feature Scooby's relatives , like Scooby Dumb and Scooby Dee.

Then came "Scooby's All Star Laffalympics." This ran for two hours, and featured teams consisting of both H-B "veterans," and newcomers like The Really Rottens and Captain Caveman And The Teen Angels. There were also new "Scooby" and "Dynomutt" episodes, plus those with Cavey and the girls. These were neat. Cavey of course, eventually became a regular on "The Flintstones Comedy Show" and "The Flintstone Kids" in the '80's. Personally, I thought he did a much better job fighting crime with Wilma and Betty. 1978 saw the premiere of "Scooby's All Stars."

Ah, but a change was due. Hanna-Barbera decided in 1979 to air the special "Scooby Goes Hollywood." And also to introduce Scrappy-Doo. This feisty little pup was a regular for six long years! I remember seeing "The Neon Phantom Of The Roller Disco," and "The Ransom Of Scooby Chief." This latter episode had Scrappy and his fellow pups Duke and Annie rescuing Shaggy and Scooby from kidnappers. And these guys didn't even disguise themselves as ghosts; they just pulled off the abduction. Freddy, Daphne, and Velma were only shown at the beginning and end. Little did I know that this would set the stage for the future.

From 1980-83, Freddy, Daphne, and Velma were absent as Shaggy and the dogs appeared in shorts that aired with "Richie Rich" and "The Puppy's New Adventures." These abandoned mysteries for trite escapades. More of Scooby's family was seen, namely his sister Ruby, who was also Scrappy's mom, and Grandpa and Great-Grandpa Scooby. Also Yabba, who, along with Scrappy and Deputy Dusty, captured outlaws.

Luckily, the old format returned in 1983, when Daphne rejoined the group. "The New Scooby And Scrappy Doo Show," snd "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" kept things rolling, featured guest appearances by Freddy and Velma, and brought in even more of Scooby's family.

"The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo." The ultimate change of pace. Bogel and Weerd duped Shaggy and Scooby into opening the Chest Of Demons. Freddy and Velma were forgotten as they, Daphne, and Scrappy were joined by young Flim Flam and the warlock Vincent Van Ghoul as they set out to capture the demons.
These evil entities were capable of trapping them in old horror films, comic strips, and mirrors. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw all this. But the one I considered the most evil of all was Maldor The Malevolent. I saw him as the animated predecessor of Lord Voldemort.

For 1988, H-B decided to go retro as it had previously done with "The Flintstone Kids," and premiered "A Pup Named Scooby- Doo." The gang were now little kids, and Scooby a pup, natch. It was pretty much the same old same old, except that Velma used a computer, Freddy invariably accused Red Herring of the crimes, and Daphne had her butler Jenkins at her beck and call. I did find some episodes amusing, and thought the songs about the ghosts were cool. During this time, there were also three TV movies, "Sccoby- Doo Meets The Boo Brothers," Scooby- Doo And The Ghoul School," and "Scooby- Doo and The Reluctant Werewolf." I only saw the third one, and felt that since Dracula met the gang in "A Halloween Hassle In Dracula's Castle," he should have recognized Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy right off.

As the '90's wore down, Scooby's popularity did not wane. He starred in a number of theatrical and direct to video films. These DTV films often had genuine supernatural themes. I saw several of these, and was utterly shocked when Ben Ravencroft revealed himself to be an evil warlock in "Scooby-Doo And The Witch's Ghost," and when Crystal and Amber turned out to be extraterrestrials in "Scooby-Doo And The Alien Invaders." But I really liked seeing the gang team up with their virtual doubles in "Scooby-Doo And The Cyber Chase."

There were also DTV epsiodes, and the subsequent series, "What's New, Scooby-Doo?," "Shaggy And Scooby-Doo Get A Clue," and the one that really had me hooked again, "Scooby-Doo: Mystery, Inc."

Last month, the latest DTV film, "Scooby-Doo: Wrestlemania Mystery" was released. Later this year, there'll be the newest series, "Be Cool, Scooby-Doo," and another DTV movie, "Scooby-Doo: Frankencreepy." Will these be hits? I don't know. But I do know there's no end to the adventures of a cowardly Great Dane and four meddling kids.

Ah yes, Scooby Doo. I'm not gonna lie, the dog was a huge part of my childhood. I recall watching a lot of Scooby Doo as a kid in the evening before dinner. (Then again, I watched anything that was animated back then--I think my parents basically supplied the station for me, and I'd watch whatever was on) The theme song was one of the best in my opinion. The originals were fun to watch, and so were the movie ones with celebrities--even if I didn't recognize all of them.

However, even as a child, I absolutely hated Scrappy Doo. Well, to an extent--in all seriousness, when he was there solving a mystery with the entire gang, Velma, Daphne, Fred, Scooby and Shaggy, it wasn't too bad because he was still being used in small doses compared to later. I did always enjoy an episode entitled "I left my Neck in San Francisco" in which the gang face a vampiress that could possibly be Daphne. (spoiler, it isn't) There was one gag where the vampiress locks Scrappy in a box. Shaggy mentions to Scooby, "Hey, she put Scrappy in this box, maybe we should leave him here!" Oh, if only you did, Shaggy!

I didn't even mind the ones where it was only Daphne solving the mysteries with Shaggy and the two dogs--at least there was a mystery to solve. Yeah, that's the main reason I hated Scrappy Doo. Once they let him run amok with only Scooby and Shaggy, there were no more mysteries to solve. There were actual monsters, sometimes but it was just a bunch of mostly unfunny slapstick--and Scrappy was now at his most annoying. I actually used to think that the reason Fred, Daphne and Velma were no longer there was because the voice actors quit because Scrappy was so annoying!

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo was actually pretty good. I actually liked it when the monsters were real--to an extent. In this case, it worked quite well. I really liked the episodes "Scoobra Kadabra" with Maldor (That guy had a really awesome design, it was really unique compared to the other monsters) "When you Witch Upon a Star" (There were three witches who were basically the three Stooges who were tasked by a witch named Marcella to free her from a dimension she was trapped in.) "Me and my Shadow Demon" (The gang must get the chest back from a shadow demon before Queen Morbidia and her monsters got their hands on it. Oh yes, and she had this really cool giant spider for a pet who wore a top hat and a tuxedo.) and finally "A Spooky Little Ghoul Like You" in which Vincent Van Ghoul is under a enchantment by Necara who wishes to drain him of his warlock powers. This includes a hilarious gag in which the gang attempts to stop the wedding by having Daphne show up claiming to be Van Ghoul's wife complete with haircurlers and a bathrobe. Scooby, Scrappy and Shaggy pretend to be their children. When told they don't look anything like Vincent, Daphne brings out Flim Flam dressed exactly like Vincent. When his mask is taken off, Flim Flam tries to convince the ghouls that he's adopted. I did find Weerd and Bogle to be rather lame and prefered episodes without them.

A Pup named Scooby Doo was rather cute with catchy chase songs--but ridiculous monsters--seriously, a monster cheeseburger? Chickenstein?

I never saw the entirety of most of those Scooby movies, but Scooby Doo and the Witch's Ghost and Scooby Doo on Zombie Island probably are the best of the lot due to their sudden "monsters are real" plot twists and actually terrifying scenarios.

I never really watched much of the other stuff, never really got into Mysteries Inc--although my boyfriend did.

Actually, the correct title of the shadow demon episode is, "Me And My Shadow Demon," That's also the song Shaggy and Scooby sing onstage.

Sorry, I mixed up that title--I mess up on lengthy posts. I know for certain that that's not Casey Kasem singing as Shaggy during that scene--it sounds almost female.

When Scooby Doo, Where Are You? first aired here I was just entering my 20s. Although I watched it most weeks, I was dreadfully disappointed by the pacing. Instead of panning slowly through those evocatively spooky backgrounds, ratcheting up the tension, everything just rolled forwards at the same monotonous pace, completely robbing the series of the creepiness it deserved.

I've since learned that they had planned for it to be spooky, but the sponsors were afraid of scaring younger children so H-B compromised on the premise and played up the humour instead. Millions of kids grew up loving the series, but I can't help seeing it as a missed opportunity - it would have been far better (IMHO!) if it had played up the scariness!

Trivia Question 84: How many luaus did Shaggy and Scooby attend before their encounter with the witch doctor?

Just now found out about the newest direct to video Scooby Doo movie: "Scooby Doo: Moon Monster Madness" is due for release on February 17, following a digital download on February 3. Scooby and the gang on the moon? This I'll have to see.

Trivia Answer: According to Velma, they attended 47 luaus.

And now, just in time for Halloween, the newest DTV movie has Scooby and company teaming up with KISS to solve a mystery. Oh, please!

I thought they already did this in an episode of "What's New, Scooby Doo?" "A Scooby Doo Halloween."

I thought they already did this in an episode of "What's New, Scooby Doo?" "A Scooby Doo Halloween."