The Scooby-Doo Show

[Sidewinder1984]

I've noticed that for some reason this incarnation of Scooby-Doo tends not to get much respect from fans, despite being very close of the spirit of the original. As a matter of fact I'd say it's my favourite incarnation of the show. I liked how Shaggy and Scooby's antics were played up, while not losing sight of Fred and the girls. The music and animation were also very good, and I liked the theme song. Anyone with me?

[Doz Hewson]

I've noticed that for some reason this incarnation of Scooby-Doo tends not to get much respect from fans, despite being very close of the spirit of the original. As a matter of fact I'd say it's my favourite incarnation of the show. I liked how Shaggy and Scooby's antics were played up, while not losing sight of Fred and the girls. The music and animation were also very good

, and I liked the theme song. Anyone with me?

I,too,like "The Scooby-Doo Show". Whenever it aired, I'd view it.The theme
song rules; I used to sing it when the spirit struck me; I still remember its
lyrics.

[A.Magik]

I've noticed that for some reason this incarnation of Scooby-Doo tends not to get much respect from fans, despite being very close of the spirit of the original. As a matter of fact I'd say it's my favourite incarnation of the show. I liked how Shaggy and Scooby's antics were played up, while not losing sight of Fred and the girls. The music and animation were also very good, and I liked the theme song. Anyone with me?

I don't like this incarnation. I guess my biggest peeve was how it broke up the unity of the gang. The 1st seasons had Fred, Daphne, and Velma in the hijinks as much as Scooby and Shaggy (and the duo helping out in solving the mystery). The Scooby Doo Show divided the group so that F, D, and V solved the mystery in a serious atmosphere while Scooby and Shaggy had their separate scenes doing the comedy. One historian noted that Scooby and Shaggy in this series sometimes had no idea what was going on in the mystery. This would sadly lead to the major Scrappy Doo plotlines where it was all about the duo doing comedy.

A.Magik

[Sidewinder1984]

I don't like this incarnation. I guess my biggest peeve was how it broke up the unity of the gang. The 1st seasons had Fred, Daphne, and Velma in the hijinks as much as Scooby and Shaggy (and the duo helping out in solving the mystery). The Scooby Doo Show divided the group so that F, D, and V solved the mystery in a serious atmosphere while Scooby and Shaggy had their separate scenes doing the comedy.

Funny, that's pretty much the reason I like it - it allowed the two "halves" to play to their strengths.

[greg!]

There are strong points & weak points about this show. The artwork (backgrounds in particular), are clearly inferrior to Scooby-Doo Where Are You? The woman that replaced Nichole Jaffe was horrible, & many of the monsters & ghosts were more sci-fi & less realistic than just a guy in a sheet haunting an old castle....The original plots were actually fairly plausible, while the newer ones were more played up for comedy. There were many episodes that I liked though, something I cant say about any series after the Laff-A-Lympics era.

[Spideyfan1983]

There are strong points & weak points about this show. The artwork (backgrounds in particular), are clearly inferrior to Scooby-Doo Where Are You? The woman that replaced Nichole Jaffe was horrible, & many of the monsters & ghosts were more sci-fi & less realistic than just a guy in a sheet haunting an old castle....The original plots were actually fairly plausible, while the newer ones were more played up for comedy. There were many episodes that I liked though, something I cant say about any series after the Laff-A-Lympics era.

When it comes to the design of the mosnsters it looked kind of sci-fi to me. As far as my opinion, I liked the show and it is interesting to me that we get to meet more of the gang's relatives. For example in one episode I think we get to meet Shaggy's uncle. I also liked some of the episodes.

:coyote:

[muttley123]

I don't like this incarnation. I guess my biggest peeve was how it broke up the unity of the gang. The 1st seasons had Fred, Daphne, and Velma in the hijinks as much as Scooby and Shaggy (and the duo helping out in solving the mystery). The Scooby Doo Show divided the group so that F, D, and V solved the mystery in a serious atmosphere while Scooby and Shaggy had their separate scenes doing the comedy. One historian noted that Scooby and Shaggy in this series sometimes had no idea what was going on in the mystery. This would sadly lead to the major Scrappy Doo plotlines where it was all about the duo doing comedy.

A.Magik

This version of the show was spread into 3 seasons. I agree totally with what's been said here, but especially during the third season. This is the one where there was an episode title at the begining and the group started travelling outside the States often. The two previous seasons had less an effect of division among the gang. Velma was still pairing up with Shag & Scoob occasionally and each character had decent screen time.
So, I like the two first seasons, except for the Scooby Dum episodes. Like Scrappy, he took screen time away from Fred & the girls, but in a much less annoying way though.

[A.Magik]

Funny, that's pretty much the reason I like it - it allowed the two "halves" to play to their strengths.

But separately. I liked it better in Where are You? when Fred, Daphne, and Velma would let their hair down and join in the madcap. Velma would disguise herself as Jane to Shaggy's Tarzan or wear a suit of armor. Daphne would sometimes be more a burden than a help ("Danger-prone Daphne does it again!"), and Fred would do some bizarre driving (when the Mystery Machine was being chased during the "A place where I'm Going" number in "The Mystery Mask Mix-Up"). I would also mention the memorable "Seven Days a Week" number in "Scooby's Fright from a Frozen Sight", where the gang would all submerge into an aquarium to avoid the cave-man and Fred, Daphne, and Velma would tip-toe on Seal noses.

The trio would eventually lose such ability with The Scooby Doo Show, becoming the straight men who solved the mystery while Scooby and Shaggy horsed around. It wouldn't be until 13 Ghosts and A Pup Named Scooby Doo that they regained it.

A.Magik

[Daffyfan2003]

The woman that replaced Nichole Jaffe was horrible, & many of the monsters & ghosts were more sci-fi & less realistic than just a guy in a sheet haunting an old castle....

I thought Pat Stevens did a good job with Velma. I mean her voice was different from Nicole's, but she was still better than Maria Frumkin or B.J. Ward.

Overall, I can't complain. I thought this series was real good and very much similar to the original. Scooby-Dum only appeared in four episodes, so he wasn't much of a problem. Plus I enjoyed seeing memorable characters such as the Gator Ghoul, Iron Face, the Ice Cream Phantoms, the 1000 Volt Ghost, etc.

[Eric B]

Funny, that's pretty much the reason I like it - it allowed the two "halves" to play to their strengths.Precisely the point, Shaggy and Scooby barely had any "strengths" in most of those episodes. They just became total idiots, and while the gags were funny, it just took away from the premise, of Scooby being ultimately brave, though timid, and Shaggy fitting in with the other kids more. (That kind of focus on gags was much better in the Shaggy-Scooby-Scrappy only episodes, which at least didn't pretend to be serious mysteries).

But separately. I liked it better in Where are You? when Fred, Daphne, and Velma would let their hair down and join in the madcap. Velma would disguise herself as Jane to Shaggy's Tarzan or wear a suit of armor. Daphne would sometimes be more a burden than a help ("Danger-prone Daphne does it again!"), and Fred would do some bizarre driving (when the Mystery Machine was being chased during the "A place where I'm Going" number in "The Mystery Mask Mix-Up"). I would also mention the memorable "Seven Days a Week" number in "Scooby's Fright from a Frozen Sight", where the gang would all submerge into an aquarium to avoid the cave-man and Fred, Daphne, and Velma would tip-toe on Seal noses. Wow. And I didn't even cover it from that angle (I'm the one who first pointed out these differences in these seasons from the original). It seemed all of that was gone in those seasons.
Daphne had practically no use in those seasons. Since the two girls almost never separated, one could have played both roles. There were a few times she still got lost, but they usually find her quickly, and it's usually Fred and Velma. The Steamin' Demon is one exception with a rare instance of Shag & Scoob finding here, and the Ghostly Gondolier is another one with her staying captured for a long time. (Shag & Scoob almost rescue her, but then chicken out at the last minute).


The trio would eventually lose such ability with The Scooby Doo Show, becoming the straight men who solved the mystery while Scooby and Shaggy horsed around. It wouldn't be until 13 Ghosts and A Pup Named Scooby Doo that they regained it. Yeah, in the 13 Ghosts, you had Flim-Flam providing lore of the comedy relief, So Shaggy at times fit back into the gang, though it was still just him and Daphne, then. The first episode, however, made them once again the idiots who were tricked into opening the chest (while everyone else was on a more serious quest). The crux of this is when Flim Flam says "only a real idiot would open the chest"; Daphne says "which reminds me, where are Shaggy and Scooby", and then even Scrappy says "Uh Oh...", and sure enough, they're opening it as they speak.
In a Pup Named Scooby, The personalities have been changed up almost beyond recognition. Fred is now the biggest clown (total opposite exteme), Daphne the witty one, and Velma hardly speaks at all.


I thought Pat Stevens did a good job with Velma. I mean her voice was different from Nicole's, but she was still better than Maria Frumkin or B.J. Ward. It's similar at first, but Velma just had a spark about her, and the others just didn't match. Cohn is a bit better, but I think Kellie Martin would have been the best replacement. Her witty young Daphne on the Pup show was more like the original Velma in ways, and sounded more like Jaffe and had that spark.


Plus I enjoyed seeing memorable characters such as the Gator Ghoul, Iron Face, the Ice Cream Phantoms, the 1000 Volt Ghost, etc.
While the Ice Cream Phantoms were a very good idea for Sscooby, the rest were lame as Scooby villains. Makes me wish they had taken the episodes (especially with the newer music of some of them) and the villains and made a Junior Justice League show, with Marvin, Wendy and Wonder Dog replacing Scooby, Shaggy and Velma, and I'm trying to figure out who would replace Fred and Daphne. Robin, Batgirl, Wondergirl, etc. or even the Wonder Twins in the second season when they were created, have too many true superpowers, so they wouldn't fit.
With Scooby, they just should have put him and the gang in more Dynomutt episodes, perhaps making them regulars, and that would have been great. You would still be seeing them, but it wouldn't be getting driven into the ground.

[AarHan3]

I thought Pat Stevens did a good job with Velma. I mean her voice was different from Nicole's, but she was still better than Maria Frumkin or B.J. Ward.

Pat Stevens also did double duty portraying nurses on M*A*S*H.

I'm getting by watching my VHS collection of Dynomutt Dog Wonder and 1976 Scooby-Doo Show repeats (which can be seen on Boomerang weekends as part of Cartoons Without A Clue; the latest run is tomorrow) in preparation of my purchase of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour DVD set 2 months from now! :D (I'm currently employed at The Riverwalk.)

[Sidewinder1984]

Good answers, folks. I guess there are some sort of validity to the criticisms here, although I don't really find that these problems bother me. I don't watch Scooby-Doo to see serious sleuthing, I watch it for the comedy...if I wanted serious detective work I'd watch Hercule Poirot specials. And I think that Mystery Inc. only really included Fred, Daphne and Velma - Shaggy and Scooby were friends who tagged along.