Mark McDermott
283 Fir St., Park Forest, IL 60466

Markm    @    MarkMcDermott    .    com

Scooby-Doo (1969-1989) was a mystery-sniffing Great Dane, the last of what
Hanna-Barbera calls its classic cartoon characters. Scooby-Doo appeared on
Saturday morning TV under several titles for over 20 years. The main cast and
formula was assembled in 1969, with "Scooby-Doo, Where are You?" Scooby (Don
Messick) and his four teenage friends toured the country in their van, "The
Mystery Machine," finding mysterious doings at each stop. Ringleader Freddy
(Frank Welker), Daphne, the cute one (Heather North), nerdish Velma (Nichole
Jaffe), and hippie Shaggy (DJ Casey Kasem) split up and investigate. Shaggy and
Scooby go looking for food, but instead encounter the monster and flee in
terror. Freddy discoveres clues and sets a trap for the monster, but Scooby has
to be encouraged to bait the trap with a handful of "Scooby Snacks." A chase
scene follows involving lots of sight gags. They catch the monster (inevitably a
bad guy in disguise) and everybody guesses who it could be.
     In 1972, CBS aired "The New Scooby-Doo Comedy Movies." It was one of the
first cartoon shows with hour-long single episodes, and it teamed Scooby and
crew with celebrities like Phyllis Diller, Don Knotts, "Mama" Cass Elliot, Dick
van Dyke, Jerry Reed, Jonathan Winters, and Sonny and Cher. The Comedy Movies
ran for two seasons, then ABC picked up the first Scooby-Doo series and re-ran
it in the 1974 and 1975 seasons.
     Hanna-Barbera produced new episodes in 1976 as half of the "Scooby-Doo/
Dynomutt Hour." For this show, the gang teamed with Scooby's country cousin, 
Scooby-Dum, who was obviously none too bright.
     In 1977, dozens of Hanna-Barbera characters competed against each other in
"Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics" on ABC. Tough-talking nephew Scrappy-Doo
appeared in 1979's "Scooby and Scrappy-Doo." For the 1980 and 1981 seasons, they
became half of the "Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Hour." Next season, they were half of
"The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour," teamed with a project from Ruby-Spears,
a studio formed by a pair of directors who had broken away from Hanna-Barbera.
     In 1983, Fred and Velma were dropped, leaving Shaggy and Daphne in "The
All-New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show," as well as 1984's "The New Scooby-Doo
Mysteries." In "The Thirteen Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" (1985), the gang chased 
"real" demons, aided by Vincent Van Ghoul (Vincent Price). Finally, "A Pup Named
Scooby-Doo" (1988 and 1989), showed the entire cast as children--presumably with
no one driving the Mystery Machine.

Bibliography:
Lenburg, Jeff. The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Rev. ed. New York: Facts
     on File, 1991.
McNiel, Alex. Total Television: A Comprehensive Guide to Programming from 1948
     to the Present. New York: Penguin, 1991.
                                                                  Mark McDermott

from: The Guide to United States Popular Culture, Ray B. Brown & Pat Browne,
editors
Copyright 2001 © Bowling Green State University Popular Press