Best post-scooby HB "mystery" show?

[Zorak Masaki]

Besides scooby doo do you like any of the other "mystery" cartoons HB put out in the 70s? I do have to admit captain caveman is pretty good (and this is from someone who doesnt care much for scooby!) and i remember liking the little i saw of funky phantom, but i havent seen that show since 1990 so i dont know if it still holds up that well.

[Silverstar]

It's hard for me to say which of the Scooby knockoffs were better or worse because for the most part, they were all pretty much the same; many of the stories and characters were interchangeable. Only the names of the teens and the exact species of the wacky non-human mascot who headlined the shows were different.

Captain Caveman & the Teen Angels at least had the 'jiggle factor' in its' favor, no doubt due to the fact that the series was partially inspired by ABC's Charlie's Angels.

[muttley123]

By coincidence, I'm picking exactly the two shows you mentioned!

Funky Phantom is the closest to the original Scooby in feeling. The spooky backgrounds were as nicely detailed in most episodes...remember the Heir Scare, Headless Horseman, Sea Serpent, or Haunted Inn episodes? Also, the soundtrack came mostly from Scooby. Mudsy's sophisticated Snagglepuss-like humour was a nice touch as well!

Capt.Caveman and the Teen Angels is also one of my favorites. Cavey was the perfect character to bring the laughs, mixed with the girls' mystery solving. As much as I like Scooby, I always found Cavey a much funnier character. The main reasons I prefer Funky Phantom to this, is that Cavey's episodes were short, so the mysteries didn't have have as much development, and mostly didn't take place in such creepy surroundings.

Any chance of getting these released to DVD now?

[Eric B]

I always found Goober to be the next best thing to Scooby. It was similar in having a scared dog.
Funky Phamtom I used to watch, and it was good in its own right, but the premise was just plain silly. The gang mascot is himself a ghost? And he's afraid of the ghosts they encounter?
Still, they actually did beat Scooby at concepts like the Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow, which scooby did not pick up until the later Dynomutt show revival.

[hobbyfan]

My take:

Most of the Scooby copies had the format tweaked just enough. To wit:

Josie & the Pussycats: Adapted from Archie Comics into a Scooby formula comedy/mystery. Didn't have the staying power, otherwise they might've made more eps before sending them off into space in '72.

Harlem Globetrotters: Same thing. An established basketball team of renown is put into Scooby-style mysteries, in this case always en route to their next game. The 'Trotters suffered a worse indignity 9 years later, given the Impossibles' powers (and some extras) in an even worse series.

Funky Phantom: First series commissioned out of Australia. Daws Butler transplanted his Snagglepuss voice into Jonathan Muddlemore, but that was about it. Didn't work the way they'd have liked, methinks, but if someone thinks they can reboot Mudsy for the 21st century, maybe this time it gets over.

Speed Buggy: Same as the Globetrotters, really, just sub road races for basketball games.

Goober & the Ghost Chasers: While Mystery, Inc. was not officially a full-on detective agency, the chasers did work for a small-time magazine. Jumped the shark when they added the Partridge kids in mid-season.

Inch High, Butch Cassidy, and the Clue Club didn't deal with fake ghosts. Butch and the Sundance Kids were pretty much the Impossibles without super powers, spies instead of superheroes. Inch High was after common thieves, same as Hong Kong Phooey a year later. Clue Club was more about whodunits, which Scooby wouldn't touch for another 20-odd years.

Capt. Caveman was a time-tossed superhero paired with a Charlie's Angels parody. Mediocre at best.

Jabberjaw, along with Dynomutt, was Ruby & Spears' last creation for H-B before starting their own studio. Basically more of a Josie clone in a future time than a Scooby clone, really.

Ruby-Spears got into the mix with their first project in their own studio, Fangface. The schtick got old real fast because of the gimmick.

Any other opinions?

[Rick Jones]

I always liked the Clue Club intro music

Jabberjaws, Josie and Capt. Caveman were easy sells to me

I don't know how pc it would be today but I liked Charlie Chan and the Chan Clan a good bit too

[Zen Man]

Like most things, you can't replace the original (Scooby).

But I do remember liking Dynomutt, Hong Kong Phooey and to a lesser extent Captain Caveman and Jabberjaw.BTW I would've loved to have seen Jabberjaw, Buford (The Buford Files) and Nugget Nose (The Galloping Ghost) added to Scooby's team on Laff-a-lympics.

[Silverstar]

Like most things, you can't replace the original (Scooby).

But I do remember liking Dynomutt, Hong Kong Phooey and to a lesser extent Captain Caveman and Jabberjaw.BTW I would've loved to have seen Jabberjaw, Buford (The Buford Files) and Nugget Nose (The Galloping Ghost) added to Scooby's team on Laff-a-lympics.

Dynomutt and Hong Kong Phooey didn't follow in the Scooby tradition. The former was more or less a humorous take on the Batman premise, while the latter was a superhero crime buster created to cash in on the kung-fu craze of the mid-70's.

Jabberjaw wasn't on any team on Laff-A-Lympics, but he did make the odd cameo from time to time. Buford and Nugget Nose were on a rival network (Yogi's Space Race aired on NBC), so they were off-limits to ABC for use on Laff-A-Lympics.

Little bit o' trivia, though: Originally, Josie, Melody, Valerie, Alexander and Alexandra Cabot from Josie & the Pussycats, and Jeannie from Jeannie were supposed to be on the Scooby Doobies team, but the Josie characters were property of Archie comics, and Columbia Pictures Television held the rights to I Dream of Jeannie characters and licensed properties. Babu from Jeannie made the final cut since he was an original creation of Hanna-Barbera.

[hobbyfan]

Jabberjaw wasn't on any team on Laff-A-Lympics, but he did make the odd cameo from time to time. Buford and Nugget Nose were on a rival network (Yogi's Space Race aired on NBC), so they were off-limits to ABC for use on Laff-A-Lympics.

Actually, Space Race came a year after Laff-a-Lympics, which I think ceased production after the 1st season, enabling Yogi to spin into his own series.


Little bit o' trivia, though: Originally, Josie, Melody, Valerie, Alexander and Alexandra Cabot from Josie & the Pussycats, and Jeannie from Jeannie were supposed to be on the Scooby Doobies team, but the Josie characters were property of Archie comics, and Columbia Pictures Television held the rights to I Dream of Jeannie characters and licensed properties. Babu from Jeannie made the final cut since he was an original creation of Hanna-Barbera.

So if H-B reacquired the license for Josie, maybe Team Speed Buggy doesn't make the cut for Laff-a-Lympics?

[Blackstar]

So if H-B reacquired the license for Josie, maybe Team Speed Buggy doesn't make the cut for Laff-a-Lympics?

I don't know if Speed Buggy's and Tinker's positions would have been affected, but bearing that fact in mind, it's likely that the Teen Angels (Brenda, Dee-Dee and Taffy) were only brought in to replace Josie and the Pussycats on the Scooby Doobies team. It's also possible that Daisy Mayhem was created as a replacement for Alexandra (although Daisy was on the Really Rottens team, throwing this hypothesis into question).

One thing that I've always wondered about Laff-A-Lympics was why H-B created an OC (Dread Baron) and used Mumbly, who was originally a police detective, instead of Dick Dastardly and Muttley. My guess is it was because either Paul Winchell (the voice of Dastardly) wasn't available at the time, or because that Wacky Races was itself a co-production of H-B and Heatter-Quigley Productions, and that H-B couldn't secure the rights to use Dastardly & Muttely at that time.

[Zen Man]

I don't know if Speed Buggy's and Tinker's positions would have been affected, but bearing that fact in mind, it's likely that the Teen Angels (Brenda, Dee-Dee and Taffy) were only brought in to replace Josie and the Pussycats on the Scooby Doobies team. It's also possible that Daisy Mayhem was created as a replacement for Alexandra (although Daisy was on the Really Rottens team, throwing this hypothesis into question).


I always found it odd that the Yogi Yahooey's had 16 members total while the Scoobies and Rottens only had 13. Not that I'm complaining though.

Still waiting on the Laff-a-lympics DVD. Warner Bros is so stingy. :mad:

[The Cartoon]

My favorites would have to be Funky Phantom and The Amazing Chan & The Chan Clan. Out of the many Hanna Barbera mystery shows, I felt like these two had the best plots and some better villains.

[Kolbar]

Although Boomerang never shows it anymore, I remember "Clue Club" had some really great mystery stories and good characterizations for the kids. It took itself seriously enough, but managed to make Woofer and Wimper actually funny and entertaining.

"Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels" had a great dynamic with the Teen Angels and Cavey. I haven't seen one of their shows in ages but I do remember the transitional wipe with the spooky mansion that they would use every other minute.

Although it's not really a mystery show, my favorite of these musical secret agent shows is "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids." That theme song just blows me away.

[ZumbidoMetal]

I really wish they would give Clue Club a run on Boomerang. It's one of the few shows they haven't ran to death and it's actually not to bad, especially compared to shows that they've given many runs to like The New Shmoo and Casper and The Angels.

[Dub]

With all the Scooby clones that are out there, Clue Club is the one that stood out the most to me. I remember loving the theme song as a kid and liking the characterizations while Woofer and Wimper were just different enough to not be exactly like Scooby.

I'd agree with Captain Caveman or Josie and the Pussycats being the next strongest of the clones.

Speed Buggy and Funky Phantom's premise did nothing for me (good characters but bland cartoons) while I remember not being able to stand Goober and the Ghost Chasers at all. =\

[Kolbar]

Speed Buggy and Funky Phantom's premise did nothing for me (good characters but bland cartoons) while I remember not being able to stand Goober and the Ghost Chasers at all. =\Oh, I agree with you about "Speed Buggy." It offers almost nothing and the premises and stories feel so bland. Plus, I've never found the actual Speed Buggy character to be that interesting. The only time I ever enjoyed the character was the guest spot on "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" and the supporting role on "Laff-a-Lympics."

[likewow]

I liked Josie and the Pussycats but only saw it once as a kid. But the memory really stuck with me and I was so glad to see it on Cartoon Network!

I remember Clue Club really well, but it was kinda dull. Loved the mystery element though.

Jabberjaw was fun. But it had evil villains instead of ghosts, so not a favorite.

My favorite was Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels. Easily enough to figure: it was part of the Laff-a-Lympics, which contained the Scooby Doo mystery episodes, and Cavey solved spooky mysteries. I remember the Kabuta episode as chilling!

Sure would like to see it again :)

[Eric B]

And Josie is evil "super"-type villains rather than ghosts, as well.

[Anthonynotes]

I'm apparently one of six people who actually liked Jabberjaw...

Also liked Capt. Caveman (would like to see those Flintstone Comedy Show segments teaming him up with Betty and Wilma again...), Josie and the Pussycats, Clue Club, and Speed Buggy...

Didn't think much of "Butch Cassidy", aside from a catchy theme song. Same for "Funky Phantom"...

-B.

[Kolbar]

I'm apparently one of six people who actually liked Jabberjaw...I completely forgot about "Jabberjaw" but I really enjoyed the characters in this one. Shelley had that Alexandra attitude and Bubbles never failed to make me laugh. Plus we have Clamhead and Biff who are almost exact clones of Shaggy and Fred, respectively.

The Neptunes would have made great guest stars for "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" had they not been set in the future.

[Deadman]

i thought captain caveman and jabber jaw were very good.

[RonDrakenfan17]

Out of all the knock off Scooby shows, my favorites would have to be Josie and the Pussycats/Speed Buggy and the Jeannie animated show. Those were fun shows, though the Shaggy knock offs were annoying to me since Shaggy is my favorite Scooby character so it pained me to see them do that to him :sad:

[Silverstar]

Out of all the knock off Scooby shows, my favorites would have to be Josie and the Pussycats/Speed Buggy and the Jeannie animated show.

How was Jeannie a Scooby-knockoff show? They didn't solve mysteries or anything. There wasn't even an animal mascot on Jeannie. (Yet despite this, Jeannie and Babu were considered for the Scoobies' team on Laff-A-Lympics, though only Babu made the final cut.)

Just so we're clear, every 70's H-B cartoon created in the wake of Scooby-Doo wasn't a knockoff or imitation of Scooby. A lot of them were, but not all of them were.

[muttley123]

Are Josie & the Pussycats, Butch Cassidy, Speed Buggy & Jabberjaw really tied into the Scooby based shows? Hum to some extent, by similar character designs and a teenage bunch & mascot escaping bad guys maybe...but these were rather criminal masterminds, instead of ghosts & monsters. In that sense, I think Funky Phantom, Goober & the Ghost Chasers, Capt. Caveman & the Teen Angels, Buford Files, and Clue Club are more the direct Scooby clones with respective variations.

Jeannie really doesn't have much to do with all the other shows above, though it featured teenage characters. In fact, I think this fits more with Pebbles & Bamm Bamm or the Archies/Sabrina shows. Stories about everyday teenage life with a twist, based on the era it was made.

[bethhigdon]

my favs areJabberjaw, simplely because I love Jabberjaw as a character himself.Clue Club. I think it was less of a clone than any of the others. The mysteries were more realistic and less dressing as a monster type. The kids and the dogs had seprate personalties from the scooby doo type cast. The Chan Clan. I remember liking this show for the famliy interaction. with a famliy that big you had lots of diffrent characters to have fun with. I just wish they'ed mixed up the teams a bit more. Josie & the Pussycats. one word; Melody! she's just an awsome character IMO.

[magicdog]

The Chan Clan. I remember liking this show for the famliy interaction. with a famliy that big you had lots of diffrent characters to have fun with. I just wish they'ed mixed up the teams a bit more.


At the time I enjoyed the Chan Clan as well. It is probably the inspiration for my love of the old Charlie Chan murder mysteries from the '30s & '40s. I happened to catch several eps on Boomerang and IMO it hasn't held up well. I think it's another case of "great idea, poor execution". Not to mention the kids nearly always ended up following dead ends! They hardly ever found anything useful to solving the mystery and that became very irritating! The show could work I think if given better stories and allowing the kids to be more of a help than as a hinderance. Then maybe explain how the Chan Van could change into just about any vehicle at the push of a button!

I did enjoy how each of the kids had distinct personalities, as in an ensemble cast it can be easy to get lost in a crowd.


I kind of liked Butch Cassidy (admittedly I haven't seen an ep in years) and I liked the idea of spies working undercover and being a rock band to boot! I half expected that "Mr. Socrates" (who handed out the assignments) would have turned out to have been akin to the Wizard in the "Wizard of OZ" (ie. someone behind the proverbial curtain and that a bunch of agents weren't taking orders from a super computer who happend to be allergic to dogs!)

Jabberjaw on his own was fun, but the rest of the series was little more than a Josie ripoff underwater.

Funky Phantom - so poorly animated (like the Scooby Movies from 1972-74) it's hard to watch but could be updated. The whole premise essentially was Scooby with ghosts!

Clue Club was pretty good; rather Scooby-ish but unlike the originals, they had Dotty! For a kid who wasn't even 14 yet, she had quite a command of a crime lab!

Goober was OK, essentially a similar Scooby gang who got paid to investigate strange activity (of course no one though it strange that they had a dog who could vanish at will?)

Captain Caveman was cute, even though the wrap ups at the end were rather heavy handed (ie. showing a thought bubble showing the "evidence"). Not to mention the obvious Charlie's Angels influence. HATED it when "Cavy" turned up on some Flintstones revival toon some years later! Speaking of which....


I would like to see those Flintstone Comedy Show segments teaming him up with Betty and Wilma again...

Hated them from the get go! Fred was portrayed as a first rate jerk (yes he was a bit of a blowhard in the original series but he wasn't flat out stupid or mean) in most of the later Flintstone revival cartoons. This is especially true in the eps featuring their creepy neighbors, The Frankenstones. Then the Schmoo (who had his own cartoon series for a while before this) comes to Bedrock? Then becomes a cop with Fred & Barney? Even as a kid I thought that was nuts and wasn't going for it!

[Eric B]

Clue Club was pretty good; rather Scooby-ish but unlike the originals, they had Dotty! For a kid who wasn't even 14 yet, she had quite a command of a crime lab!
That was just Velma, made younger, and kept out of the initial action (and would get to tag along later in the story).