Scooby Doo Chronological Marathon

[Kolbar]

I hered that Boomerang will be showing a chronilogical marathon of every Scooby-Doo episode. What do you think? I think it's the best thing they ever did.

[Anthonynotes]

Originally posted by Batman Man
I hered that Boomerang will be showing a chronilogical marathon of every Scooby-Doo episode. What do you think? I think it's the best thing they ever did.

Chronological as in show "continuity" (i.e., "A Pup Named Scooby Doo" airing before the original series "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?"), or just all of them in order of production (from 1969 onwards)? Presuming the latter, though the former'd be interesting as well...

-B.

[Mister Intensity]

I always thought that the most interesting way to watch Scooby-Doo is to watch the episodes in chronological order (from Scooby Doo Where Are You onwards). It was the best way to air the show until Cartoon Network decided to rerun Scooby Doo Where Are You ad nausem while neglecting the other shows.

There were some inaccuracies in the Cartoon Network's press statement. The 1976 and 1978 episodes of The Scooby Doo Show were two separate shows, the 1978 shows being aired as Scooby Doo Where Are You. Alos the 1976 shows were simply better episodes (the 1978 shows were the episodes that effectively killed the show causing the producers to add Scrappy Doo as an effort to save the show; those who say Scrappy destroyed the show watch the 1978 episodes again to see how bad the show was becoming). The second and third seasons of Scooby and Scrappy were the more comedy oriented episodes without the Gang, while Scooby, Scrappy, and Yabba Doo combined more mystery and comedy storylines with Scooby, Shaggy, and Scrappy as "The Fearless Detectives" (the most underrated of the Scooby shows and arguably the best of the post-Scrappy shows along with The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo which reintroduced Daphine). The New Scooby and Scrappy Doo Show returned Daphine to the group and had the Gang work as reporters for a teen magazine. The New Scooby Doo Mysteries was covered but neglected to mention the return of Fred and Velma in some episodes. What should have been a glorious 15th season fizzled with weak storylines.

I don't have Boomerand but it should be a fun marathon. It would be interesting if Boomerang did a mini-marathon of the shows that were paired with Scooby-Doo: Dynomutt, Laff-A-Lympics, Captain Caveman, Richie Rich, Fonz and the Happy Days Gang (while not official, the original closing credits of the Richie Rich/Scooby Doo Show had the ending theme of Fonz), and the Puppies Adventures. It would be fun to go through the good (Scooby Doo Where Are You), the bad (Scooby Doo 1978), and the ugly (the first two seasons of Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo) of the Scooby years.

Mister Intensity

[Pilmedium]

I would not be very happy about this. Since I don't get Boomerang, I find it slightly relieving that they are doing something wrong. I previously thought they were superior to Cartoon Network. In October, that will not be true. I do not expect the Scooby marathon to fail, though.

[Eric B]

Wow, if they're willing to do this, then they should also show a marathon of every Looney Tune ever made (excluding the banned ones, of course). At 1000 films, it would take almost exactly one week (168 hrs, assuming 3 per half hr).

There were some inaccuracies in the Cartoon Network's press statement. The 1976 and 1978 episodes of The Scooby Doo Show were two separate shows, the 1978 shows being aired as Scooby Doo Where Are You. Alos the 1976 shows were simply better episodes (the 1978 shows were the episodes that effectively killed the show causing the producers to add Scrappy Doo as an effort to save the show; those who say Scrappy destroyed the show watch the 1978 episodes again to see how bad the show was becoming).

THANK YOU! Glad someone else out there realized this, rather than seeing Scrappy come out of nowhere and ruin a great period of Scooby. Actually, part of this confusion comes from the myth of the 1978 episodes being "Scooby Doo, Where Are You?" (They could hardly be any further from the original). The 1978 episodes were apart of "Scooby's Allstars", and the original "Where Are You" show was broadcast either apart of it, or next to it, so that's probably how people began identifying the new cartoons as "the lost episodes" of "Where Are You". While the producers now have adopted the anti-scrappy mentality and are casting him negatively, they seem to have high regard for the 1978 period. Notice in the Cyberchase movie, they came up with a great idea-- the gang would meet "every villain they've ever captured", but all we see is three from 1978 (Jaguaro, Tar Monster, Iron Face), one from 1976 (Gator Ghoul) and only the Creeper from the original series! Jaguaro is the worst episode in the whole series to me, and Iron Face is not too far behind. Shaggy and Scooby were separate from the others throughout almost the whole story, and were useless as mystery solvers (Fred and the girls did all of that), while Fred and the girls solving the mystery took a back seat to Shaggy and Scooby's chase and capture scenes. This is what made giving them a new partner and then changing the format altogether the next logical steps. That's the way the series was heading.
Perhaps seeing all the episodes chronologically according to year will make this more obvious to people. I came to really notice the difference when the episodes were syndicated in 1980, and you could easily compare them from day to day.

[Nelson]

I for one am not crazy about this Scobby Doo on Boomerang as you would think that Cartoon Network has already been doing this kind of thing by shoving countless meaningless airing of this annoying mutt.As for CN showing a marathon of all the Lonney Tunes cartoons would be excellent.But why would you exclude the banned WB cartoons?????They would have EVERY right to be shown along with the rest of the classic LT/MM cartoons.And hey, you may never know, but it might be possible that the network might do a special featuring the censored 11....

Anything is possible!

[Kolbar]

I for one think the Looney Toons are boring because Cartoon Network keeps showing them over and over again. They have so many shows with those cartoons and it gets annoying. I mean thanks goodness they took off the Acme Hour.

[Mister Intensity]

Thank you Eric B for clearing up those factual inaccuracies. The misinformation about the 1978 episodes probably stems from one too many bad reference books about animation. A simple internet research clarified questions about the scheduling of the 1978 episodes.

I think you hit the nail on the head when describing the decline of quality of Scooby Doo which lead to Scrappy Doo. By 1978, Scooby Doo became another Scooby Doo clone. The buffoonization of Shaggy and Scooby and with Fred, Daphine, and Velma participating less in the action and becomuing more boring the shows really sufferred. The best of the mystery shows tended to have simple but distinctive characters who all participated in the fun with stories that were fun. The vast majority of these shows had the comedy group and the mystery solving group with little character interaction between the two sides until the wrap up in mysteries that were joyless and torture on the viewer. Is it any wonder that out of all of the Scooby clones, only Josie and the Pussycats and Speed Buggy continuously popped on Saturday morning schedules over the years (Josie had a long syndication run) even though there were no new episodes produced, while the rest of them disappeared forgotten by most people. Those two shows had fun stories and distinctives characters. You could name the distinctive traits of each character in Josie (ironically, the lead character was the least interesting character) and Speed Buggy. That was the case with Scooby Doo until 1978.

We're not talking about heavy character dramas here but there was a charm to the early Scooby Doo episodes. If Scooby Doo started off with the 1978 episodes, it would just be another Clue Club.

Mister Intensity

[Eric B]

Other inaccuracies were that the 1976 episodes were "Condensed to 11 minutes". That's not true as they were still a half hour (or 22 minutes). Only the 1983-84 episodes were 11 minutes (2 per half hour). They skip over mentioning the 1983 season, and have the 1984 season as the "return to form". They also don't distinguish the 1980-81 seasons, which is when the format changed to 7 minute slapstick episodes without Fred and the girls. I guess since it uses the 1979 opening, and the 1976-78 episodes also all use the same opening, they don't recognize the changes between the seasons.

The vast majority of these shows had the comedy group and the mystery solving group with little character interaction between the two sides until the wrap up in mysteries

Exactly! In many of those episodes, Shaggy and Scooby don't even know what's going on when the others are explaining the case. This actually was beginning in the 1976 episodes as well, and I don't see them as that much better. Velma's voice had changed, which was significant, and the music had largely changed as well. In 1978 they added even newer music that was shared with the Superfriends, which really did the feel of show in. It was by then more like an action-adventure than a spooky ghost mystery, especially with all the weird monsters.

We're not talking about heavy character dramas here but there was a charm to the early Scooby Doo episodes. If Scooby Doo started off with the 1978 episodes, it would just be another Clue Club.

They made a total of 40 of these episodes from 1976-78 that are now the "Scooby Doo Show", and that drove it into the ground, and what was good about the show was fading. Clue Club to me had more of the feel of the original Scooby, and it would have been nice if they had made those the new Scooby episodes of that period.

[Mister Intensity]

Originally posted by Eric B
Other inaccuracies were that the 1976 episodes were "Condensed to 11 minutes". That's not true as they were still a half hour (or 22 minutes). Only the 1983-84 episodes were 11 minutes (2 per half hour). They skip over mentioning the 1983 season, and have the 1984 season as the "return to form". They also don't distinguish the 1980-81 seasons, which is when the format changed to 7 minute slapstick episodes without Fred and the girls. I guess since it uses the 1979 opening, and the 1976-78 episodes also all use the same opening, they don't recognize the changes between the seasons.
Exactly! In many of those episodes, Shaggy and Scooby don't even know what's going on when the others are explaining the case. This actually was beginning in the 1976 episodes as well, and I don't see them as that much better. Velma's voice had changed, which was significant, and the music had largely changed as well. In 1978 they added even newer music that was shared with the Superfriends, which really did the feel of show in. It was by then more like an action-adventure than a spooky ghost mystery, especially with all the weird monsters. They made a total of 40 of these episodes from 1976-78 that are now the "Scooby Doo Show", and that drove it into the ground, and what was good about the show was fading. Clue Club to me had more of the feel of the original Scooby, and it would have been nice if they had made those the new Scooby episodes of that period.

Actually, the episodes from 1980-1982 were part of the Richie Rich/Scooby Doo Hour whose opening credits featured both characters. When the Scooby and Scrappy segments went into syndication they used the 1979 opening with Shaggy and Scooby running replacing Scrappy carrying Scooby to the Gang at the end, instead of the Richie Rich/Scooby opening (you could hear a little bit of the Scooby Doo theme during the opening credits of Richie Rich reruns).

The Shaggy/Scooby as idiots did creep in a bit in the 1976 episodes but I do think some of the best Scooby episodes came from that period, particularly The No Face Zombie Chase (one long chase scene with everyone being chased by a No Face Zombie and a robot gorilla, with a confused police detective wondering what was going on) and Scooby Doo, Where's the Crew featuring Scooby and the Gang trapped on a ship with no place to go. There was also some emphasis on Fred's traps failing frequently in some episodes (there was one episode where they tried three traps before capturing the monster with the springs from a failed trap, Shaggy actually thought of that I believe). There were some clunkers during that season (none of the Scooby Dum episodes were particularily memorable) and the season was uneven but for the most part it worked, although there were too many super villains as baddies (the Shockum Ghost?) instead of horror monsters.

I'm hoping that the new What's New, Scooby Doo on Kids WB captures the spirit of the best Scooby episodes and the best comic issues (I'm loving the Fred's date issue).

Mister Intensity

[Eric B]

Actually, the episodes from 1980-1982 were part of the Richie Rich/Scooby Doo Hour whose opening credits featured both characters. When the Scooby and Scrappy segments went into syndication they used the 1979 opening

The 1982 episodes were from the Scooby and Scrappy Doo/[Petey the]Puppy show. It now uses the same modified 1979 opening, you mentioned, but uses the original closing, including Dean Elliot's Petey the Puppy theme. What I was saying was that since all four seasons use the 1979 opening, they did not recognize the differences.

with Shaggy and Scooby running replacing Scrappy carrying Scooby to the Gang at the end, instead of the Richie Rich/Scooby opening (you could hear a little bit of the Scooby Doo theme during the opening credits of Richie Rich reruns).

All of these details I have covered in my pageScooby Story There is also a link to my complete episode guide.

The Shaggy/Scooby as idiots did creep in a bit in the 1976 episodes but I do think some of the best Scooby episodes came from that period, particularly The No Face Zombie Chase (one long chase scene with everyone being chased by a No Face Zombie and a robot gorilla, with a confused police detective wondering what was going on)

That was an OK episode. Alot of them seem like a rehash of previous ideas, but there are some good spins put on things at times.

Scooby Doo, Where's the Crew featuring Scooby and the Gang trapped on a ship with no place to go.

That was a good plot.

There was also some emphasis on Fred's traps failing frequently in some episodes (there was one episode where they tried three traps before capturing the monster with the springs from a failed trap, Shaggy actually thought of that I believe).

That was Contezuma (Fiesta Host is an Aztec Ghost). Shag & Scoob didn't think of that, but it was a rare occasion (especially for those seasons) where Scooby alone was the bait, and shaggy was with the others.

There were some clunkers during that season(none of the Scooby Dum episodes were particularily memorable)

Two of them were among the best from that season: The Scooby Dee episode and the Vampire. Gator Ghoul and Headless Horseman would have been good if it wasn't for the ill-fitting Dynomutt style music. None of them can measure up to the first four seasons with that new Velma voice.

I'm hoping that the new What's New, Scooby Doo on Kids WB captures the spirit of the best Scooby episodes

Me too. I'm hoping Mindy Cohn can recapture the original Velma voice. I just saw a bit of Facts of Life yesterday, and it looks like she might be able to do it. She has the "twang", but let's hope she can carry the deeper tones as well. (but just not as deep as the Pat Stevens voice!) And I hope stuff like the Fred & Daphne romance business is left behind as a joke of the movies. The original series was not about that.

[Mister Intensity]

Nice website Eric B. Your site is the best Scooby site I have ever seen. It has a strong blend of fact and opinion and for once, it provides an overview of the entire Scooby Doo run, not just the pre-Scrappy run (and most of those sites are just excuses to prove their "coolness" by bashing Scrappy). While we may not agree on everything (I am not a fan of the Scooby Dee episode), I'm glad that someone could look at the series as a whole and say what point out the strenghs and/or weaknesses of each season. The only real criticism I have of the site is the "Tripod" background which makes the site impossible to read without highlighting it.

You're right for the most part about Scrappy. Besides it is the kids that ultimately decide. Kids WB usually spend more time on the first Scrappy Doo season than they do with the 1976-1978 episodes which seems to indicate that kids tend to like Scrappy (Kids WB caters more towards kids than Cartoon Network and Boomerang).

Your site is a must see site for fans of Scooby Doo.

Mister Intensity

[Eric B]

Thaks a lot!!!

The only real criticism I have of the site is the "Tripod" background which makes the site impossible to read without highlighting it.

I was afraid of this. I had just put that in, because before I only had the plain green background you may have seen before the logo came up. I had so much text and figured I needed some pics and background for it to be a truly "cool" site. I found one that was nice and being offered for free and was light enough to not obscure the text, but for some reason, the person's ISP's logo comes up on both the background and the gifs. If you Go here and then return to my page, the correct background should come up. The same with the gif's. (Click 'Properties' for their URL's)
I am working right now to change this. I've found a new background that does not do that.

[NOTE: New version has been uploaded as of 7-29]

Kids WB usually spend more time on the first Scrappy Doo season than they do with the 1976-1978 episodes which seems to indicate that kids tend to like Scrappy (Kids WB caters more towards kids than Cartoon Network and Boomerang).

Kids (including the friend's child I took) seemed perplexed by his portrayal in the movie. All this negativity is being projected on him from people older than the kids, but it seems, a bit younger than me, who did not watch the series from beginning in its essence and witness all the changes first hand. So to them, a 1978 episode was almost as "original" as 1969, and of course, Scrappy is what ruined it all.

[Magentabeams]

I think they are releasing hell on earth, showing that overrated dog on TV that long.

Sarahanne