User Reviews

I know that the plots are usually not so much different in every episode. I know in the end the gang is going to find out the man who was chasing them was in a mask all along. I know they are going to trap him in the end after twenty minutes of being chased. Why do I know this and I don't hate it? It doesn't make a difference. It's classic, and it's a surprise every time.

If you don't like this because of what I said before, then you are saying you don't like mystery all together. Mystery movies and shows always turn up good in the end. The bad guy gets captured by the good guy. I never get tired of it! I love Shaggy and Scooby. They're funny and always hungry no matter how much they eat.

I recommend this show for everyone.

Well I can understand some of these debasing reviews, the plot was a little thin. However, after identifying with one of the five characters, (or maybe more), you would undoubtedly empathize through every tribulation, (leading to furthered series). I personally relate to Shaggy and as I read assessments calling him, (and scoob'), a coward i take offense. I would any sane person to act as the other three do regularly. Fred, Velma and Daphne while all adept, (in some manner of speaking), were meant to exemplify inexperience. No average joe should attempt to apprehend a mischief-maker, supernatural or not. Scoob' and Shag' are the unlikely heroes and anyone questioning their merit forgets the underdog, (show).

What I find now, though, is an endless array of innuendos. From a smoke filled van to a talking dog. The munchies and paranoia can also affirm such a conclusion. Looking back i couldn't quite grasp such connotations and I think that also held my interest through the years.

Scoob' is a classic satire

This was the very first and probably most successful cartoon starring the easily scared and very good canine, Scooby-Doo and the gang. The gang was Scooby, his best friend Shaggy (voiced by Casey Kasem), Fred/ Freddy, Velma and Daphne. Mysteries were very popular in the 70s, but this team of investigators was probably the most famous Hanna-Barbera creation. Every episode was nearly the same. They basically turn up somewhere and hear of a disturbance from something, e.g. monster, ghosts, and they investigate. They get chased by this thing until they eventually catch it. It's always a person in a mask though, most likely the most obvious person they met earlier. But who cares, the thing was always different and kids loved Scooby. It's a shame they ruined it by creating that bastard nephew Scrappy. It was number 8 on The 100 Greatest Kids' TV Shows, and it was number 49 on The 100 Greatest Cartoons. Okay!

Second only to the SuperFriends, Scooby Doo is the second top favorite cartoon series that kept me watching the longest. I was shocked to find out that Scooby actually got started 3 years before I was even born, back in 1969, the same year the Brady Bunch came into existence.

I watched Scooby Doo from the late 70's until the mid 80's when old Scoob was finally taken off Saturday mornings. But of all the versions I've ever seen, this is by far the best. Hanna Barbera had a true jewel when they first brought this series to life and no other incarnation has ever come close to matching it.

Naturally what interested me was the fact that Scooby Doo was a dog that talked and he made me laugh when I was real little. And the four teen sleuths, they along with Scooby helped make that series a hit. I like how there were four stereotypes. Shaggy was by far the second most popular character on the show. Some say he was a beatnik, others say, hippie. I say, an unusual oddball, but hey! He and Scooby together were always quite the comical pair. Velma was the brains of the group and of the three actresses who voiced her over, I liked Nicole Jaffe the best. Daphne was the beauty of the group. The only stand out trait to her personality was when she picked a wrong door or pressed a wrong button and everyone replied, "Danger Prone Daphne " did it again and she always seemed to be the most popular member for getting kidnapped.

I may be different from most Scooby Doo fans in that aside from Scooby, my favorite of the teens was Freddy (or sometimes Fred), the hunk or I guess he was something of a jock and leader figure not to mention the designated driver of the Mystery Machine, the gang's hippie van. I liked how Freddy was portrayed, even though some say he had no personality. I also liked the hint that maybe Freddy and Daphne were secretly involved or at least interested in each other. If I were Freddy, I'd pair off with Daphne myself.

Anyway, the villains in these shows were classic as well as the animation style. It was a cartoon cartoon like Yogi Bear and the Flintstones but yet it wasn't a Super Heroish action cartoon either like Space Ghost or Birdman, but the style was somewhere in the middle.

Amazingly, Scooby Doo would launch a style of imitations in the 70's like the Clue Club, Speed Buggy, and Jabberjaw.

My favorite episode in the original series is a Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts with Dracula, Frankenstein, and the Wolfman all together. Also, episodes like What the Hex is Going On, A Clue For Scooby Doo, Jeepers it's the Creeper, Never Ape an Ape Man, Biglam Under the Big Top, and more are all excellent and should not be missed. Any Scooby fan I would highly recommend getting the original Scooby Doo Where Are You? series on DVD. It is well worth the purchase. I give this series two thumbs up!

Just in case you've been "away" for the past 35 years, here's a quick re-cap of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and "Scooby-Doo" in general. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! premiered as a Saturday morning cartoon in late 1969. The show introduced the "Mystery Inc." gang (Although, I must say that I never remember hearing the words "Mystery Inc." uttered until the late '90s.) -- Freddy (voiced by Frank Welker), the ascot-wearing leader of the group; Daphne (voiced by Stefanianna Christopherson), the beautiful, but vapid girl; Velma (voiced by Nicole Jaffe), the brains of the group; Shaggy (voiced by Casey Kasem), a hippie who's always hungry; and Scooby-Doo (voiced by Don Messick), the talking dog who is usually a coward, but can be a hero if the situation calls for it. This group travels the country in a flower-covered van labeled "Mystery Machine" and are constantly stumbling across mysteries which involve ghosts or monsters of some sort. Using ingenuity and luck, they solve the mysteries and save the day. Following Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, these characters appeared in a series of TV shows, and then made a comeback in the late 90s in a series of direct-to-video animated movies. s you can see, Scooby and the gang tangled with a myriad of baddies over the years. Yet, variety was never a strong-point with Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, as every episode was essentially the same. The group would be going somewhere and would stumble onto a mystery. From there, they would gather clues and then unmask the villain in a finale which typically made no sense. The villain's motivation was usually greed and everyone, even the authorities, allows took the odd proceedings in-stride. The animation was repetitive and often crude.

However, none of those elements can detract from the show's innate charm and magic. As someone who was destined to become a huge horror movie fan, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! planted the seeds of that love affair, as it presented me with a parade of monsters, some of which were quite scary at the time. Even today, it's easy to see how the infamous Green Ghosts, the glowing alien from "Spooky Space Kook", or the Ghost Clown could scare children. (Hell, that clown is still pretty scary.) Add to that the fact that Scooby-Doo could talk! Even today, I wish that I had a pet who could talk! That was coupled with a group of characters who were called upon to use logic and intellect to solve a problem, as opposed to the violence which was often displayed on other shows. (And, I'm sure that my young mind somehow comprehended the fact that these people never worked and found that aspect attractive as well.) Yes, the show comes off as dated today, especially when one looks at the fashions or music, but the magic that is Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! will always be dear to me, and these episodes show why Scooby is still popular 50 years later.