''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

television series created by

Joe Ruby Joseph Clemens Ruby (March 30, 1933 – August 26, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer, and music editor. He was best known as the creator of the animated ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Ken Spears. In 1977, they c ...

and

Ken Spears Charles Kenneth Spears (March 12, 1938 – November 6, 2020) was an American animator, writer, television producer and sound editor. He was best known as a co-creator of the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise, together with Joe Ruby. In 1977, they co-found ...

and produced by Hanna-Barbera for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on September 13, 1969, and aired for two seasons until October 31, 1970. In 1978, a selection of episodes from the later series ''

Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics ''Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics'' is a two-hour Saturday morning animated program block produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on ABC from September 10, 1977, until October 28, 1978. The block featured five Hanna-Barbera series ...

'' and ''

The Scooby-Doo Show ''The Scooby-Doo Show'' is an American animated mystery comedy series. The title of the series is an umbrella term for episodes of the third incarnation of Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. A total of 40 episodes ran for three seasons, f ...

'' were aired on ABC under the ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' name, and they were released in a DVD set marketed as its third season. It also aired on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

in the UK from 1970 to 1973. The complete series is also available on the Boomerang, HBO Max, and Tubi streaming services. ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is the first incarnation of a long-running media franchise primarily consisting of animated series, several films, and related merchandise.

Overview

The show focuses on four teenagers

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Rod ...

Daphne Daphne (; ; el, Δάφνη, , ), a minor figure in Greek mythology, is a naiad, a variety of female nymph associated with fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of freshwater. There are several versions of the myth in whi ...

, Velma, and

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer * Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse * Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspor ...

, and their talking dog named

Scooby-Doo ''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...

, who travel in their van, named The Mystery Machine, bumping into and solving mysteries. Once solved, the group typically discovers that the perpetrator of the mystery is a disguised person who seeks to exploit a local legend or myth for personal gain.

Episodes

Voice cast

* Don Messick as

Casey Kasem Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably ''American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice No ...

Shaggy Rogers Norville "Shaggy" Rogers is a fictional character and one of the main characters in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. He is generally depicted as an amateur detective, cowardly, lazy, and the long-time best friend of his equally cowardly dog, Sco ...

* Frank Welker as Fred Jones * Stefanianna Christopherson as

Daphne Blake Daphne Blake is a fictional character in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Daphne, depicted as coming from a wealthy family, is noted for her beauty, orange hair, lavender heels, fashion sense, and her knack for getting into danger, hence the nick ...

(season 1) *

Heather North Heather May North (December 13, 1945 – November 29, 2017) was an American actress, best known for voicing Daphne Blake in the ''Scooby-Doo'' franchise. Early years North was born in Pasadena, California. Heather was close with actress and v ...

(seasons 2 and 3) * Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley (seasons 1 and 2) *

Pat Stevens Patricia Stevens (née Szczepaniak; September 16, 1945 – May 26, 2010) was an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her various nurse roles, particularly as Nurse Baker on ''M*A*S*H'' and her role as the second voice of the characte ...

as Velma Dinkley (season 3)

Production

Origin

''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' was the result of CBS and Hanna-Barbera's plans to create a non-violent Saturday morning program that would appease the parent watch groups that had protested the superhero-based programs of the mid-1960s. Originally titled ''Mysteries Five'' and later ''Who's Scared?'', ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' underwent a number of changes from script to screen (the most significant being the downplaying of a musical group angle). However, the basic concept—a group of teenagers and their dog solving supernatural-related mysteries—was always in place.

Writing

''Scooby-Doo'' creators

and

served as the story supervisors on the series.Shostak, Stu (05-02-2012).
Interview with Joe Ruby and Ken Spears
. ''Stu's Show''. Retrieved 03-18-2013. Ruby, Spears, and Bill Lutz wrote all of the scripts for the 17 first-season episodes, while Lutz, Larz Bourne, and Tom Dagenais wrote the eight second-season episodes with Ruby and Spears as story editors. The plot varied little from episode to episode. The main concept was as follows: # The gang is driving in the Mystery Machine, either returning from or going to a regular teenage function, when their van breaks down for any of a variety of reasons (overheating, flat tire, out of gas) in the immediate vicinity of a large mostly vacated property (ski lodge, hotel, factory, mansion). # Their unintended destination turns out to be suffering from a monster problem (ghosts, Yetis, vampires, witches, etc). The gang then volunteers to investigate the case. # The gang splits up to cover more ground, with Fred and Velma finding clues, Daphne finding danger, and Shaggy and Scooby finding food, fun and the ghost/monster, who chases them. # Eventually, enough clues are found to convince the gang that the ghost/monster is a fake. Fred then develops a much too complex trap to capture it (only for it to invariably go awry). Alternatively, the gang calls the local sheriff, only to get stopped by the villain half-way. # Eventually, the ghost/monster is apprehended and discovered to be disguised. Once unmasked, the ghost/monster turns out to be an unsuspected authority figure or otherwise innocuous local who is using the disguise to cover up something, such as a crime or a scam. # After giving the parting shot of "And I'd have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids", the offender is then taken away to jail and the gang is allowed to continue on the way to their destination.

Music

The second season featured

bubblegum Bubble gum or bubblegum is a type of chewing gum, designed to be inflated out of the mouth as a bubble. Bubble gum flavor While there is a bubble gum "flavor" – which various artificial flavorings including esters are mixed to obtain – it ...

"chase scene" songs produced by La La Productions (which had originally been contracted to create the

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

for ''

Josie and the Pussycats Josie and the Pussycats (sometimes simply known as The Pussycats) are a fictional girl group A girl group is a music act featuring several female singers who generally harmonize together. The term "girl group" is also used in a narrower sense i ...

'', the first of many animated series made from the same mold as ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!''). These songs were written by Danny Janssen and Austin Roberts, and were performed by Roberts, who also made a new recording of the ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' theme song for the second season. The series' theme song has been covered by several subsequent artists, including

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

for the 1995 TV special and album '' Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits'';

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

for the 1998 film ''

Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island ''Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island'' is a 1998 American direct-to-video animated mystery comedy horror film based on Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday-morning cartoons. In the film, Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma, and Daphne reunite after a year-l ...

'';

Billy Ray Cyrus Billy Ray Cyrus (born August 25, 1961) is an American country singer and actor. He has released 16 studio albums and 53 singles since 1992, and is known for his hit single "Achy Breaky Heart", which topped the U.S. Hot Country Songs chart and ...

for ''

Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost ''Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost'' is a 1999 American direct-to-video animated supernatural horror comedy film, and the second of the direct-to-video films based upon Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. It was produced b ...

'' (1999); Jennifer Love Hewitt for ''

Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders ''Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders'' is a 2000 American direct-to-video animated science fiction romantic comedy mystery film. It is the third direct-to-video film based on ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. The film was produced by Hanna ...

'' (2000);

the B-52's The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...

( Cindy,

Kate Kate name may refer to: People and fictional characters * Kate (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Gyula Káté (born 1982), Hungarian amateur boxer * Lauren Kate (born 1981), American autho ...

and

) for ''

Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase ''Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase'' is a 2001 American direct-to-video animated science fiction comedy mystery film, and the fourth in a series of direct-to-video animated films based on Hanna-Barbera's ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. It ...

'' (2001);

MxPx MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead gu ...

for the live-action ''

'' film (2002); Krystal Harris for ''

Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire ''Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire'' is a 2003 American direct-to-video animated adventure film, and the fifth in a series of direct-to-video films based upon the ''Scooby-Doo'' Saturday morning cartoons. It was completed in 2002, and re ...

'' (2003); and

Best Coast Best Coast is an American rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 2009. The band consists of songwriter, guitarist and vocalist Bethany Cosentino and guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Bobb Bruno. Cosentino, a former child actress, began ...

for ''

Scoob! ''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical'' Scooby-Doo'' film series and the third theatrical film b ...

'' (2020). ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' utilized a

laugh track A laugh track (or laughter track) is a separate soundtrack for a recorded comedy show containing the sound of audience laughter. In some productions, the laughter is a live audience response instead; in the United States, where it is most common ...

, a common feature in most animated TV series until the late 1970s. It was removed for

syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...

in the 1980s. Following Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera and its networks' ( TBS,

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

and Cartoon Network) initial broadcast of the series in 1994, the laugh track was reinstated in 1997.

Home media

On June 4, 2002,

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Inc. (formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the home video distribution division of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1978 as WCI Home Vide ...

released four episodes from the series on a compilation DVD in Region 1 entitled ''Scooby-Doo's Creepiest Capers''. They later released all 25 episodes on DVD in Region 1 on March 16, 2004 under the title ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete First and Second Seasons''. A DVD entitled ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete Third Season'' was released on April 10, 2007, made up of episodes produced in 1978, added to the '' Scooby's All-Stars'' package, and later syndicated as part of ''

''. On November 9, 2010, Warner Home Video released ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!: The Complete Series''. The eight-disc set features all 25 episodes of the series plus the 16 episodes produced in 1978 which aired as part of ''Scooby's All-Stars''. The set is encased in special collectible packaging in the form of a Mystery Machine replica. It also features a special bonus disc filled with new and archival material. The set was re-released on November 13, 2012. A

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

version of the ''Complete Series'' was released on September 3, 2019, for the series' 50th anniversary. Starting on January 27, 2009, Warner Home Video released single-disc DVDs with four episodes each, plus an episode from ''Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue''. Four volumes have been released through October 19, 2010.

Reception

''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' was a hit for Hanna-Barbera and CBS, which led Hanna-Barbera to eventually create series with similar concepts on ABC, NBC, and CBS, including, ''

'', ''

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show ''The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions that originally aired for one season on CBS Saturday morning from September 11, 1971, to January 1, 1972. With an ensemble voice ...

'', The ''Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm'' segments on ''

The Flintstone Comedy Show ''The Flintstone Comedy Show'' is an American animated television series revival and spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980 to October 24, 1981. Outside North America, the show was rele ...

'', ''

The Funky Phantom ''The Funky Phantom'' is an animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, in association with Australian production company Air Programs International for the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The show was a clone of Hanna ...

'', ''

Speed Buggy ''Speed Buggy'' is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on CBS from September 8, 1973, to December 22, 1973. With the voices of Mel Blanc, Michael Bell, Arlene Golonka, and P ...

'', '' Jeannie'', ''

Jabberjaw ''Jabberjaw'' is an American animated television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired 16 original episodes on ABC from September 11 to December 18, 1976. Reruns continued on ABC until September 3 ...

'', ''

The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan ''The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''The Amazing Chan Clan'') is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, animated by Eric Porter Studios in Australia and broadcast on CBS from S ...

'', ''

Inch High Private Eye ''Inch High, Private Eye'' is a short-lived American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 8, to December 1, 1973. The character was modeled after Maxwell Smart, the main character ...

'', ''

Goober and the Ghost Chasers ''Goober and the Ghost Chasers'' is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, broadcast on ABC from September 8, 1973, to August 30, 1975. A total of 16 half-hour episodes of ''Goober and the Ghost Chasers'' were prod ...

'', ''

Clue Club ''Clue Club'' is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on CBS from September 4 to December 11, 1976. Overview The series follows a group of four teenage detectives, the Clue Club – Larry, Pe ...

'', ''

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels ''Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels'' is an American animated mystery comedy series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions for ABC. The series aired during the network's Saturday morning schedule from S ...

'', ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids'' is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 8, 1973, to December 1, 1973. The series title is a play on the name of the unrela ...

'', and ''

The New Shmoo ''The New Shmoo'' is an American animated television series based on the character from the ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip created by Al Capp, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1979 to November 15, 1980. ' ...

''. In 2005, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' came 49th in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''100 Greatest Cartoons'', in the UK, and was more recently voted the 8th greatest ''Kids' TV Show'' by viewers of the same channel. It was ranked the 24th greatest cartoon on

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

's ''Top 100 Animated Series''.

References

External links

Official Scooby-Doo website
* *
Cartoon Network: Dept. of Cartoons: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!
��cached copy from Internet Archive

The Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featur ...

{{Portal bar, Television, United States, 1960s, Cartoon 1960s American animated television series 1969 American television series debuts 1970s American animated television series 1978 American television series endings 1960s American mystery television series 1970s American mystery television series 1960s American horror comedy television series 1970s American horror comedy television series Yeti in fiction CBS original programming American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Scooby-Doo television series Television series by Hanna-Barbera Television series by Warner Bros. Television Studios American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated horror television series American children's animated mystery television series Animated television series about teenagers Television series created by Joe Ruby Television series created by Ken Spears

Overview

Episodes

Voice cast

Production

Origin

Writing

Music

Home media

Reception

See also

References

External links