Saturday Morning Memories: The Scooby Formula

Martinex1:  A few years ago our illustrious hosts Karen and Doug launched a series of posts titled Saturday Morning Memories, and they generated some of my favorite conversations here at the BAB site.   The period in which cartoons covered the sixth-day A.M. airwaves is unfortunately gone and gradually being lost to hazy memory. It is an inherently nostalgic time to reminisce about as it encourages memories of old television sets, fuzzy pajamas, bowls of cereal, and bartering siblings.   There was a sheer joy to waking up first and quietly tuning in as the "big people" slumbered.  Today I'd like to continue a bit of the tradition by sharing some details, intricacies, and perspectives about a particular cartoon genre (Scooby-Doo copycats);  in the coming months I hope to be back with more thoughts about Saturday mornings.    

One of the huge successes that originated in that era is of course the Scooby-Doo franchise.   Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears ignited a trend in television when their Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! cartoon landed on the CBS morning schedule in 1969.   The Hanna-Barbera production was originally designed to emulate the Filmation success The Archie Show that aired the previous year.  The new show was originally going to be called "Mysteries Five" and follow the adventures of a band and their sheepdog (very much in the vein of the Archies). 

During the push and pull of development, the gang of Shaggy, Fred, Velma, Daphne and Scooby slowly morphed into what we are more familiar.  The musician aspect wasn't the only thing left behind as Scooby-Doo (first conceived to have the name "Too Much") became a Great Dane.   The title also went through a couple of revisions including Who's S-s-scared? before resting on Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!  It makes a bit more sense now why the group is always traveling in their van the Mystery Machine, as they were originally I speculate a touring rock band.  The formula of the show was really quite simple:  the van breaks down or is stopped for some reason; the gang is left in an abandoned or creepy locale; the area is victim to a  ghoul, creature or ghost; the group offers help to investigate; comedy and scares ensue; a trap is set but fails; the team captures the villain through luck or contrivance; and we get the "If not for you meddling kids..." line as the antagonist is unmasked and the mystery is solved.  

The show generated not only some great dark visuals for Saturday morning fare, but also added to the cultural language with sayings like, "Zoinks!", "Jinkies!", and "My glasses.  I cannot see without my glasses!"


Most people know that Casey Kasem was the voice of Shaggy, but here are a couple of trivia questions for you:  What was the name of Scooby's brother? *(See below).   And a much harder question:  Do you know the main characters' full names? **(Also see below).  

But that is not really where it ends, because the show itself spawned a gaggle of copies.   The success of this initial short-lived series caused Hanna-Barbera to mimic its own formula and roll out some of my favorite cartoons.   Along with The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972), a number of other similar (but sometimes obscure) toons arrived.  Now, not all of these shows are exact replicas of the Scooby line, but they held some strikingly familiar characteristics and concepts.   There were various permutations of:  bands of teenagers (sometimes literally in a band much like the original concept), a communicative pet (sometimes replaced by a personified pal), mysteries to solve, villains to expose, spooky locales, snazzy vehicles, and catchy theme songs.    See if you agree and recognize some type of pattern in these Hanna-Barbera Productions. 

Josie and the Pussycats (1970) Joe Ruby and Ken Spears were involved in the development of this one as well.   It was of course based on the Dan DeCarlo designed Archie comic, but the TV program owed quite a lot to the Scooby style.   Josie, Valerie, Melody, Alexander, Alexandra, Alan and their cat Sebastian worked as musicians and also solved mysteries.  Weekly they were chased by an antagonist to one of their catchy beats.  The next year they also went into space doing much the same.   An interesting side note: Cheryl Ladd of Charlie's Angels fame was the singing voice for Melody; she was also originally supposed to appear in a live-action sequence of the band that unfortunately never occurred. 

Funky Phantom (1971) followed smart-as-a-whip Skip, beautiful April, and strong Augie along with their bulldog Elmo as they traveled through New England in their Looney Duney dune buggy.   They set a spooky grandfather clock to midnight and the titular ghost John Wellington "Mudsy" Muddlemore and his cat Boo arrive.   The two were trapped in the clock when they hid during a Revolutionary War battle.   And now this "real" phantom helps the team solve crimes.   Daws Butler handled the voice of Mudsy, in a nearly identical Snagglepuss drawl.  And Monkee Mickey Dolenz voiced Skip Gilroy.   There was even a Gold Key comic based on the series!

Goober and the Ghost Chasers (1973) ran for 16 episodes as Ted, Tina, and Gil joined their dog Goober in the exploration of the paranormal.   With their trusty apparition kit  they worked to determine if ghosts are real or not.   Like in Funky Phantom, some of these ghosts were "real".  Goober turned invisible leaving just a hat and collar behind whenever he was scared.   And the Partridge Family kids guest-starred in half of the episodes for some reason.    My favorite title during the run was "Old McDonald Had a Ghost - EI EI EEYOW!"

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kids (1973) Butch, Steffy, Merilee, Wally and his dog Elvis were a band by day and crime fighters when the need arose.   Mickey Dolenz voiced Wally the drummer in this one as well. 

Speed Buggy (1973) replaced the talking dog with a talking car.  Dune buggies sure were popular back then!  The kids this time were Tinker, Mark, and Debbie (Tinker had a definite Shaggy vibe going on).  It had a great opening tune and a Charlton comic book as well. Speed Buggy was voiced by Mel Blanc.   And the team actually guest-starred in The New Scooby-Doo Movies' episode titled "Weird Winds of Winona."

Jabberjaw (1976) is another Ruby/Spears brainchild.   Following the success of Jaws, what could be better than kids hanging out with a shark in an underwater city in 2076 AD?  This time the shark is even in the band as the drummer of The Neptunes, along with his friends, the handsome Biff, attractive Shelly, ditzy Bubbles, and happy Clamhead (again very Shaggy-like).   Jabberjaw had traits that were a combination of Curly Howard and Rodney Dangerfield.

Dynomutt in the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (1976) of course teamed with super-hero the Blue Falcon instead of a team of teenagers, but he did interact with the Scooby gang themselves occasionally to fight villains like Mr. Hyde.   Hey comics fans, watch for the episode where Dynomutt takes on an Injustice League featuring the likes of Fishface,  Queen Hornet,  and Superthug. 

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels (1977) The crazy caveman voiced by Mel Blanc teamed with Brenda, Dee Dee, and Taffy in their adventures as they tooled around the countryside in a crazy van solving crimes.   They also interacted with many of the others on this list in the Laff-A-Lympics. 

So there you have it; that's my theory and I am sticking to it!   Hanna-Barbera had a huge influence on the Saturday morning landscape and they created a pattern of crime fighting, ghost bashing teens and their funny sidekicks after the success of Scooby-Doo.  The Archies also had a big impact.    If you don't believe there is a pattern - just check out how many male characters wear ascots! What do you think?   Do you remember these shows?   Are there others you think fall into this genre?  How about the New Schmoo?  Or do you think I stretched the pattern? 



So rub the sleep from your eyes and grab a bowl of Freakies, I will see you next time in the Saturday A.M on the BAB!


TRIVIA ANSWERS:  *Scooby's brother was Yabba-Doo, a white Great Dane who was extremely brave.  **The full names of the gang were Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.  I shouldn't sign off without giving credit to artist Iwao Takamoto for the design of the Scooby characters.