THE NEW SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY-DOO SHOW / THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES

THE NEW SCOOBY AND SCRAPPY-DOO SHOW / THE NEW SCOOBY-DOO MYSTERIES

(ABC, September 10, 1983-December 1, 1984)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Don Messick – Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Dada-Doo

Casey Kasem – Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

Heather North – Daphne Blake

For background information on Scooby-Doo, check out the post here.

            The sixth incarnation of the franchise decided to combine a little bit of what the series was currently doing with some of the classic elements it was known for.

Daphne's back and in charge!

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show saw a return to the mystery-solving format of the original incarnations; once again blending criminals in costumes with genuine supernatural entities. It was decided to bring Daphne Blake (Heather North) back to partner up with Shaggy (Casey Kasem), Scooby and Scrappy (both Don Messick). However, rather than being just mystery-solvers, they were given jobs as reporters for a teen magazine that led them to the locations of strange activity (a premise used in Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby clone, Goober and the Ghost Chasers). Daphne took on the leadership and deductive roles of the team, while Scrappy’s personality was altered to be a lot more balanced and exhibiting some common sense when it came to his desire to challenge a foe. This freed up Shaggy and Scooby to be the pure comic relief for the series.

Scooby does anything to catch a culprit.

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show debuted on ABC on September 10, 1983. The show was broken up into two story segments per episode, with the occasional episode where both segments were combined to form a single half-hour story. As this was the period when a lot of new talent was to be found at Hanna-Barbera, a lot of new humor was injected into the old format. There was especially an infusion of pop culture references as a number of stories and episode titles took inspiration from film and television shows such as Poltergeist, Tootsie, The Fall Guy and ABC’s own The Hound of the Baskervilles. The season was written by Peter Anderegg, Gene Ayres, Alan Burnett, Cynthia Friedlob, Robert Goldblatt, Charles M. Howell IV, Robert Lees, Glenn Leopold, Richard Merwin, Tom Reugger, Jeff Segal, John Semper, Mark Shiney and Marty Warner, with Reugger serving as story editor.

The combination seemed to have worked, as the show was renewed for a second season. They took that opportunity to reintroduce original characters Fred Jones (Frank Welker) and Velma Dinkley (Marla Frumkin, in her final portrayal of the character) after a 3-year absence. They became recurring characters, appearing in various episodes together or individually, with Fred having gained the occupation of a mystery writer and Velma becoming a NASA intern. The show was also renamed The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, complete with a new theme that replaced the original pastiche of prior Scooby themes using a more funky, upbeat one. Nothing else about the show was radically different. New writers for the season included George Atkins, Doug Booth, Paul Dini, Ray Parker and Jim Ryan. Hoyt Curtin served as the music supervisor.

Don't you hate when unexpected relatives drop by?

The series would be the last one for supervising producer Margaret Loesch, who would go on to head up Marvel Productions when the second season was hitting the airwaves. The rest of the crew would continue to try and revitalize Scooby and his format with the next incarnations. As for the show itself, “Wizards and Warlocks” was released onto the 1988 VHS Hanna-Barbera Personal Favorites: Scooby-Doo by Hanna-Barbera Home Video. Three of the half-hour episodes were released to VHS between 1996 and 1997 by Warner Home Video and Turner Home Entertainment: A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle, A Nutcracker Scoob, and Wedding Bell Boos. Beginning in 2012, episode segments were included in various compilation DVD sets, initially as part of the 13 Spooky Tales series with Ruh Roh Robot having the most at six segments. “The Scooby Coup” was included as a bonus feature in the direct-to-video movie Mask of the Blue Falcon. The entire first season had been made available for purchase on the iTunes Store under the title Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Season 5. 

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Scooby the Barbarian / No Sharking Zone” (9/10/83) – A group of Viking ghosts appears at the same time an archaeologist goes missing. / A great white shark and a seaweed monster disrupt a surface competition in their rumored duties of guarding an ancient treasure.

“Scoobygeist / The Quagmire Quake Caper” (9/10/83) – The gang spends the night in a haunted mansion. / The gang investigates a series of Mexican earthquakes that seems to have unleashed a mud monster.

“Hound of the Scoobyvilles / The Dinosaur Deception” (9/17/83) – Scooby is mistaken for a hound haunting Bakerville Hall in Scotland. / The gang tries to find an archaeologist that was kidnapped by a dinosaur.

“The Creature Came from Chem Lab / No Thanks, Masked Manx” (9/17/83) – Daphne’s cousin’s high school is haunted by a slimy chemical monster. / A costume party at Daphne’s parents’ house is targeted by a cat burglar.

“Scooby of the Jungle / Scooby-Doo and Cyclops, Too” (9/24/83) – The gang investigates missing animals from a game reserve. / The gang’s vacation is ruined when it’s revealed that people nearby are being turned into zombies.

“Scooby Roo / Scooby’s Gold Medal Gambit” (10/1/83) – The gang investigates a Neanderthal stealing sheep in Australia. / A criminal master of disguise escapes from prison and sets his sights on the medals of a sporting event.

“Wizards and Warlocks / Scoobsie” (10/8/83) – Scrappy leads the gang to find missing Wizards and Warlocks players. / Scooby is used as bait to lure out a phantom that kidnapped a soap opera star.

“The Mark of Scooby / The Crazy Carnival Caper” (10/15/83) – A play about a masked hero inspires Scooby to daydream about saving the others from tax collectors. / Shaggy and Daphne return to their old school to investigate the disappearance of a teacher.

“Scooby and the Minotaur / Scooby Pinch Hits” (10/29/83) – A group of treasure hunters looking for the Golden Fleece are scared away by a minotaur. / The gang investigates the ghost of a baseball player haunting his old stadium.

“The Fall Dog / The Scooby Couple” (11/5/83) – The gang ends up doing stunts for a movie being haunted by a gremlin. / The gang interviews a car maker at a car show about his new sports car, which ends up being haunted.

“Who’s Minding the Monster? / Scooby a la Mode” (11/26/83) – The gang replaces a short-circuiting Frankenstein as Dracula’s babysitters. / The ghost of a Paris catering school’s founder haunts the school.

“Where’s Scooby Doo?” (12/3/83) – The same time that a mummy appears on a train, Scooby disappears.

“Wedding Bell Boos!” (12/10/83) – The ghost of Shaggy’s ancestor objects to his sister’s wedding.

Season 2:

“Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo!” (9/8/84) – The gang goes to a television studio for a special about Scooby’s birthday.

“Scooby’s Peep-Hole Pandemonium / The Hand of Horror” (9/15/84) – The gang is hired to interview a recluse that lives with monstrous servants. / The gang ends up at a mansion being plagued by a disembodied hand.

“Scoo-Be or Not Scoo-Be? / The Stoney Glare Stare” (9/22/84) – If sea demons weren’t enough, the ghost of Hamlet appears at the gang’s hotel. / The gang joins forces with a secret agent to stop a villain from turning the world’s leaders into stone.

“Mission Un-Doo-Able / The Bee Team” (9/29/84) – The gang has to stop an evil mastermind from taking over the world. / The gang investigates giant bees haunting a honey farm.

“Doom Service / A Code in the Nose” (10/6/84) – The gang has to find out why a ghost is running guests out of a hotel. / The military hires the gang to find a decoding device stolen by a supervillain.

“Ghost of the Ancient Astronauts” (10/13/84) – The gang reunites with old friends to investigate ancient aliens.

“The Night of the Living Toys / South Pole Vault” (10/20/84) – The gang encounters a toy store where the toys really come to life. / The gang investigates a mad sea lion terrorizing the South Pole.

“A Halloween Hassle at Dracula’s Castle” (10/27/84) – The gang has to help a group of monsters fend off an evil magician and a ghost.

“A Night Louse at the White House” (11/3/84) – Ghosts of former Presidents crash the NASA banquet Velma attends at the White House.

“The ‘Dooby Dooby Doo’ Ado / Showboat Scooby” (11/10/84) – Scooby visits Dooby Doo in Las Vegas. / The gang tries to help keep a ghost away from Dixie Doo’s emerald necklace.

“Sherlock Doo” (11/17/84) – The gang heads to London to participate in a mystery-solvers’ contest.

“A Scary Duel with a Cartoon Ghoul / E*I*E*I*O” (11/24/84) – Mister Mutt emerges from the television to cause chaos in the real world. / A genetically modified field mouse becomes a 30-foot tall monster.

“The Nutcracker Scoob” (12/1/84) – A ghost haunts a children’s home that a scrooge wants for himself.