45TH & 50TH ANNIVERSARIES

 Along with our anniversary, these shows are turning 45 & 50 this year!

LYNNE STEWART DEAD AT 78

 

You can read the full story here.

Best known as Miss Yvonne from various Pee-wee Herman productions, including Pee-wee’s Playhouse, she also played Shirley Feeney in Laverne & Shirley in the Army; Jessica Morganberry in Superman (1988); Violet in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series; Mona Lisa in an episode of The Tick (1994); and Kitty Grunewald in Life with Louie. She also provided voices for The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show and A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

TODAY IN SEPTEMBER 1982

   It's September, so that means new television season! These are the Saturday Morning schedules that debuted today in 1982 (ABC's actually debuted the following week).

JIM MacGEORGE DEAD AT 92

 

You can read the full story here.

He reprised his role as Oliver Hardy from Hanna-Barbera’s earlier animated series for The New Scooby-Doo Movies as well as additional voices, voiced Wimper in Clue Club, Crazy Claws in The Kwicky Koala Show, Bort in an episode of The Mighty Orbots, and Captain Horatio Huffenpuff in Beany and Cecil (1988). He also provided voices for The Funky Phantom, Yogi’s Gang, Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Yogi’s Space Race, The New Fred and Barney Show, Richie Rich, Foofur and The Smurfs.

40TH ANNIVERSARIES

SATURDAY MORNING MASTERS: CASEY KASEM

CASEY KASEM

(April 27, 1932-June 15, 2014)

Notable Roles: Robin/Dick Grayson, Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, Alexander Cabot III, Bluestreak, Cliffjumper

Born Kemal Amin “Casey” Kasem, he was inspired by the radio show Make Believe Ballroom to pursue a career in radio. His first job was covering sports at Northwestern High School in Detroit before voicing children characters on radio shows run by Wayne State University. In 1952, he was drafted into the Army and sent to Korea where he worked as a DJ/announcer on the Armed Forces Radio Korea Network. Following the war, Kasem returned to Michigan where he began his professional radio career; eventually winding up in California. While at KEWB in Oakland, Kasem served as both the music director and on-air personality. Inspired by a magazine he found in the trash, he created a show that mixed biographical tidbits about the artists and songs he played. Kasem’s career took off in 1963, starring in several low-budget movies and radio dramas, as well as hosting “dance hops” on local television. Those televised appearances attracted Dick Clark, who hired him as co-host of Shebang in 1964, which led to his appearing on other programs. Kasem’s vocal talents ended up driving him towards voice acting, which began with voicing Robin the Boy Wonder for Filmation’s The Adventures of Batman animated series. His breakout, and most well-known role was that of Shaggy Rogers in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! for Hanna-Barbera. He would reprise the role across several series and made-for-TV movies, briefly quitting the role in a dispute over Shaggy being featured in a Burger King commercial (Kasem was vegan and requested Shaggy be at least vegetarian), up until his eventual retirement from voice acting. Kasem also reprised the role of Robin for Hanna-Barbera’s Super Friends franchise. In 1970, Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs launched the weekly 3-hour radio program American Top 40. The show would count down the week’s 40 biggest hits—according to the Billboard Hot 100 weekly chart—in ascending order to the most popular song. Like his earlier radio show, Kasem included biographical information, trivia, flashbacks, long-distance dedication segments and often used the answer to a trivia question he posed as a hook to keep people tuned in over a commercial break. He would play himself hosting the countdown in a voice cameo role in the 1984 film Ghostbusters. In 1983, Kasem helped found the American Video Awards in the hopes that it would become the Oscars of music videos; but the show only lasted until 1987 (MTV would launch their own awards show in 1984, which is still going as of this writing). In 1988, Kasem left American Top 40 over a contract dispute with ABC Radio Network and started Casey’s Top 40 with Westwood One, as well as Casey’s Hot 20 and Casey’s Countdown. The shows were essentially the same despite their varying lengths, except he used the Radio & Records’ chart. However, when Top 40 was cancelled in 1995, he regained the rights in 1997 and relaunched the program the following year with Premiere Radio Networks, along with two spin-offs both named American Top 20 (one of them eventually being cut down to 10). Along with further television guest-starring roles and various commercials, Kasaem starred as Mark in Battle of the Planets and played several roles in Transformers; eventually leaving the latter when he felt it contained offensive caricatures of Arab countries. From 1989-98, he hosted Nick at Nite’s New Year’s Eve countdown of the top reruns of the year. Kasem retired from Top 40 in 2004, with Ryan Seacrest taking over the show, and in 2009, Premiere ended its partnership with Kasem, cancelling American Top 20 and Top 10. 2009 also found him retiring from regular voice acting; however, he did reprise the role of Shaggy for “The Official BBC Children in Need Medley” uncredited, and Shaggy’s father, Colton Rogers, in Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, also uncredited. In 2013, Kasem was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which left him unable to speak in his final months. He died in 2014. In 1981, Kasem was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1985, he was inducted into the Nation Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1992. He also received the Radio Hall of Fame’s first lifetime achievement award in 1997. In 2003, he was awarded the Radio Icon award at the Radio Music Awards.

Saturday Credits:

American Bandstand

The Batman/Superman Hour

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Sesame Street

Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

Super Friends

Hong Kong Phooey

Emergency +4

The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour

Dynomutt Dog Wonder

Wonderbug

Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics

What’s New Mr. Magoo?

The All-New Super Friends Hour

Yogi’s Space Race

Jana of the Jungle

Challenge of the Superfirends

The World’s Greatest Superfriends

The Plastic Man Comedy/Adventure Show

Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels

The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show

Richie Rich

Space Stars

The Gary Coleman Show

The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo

Superfriends

The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show

Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

Saved by the Bell

Histeria!

What’s New Scooby-Doo?

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!

SMF ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION (PART 6)

This weekend, we continue our 3 year anniversary celebration.

As we celebrate, we figured we'd also take the opportunity to celebrate the various other programs enjoying anniversaries this year (at least at an interval of 5). Some we've covered, some we'll get to covering sooner or later, but all of them represent Saturday morning. For this installment, we recognize those shows turning 35. Yeah, let that sink in--you first saw these programs 35 years ago.

Take a walk down memory lane with us, and feel free to share your memories in the comments, or over on our Facebook group or Facebook page, or on Twitter @SatMForever. We'd love to hear from you!

Now, without further ado, join us in celebrating...

NOTE: Not all intros available at this time.

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (1980)

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (1980)

(ABC, November 8, 1980-December 18, 1982)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions (season 3)

MAIN CAST:

Don Messick – Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Yabba-Doo (season 3)

Casey Kasem – Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

Frank Welker – Deputy Dusty (season 3), various

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

             ABC was on the verge of cancelling Scooby-Doo. The ratings just weren’t where they used to be. Hanna-Barbera needed to do something to convince the network to order another season. So, they created a new character and were able to sell them Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo. The ploy worked. Ratings improved.

Scrappy up for a fight.

As a result, the fifth incarnation of the franchise took a different approach. It was decided to jettison the mystery-solving formula and supporting characters the series had since its inception, and instead focus exclusively on the comedic antics of cowardly Scooby (Don Messick) and Shaggy (Casey Kasem), and the too-brave-for-his-own-good Scrappy (also Messick, replacing Lennie Weinrib after he asked for more money for the role). Stories were shortened from a full half-hour to 7-minute segments. Much like the theatrical shorts of yesteryear, the gang engaged in slapstick chase adventures through various fantastic settings--such as fairy tale spoofs and even the future--and encountered legitimately mystical and supernatural beings. Gone were villains in creepy costumes waiting to be unmasked (although there were still a couple). And even though mysteries weren’t part of the plan, the gang still rode around in the Mystery Machine.

 

A boy and his dogs on the road.

With Shaggy now the de facto leader, his cowardice was scaled back to levels equal to how he was represented in the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (he was always chicken, but had become profoundly more exaggerated as the series went on). Scooby became the new primary source of comedy with his cowardly reaction to situations. Scrappy also matured some as a character, shedding the naiveté he was depicted with in the prior show to be more knowledgeable of his actions. He was made more competent and able to tackle most of the threats they faced, backing up his claims of “Puppy Power!” However, Scrappy was usually pulled away from a conflict by the others before being able to prove that fact (can’t have imitable violence on a kid’s show, after all!). 

The new series was paired with new series Richie Rich, based on the Harvey Comics character, in an hour-long programming block called The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show; the first and only time Scooby would receive second-billing in a title. Beginning late on November 8, 1980 following a voice actor’s strike, the Scooby-Doo segments were interspersed with Richie Rich segments between them. The intro combined elements from Richie’s theme and a variation of The New Scooby-Doo Movies theme. The block’s intro was the only time the two franchises crossed over; with the gang seen around Richie’s mansion and even on his television. The series was written by Haskell Barking, Doug Booth, Larz Bourne, Dick Conway, Tom Dagenais, Tony DiMarco, Diane Duane, Mark Evanier, Willie Gilbert, Dave Ketchum, Glenn Leopold, Norman Maurer, Duane Poole, Dick Robbins, Dalton Sandifer, Tom Swale and David Villaire, with Poole, Swale and Ray Parker serving as story editors. The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin and Paul DeKorte.

 

After two seasons, the show was moved to a new programming block known as The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour. This was a joint venture between Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears Productions, who had created and produced The Puppy’s New Adventures that shared the block. Ruby-Spears was started by former Hanna-Barbera employees and Scooby-Doo creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and had been taken over by Hanna-Barbera’s parent company, Taft Broadcasting. Although Hanna-Barbera continued the pre-production and voice-over work on their series, Ruby-Spears handled the actual production for the entire program. As a result, some sound effects unique to Ruby-Spears found their way into the Scooby segments. Sandifer was joined by Paul Haggis, Gordon Kent, Elana Lesser, Cliff Ruby, Ron Sellz and Matt Uitz on writing duties.

The Fearless Detective Agency.

Two of the Scooby segments in each episode returned to the mystery format with Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy now working for Shaggy’s Uncle Fearless Shagaford’s detective agency. Fearless was basically an older version of Shaggy with a goatee. However, their occupation was intercut with typical teen adventures rather than being the strict focus. Scrappy’s presence was noticeably toned down in those segments, with Shaggy and Scooby being the main stars. Fearless was only seen in “Disappearing Car Caper,” being otherwise a muffled voice on the phone that generally seemed angry at Shaggy and the dogs. Three of the segments, “Maltese Mackerel,” “Stakeout at the Takeout,” and “Beauty Contest Caper”, made significant use of the retired original 1969 score. 

Deputy Dusty, Yabba-Doo and Scrappy fight crime in the West.

The third segment of each episode was Scrappy & Yabba-Doo. Scrappy moved out west to the town of Tumbleweed in Tumbleweed County to live with his uncle, new Doo relative Yabba-Doo (Messick). Yabba resembled Scooby, but had unkempt white fur, a hat and bandana, and a deep love of Chili Snacks; a spicier equivalent to Scooby Snacks. Yabba lived with his owner, the teenaged and cowardly Deputy Dusty (Frank Welker), and often had to take the lead protecting the town with Scrappy’s help.

Always imitated, never duplicated.

After three seasons, this incarnation came to an end for yet another format tweak. When the Scooby segments were broadcast independently of programming blocks, it did so by recycling the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo name and using a modified version of that series’ intro that largely eliminated the Mystery, Inc. gang. These segments were later repackaged and broadcast from 1984-85 as Scary Scooby Funnies, whose intro utilized some of the footage from the Richie Rich block opening, and as part of Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse from 1985-86. In 2024, retro animation network MeTV Toons began running reruns in rotation with other Scooby incarnations.

The 50th Anniversary edition of the DVD.

In 2008, the first seven episodes, including the Richie Rich segments, were released on The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: The Complete Series vol. 1 by Warner Home Video, later re-released as part of the Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection in 2017 and for Scooby’s 50^th anniversary in 2019. From 2012-2014, 21 different segments were released on the various 13 Spooky Tales compilation DVDs and as bonus content on Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon. The entire series was also made available for streaming through Amazon Prime and on YouTube by Warner Bros.s.

 

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“A Close Encounter with a Strange Kind / A Fit Night Out for Bats / The Chinese Food Factory” (11/8/80) – The gang is captured by aliens who want to study Earthlings. / A flat tire forces the gang to stay at a vampire-infested mansion. / The gang stumbles across a burglar while serving as factory watchmen.

“Scooby’s Desert Dilemma / The Old Cat and Mouse Game / Stowaways” (11/15/80) – An evil Arabian magician wants to practice on the gang. / The gang encounters a Cat Man and his evil felines in the Tibetan mountains. / The gang accidentally stowaway on a ship and have to avoid an angry first mate.

“Mummy’s the Word / Hang in There, Scooby / Stuntman Scooby” (11/22/80) – The gang encounters a mummy in the Sahara Desert. / Hang gliding sends the gang into trouble. / The gang ends up mistaken for movie stuntmen.

“Scooby’s Three Ding-A-Ling Circus / Scooby’s Fantastic Island / Long John Scrappy” (11/29/80) – The gang take a job at a circus. / A fishing trip leads to an island full of prehistoric creatures. / Scooby and Shaggy have to rescue Scrappy from a pirate.

“Scooby’s Bull Fright / Scooby Ghosts West / A Bungle in the Jungle” (12/6/80) – The gang take a turn at bullfighting. / The gang visit a ghost town with actual ghosts. / A butterfly hunt leads to danger in the jungle.

“Scooby’s Fun Zone / Swamp Witch / Sir Scooby and the Black Knight” (12/13/80) – Scrappy gets Scooby into a competition with a carnival strong man. / The gang ends up on the menu for a swamp witch. / Scooby meets a black knight in Scotland.

“Waxworld / Scooby in Wonderland / Scrappy’s Birthday” (12/20/80) – A wax museum’s owner wants to add the gang to his collection. / Scooby dreams he and Shaggy chase white rabbit Scrappy through Wonderland. / Scrappy’s birthday leads to revelations about his past.

“South Seas Scare / Scooby’s Swiss Miss / Alaskan King Coward” (12/27/80) – A fire god terrorizes the gang in Hawaii. / Scooby falls in love with a poodle and saves her from a bear. / The gang hunts for gold and end up finding an ice monster instead.

“Et Tu, Scoob? / Soggy Bog Scooby / Scooby Gumbo” (1/3/81) – A visit to the Colosseum yields lions and warriors. / A swamp monster interrupts the gang’s fishing trip. / A dog-hating cook chases the gang through Mardi Gras.

“Way Out Scooby / Strongman Scooby / Moonlight Madness” (1/10/81) – The gang visits Mars. / The gang decides to get in shape and joins a gym. / A visit to Shaggy’s ancestral home reveals he has the curse of a werewolf.

“Dog Tag Scooby / Scooby at the Center of the World / Scooby’s Trip to Ahz” (1/17/81) – The gang visits a military base and accidentally gets enlisted. / A visit to Carlsbad Caverns brings out monsters and other trouble. / Scooby dreams that he’s in Oz.

“A Fright at the Opera / Robot Ranch / Surprised Spies” (1/24/81) – The gang meets the Phantom of the Opera. / The master of a robot ranch wants to turn the gang into robots. / The FBI enlists the gang’s help on a case.

“The Invasion of the Scooby Snatchers / Scooby Dooby Guru / Scooby and the Bandit” (1/31/81) – Aliens clone the gang to kidnap a local TV station. / A guard and his tiger give chase to the gang at the Taj Mahal. / The gang ends up getting in trouble with a group of tough truckers.

Season 2:

“Scooby Nocchio / Lighthouse Keeper Scooby / Scooby’s Roots” (9/19/81) – Scooby dreams he’s in the world of Pinocchio. / The gang waits out a storm in a haunted lighthouse. / The gang investigates the haunting of Scooby’s family at their mansion.

“Scooby’s Escape from Atlantis / Excalibur Scooby / Scooby Saves the World” (9/26/81) – Scooby must save the others from a Centaur in Atlantis. / Scooby pulls out Excalibur and becomes England’s ruler. / The gang stops an alien invasion of Earth.

“Scooby Dooby Goo / Rickshaw Scooby / Scooby’s Luck of the Irish” (10/3/81) – Scrappy has to babysit when a steam bath turns Shaggy and Scooby into babies. / The gang encounters a dragon in China. / A leprechaun tortures the gang with the promise of a pot of gold.

“Backstage Scooby / Scooby’s House of Mystery / Sweet Dreams Scooby” (10/10/81) – The gang has to take over the show when Marvo the Magician disappears. / A witch needs one ingredient for her potion: dog tails. / Locked in a museum, the gang fantasizes about participating in historical events.

“Scooby-Doo 2000 / Punk Rock Scooby / Canine to Five” (10/17/81) – The gang travels to the future. / A Scrappy-looking alien tries to destroy Shaggy and Scooby whom he believes kidnapped Scrappy from his planet. / The gang takes a job with a doctor who is a werewolf.

“Hard Hat Scooby / Hothouse Scooby / Pigskin Scooby” (10/24/81) – The gang works on a vampire’s building. / The gang must flee from man-eating vegetables. / Scooby and Shaggy are in a football game playing against real monsters.

“Sopwith Scooby / Tenderbigfoot / Scooby and the Beanstalk” (10/31/81) – The gang competes against an evil Baron in an air show. / The gang meets Bigfoot. / The gang encounters a giant at the top of a beanstalk.

Season 3:

“Maltese Mackarel / Dumb Waiter Caper / Yabba Rustle Hustle” (9/25/82) – The gang has to deliver a Maltese Mackarel to a ship’s captain. / The gang tries to clear Bugsy Burton of a diamond theft. / Scrappy heads West to help Yabba-Doo and Deputy Dusty.

“Catfish Burglar Caper / Movie Monster Menace / Mine Your Own Business” (10/2/82) – The gang helps a Yacht Club solve a string of robberies. / A movie director turns his actors into real monsters. / Yabba fights with two brothers over a gold mine.

“Super Teen Shaggy / Basketball Bumblers / Tragic Magic” (10/9/82) – Shaggy thinks he’s a superhero. / The gang plays basketball against a cheating team. / A magic show serves as a diversion for a pair of bank robbers.

“Beauty Contest Caper / Stake-Out at the Take-Out / Runaway Scrappy” (10/16/82) – The gang must find missing beauty contest contestants. / The gang must find Fearless’ insurance company’s gold. / Scrappy runs away, believing Yabba and Dusty no longer care about him.

“Who’s Scooby-Doo? / Double Trouble Date / Slipper Dan the Escape Man” (10/23/82) – A machine switches Scooby and Shaggy’s bodies before it ends up stolen. / Shaggy accidentally makes two dates for the same night. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty track down an escape artist.

“Cable Car Caper / Muscle Trouble / Low-Down Showdown” (10/30/82) – Two stolen cable cars are used in a bank robbery. / The gang enters a dangerous sailboat race against Muscles Malone. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty pursue an escaped criminal.

“Comic Book Caper / Misfortune Teller / Vild Vest Vampire” (11/6/82) – The gang stops the theft of a rare comic book. / Scooby gives a bully some bad advice. / Count Zarko tries to turn the town into zombies.

“A Gem of a Case / From Bad to Curse / Tumbleweed Derby” (11/13/82) – Fingers Malone steals some jewels. / A gypsy queen hires the gang to retrieve her stolen amulet. / Dusty enters the crooked derby.

“Disappearing Car Caper / Scooby-Doo and Genie-Poo / Law & Disorder” (11/20/82) – The gang tries to stop a car thief who shrinks the cars to steal them. / Genie Jasmine and her dog Genie-Poo invite Scooby to Arabia. / Dusty is framed for a crime.

“Close Encounters of the Worst Kind / Captain Canine Caper / Alien Schmalien” (11/27/82) – The gang are part of an alien scavenger hunt. / The gang protects Captain Canine from a dogcatcher. / An alien is kidnapped and put into a circus the he must be rescued from.

“The Incredible Cat Lady Caper / Picnic Poopers / Go East Young Pardner” (12/4/82) – The gang is hired to stop a female cat burglar. / A bully and his dog ruin the gang’s picnic. / Yabba, Dusty and Scrappy go to New York for training.

“One Million Years Before Lunch / Where’s the Werewofl / Up a Crazy River” (12/11/82) – A time warp sends the gang into prehistoric times. / Scooby drinks a potion that turns him into a werewolf. / The town must be protected from pirates.

“Hoedown Showdown / Snow Job Too Small / Bride and Gloom” (12/18/82) – The gang ends up caught in a feud between Scooby’s family and the McGlurks. / The gang encounters an Abominable Snowman. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty must find a bride for Horrible Homer to save the town.

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2025.