40TH ANNIVERSARIES

RICHARD ERDMAN DEAD AT 93

You can read the full story here. 

He voiced a pirate, the mayor and a man in “The Secret World of Og” episode of ABC Weekend Specials; a travel agent in an episode of The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo; an angry neighbor in an episode of Pound Puppies (1986); Mayor Rufus B. Pinfeathers and King Arty in two episodes of DuckTales (1987); and Elliot in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series. He also provided additional voices for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, Space Stars, Mork & Mindy/Laverne & Shirley/Fonz Hour, The Dukes, Galtar and the Golden Lance, Wildfire, The Smurfs, Yogi’s Treasure Hunt, Popeye and Son, The Flintstone Kids, The New Yogi Bear Show, Snorks, and The Pirates of Dark Water.  

 

 

BERNARD FOX DEAD AT 89

Actor Bernard Fox died on December 14th. You can read the full story here.

Best known as the enigmatic witch doctor Dr. Bombay on Bewitched (which had its reruns on Saturday mornings), Fox also played several roles in two episodes of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie, provided additional voices for Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, and appeared as Dr. Jinga-Janga in an episode of Pee-wee's Playhouse. 

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (SHORTS)

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (SHORTS)

(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. 

            The fifth incarnation of the franchise took a different approach. Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo aired as part of The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show hour-long programming block on ABC Saturday morning. This marked the first and only time Scooby would receive second billing in a program title. 

Following the slow downplay of the Mystery Inc. team and the mystery plots in general in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, the rest of the gang was eliminated and the old format dispensed of in favor of focusing exclusively on the antics of Scooby (Don Messick), Shaggy (Casey Kasem) and Scrappy (Messick, replacing Lennie Weinrib whose voice was felt didn’t fit the character) as they continued to travel around in the Mystery Machine. The episodes were made up of three 7-minute segments, as opposed to the original half-hour format. 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 was the mystery solving, villains in creepy costumes waiting to be unmasked, and even the Hanna-Barbera laugh-track that followed the franchise from its inception.

 

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!). 

Scrappy up for a fight.

Beginning late on November 8, 1980 following a voice actor’s strike, the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-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.

 

For the third season, 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 basically resembled 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 a greater focus placed on Shaggy and Scooby. 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 featured Scrappy teaming-up with a new Doo relative: Yabba-Doo (Messick). Yabba is the Scooby equivalent to Quick Draw McGraw who protected Tumbleweed County along with his owner, Deputy Dusty (Frank Welker).

The 50th Anniversary edition of the DVD.

When broadcast individually, the Scooby segments featured a modified version of The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo intro maintaining Weinrib’s Scrappy voice in his introduction but substituting the ending with the rest of the gang for an episode clip. The 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 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.

 

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 2020.

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO

(ABC, September 22, 1979-January 5, 1980)

Hanna-Barbera Productions

MAIN CAST:

Don Messick – Scooby-Doo

Lennie Weinrib – Scrappy-Doo, various

Casey Kasem – Norville “Shaggy” Rogers, various

Frank Welker – Fred Jones, various

Heather North – Daphne Blake

Pat Stevens (episodes 1-11) & Marla Frumkin (episodes 12-15) – Velma Dinkley

For the history of Scooby-Doo, check out this post here.

            By the time the fourth incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise rolled around on his tenth anniversary, the formula that made it so popular had begun to wear thin. Not only had there already been three previous Scooby programs, but an endless series of clones and twists on the concept produced by Hanna-Barbera and competitors to try and duplicate the magic. ABC, taking note of the declining ratings, constantly threatened to cancel the show every season, forcing Hanna-Barbera to insert a new element to keep things fresh each time.

Shaggy and Scooby terrified while Scrappy is ready to fight.

            Enter Scooby’s plucky new sidekick: his nephew Scrappy-Doo (Lennie Weinrib). Where Scooby (Don Messick) was cowardly, Scrappy was brave and headstrong, always ready to charge into a situation fists first (often to the point of needing to be saved from an impending threat because he wasn’t willing to recognize when it was too big for him to deal with) while shouting his battle cry “Tata-ta ta ta-ta, Puppy Power!” Scrappy would also attempt to set his own monster traps, usually resulting in his capturing Scooby and Shaggy (Casey Kasem) instead of his intended target. Scrappy would always push Scooby into situations he would rather run from, offering what he considered encouragement.

Scrappy carrying Scooby into danger.

The concept for Scrappy harkened back to Joe Ruby and Ken Spears’ initial ideas for Scooby before he evolved into the more well-known incarnation. Series writer Mark Evanier had stated that when rumors floated around about ABC executives being sold on ideas that were similar to classic Warner Bros. cartoons, he patterned Scrappy’s personality after such characters as Henry Hawk, Sylvester Jr., and Chester. That inspiration prompted Hanna-Barbera to approach Mel Blanc to assume the role, as he had played Henry, but he wanted too much money. Frank Welker was auditioned and even supplied them with the “Puppy Power” catchphrase. Although Messick was deemed the best audition by far, they decided that Weinrib had the voice they were looking for. 

"Enjoy that ice cream, guys. May be your last good meal in a long time!"

The character was not well-liked by fans to the point of constant ridicule, but the ratings managed to stabilize enough to have Scooby continue to be ABC’s schedule stopgap every season. While all the familiar characters were present on the show, the focus of the series began to shift heavily onto the comic relief of Scooby and Shaggy’s cowardice more than the spooky weekly mystery-solving. Gradually, the rest of Mystery, Inc. faded into the background of the stories to the point of irrelevance. In fact, the final episode featured only mere cameos of Fred (Welker), Daphne (Heather North) and Velma (Pat Stevens, who left for health reasons and was replaced by Marla Frumkin). Mystery, Inc. was dropped entirely as series regulars with the next incarnation of the show.          

The Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco.

Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo debuted on ABC on September 22, 1979. The villains of the show were heavily influenced by the culture of the time, with such spooks as the “Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco”. The series was written by Evanier with Glenn Leopold, Diane Duane, Willie Gilbert, Duane Poole, Tom Swale, David Villaire, Mark Jones, Bryce Malek and Bob Ogle. While maintaining the Hanna-Barbera laugh track, the series did feature an all-new musical score by Hoyt Curtin, finally retiring the score it had used since Where Are You! The theme song was a reworking of The New Scooby-Doo Movies theme. 

Scooby-Doo Goes Hollywood DVD cover.

            Before Stevens departed, she participated in a prime-time special with the rest of the cast called Scooby Goes Hollywood, produced at the same time as this series but omitting Scrappy. Shown December 13^th, 1979, the plot of the movie poked fun at the increasingly stale format of the Scooby franchise with Shaggy and Scooby desiring something new and better than their typical Saturday morning pratfalls and trying to make it big in Hollywood on prime-time TV. Ultimately, they’re convinced to return to Saturday mornings. Although the movie was made available on home video, the series has yet to be fully released on DVD. Seven episodes had been released as part of four compilations called Scooby-Doo! 13 Spooky Tales.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

“The Scarab Lives!” (9/22/79) – A cartoonist’s superhero, the Blue Scarab, comes to life as a villain and it’s up to the gang to stop him.

“The Night Ghoul of Wonderland” (9/29/79) – The gang treat Velma to a Sherlock Holmes mystery at an amusement park when the crime ends up being real.

“Strange Encounters of the Scooby Kind” (10/6/79) – Scooby, Shaggy and Scrappy are kidnapped by aliens, leaving the rest of the gang to save them.

“The Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco!” (10/13/79) – The gang help the owners of Sparklers Roller Disco by finding out what the Neon Phantom wants.

“Shiver and Shake, That Demon’s A Snake” (10/20/79) – While on vacation in the Florida Keys, Daphne buys an idol cursed by the Snake Demon the gang encounters.

“The Scary Sky Skeleton” (10/27/79) – Daphne’s friend, stunt pilot Wendy, is getting ready for an air show when the Sky Skeleton appears.

“The Demon of the Dugout” (11/3/79) – A demon interrupts the baseball game between the American team and the Japanese team for the Baseball Diamond.

“The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear” (11/10/79) – The gang stumble upon the legendary Devil Bear in the Grand Canyon.

“Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea” (11/17/79) – The sea beast of the Aztecs rises in Acapulco and scares away all the divers.

“I Left My Neck in San Francisco” (11/24/79) – A Vampiress that resembles Daphne stalks San Francisco, leading Shaggy, Scrappy and Scooby to think Daphne is the vampire.

“Where You Wish Upon a Star Creature” (12/1/79) – A Star Creature appears to frighten everyone away when the Green Hills observatory discovers a new star.

“The Ghoul, the Bat, and the Ugly” (12/8/79) – The gang attends the Batty Awards where the Shadow Creature destroys the best horror film of the year.

“Rocky Mountain Yiiiii!” (12/15/79) – The ghost of Jeramiah Pratt interrupts the gang’s ski weekend.

“The Sorcerer’s Menace” (12/22/79) – The ghost of the Great Haldayne is the prime suspect in the disappearance of the Black Pearl of Tonga Lei.

“Lock the Door, It’s Minotaur” (12/29/79) – The gang investigates why a minotaur is scaring everyone off the Greek island of Helos.

“The Ransom of Scooby Chief” (1/5/80) – While visiting Scrappy’s old neighborhood, Scooby and Shaggy end up kidnapped and it’s up to Scrappy and his friends to save them.

Originally posted in 2014. Updated in 2019.