Scooby-Doo: The 50 Year Series Retrospective

9/13/2019

I can't believe today is the day! Scooby has been on the airwaves a full 50 years, and has aired a plethora of series. To celebrate the day, I want to give my definitive ranking of the all the series we've gotten in the past 50 years, from worst to best.

The Richie Rich / Scooby-Doo Show and The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour are both tied the worst series, in my opinion. 7 minutes just isn't long enough for this series, and doesn't do it justice. We get sort of rushed comedy romps, and the mystery element is completely taken out the series. Don't get me wrong, on occasion I'll watch these and sort of enjoy them, but they're certainly not my go-to Scooby-Doo series and I don't watch them more than once every few years.

I don't even know if it's really fair to rank this series on the same level as other Scooby series, because it really just is another comedy-focused romp. It's nothing like classic Scooby, and while enjoyable, again, I wouldn't go to these as a "can't wait to watch" series. It's certainly cute, but not the best series by any stretch of the imagination.

The one thing I always tell people who haven't seen Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue! is that it's a good, funny show, but if you're expecting the classic Scooby formula, it's going to be terrible. Fred, Velma and Daphne are gone, and the series exclusively focuses on Shaggy and Scooby trying to stop the evil Dr. Phibes from dominating the world. Dr. Phibes and his agents, especially Agent 2 are pretty funny. Two of the later episodes, "Super Scary Movie Night" and "Runaway Robi" were awesome, the former because of the horror elements and the latter because of the comedy. It's been easily seven years since I've seen this show though, so I'm not sure if it holds up anymore.

The Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show is next on the list. I don't think this series is too dissimilar from The Scooby-Doo Show, except for the fact that Scrappy's here. In all honesty, Scrappy's voice is annoying here and his personality is beyond overbearing, which makes this not quite as enjoyable for me to watch as some of the later Scrappy series.

I liked The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show much more than the 7 minute ones, despite that they're only about 4 minutes longer. The addition of Daphne is what the show needed, in my opinion, and she provides a little grounding to an otherwise zany show. The mysteries coming back was also a great touch.

The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries is basically the exact same series and rationale as the above one, with the bonus of Fred and Velma appearing in a few episodes!

Though I know quite a few people don't enjoy A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, I really like it. It has a lot of quirky humor, and quite honestly I love shows that have their own distinct style to them. The monsters were pretty silly, as were the kid versions of the gang, but this was a really fun series regardless.

Some of you might be surprised by this, but I'm gonna place Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? here. It's also inadvertently a nice transition from the last, where I was talking about distinct style. From what we've seen so far, this show has no distinct style. It's purely basing itself on nostalgia, and while some episodes are entertaining, the show doesn't seem to have gathered itself much of an identity beyond just taking elements from old shows and playing on people's nostalgia.

The Scooby-Doo Show was a cool series which had some genuinely dark plots, particularly in season 2. The contrast here is nice between the guest stars in The New Scooby-Doo Movies. I also liked us getting to know the gang's families more here, and of course, Scooby-Dum and Scooby-Dee!

What's New, Scooby-Doo? gives us an update on the classic series we all fell in love with, but with its own unique identity unlike Guess Who. The monsters were also some of the coolest we've seen in a long time, compared to the preceding A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo was hands down the best Scrappy series, and I'm sure many of you are surprised how high I'm putting this one (I'll probably be surprised when re-reading this article in a year, haha). I think though this show had a bit of an identity crisis, the mix of comedy and horror certainly made for an interesting, unique and quirky series that was enjoyable. The premise is also awesome, particularly in contrast to the ghosts always being fake previously. Some of the 13 ghosts' designs were genuinely pretty creepy as well!

Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! gets such a bad rep because of the animation, but the clever and absurdist humor in here is what brings this so high for me. The writing is just all-around amazing, and it's hard not to love this series once you give it a chance.

Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated's overarching plot, cleverly placed Easter eggs, and more dark/mature tone is what makes this series rise up to the top 3 for me. Plainly stated, it's an awesome series that does everything (besides the relationship drama) amazingly and is a must-watch for any Scooby fan.

Call me crazy, but I have some serious nostalgia around The New Scooby-Doo Movies. I grew up watching reruns of this series, and I liked all the guest stars and the very fluid tone to this show. I'm sure this is nostalgia talking, but this is my second favorite series of the franchise.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? is the series that started it all, and we're still getting new series based on this 50 years later...what more needs to be said haha?

I hope you enjoyed this article, and happy 50 years to Scooby! I'd be interested to know if people agree with this ranking, so let me know in the comments if you have an opinion.

If anyone's doing anything super awesome to celebrate, let us know in the comments below! :)

36 Comments

Greybishop

9/13/2019 11:44:53 am

You sure put the work in for the anniversary!

While my rankings would be pretty different, kudos for taking the time and making the effort.

I know I'm not alone in being grateful to you for hosting such a comprehensive Scooby site! I hope you are around to celebrate Scooby's 100th!

WildwindVampire link

9/13/2019 12:47:54 pm

Thank you!!! More fan spotlights to come even though the anniversary is done after today, and we have a bunch of really good ones coming up!

What are your rankings?

Greybishop

9/13/2019 10:19:11 pm

I really had to think about this. Pretty much everything below the top 6 are versions of Scooby I'm only a fan of because they're Scooby. Scooby takes "meh" cartoon stuff and makes it a bit magical by his presence. The top 6 just rock though.

And this is my opinion as I sit in my living room today. Tomorrow you might get different answers. Opinions are like culture. They change with time and that's as it should be.

16. Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics
Even as a kid I didn't much like this one. And seriously, just one time they could have had the Really Rottens win. Just once!

15. Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show
I don't think this ever aired in Canada. When I bought the dvd set none of it rang a bell. Nothing special and most of the Richie Rich stuff was pure awful.

14. The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo Puppy Hour
All the Scrappy stuff irritates me to one degree or another. Scrappy might actually be a fine addition to the show if they'd just voice him less "nails on chalkboard while banging on pots and pans with a wooden spoon inside my head".

13. The Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo Show
See above.

12. The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show
Daphne helps but not much.

11. The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries
See above.

10. The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo
I prefer my Scooby to be supernatural and Scrappy free. If not for Vincent Price this one would be MUCH lower on the list.

09. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
It is what it is and there are some mildly clever gags buried in the noise. Thankfully, this is the last of the shows on my "If this wasn't Scooby I wouldn't watch" list.

08. Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!
Despite Scott Menville's grating performance as Shaggy, this one actually works pretty well as a Get Smart version of the characters. The addition of Casey Kasem also lifts it higher on the list. Genuinely funny at times, it works despite the weird character design and total departure from the regular formula.

07. The New Scooby-Doo Movies
Many of these suffer from woodenly acted guest parts and dragging plots but they are beautiful snapshots of pop culture in the mid-70s. The only thing missing is a Scooby-Doo meets ABBA episode to put a bow on it. Wooden acting plus thick Swedish accents in a Scooby cartoon set in a roller rink would have been GOLD. Opportunity missed there.

06. Scooby-Doo and Guess Who?
This one has the potential to be a less draggy snapshot of our current pop culture. With luck they'll smooth out the rough spots. It already looks very nice, the regular cast has a great handle on their characters and the shorter episodes either work at a better, snappier pace than TNSDMs or at least minimize the damage a lame guest does.

05. The Scooby-Doo Show
Not a lot changed in this first real sequel to the original show and concept. It generally works very well and may even have made up more of my Saturday mornings than the original.

04. Be Cool, Scooby-Doo!
The weird, simplistic design and offbeat humour were at first off-putting but the writing and voice acting really sing and we got some of the best Scooby episodes EVER in this one. On second and third viewing it just gets stronger.

03. Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated
If you'd pitched me a season long Scooby Mystery when I was a kid I would have squealed with delight. If you'd told me I could watch them one after another on something called DVD I would have dragged the fridge into the family room, hauled a mattress down from my bedroom, built a couch cushion fort and settled in for the long haul.
Note to self: Put the fridge back in the kitchen tomorrow morning.

02. What's New Scooby-Doo?
The true heir to the original, this one gave us pretty much everything the original did but in a prettier, slicker package. Some of the designs (oh, wherefore art thou, ascot?) were a bit TOO slick but there's not much to find fault with in this one.

01. Scooby-Doo, Where Are you!
Original Coke, Try as they might, nobody can improve on the original formula. Sometimes it's nice to have a Cherry Coke, New Coke wasn't bad, a Coke float is a tasty treat and rum and Coke is a nice adult way to indulge but nothing, NOTHING, tastes quite as good as the original.

Inspired by you, I hope you don't mind that I'm posting this list at my own blog. It is Scooby's 50th after all!

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:42:52 am

I don't mind at all. I agree with all your rankings, though did you hate Don Messick's Scrappy voice. As Messick voiced him in Puppy Hour and I thought it was far better than the original series.

Greybishop

9/14/2019 11:28:02 am

Messick's Scrappy is probably less irritating but not enough that I'm opening a Scrappy fan site any time soon. I get that some folks really love Scrappy and that's great and that opinion is at least as valid as mine. Fact is, I fall on the other side of that fence and while it doesn't stop me from enjoying the Scrappy included shows, I will always prefer Scooby-Doo when he's Scrappy free.

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 03:25:24 pm

Agreed, Scrappy is nowhere near my favorite character, but towards the end of his appearances (in the shows Daphne was in and the 80s films) I sort of enjoyed him. At least far more than the irritating Lennie Weinrib voice he had in 1979-1980.

Stephen Cribb

9/13/2019 12:56:18 pm

I agree with your list on the most part. 45 mins is about right for the correct story. I wish that some of these direct to dvd films would sometimes be 45 mins because they tend to run out of steam after he half way mark. The new Scooby doo movies is a fantastic series.

Being 7pm in the uk, I’ve already
Watched the first ever episode, with it being a full moon tonight also adds to the gravitas of the episode as the knights armour needs a full moon!! I’m just about to put on camp scare because of its inspiration from the Friday 13th franchise.

WildwindVampire link

9/13/2019 02:15:47 pm

Agreed, some of the more recent DTVs (Phantosaur especially comes to mind) seem to just drop off a cliff after the 45 min mark. That's so cool about the full moon thing, didn't even think of that! And very cool choices for your marathon. I'm watching the first eps of Where Are You (1-9) then Mystery Begins and the new Guess Who ep with Kenan Thompson.

Samuel Kirkwood

9/13/2019 01:49:12 pm

It started as expected but as I went through I started to see more and more surprises. Anyway here's my list:

1. Scooby doo Where Are You
2. Scooby Doo MI
3. What's New Scooby Doo
4. Be Cool Scooby Doo
5. The Scooby Doo Show
6. The New Scooby Doo Movies
7. 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo
8. Guess Who
9. Scooby Scrappy 1
10. Scooby Scrappy 3
11. Pup named Scooby
12. Get A Clue
13. Laff A lympics
14. Scooby Scrappy 2
14.

WildwindVampire link

9/13/2019 02:14:10 pm

Yeah, as I said in the post I'll probably be surprised at myself for ranking 13 Ghosts so high in a year or so haha. I'm surprised you put Pup below 2 of the Scrappys, but then again you could probably say the same about some of my answers haha.

Samuel Kirkwood

9/13/2019 02:36:07 pm

It was a tough one, but pup lost a lot of points for just being to overly simplified and seemed to be directed at kids almost of pre-school age. Fred was also quite annoying and idiotic in that series. it had its good points but when you knew who the villain was after 2 minutes, it quickly lost its charm. As for 13 ghosts that was quite a surprise.

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:41:06 am

I just finished watching/rediscovering 13 Ghosts for the anniversary so I'm sure it's a bit artificially inflated here. Makes sense about Pup, though I think it had its charm IMO.

Becker

9/13/2019 02:50:04 pm

I'm going by the Wikipedia list of Scooby shows, but I won't include the Laff-A-Lympics, cuz it's more of a HB crossover show than a Scooby show.
My ranking:
13) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 2 (1980-1982)
12) Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006-2008)
11) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 1 (1979-1980)
10) Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)
9) Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2019-)
8) A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988-1991)
7) The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-1973)
6) The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)
5) The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show/The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1983-1984)
4) Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015-2018)
3) What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006)
2) Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)
1) The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-1978)

Yup, very controversial list lol. The Scooby-Doo is extremely subjective, that's for sure. But keep in my I don't necessarily hate any of these series. I can even have some fun with the bottom two.
Also, since you ranked the shows, will you rank the Scooby movies and/or the specials this month, too? Well, there's 42 movies (with the live-action ones and Scooby Goes Hollywood, even though some consider it a special rather than a film), so that list would be very hard to make. But then there's only 10 specials, which is way easier.

Becker

9/13/2019 02:54:53 pm

I meant the Scooby franchise in general is subjective, and keep in mind.

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:47:15 am

I'm not horribly surprised by anything on your list besides SDMI being so low, but I know that series wasn't for everyone. The romance was super annoying IMO.

Scooby dooby Doo

9/13/2019 03:41:27 pm

My favorites are:
-Scooby doo where are you?
-What´s new Scooby doo? and
-Scooby doo mystery incorporated.

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:43:34 am

Those three are definitely classics!

Thomas Allen Holste

9/13/2019 06:20:45 pm

Great list! I'm much too tired to make a list of my own today, but since it's the official day, I had to stop by and say: Happy 50th birthday, Scooby-Doo!! :D

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:39:30 am

Thanks! Happy 50th Scooby!

THOMAS HOLSTE link

9/14/2019 10:03:10 am

Also, I wrote a little blog post about the show's 50 anniversary, if I may humbly share it with the group:

https://tomholste.wordpress.com/2019/09/14/zoinks-scooby-turns-50/

WildwindVampire link

9/14/2019 10:46:24 am

Nice post! I commented on it :)

IkeDaKil

9/22/2019 09:38:52 am

I know im a little late, but it really isn't too late to get my opinions

1. my favorite is scooby doo where are you because it is the original, nothing could beat that, I have heard some people say it is too old of a show but come on! Have you not seen the amazing original villians those are what makes this come to number one!

2. the new scooby doo movies, I remember when I was a kid and I really hated this series because it was like 40 - 50 minutes and I got really impatient, but now I realized I had it all wrong, it was a good series and it really brang back to my childhood and now I have it another chance and boy I could not stop watching it

3. Scooby doo mystery incorperated - I loved this show, when I was sick and I could not go to school I remember just binge watching this series for the whole day. Some people say they hated the romance but I honestly thought it builded up all the characters and we got too see Fred butchering trying to talk to Daphene every time and it was fantastic. And also shaggy and velma I loved that and it really made me laugh and also made me think that "anybody could love anybody"

4. Be Cool Scooby Doo - people hated this series because of its animation, and I get that the animation wasn't the best, but the writing is what brung this show to 4th. You have to at least give this show a chance before you can judge it, if you are looking for a great writing scooby doo series, this has got my opinion.

5. Whats New Scooby Doo, this is the series I am currently binge watching right now, and I loved the chase scenes, just so catchy... I once claimed that my first episode I have ever seen of scooby doo was in this series, but I was wrong. My first series was actually "Decoy Of The Dognapper" I think that is how you say it, this is one of the classic scooby doos and I feel like Shaggy and Scooby doo show there full cowardness right here in this show.

5. The Scooby Doo Show, I really did love this series, with its dark tone and its creepy monsters, there is not much to say as it is a good series with a pretty good rank to hold its place.

6.The 13 ghosts of scooby doo, I finished this series 2 years ago, and it was just Okay. I did enjoy Flim Flam and Scrappy but they were kind of annoying at some parts. The monsters were really creepy and the people who played these monsters did a really good job, but I think that this does not beat some of the other shows I put on this list.

7. A Pup Named Scooby Doo, this show shows the gang when they were kids, and I really did enjoy the show and remember finishing the whole show 4 - 5 years ago. The show is cute, and the monster with there odd catchphrases are really strange, but I loved the theme song it is one of the best theme songs ive heard in scooby doo, and I can't forget the chase scenes, there good to!!

8. The New Scooby And Scrappy Doo show, honestly I did not like how they took Fred and Velma out of this series, I felt like it isn't the gang without all its members, sure they still pull there normal mystery schedule. Shaggy and Scooby doo find the monster, the monster finds the gang, they find more suspects, they trap the monster, BOOM its done! But every gang member has there own role in the mystery schedule and it doesn't feel right when important members get taken out of the gang!

9. Scooby Doo And guess who, this show is currently up and down for me lately, with some episodes really good and some episodes that have just fell flat, the guest stars from the new scooby doo movies really bring back to my childhood, but they need to stop lazy writing, I feel like that is the problem with this show, the writing, it is mostly lazy and the gang being related to some guest star for plot purposed it just really isn't working out for many of us.

10. The New Scooby Doo mysteries, Just like what I said about Fred, and Velma not being in this show, this is what I mean, just like with the mystery schedule I feel like without them doing there parts and instead Scrappy coming over and doing some work just didn't work out for many of us, obviously I hope they turn Scrappy around and make him a better character cause its sad to see him getting dissed on.

11. The Scooby and scrappy doo show 1 - Scrappy was annoying in this one, he was cute and I loved how he was trying to fight the monster and trying to "splat" em. But that same gag being used for the entire series just doesn't work out for me.

12. Shaggy and Scooby doo get a clue, it was funny at some parts but this is not a classic scooby doo format, fred daphene and velma, are no longer in the series and it is just shaggy and scooby doo just fighting this guy called dr. phibes. or something like that, I have not seen this show in a while so I don't know anymore.

13. The richie rich scooby doo show, I bearly remember this show so I really have no opinion on it, I only remmeber watching like a couple episodes, and I probably won't be watching anytime soon.

14. Puppy Hour, like

IkeDaKil

9/22/2019 09:40:27 am

14 Puppy hour. sorry some of my answers didn't get saved so I will add the final couple, I remember this show being about crookes and criminals and not actual monsters, and overtime it got boring for me.

15. scooby all star, this show I have never seen and probably wont for a while

WildwindVampire link

9/22/2019 03:29:23 pm

Great rankings, IkeDaKil! I agree with your reasonings for all of them even if my order is slightly different.

Becker

12/17/2020 06:26:43 am

Going back to this post over a year later. There's been a few changes in my ranking, especially the middle section, but none of the shows have jumped up or down more than 2 places since then.

13) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy Doo 2 (1980-1982)

12) Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2006-2008)

11) Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? (2019-)

10) Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo 1 (1979-1980)

9) A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988-1991)

8) Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (2010-2013)

7) The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show/The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1983-1984)

6) 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985)

5) The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972-1973)

4) Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! (2015-2018)

3) What's New, Scooby-Doo? (2002-2006)

2) Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969-1970)

1) The Scooby-Doo Show (1976-1978)

I'll always stand by the fact that TSDS is the best Scooby show ever though. I mean, watching any 3-4 consecutive episodes from this series shows why it's a top 3 Scooby show, at least. Almost all of the eps in every season are very good and all of them have a great number of absolute classics. For a 40 episode show, where only, like, 5 episodes are kinda mediocre, and the number of straight up amazing ones is the quadruple of the mediocre ones, that's saying a lot.

What's your ranking now? Has it changed since last year? Could maybe write an article about that.

WildwindVampire link

12/17/2020 10:30:25 am

So fun to see you came back to this article! :) I'd honestly say my rankings are the same as last year. For me, mainly the order of favorite episodes switch around, but favorite series stays pretty static.

I will say that there's going to be a retrospective on the Scooby content we got in 2020 coming up. It's already written and I haven't decided when it will be posted, but for sure before (or possibly on) the 31st :)

Becker

12/17/2020 01:20:30 pm

I do wonder though, why is TSDS only #5 on your list? It rivals WAY so much and they're pretty much on par, yet not so close in the ranking.
Honestly, from what I've, if you're a Scooby fan, TSDS is either #1 or #5, and sometimes #3. TSDS won the favorite series poll, which I didn't even see coming, cuz it looked like half the people were putting it #5 in the comments. For me it's definitely #1, and don't quite get when it's placed in 5th. I rarely even see any negatives or reasons given from people for having it that much lower than WAY (even though it's still in their top 5), and I'm not trying to call you or anyone out, don't get me wrong, I'm just curious, cuz that makes me think TSDS is underappreciated quite a bit. It has the classic feel and quality of WAY, even a bit more.

The 2020 year review will be interesting, cuz most projects seem to split people. Some enjoy Guess Who, while some couldn't give less of f**k. Same goes for Scoob. Seems like Happy Halloween is the one that most fans agree is good and much better than the sh*tbombs of 2019. Now thinking about it, we haven't really gotten much else this year. Like, a couple of "Lego copy" shorts, with Innes doing Scooby, Shaggy and Fred even, and Grey and Kate as Daphne and Velma. I don't even know what the comics are doing, I don't care about them, all I know is that the only ones left are the WAY style ones. If last year there was a top 10, this year it's like a top 5 lol.

WildwindVampire link

12/17/2020 08:56:55 pm

Honestly, while I love The Scooby-Doo Show, Where Are You (and The New Scooby-Doo Movies) will always be the classic to me. SDMI and BCSD get third and fourth place, respectively on the list because they both tried something unique and experimented with the formula in a way I really enjoyed. That's not to say The Scooby-Doo Show is a rehash to me, I just think nostalgia raised Where Are You and The New Scooby-Doo Movies to the level they were because those were the first Scooby things I was introduced to as a kid.

The 2020 review will be purely my own opinion, as with other year-in-posts, and keep in mind I liked SCOOB! so that will be higher :) Comics are on the list, plus Daphne & Velma books, Funko figures, Playmobil and the other things you mentioned. It'll be a top 7 this year :)

Becker

12/18/2020 12:17:30 am

I have nostalgia for a lot of Scooby shows, from the beginning to pretty much almost all the way up to WNSD. But TSDS just seems to click best for me, it's the stuff my mind most often goes to when I think about Scooby, and the stuff I most often wanna rewatch.

Obviously the year in review will be subjective, and I forgot about Funko and Daphne and Velma books.

Becker

12/24/2020 06:05:10 am

I need to add something to my re-ranking. 1983-1984 is the hardest one to rank for me. It's two seasons with different names, they're more similar to each other than not, but you could still consider them two separate shows. But that's not the hard part. The hard part is that the 1983 season, TNS&SDS, on its own would be just below SD&SD (the first series), while the 1984 season, TNSDMy, on its own would be just above TNSDMo. So trying to weigh those two seasons within a ranking of the shows is hard. It's the biggest quality gap between seasons within any Scooby series (imo), even though I like both of them, but to clearly different degrees. When you have series like TSDS where each season is overall very close in quality to the other two seasons, it's much easier to weigh and rank.

WildwindVampire link

12/24/2020 09:50:02 am

Yeah, I totally agree there. I rewatched The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries last holiday season, and there's a lot of varying quality within that show. Three of the episodes in that show are some of the best Scrappy episodes ever, but you also get weird and/or crappy ones like "The Bee Team," "Mission Un-Doo-able" (though this one's an unpopular opinion if the reviews on ScoobyAddicts are anything to go by) and "The Dooby Dooby Doo Ado." It's super tough to rank these.

Becker

12/24/2020 10:14:25 am

There's some weird and bland 11 minute eps in TNSDMy, but most of them are good, probably overall better than in TNS&SDS. And then you have the clearly best stuff in this show – the 23 minute eps with Fred and/or Velma; all 6 of these eps are great, 3 of them in the top 50 best Scooby episodes.

WildwindVampire link

12/25/2020 10:27:11 am

Just to make sure we're talking about the same three episodes, the three I'm talking about are "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo," "A Halloween Hassle at Dracula's Castle" and "The Nutcracker Scoob." You're referring to the same ones...I hope? Haha

Graig

4/24/2021 02:09:05 am

Really interesting ranking! I read a few others toay, and almost all of them put Mystery Incorporated in the bottom 3 or 5 and just seeing that nearly gave me hives lol. I haven;t watched all the shows yet, but if I were to rank the ones I've seen in full, it's probably this:
1.) Mystery Incorporated
I just love everything about this. It feels like it set a precedent on binge-worthy shows before that really became a big focus, and is the only Scooby show where you feel like you *have* to binge it. And I really love that. Also, i really enjoyed the romances in this. Velma consistently trying to change Shaggy to fit her idea of a "better boyfrien" is extremely annoying, but also really sad almost when you think about what she was going through as a queer teenager, while trying to convonce herself she had deeper feelings for Shaggy then friendship and maybe a basic attraction. Also, Scooby and Velma being jealous of each other but still loving each other was hilarious and cute at the same time. And Daphne and Fred were...kinda adorable? Once Fred stopped being an idiot (and I loved that Daphne stood up for herself multiple times) they just became a cute power couple, and I was really upset when Fred called off the engagment an Daphne was revealed to have moved on. So yeah, just an amazing show and I would love if future shows/movies took cues from this.
2.) Where Are You
That-was-a-classic-That-was-a-classic.gif What more needs to be said?
3.) What's New Scooby-Doo?
A wonderful modern, early 00s take on Scooby, and the one I grew up with most as an 2000s baby, along with re-runs of the other shows.
4.) A Pup Named Scooby-Doo
An adorably fun and zany take on classic Scooby. I don't know how anyone couldn't love puppy Scooby and young Velma especially. And Fred and Daphne's dynamic in this show never fails to crack me up.
5.) The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo
I haven't watched this in YEARS but I remember really loving it actually? A revisit might place it above A Pup Named to be honest. Just a really interesting take on the show, and I love the mix of comedy and horror of it. I just remember being really entertained and loving this series, and being really annoyed that it didn't get a proper ending, until 2019 anyway. I remember liking the movie - mostly - but I haven't watched it since it's release.

Like I said, these are the only shows I have watched in full, but I really do love all of them. Can;t wait to watch everything else and come up with a full ranking! Especially excited for Be Cool, The Scooby-Doo Show and The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

WildwindVampire link

4/24/2021 10:39:10 am

I definitely agree with the reasoning for your rankings even if I put them in a slightly different order! It's unfortunate that SDMI gets a lot of hate, when IMO the only bad part was the whole Velma/Shaggy relationship, which was painful to watch. Other than that, I think it was one of the most amazing Scooby series of all time!

Graig

4/24/2021 12:03:39 pm

It really is! Though I've actually never seen hate for it until reading those rankings. Everywhere else I've seen discussion of it, people love it. So hopefully the hate isn't widespread.
And it is painful to watch but I feel like that's the whole point. Like, those two clearly don't work together. And that adds an interesting dynamic to their characters. And it really is!

Scooby-Doo: The 50 Year Series Retrospective

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