There are a lot of different ideas of what constitutes a "good" Scooby-Doo series out there. Many fans love Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! for its wit and strong three-dimensional characters, while somewhat disliking the latest series, Guess Who, for playing it too safe and nostalgic. Some fans love Guess Who for going back to the classic formula, and hate Be Cool for the animation style. Other fans love them both.
This discrepancy seems to be a common thread for any Scooby series - some fans love certain series, while others hate the very same series. This seems to be a struggle for WB as well, as they are clearly trying out different things to attempt to please the fans. So how can WB please the vast majority of fans? What is the perfect recipe for a successful Scooby-Doo series?
So these are my proposed ingredients for a good Scooby series, that weren't already obvious like "cool villains!", "all five characters," and "spooky chases!". Of course, you can never please every single person, because there's always going to be that one person who hates something. I argue, however, that these are the core ingredients for making a good Scooby series beloved by all, and this is the direction WB should be going with the franchise. This is purely my opinion, however, and should not be interpreted as reflecting the wishes of every person in the general fandom. Do you agree? Disagree? Have something to add? Let me know in the comments!
38 Comments
Becker
9/4/2020 09:34:06 am
May I add no shitty romance lol. I agree with all of your points (even though not necessarily every example for them). I feel like What's New did a lot of these things very well too, I'd say that's my favorite WB Scooby show, with Be Cool in close second place.
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9/5/2020 02:55:02 pm
Haha that's fair that you don't feel an overarching mystery is necessary. Be Cool and What's New are indeed great examples of shows that didn't need these aspects to be excellent, Yes! A dark/horrorish vibe makes for a great episode. I think there needs to be a little bit of development, if possible, within the characters, as it helps them be three dimensional. Be Cool did a great job of this.
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Becker
9/5/2020 06:12:52 pm
Agreed, some character development is definitely a great thing. I'd love to see the return of Dum and Scrappy, but more as just recurring characters, just like how Dum was in TSDS. 9/5/2020 08:09:17 pm
I'd love to see Scooby Dum back! Scrappy too, if they could do him right and not just make it a big joke like they've been doing the last 18 years. That's so cool we have the same voice cast picks!
Drakosleuth
9/4/2020 01:27:48 pm
I agree with this, but I'm going to be honest, I always go in with an optimistic attitude and give it a fair chance, might have some little criticisms at the end, but if I really enjoyed it, then I really enjoyed it.
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Amber noel
9/4/2020 01:52:33 pm
Yeah I like it when shaggy and scooby go on their own adventures too I prefer it when the gang are together but if shaggy and scooby do go on their own adventures I would like that too
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Drakosleuth
9/4/2020 02:29:20 pm
I think it would be cool if that happens, not all the time, but at least sometimes.
WildwindVampire
9/5/2020 03:00:29 pm
Oh of course! This article was just meant to document the ideal Scooby-Doo show in a perfect world. It's not to say the series that don't have all these things aren't good or that I don't enjoy them, because there are very few Scooby episodes I dislike.
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Drakosleuth
9/5/2020 06:50:19 pm
Maybe not every movie or series, but at least some of them to give a new fresh spin now and then so sometimes the plot doesn't feel too standard, perhaps like they did with those movies.
Drakosleuth
9/5/2020 06:51:57 pm
The plots of these current movies and series are fantastic, but it probably wouldn't hurt.
John Locke
9/4/2020 03:01:09 pm
I honestly feel that Scooby Doo has hit the point like with Doctor Who and Pokemon that fans are only going to complain about it. Too many different groups want too many differing things, I just sit back and enjoy the ride as best I can and ignore the parts I don't really care about (Get a Clue, the scooby/Shaggy/Scrappy epiosdes). I'm ok with darkish but only like PG dark, the James Gunn Screenplay for the original Scooby Doo went too far, this is a series for kids first and foremost and it should ALWAYS be appropriate for all ages.
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Amber noel
9/4/2020 04:01:20 pm
Yeah I agree scooby doo can't please everyone and even if a scooby doo series or a movie is well beloved their is still going to be some people who don't like it
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Becker
9/4/2020 04:48:20 pm
I would honestly enjoy seeing an R rated Scooby movie. Not sure about a show, but I'd like to see that idea on screen after >50 years.
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John locke
9/4/2020 04:59:07 pm
I disagree, I don't mind it if they filed the serial numbers off like when scooby expies showed up in Venture Bros and were all based on Serial killers, but not actually using the Scooby characters. Same problem I have with the new Star Trek stuff, mature is not blood and gore, you can tell mature stories and still have it appropriate for kids.
WildwindVampire
9/5/2020 03:10:27 pm
I'm not sure if I agree on that...depends on what you mean by R rated. If you mean R rated as like a horror movie, then maybe, but I don't want tons of drugs and sex or anything to be in Scooby.
Becker
9/5/2020 06:18:10 pm
Oh God, definitely NOT drugs and sex lmao. Leave that to the weird fanfics. Yes, I meant like a horror movie, the idea lends itself to it, and it would be a nice one-off or two. 9/5/2020 03:02:30 pm
Yes, I agree Scooby's reached that Doctor Who point. I personally try to give everything a fair chance and enjoy it for what it is. My mindset is also "if I don't like this, there's going to be tons more coming soon." The only Scooby episodes/films I flat out dislike are a few of the Scrappy shorts, Ghastly Goals, Blowout Beach Bash and the two from last year.
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John Locke
9/5/2020 03:16:45 pm
Agreed on Blowout Beach... I was so disappointed in that! especially when the Lego DC movies have been getting better, and the first scooby one was decent!
WildwindVampire
9/5/2020 03:32:50 pm
That one was terrible IMO. That song at the beginning goes on forever, and the plot seemed kinda thin and rushed to me.
Shadowscooby
9/4/2020 03:20:53 pm
I’m one of those fans that like both series as well. When I first saw be cool Scooby doo. The first thing came to my mind is that animation style is like family guy, American dad, the Simpson’s, Cleveland Brown. I also thought that this looks a lot like a pup named Scooby doo. I was 100 percent right. The comedic style in both series are great. A lot of people didn’t really like be cool Scooby doo but I think we all can agree that the writing in that series was phenomenal and creative. The series also have the funniest chase scenes. Scooby doo and guess who is great. When I was younger I always thought would they make another series like new Scooby doo movies with current famous icons and my dream has been made. I like how some of the guest stars and episodes are similar to some new Scooby doo movies episodes. In the end both series I really love.
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9/5/2020 03:13:24 pm
The writing in that series was indeed phenomenal. The head writer, JCB, did a great job researching all the characters and the show's tropes super in-depth (fun fact: that's why he originally joined the ScoobyAddicts forum, for those of you that know he was on there for a while). I like Guess Who as well, but I think the episodes are pretty hit or miss depending on the guest star's personality in the episode. I think they also overuse some classic tropes, such as the door scene every single episode.
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Amber noel
9/4/2020 03:30:49 pm
Yeah but I doubt that they would do it every single time yeah they did it during the scrappy doo era and shaggy and scooby doo get a clue but yeah I hope that they don't do it all the time
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Greybishop
9/4/2020 06:40:53 pm
I have two ideas that I personally would like to see.
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9/5/2020 03:14:19 pm
Honestly, both of these ideas sound really interesting to try out. I'd watch both of those series haha.
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Lance Rutt
9/4/2020 07:28:37 pm
The original show was so bare bones and yet it had a strange spooky quality that all other reboots never came close to. It was very similar to Roger Corman films. The HB reboots toned down the creepy aesthetic and the WB reboots are too self aware (even the ones that go for horror). DC has done numerous comics that are written in the flatter style of gold/silver age stories and I would really like to see something like that attempted with Scooby.
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Amber noel
9/4/2020 08:09:45 pm
Yeah I'm kind of curious about these ideas.
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9/5/2020 03:16:00 pm
Totally agreed on this and this is why I feel Guess Who falls flat somewhat. They're trying to force the original Where Are You tone into Guess Who, but it lacks that "strange spooky quality" you're talking about (in addition to the forced tropes).
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Bigscoobydoofan
2/13/2021 05:49:48 am
I feel like in that series, every scene is brightly lit,and there are quite a few stupid sound effects. I think this is very apparent in the unmasking sequence, and there's that one chord jingle. Compare that to the solemn music when they unmasked the black knight and creeper in WAY. 2/13/2021 12:19:28 pm
That's a great point! I hadn't thought about that before.
Shadowscooby
9/4/2020 07:39:42 pm
How about a sequel to mystery incorporated. Like the ending where the went of to solve more mysteries after talking to Harlen Ellison.
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9/4/2020 10:56:08 pm
A workout spin off would make an awesome Scooby-Doo series 💜
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Jason
9/5/2020 02:28:18 am
I agree with all this. My 3 favorite series is 13 Ghosts, Mystery Incorporated and Be Cool Scooby Doo because they didn't follow the same classic formula.
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9/5/2020 03:20:25 pm
"And I don't care what they made Velma say in the 13th Ghost Movie, the ghosts were REAL and she wasn't THERE!!! " Hahaha my thoughts exactly!
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Amber Noel
9/5/2020 03:37:37 pm
I agree with you but imo just because the dtv movies have a lighter tone doesn't mean they are longer episodes than a movie and I think thats kind of an unfair assessment but other than that I agree with most of the things you said.
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9/5/2020 05:40:06 pm
Yeah, I guess that's one thing I didn't agree with there either. I feel like the recent DTVs have still been very movie-like even if they are a bit lighter. Leave a Reply. |
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