Weekly Poll #170

3/19/2023

We have a comparatively small list this week compared to the massive list of 40 we had last week (although next week's list will be even larger).

Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats - 11
High Rise Hair Raiser - 6
The Harum Scarum Sanitarium - 6
The Diabolical Disc Demon - 3
Scooby-Doo, Where's the Crew? - 3
The Ozark Switch Witch - 2
Watt a Shocking Ghost - 2
The Headless Horseman of Halloween - 2
Scared a Lot in Camelot - 2
The Spirits of '76 - 2
The Creepy Heap from the Deep - 2
A Menace in Venice - 2
Don't Go Near the Fortress of Fear - 2
The Gruesome Game of the Gator Ghoul - 1
A Frightened Hound Meets Demons Underground - 1
There's a Demon Shark in the Foggy Dark - 1
Ghost of the Bad Humor Man - 1
The Curse of Viking Lake - 1
The Chiller Diller Movie Thriller - 1
Creepy Cruise - 1
A Creepy Tangle in the Bermuda Triangle - 1
A Scary Night with a Snow Beast Fright - 1
A Highland Fling with a Monstrous Thing - 1
The Creepy Case of Old Iron Face - 1
Jeepers, It's the Jaguaro! - 1
Who Was That Cat Creature I Saw You with Last Night? - 1
The Beast Is Awake in Bottomless Lake - 1

0 votes: The Fiesta Host is an Aztec Ghost, The No Faced Zombie Chase Case, Mamba Wamba and the Voodoo Hoodoo, A Bum Steer for Scooby, The Ghost That Sacked the Quarterback, Hang in There Scooby-Doo, The Spooky Case of the Grand Prix Race, Watch Out! The Williwaw!, To Switch a Witch, Tar Monster, Creepy Creature of Vulture's Claw, Scooby's Chinese Fortune Kooky Caper, and The Warlock of Wimbledon

32 Comments

Becker

3/19/2023 10:18:58 am

Not one of the best shows for settings. However, The Ghoul, the Bat and the Ugly is quite memorable.

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 10:36:47 am

Agreed on both counts!

Matt

3/19/2023 10:22:55 am

This is a fascinating one and a calm before the storm. A storm of mediocrity but still

Excellent tier (personal favorites): Night Ghoul of Wonderworld, I left my neck in San Francisco

Great tier (A lot to like about these): The Scarab Lives, Shiver and Shake that Demon’s a Snake, When You Wish Upon a Star Creature, The Ghoul the Bat and the Ugly, The Sorcerer’s a Menace

Good tier (it works well) (Also note: I decided to add a tier between great and decent, so some of the previous episodes may have been in this tier instead of great or decent previously): Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind, Neon Phantom of Roller Disco, Demon of the Dugout, Rocky Mountain Yiii, Lock the Door It’s a Minotaur

Decent tier (Fine, nothing special): The Scary Sky Skeleton, Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear, Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea

Bad tier (Just not good lol): Ransom of Scooby Chief

My vote will go to Wonderworld, even if its fake I love the Old London setting, and Wonderworld as a setting provides a very versatile selection of potential settings. Perhaps it could be revisited one day

Becker

3/19/2023 04:36:28 pm

Mediocrity kinda oversells the next couple of polls lol. That's tamer than what I would use for that shitshow

Matt

3/19/2023 05:07:58 pm

LMAO, honestly, you’re right

I will say that I anticipate (though it very well could be lower) the average being pretty mediocre, but at the same time, in comparison to how I usually rate settings, that is a pretty AWFUL average to have, so yeah I have to agree with your shitshow description

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 05:15:49 pm

"Storm of mediocrity" haha.

Excellent: Shiver and Shake That Demon's a Snake, I Left My Neck in San Francisco, The Ghoul The Bat and the Ugly

Great: The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld, Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind, The Scary Sky Skeleton (mainly due to its darker tone), The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear, Lock the Door It's a Minotaur

Good: The Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco, The Demon of the Dugout, Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea, When You Wish Upon a Star Creature, The Sorcerer's a Menace

Decent: The Scarab Lives, Rocky Mountain Yiiiii!

Bad: Ransom of Scooby Chief

Matt

3/19/2023 05:25:14 pm

Honestly, I might give Scary Sky Skeleton a few more points than I did initially. The airfield itself doesn’t particularly stand out but I did just remember the abandoned airfield setting with the computer and stuff and I did quite like that setting as a dark and creepy setting where danger feels near

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 06:14:53 pm

"The Scary Sky Skeleton" is kind of a weird episode quality-wise. The setting varies throughout the episode, and feels much less ominous in the bright sunny day at the very end. The villain quality also varies quite a lot from scene to scene. The scene where Daphne sees the skeleton in the plane by the house is terrifying, as is the scene where they forgot to animate the skeleton's pupils, but in other scenes it just looks like a goofy guy who is clearly wearing a suit with bones painted on it haha. However, at least in terms of setting, the dark scenes where the danger feels like it could happen at any moment outweigh the not as spooky scenes IMO.

Matt

3/19/2023 08:22:35 pm

That’s a good way of putting it. It is one of those episodes where on and off I am really enjoying it and then the next second I am just kind of like “Eh” and then enjoying it again

Matt

3/19/2023 05:18:03 pm

So I re-watched Ransom of Scooby Chief (God help me…) because I thought that my loathing of that episode itself made me unfairly rate that setting lower than the setting itself really deserves. After all, the New York setting could provide some cool ideas

Well, I did decide to change my tier for that episode. Instead, the setting of Ransom of Scooby Chief goes into the bin of “Truly Awful”. And I think the worst part is that the ideas of the settings could work, like a subway setting sounds cool in theory but it just is nothing. The warehouse is just a room. The execution is so, so lousy with the setting, similar to Jeepers It’s the Jaguaro but somehow worse execution, and of course the pile of trash that the episode is beyond the setting does absolutely NOTHING to help. I guess a bad setting does contribute to one of the worst episodes of the franchise

I would honestly prefer Mayhem of the Moving Mollusk as a New York setting, and honestly, I don’t even think that episode did it well itself

Rant over lol

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 06:17:03 pm

I haven't seen the episode in a while, but that's my memory of it as well. I'll still be generous and rate it "bad" since I don't plan to rewatch it, but I also remember the settings having potential but falling flat, particularly that warehouse. I agree "Mayhem of the Moving Mollusk" didn't do the New York setting that well either, but it's much better than this.

Matt

3/19/2023 08:30:11 pm

Trust me, I don’t plan on rewatching it again, probably EVER. I feel like episodes in the past series like Watch Out The Willawaw, Jeepers It’s the Jaguaro, and Mystery in Persia where I don’t like them at all, I wouldn’t mind watching them again every once in a good while, but this might have been the last time I ever watch Ransom of Scooby Chief, that is how much I despise this episode

WildwindVampire link

3/20/2023 10:28:20 am

Totally agreed, although I probably wouldn't return to "Jeepers It's the Jaguaro" either. At least that one has a few redeeming qualities though, whereas there's absolutely nothing appealing about "The Ransom of Scooby Chief" for me.

Matt

3/21/2023 12:27:34 am

It is up there with like A Mystery Solving Gang Divided, probably higher than it, as one of the most charmless full episodes in the franchise, there’s just absolutely NOTHING redeeming about it or worth returning to.

I was honestly leaning toward Scooby of the Jungle, Scooby Dooby Guru, or the biggest skyrocketer up my worst list, the braindead Scrappy’s Birthday (even though I still don’t like Willawaw, how I managed to put that on my worst list over this last time I made one is beyond me), as possibly overtaking Ransom of Scooby Chief as my all time least favorite episode, but then I rewatched it, and at least those episodes are short and don’t waste a whole twenty minutes of my life, just hard pass on ROSC

WildwindVampire link

3/21/2023 06:36:30 am

For me, they're close, but I'd put "Ransom of Scooby Chief" above it. "A Mystery Solving Gang Divided" is fine mystery-wise, it's just the constant arguing and negativity completely overshadows the mystery, whereas "Ransom of Scooby Chief" doesn't even have an enjoyable plot in the first place IMO.

Matt

3/24/2023 08:37:51 pm

I’m inclined to agree. I guess even an episode as horrible as a Mystery Solving Gang Divided has some charm, there is just absolutely nothing redeeming about Ransom of Scooby Chief

Shadowscooby

3/19/2023 10:38:18 am

This ones in easy one. Definitely The Ghoul The Bat and The Ugly. The setting had such a dark tone to it. The mansion was spooky. All the suspects dressed up as monsters and the Shadow Creature was a great and super creepy villain. Also the whole episode takes place at night.

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 05:16:48 pm

Agreed, the Batty Awards taking place at a creepy horror movie like mansion worked super well.

Jacob Staggs

3/19/2023 10:42:53 am

My vote goes to Ransom of Scooby Chief for New York City. The great Warehouse location, the subway, the top notch and excellently used boat location, the grocery store. Other episodes have good settings but none like this so Ransom of Scooby Chief is definitely my pick.
Ransom is my second favorite episode of the season but wins in terms of setting.

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 05:17:16 pm

That's probably the one setting I'm not a big fan of here, tbh. What was your favorite episode of the season out of curiosity?

Jacob Staggs

3/19/2023 05:30:06 pm

Wildwind, my favorite episode of this season is When You Wish Upon a Star Creature. Great villain, the look, the voice , its strength. Plenty of witty one liners from Shaggy and Scrappy.

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 06:17:47 pm

I agree that the villain is the shining star (haha) of the episode. There are other settings I'd rank above the one for "When You Wish Upon a Star Creature," but the villain really makes it stand out.

Mr Neither

3/19/2023 11:22:29 am

The Ghoul, the bat and the ugly for me.

WildwindVampire link

3/19/2023 05:17:24 pm

That was my vote as well.

Jacob Staggs

3/23/2023 11:19:33 pm

What the heck. I'll rank these 16 episodes
16) Sorcerer's s Menace
15) The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld
14) I Left My Neck in San Francisco
13) Ghoul, the Bat, and the Ugly
12) Lock the Door, It's a Minotaur
11) Scarab Lives
10) Scary Sky Skeleton
9) Demon of the Dugout
8) Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco
7) Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear
6)Twenty Thousand Screams
5)Shiver and Shake
4) Strange Encounters
3) Rocky Mountain Yii
2) Ransom of Scooby Chief
1) When You Wish Upon a Star Creature
15 and 14 could probably flip flop.

WildwindVampire link

3/24/2023 07:36:58 am

Here's my list:

16. The Ransom of Scooby Chief
15. The Scarab Lives
14. When You Wish Upon a Star Creature
13. Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea
12. The Demon of the Dugout
11. The Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco
10. Rocky Mountain Yiiiii!
9. The Sorcerer's a Menace
8. The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld
7. Lock the Door, It's a Minotaur!
6. The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear
5. Strange Encounters of a Scooby Kind
4. Shiver and Shake, That Demon's a Snake
3. The Scary Sky Skeleton
2. I Left My Neck in San Francisco
1. The Ghoul, The Bat and the Ugly

Matt

3/24/2023 04:44:40 pm

As episodes, I would go

16. Ransom of Scooby Chief

15. Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear
14. Scary Sky Skeleton
13. Strange Encounters of the Scooby Kind
12. Twenty Thousand Screams Under the Sea
11. Lock the Door, It’s a Minotaur
10. Rocky Mountain Yiii
9. Neon Phantom of the Roller Disco
8. Demon of the Dugout
7. When You Wish Upon a Star Creature
6. The Sorcerer’s a Menace
5. I Left My Neck in San Francisco
4. The Ghoul, the Bat, and the Ugly
3. The Scarab Lives
2. Shiver and Shake That Demon’s a Snake
1. The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld

Matt

3/24/2023 08:36:05 pm

I like all of my top 15. Other than Ransom of Scooby Chief, I would say I believe this to be a very consistent season

WildwindVampire link

3/25/2023 08:16:05 am

Lol at the huge space between "The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear" and "The Ransom of Scooby Chief." I'm a little surprised "Lock the Door, It's a Minotaur" was at the lower end of everyone else's lists. I thought it was one of the better episodes of the series personally.

WildwindVampire link

3/25/2023 09:03:15 am

I forgot to reply to your other comment, but I also like all of my top 15. The season was definitely consistent quality wise other than the final episode.

Matt

3/25/2023 10:30:04 am

I would say the gap is small between 11 and like 6 or 7. All of them would fit in “Really damn solid”, with 12-15 not too far behind. I do feel like the top 5 definitely stand out above those though for me

WildwindVampire link

3/25/2023 11:40:25 am

Same for my top 5. I will admit "The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear" is probably higher on my list due to nostalgia, so I might lump that one in with my top 5 as standing out from the rest. I've owned a rare Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Volume 1 tape since I was a kid, which has only "The Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear" on it. I watched that episode before I saw any others from this series and as a kid I remember really enjoying the dark tone that the caves had as a setting. As a result, that one holds a special significance for me to this day, but if I'm honest, it probably would be a little lower on my list if I'd first watched it at the same time as the rest of the series.

Weekly Poll #170

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