Weekly Poll #220

3/3/2024

Alright, let's try this again. We are going to do last week's ghost town poll again with a clearer prompt, since "ghost town" was admittedly rather vague. This time, we're changing the prompt to "favorite Old West episode." This means all of the Yabba-Doo episodes qualify, except for "Go East, Young Pardner" as that episode took place in New York. I was generous with what I included here and tried to pick any episode that people could consider as qualifying for this prompt, even if it could be a bit of a stretch (i.e. "Night on Haunted Mountain"). If I've missed anything, feel free to leave a comment and let me know!

Thanks to Shadowscooby and Mr. Neither for suggesting this week's poll idea!

Here are the results for last week's poll:
What is your favorite dinosaur episode?
Hang in There, Scooby-Doo! - 21
Legend of the Phantosaur - 17
Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed - 6
3-D Struction - 5
Attack of the Weird Al-osaurus! - 4
Scary Christmas - 3
The Dinosaur Deception - 2
Sweet Dreams Scooby - 1
Scooby-Doo and the Sky Town Cool School! - 1

76 Comments

WildwindVampire link

3/2/2024 10:55:22 pm

I rewatched the Yabba-Doo episodes over the course of this week. Although they're all ranked as the bottom 12, some were better than others, but there were a couple REALLY low points here lol.

22. Bride and Gloom - truly one of the worst episodes of the franchise for the villain's Stone Age tier perspective on women, and just kind of a grossly out of touch plot in general, even for the 80s. I never want to touch this episode with a 39 and a half foot poll again.

21. Law and Disorder - Probably some of the worst writing I've ever seen and the plot just makes no sense here. Dusty finds the stolen jewels that were planted in his pocket, and the mayor immediately arrests him, Yabba and Scrappy with no chance to explain themselves, and then he makes these two people he literally just met five seconds ago the town deputy lol. I did find it amusing though that these guys were walking around town loudly talking about the crimes they planned to commit, seemingly not worried at all that anyone would overhear lol.

20. Runaway Scrappy - not as bad as the last two, but I felt they made Dusty and Yabba uncharacterstically mean to Scrappy here just to force the plot.

19. Low Down Showdown - better than these last three. Don't really have much to say about this one.

18. Robot Ranch - I remembered liking this one more than I actually did. Definitely fell into the "fever dream" category.

17. Yabba's Rustle Hustle - The cow thing was a bit odd, and it was also lowkey kind of strange that the postmaster was holding onto the letter on the other side of the mailbox so they'd pay the three cents postage lol.

16. Slippery Dan the Escape Man - this was a decently unique plot for one of these shorts.

15. Tumbleweed Derby - a run of the mill Yabba short, not much to say here.

14. Mine Your Own Business - the Where Are You episode outsold.

13. Tragic Magic - see 16.

12. Arizona and Holland - don't have much to say about this one, other than it serves as the cutoff for Yabba episodes I would say I enjoyed a decent amount.

11. Alien Schmalien - the alien here was cute!

10. Up a Crazy River - gotta show some love to the literal pirates here lol.

9. Vild Vest Vampire - I love going to the "Fost Office"! https://i.ibb.co/JCkDCxX/Screenshot-2024-03-02-at-10-40-26-pm.png Lol in seriousness though this is easily the best Yabba short, miles better than any of the others.

8. The Movieland Monsters! - decent episode but the western scene isn't prominent enough for me to rank this higher.

7. Scooby Dudes - the George Bush shoutout was funny.

6. Night on Haunted Mountain - I really like this episode, but it kinda felt like it barely qualified for the poll. I wanted to include it because of the desert town, but it doesn't feel like it should be any higher than this since it doesn't come to mind much for the theme for me.

5. Shaggy's Showdown - easily my favorite DTV of the past decade. This one was really fun, and had an amazing villain.

4. Go West, Young Scoob - this one is a little bit on the lower end of WNSD for me (but only because it's such an incredible series packed with amazing episodes). That said, I still really like this one a lot and it's grown on me quite a bit over time.

3. Mine Your Own Business - a classic Where Are You episode that's a million times better than the Yabba-Doo episode. This would easily be my vote if we were going by quality, but the other two episodes come to mind for me more given the theme.

2. A Bum Steer for Scooby - a solid Scooby-Doo Show episode. The cliffside scenes were really creepy.

1. Ghastly Ghost Town - I'm probably in the minority on this opinion, but I have a ton of nostalgia for this episode. This one is so much fun even if the plot does feel a bit bonkers in places.

WildwindVampire link

3/2/2024 11:04:12 pm

Wasn't sure where to place "Scooby Ghosts West" at first and I see I ended up forgetting to rank it entirely. I'd put it between "Up a Crazy River" and "Alien Schmalien." I would say it was one of the better Scrappy shorts. Even though the ghosts were kinda silly with stealing people's blankets and stuff, I thought it was one of the better Scrappy shorts in the sense that it had a cohesive plot and didn't necessarily feel as much like mess-around antics as some of the others. The idea of the invisible ghosts was also cool even if it could have been a little better executed.

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 11:50:47 am

I'd rank "The Spooky Fog" in between "Night on Haunted Mountain" and Shaggy's Showdown.

Matt

3/3/2024 06:38:28 pm

17. The postman thing was actually Mine Your Own Business I believe

16. I would not have expected this one to be so low in comparison to some of these in all honesty. Maybe that is my own personal judgement after watching it though

14. Yes and Hang in There Scooby Doo outsold Hang in There Scooby lol. I end up on the unpopular side of which Wrestle Maniacs outsold though lmao

1. I mean, even though I view this as one of the weaker episode of this series, I do get it and like the episode. I think it is awkwardly written and the Stooges were not my favorite guest star fit, but there is some good here and it is pretty nostalgic

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 06:47:14 pm

17. Yeah, I think you're right. I watched these all in one sitting yesterday, so they started to bleed together for me from how montonous the plots were.

16. To the above point, I looked up the plot for this, and you're right, I did like this a little better and think I mixed it up with "Mine Your Own Business" here. I'd probably rank it just below "Tragic Magic" in hindsight.

14. It wouldn't have taken much considering "Hang in There, Scooby" is literally just them flying a hang-glider poorly, with no other villain or plot lol.

1. Even though I like it, I agree it's kind of bonkers in places. I'd rank "A Bum Steer for Scooby" and "Mine Your Own Business" above it quality-wise, but I've always kind of appreciated the atmosphere of the ghost town here, and it stands out to me most for the old west setting.

Carson Maitland - Smith

3/2/2024 11:34:52 pm

The Movieland Monsters

Becker

3/3/2024 02:06:02 am

I'm gonna go with Go West Young Scoob on this one. I've seen people say it's a lower rank WNSD episode, but I really dig what it's doing a lot. Since I was a kid this has been one of my favorite WNSD eps, which isn't easy. A Bum Steer for Scooby and Mine Your Own Business are amazing too, an easy top 3 for this poll. Ghastly Ghost Town doesn't match them, it's one of the lesser NSDMo eps. Shaggy's Showdown is a highlight of the more modern films. We don't talk about the Yabba Doo segments. And everything else is meh.

Mr Neither

3/3/2024 09:41:12 am

Wow, we really have differing views on Go West Young Scoob.

Becker

3/4/2024 02:15:06 pm

I don't know how I forgot Night on Haunted Mountain was on here. Great SDMI episode, with one of the most bone-chilling scenes in the entire franchise, the ending still gives me goosebumps every time I see it.

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 03:35:41 pm

I was surprised that you were implying "Night on Haunted Mountain" was meh when I first read your comment yesterday, but I was like "well, guess he must not like that one" lol.

Becker

3/4/2024 05:05:32 pm

Lol I definitely would never want to suggest Guess Who and the Scrappy shorts could remotely be in the same ball park as SDMI. Night on Haunted Mountain is actually in the top half of season 2 for me. Big L for omitting it on my part.

Matt

3/4/2024 07:06:50 pm

Well, I would put a handful of Scrappy shorts over Stand and Deliver specifically (only that certain episode) but certainly not Night on Haunted Mountain, which is absolutely a standout episode for me. And I agree with you about that ending, just one of the best scenes of the series

Becker

3/5/2024 04:10:51 am

Stand and Deliver is a weak spot, but it's not even my least favorite of the series. There are a number of ironically iconic Scrappy shorts that I would happily watch for the sheer batshit entertainment value over a majority of the episodes in the Scooby-Doo franchise honestly, but I would not rank them higher than most of those purely as just episodes.

Matt

3/5/2024 09:26:56 am

I agree in a way, but probably not to the extent that you discount those shorts. For example, I really enjoyed Up a Crazy River and Slippery Dan the Escape Man in my ranking below, but I couldn’t rank it above even two of the weaker New Scooby Doo Movies episodes, and that decision wasn’t even close

What is your least favorite out of curiosity?

Becker

3/5/2024 10:20:57 am

Wild Brood and Siren's Song. Both of them are really damn boring and tedious. And on top of that Wild Brood has a bizarre plot and premise in an off-putting way rather than an intriguing one, while Siren's Song focuses almost completely on Velma when she was at her absolute lowest point in the show, it's quite difficult to follow her character willingly here.

Matt

3/5/2024 11:31:44 am

Those aren’t bad choices for worst SDMI episode either, especially Wild Brood. It isn’t one I return to much, but I’d be more willing to defend Siren’s Song than Wild Brood, because I truly think that is a key moment for Velma in this series. She isn’t my favorite character that series, especially at that moment, but it feels like you get more insight to her as a character during that time, maybe even making her more sympathetic. But I kinda agree with you that it is one of the last episodes I really come back to of the series even then

WildwindVampire link

3/5/2024 02:05:36 pm

"Stand and Deliver" is my least favorite, and I'd say "The Wild Brood" is my second least favorite. "The Siren's Song" is one of my least favorites, although hot take, I might put "Howl of the Fright Hound" before it. I really liked the villain here but I felt the whole episode got overshadowed by the mess that was the Shaggy/Velma/Scooby drama, which brings it down a lot for me.

Becker

3/5/2024 05:23:28 pm

@Matt, tbf, Siren's Song kinda marks the end of the shitty Velma we had had for most of the series at that point, so I get what you mean by the importance of this ep humanizing her as a character and setting her on a path for betterment and personal growth (even though she's still not very likable at this point in the show and she really starts to improve from the end of Siren's Song). For that reason I would say Wild Brood is the worst one, since that one really has no relevance nor entertainment value to bring to the table for me (even Stand and Deliver has a quite a good amount of entertainment value despite the sus subtext interwoven throughout).

@Wildwind, wow, that really is a hot take. That episode is probably in my top half of season 1. Not only is the villain choice brilliant and really menacing and scary, but the mystery, tension and atmosphere are great, and we get a perfect introduction to Pericles here. There are more than a handful of season 1 episodes with the Velma, Shaggy and/or Scooby drama, so I don't think it's completely fair to dock this episode in particular for its presence so much (especially since it has a lot more going for it than, say, The Siren's Song). It's not even at its peak animosity here, that's Battle of the Humungonauts imo.

Matt

3/6/2024 09:25:35 am

The Wild Brood is probably somewhere in my bottom 5, I’m not really sure how that worst ranking goes besides Stand and Deliver in last. The Devouring is probably somewhere down there as well and probably The Secret Serum. I think The Siren’s Song probably would not be in that bottom 5.

I wouldn’t have Howl of the Fright Hound as low as Wildwind, but it isn’t one of my favorites either. There are definitely a lot of season 1 episodes I like better

WildwindVampire link

3/6/2024 01:21:20 pm

"Aliens Among Us" is another one I consider weaker; I love the villains here, but the mystery felt a bit rushed to me compared to other episodes. I do really like the villain choice and the scene where they meet Pericles in "Howl of the Fright Hound," but the drama overshadows it for me. It's definitely not a bad episode though, just on the lower end of my series rankings in an overall great series.

@Matt, out of curiosity, is the drama the reason you don't like "Howl of the Fright Hound" as much?

Matt

3/6/2024 03:58:02 pm

I completely forgot about Aliens Among Us LMAO. Yeah, that is probably bottom 5 due to being incredibly forgettable

@Wildwind- It isn't the sole reason but it doesn't help. The drama was getting pretty exhausting by then. Overall though, it just isn't one of my favorites. Doesn't stand out too much to me, which is weird considering it is the introduction of Pericles

Becker

3/6/2024 10:12:36 pm

Aliens Among Us has the weakest mystery of all SDMI imo, it's reminiscent of the SDWAY eps where there are literally no suspects. Here the only suspects we have we are only aware of through the gang's investigation, we never meet them until they're unmasked. Well, one of them didn't even need to be unmasked cuz it was in plain sight who she was despite her costume. Like they didn't even try lol. The episode had a lot of potential, starting off as a Signs-esque plot, but then it slowly descended into a heist chase plot. Disappointing, but not a bad episode. It's saved by Bronson and the ending post-unmasking.

WildwindVampire link

3/6/2024 10:17:42 pm

@Matt Yeah, same for me. I liked the introduction of Pericles quite a bit, and the monster was cool, but neither of those really made the episode stand out for me I guess.

@Becker I moved your comment up to the correct part of the thread lol. Completely agreed it's the weakest mystery of the series. Honestly, it's kind of like "The Creepy Heap of the Deep" of SDMI in a way, where it started off with a super amazing concept that could have been one of the best episodes of the series, and then the quality dips for some reason in the second half. I think it would have been much better if they stayed with The Signs-like plot at the beginning. Besides the unmasking, I also thought the grey alien's shadow in Daphne's bedroom was the one spot in the second half of the episode that was genuinely super cool. It would have been a much more episode if the tone wasn't so all over the place imo.

Matt

3/7/2024 09:39:03 am

I get what you mean about the dip in the second half of the episode, but at the same time, anything from season 2 of The Scooby Doo Show is miles better than Aliens Among Us lmao

Becker

3/7/2024 12:22:09 pm

Yeah, I'd much rather rewatch Creepy Heap from the Deep than Aliens Among Us lol. A more fitting analogy would be Warlock of Wimbledon (even then it's more entertaining for the batshitness).

WildwindVampire link

3/7/2024 01:43:03 pm

Yeah, all I meant is just that they were similar in the sense of the first part of the episode being strong, and the second half not being as good in comparison. They're definitely not comparable quality-wise lol.

Matt

3/7/2024 03:29:00 pm

Yeah, Warlock of Wimbledon is definitely a much closer comparison in terms of quality lol. Though even then, I'd also probably take Warlock of Wimbledon over Aliens Among Us lol

WildwindVampire link

3/7/2024 08:07:25 pm

Same, the plot going completely off the rails in "The Warlock of Wimbledon" is much more entertaining lol.

Mr Neither

3/3/2024 09:45:55 am

A Bum Steer for Scooby although Shaggy's showdown was a close second. Also a shoutout to Go West Young Scoob for almost certainly being in the bottom 5% of all Scooby episodes. There is literally nothing going for it. I don't even know how they managed to make that episode last 20 minutes and it is just not a proper Scooby episode for me as there is no real culprit and nothing to try and figure out. Truly up there as one of the worst Scooby episodes ever.

Becker

3/3/2024 12:14:40 pm

Never expected such vitriol towards Go West Young Scoob lol. We truly have complete opposite views on it indeed. It's awesome to me.

Mr Neither

3/3/2024 02:03:32 pm

It just bores me to death, sorry!

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 04:08:19 pm

I'm in the middle between you both, although more leaning towards Becker. I used to dislike the episode when I was younger because I found it to be pretty boring, but I've grown to appreciate it a bit more over time for how different it is. I totally understand why someone wouldn't like it though, and I'd still rank it towards the bottom of WNSD even if I do enjoy it.

Matt

3/3/2024 06:40:16 pm

I also fall more in the middle. I'd probably have it near the 30 spot for me, but I definitely enjoy it so I lean towards Becker's view as well

Becker

3/3/2024 06:52:52 pm

I definitely think Go West Young Scoob has a lot of cool, unique, intriguing stuff going for it; these types of novel episodes do tend to grab me, but I can understand why they wouldn't be other people's cup of tea.

Shadowscooby

3/3/2024 10:21:55 am

What about Spooky Fog and Weird Winds.

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 11:50:11 am

I added "The Spooky Fog," although I don't think "Weird Winds of Winona" is a western town. It's a real life town in Minnesota, which isn't in the west.

Shadowscooby

3/3/2024 10:25:18 am

Shaggy’s Showdown

Jacob Staggs

3/3/2024 11:00:14 am

5) Arizona and Holland
4) Movieland Monsters - One of the best Guess Who episodes.
3) Scooby Ghost West - That episode has beautiful backgrounds. Also, those ghosts shower really fast.
2) Ghastly Ghost Town - The second best episode of the New Scooby Doo Movies.
1) Mine Your Own Business - A Where Are You classic!

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 04:06:53 pm

Agreed "Scooby Ghosts West" has really nice backgrounds. What's your favorite New Scooby-Doo Movies episode, out of curiosity?

Jacob Staggs

3/3/2024 07:03:34 pm

My favorite New Scooby Doo Movies episode is Caped Crusader Caper. Sassy Fred. The return of bat cookies. Professor Flakey. Need I say more?

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 10:03:00 pm

You need not say more, that is an excellent choice of favorite NSDM episode haha. (Plus we also get No-Pants Batman!)

Scoobylover

3/3/2024 01:21:25 pm

Matthew Lillard has been interviewed and mentioned a kids-oriented Scooby project is in the works

https://toonado.com/movies/scooby-doo-icon-matthew-lillard-confirms-return-as-shaggy-after-role-was-recast-for-scoob-exclusive-a8306#gs.5wbc6t

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 04:06:26 pm

Thanks for sharing this! I'll be interested to see what the project is, although I'm wondering if he's referring to a new video game with the way he worded his comment.

Matt

3/3/2024 03:07:15 pm

I rewatched the Yabba shorts for this because I figured they were short anyway, the results were... certainly something. I did not have the time to watch Scooby Dudes or Shaggy's Showdown though, maybe my time would've been spent better there. In fact, that is probably a near certainty, but anyway

22. Runaway Scrappy- I suppose it should be a surprise the Guess Who episode isn't in last for me, but I hate "runaway" episodes in Scooby Doo (Dog Gone Scooby is my least favorite APNSD episode, well either that or Catcher on the Sly I guess) Everyone just ends up out of character in these episodes just to make for a really sappy and corny plot. It just makes me cringe. And speaking of which...

21. Bride and Gloom- Once again, "cringe" is the operating word here. There's really no excuse for this episode, and the fact that it is more forgettable than the last is the only reason this isn't in last for me

20. Law and Disorder- This episode is just baffling in every sense of the word. Every writing decision is just more baffling than the one before, like how they randomly just ended up in "Scorch valley" to randomly having a mirage, to being launched by a geyser back into town. The mayor should probably be forced to resign for this political disaster. Perhaps the only bigger unmitigated disaster than that decision was the writing in this episode

19. The Movieland Monsters- Usually, being a Guess Who episode and not being very prominent in the theme of the poll is a recipe to end up last place, but not this week I guess

18. Yabba's Rustle Hustle- Pretty awful. The cow thing was really weird and just pretty dumb overall

17. Lowdown Showdown- Terribly uninspired. This has to be the very most nondescript episode of Yabba. There is literally NO WAY you can describe this episode and have anyone know what it is. "Yeah, that is the one where a bad guy comes to town and comes after Dusty" That is the plot of most of these, there's nothing here to stand out besides maybe the villain having a bizarrely deep voice

16. Mine Your Own Business (Yabba)- What were they thinking giving this run of the mill Yabba short the same name as an absolutely classic episode?

15. Alien Schmalien- On rewatch, I thought this was pretty dumb. Why did the alien randomly lose his powers to levitate people once they caught him?

14. Tragic Magic- This was actually one of my favorite Yabba episodes... right up until the terrible ending. Magnet or not, that is one of the dumbest villain defeats I have ever seen in Scooby Doo

13. Tumbleweed Derby- I don't have much to say about this one, very average Yabba episode

12. Robot Ranch- Definitely a fever dream Scrappy short

11. Vild Vest Vampire- Definitely a top three Yabba short for me due to a better atmosphere than the rest of these and a supernatural element, but otherwise, there are two more Yabba episodes I like better

10. Scooby Ghosts West- Definitely a very strong atmosphere for a Scrappy short, I just wish the plot was way better than it is

9. Slippery Dan the Escape Man- I admit, I actually had a decent amount of fun with this one. Not quite my favorite villain of this series (we'll get there) but I like the idea of how he could basically escape any predicament, plus this episode has LOBSTER SCRAPPY which is an automatic boost

8. Arizona/Holland- This is a pretty solid Laff-a-Lympics episode

7. Up a Crazy River- I love the Literal Pirates (the aforementioned favorite villains of this series) and overall like this one a lot for what it is, but let's be real, it wasn't going to beat the top 6

6. The Spooky Fog- Sure, the episode drags on after a while, but the initial scenes in town with the fog were excellent

5. Night on Haunted Mountain- I'd definitely prefer this as an episode over at least the next one, it just comes to mind slightly less

4. Ghastly Ghost Town- I would argue the two New Scooby Doo Movies episodes here are among the weaker two of the series, but I still do like them and this one comes to mind more than the Spooky Fog

3. Go West Young Scoob- Kinda tough to rank these top 3, but this episode has only grown on me as I have really started to appreciate what this episode was and what it was going for more and more.

2. A Bum Steer For Scooby- Very much debated putting this one in first because it definitely spends more time in a western setting than my number one, but chose not to. But while this is definitely not one of the best episodes of its season by any means, it still gets pretty overlooked overall

1. Mine Your Own Business- What really sold me on putting this number one on an old west specific poll besides just being the best episode here is the scene where they are walking through the old Ghost Town and eventually go into the saloon, which is arguably the best part of the episode and enough to make it my winner

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 04:53:34 pm

Shaggy's Showdown is miles better than any of the Yabba shorts; "Scooby Dudes" is kinda fun for what it is, but I can see how it wouldn't be for everybody.

22. I don't necessarily hate runaway episodes, for example, "Dog Gone Scooby" was fine to me. My issue with the episode is more that it wouldn’t have been that difficult to still pull off this plot and have everybody be in character. They could just have had Dusty and Yabba be distracted with work or something and not have time for something Scrappy wanted to do, which would inadvertently make him feel unwelcome. Something like that would have made this work imo (at least, as much as a Yabba-Doo episode can work lol), because Scrappy presumably just moved to Tumbleweed and maybe doesn't know Dusty and Yabba too well yet. Instead, Dusty and Yabba randomly become jerks to Scrappy, and we get stuff like Dusty shouting at Scrappy to get to bed for no reason. I know they had a short runtime to work with here, but it just comes off as very lazy writing.

20. I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt this one was atrocious lol. Agreed that this episode was truly baffling. I'd honestly resign if I were Dusty; the mayor and town must have very little faith in him to just elect two random people off the street whom they just met minutes ago lol. Not to mention the mayor just picking a candidate with no citizen input isn’t how an election works, unless one of the candidates does something to disqualify from running, and five seconds after the slightest bit of suspicion is thrown on one of the candidates isn’t nearly enough time to justify that happening lol. If I were to redo my 'worst episode' list this would honestly be near the top, this episode is just all kinds of WTF and easily some of the worst writing the franchise has ever seen.

17. The deep voice thing was definitely weird. I also thought it was odd that the villain surrendered simply because his pants were pulled down lol.

15. Honestly I probably only liked this because the plot felt at least slightly more interesting than a generic bad guy coming to town to come after Dusty or Yabba. I agree him losing his powers was weird though.

14. Yeah, the plot was at least unique, but I agree the ending was kinda dumb here. Why isn't Yabba able to use this magic magnet of his just to defeat all villains? lol

2. Yeah, I agree this is underrated even if it's not the best of its series by any means. I considered putting this in #1 as well, but I have a lot more nostalgia for "Ghastly Ghost Town."

Matt

3/3/2024 07:07:59 pm

20. I don't know if I would go as far as to have it as one of my very worst episodes (definitely not as bad A Mystery Solving Gang Divided, Scooby of the Jungle, Scooby Dooby Guru, or Ransom of Scooby Chief to list a few that stand out there) and obviously I prefer it over two other Yabba episodes lol. But its writing quality was shocking in a very bad way

14. I did like their plan at the very beginning of the episode actually with the magic trick to distract from the robbery. I almost want to give it more credit because I genuinely was enjoying it for most of the episode believe it or not, but that ending was just horrible.

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 09:51:05 pm

20. I'd honestly rank "Bride and Groom" as the second-worst episode of the franchise, it was that miserable of a rewatch for me. "Law and Disorder" wouldn't be as low as the other episodes you listed there, but it's pretty low for me. There's another Yabba-Doo episode I would put close "Scooby of the Jungle," which thankfully was the one Yabba episode that wasn't in today's poll ("Go East Young Pardner") due to it taking place in New York. It was another one where they clearly put zero thought into having the writing make any kind of sense, and the weird angry stereotypes about New Yorkers just made it unpleasant to watch.

I took a quick glimpse at my 'worst episode' list from 2022 and this is how I'd rank my top 10 worst episodes now:

Dishonorable Mention: Ghastly Goals
10. Law and Disorder
9. Go East, Young Pardner
8. Scooby of the Jungle
7. Blowout Beach Bash
6. Ransom of Scooby Chief
5. A Mystery Solving Gang Divided
4. Scooby's Swiss Miss
3. Hoedown Showdown
2. Bride and Gloom
1. Scooby Dooby Guru

Becker

3/4/2024 06:02:56 am

@Wildwind, great #1 pick. Scooby Dooby Guru is rough to say the least. "Nothing real could be this gruesome" still lives rent-free in my head lol. Maybe the most offensive line in the history of Scooby-Doo? And to multiple different groups of people too. What other ones would you put up there? Perhaps Fred's much needed insight into the similarities between deserts and women.

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 10:57:44 am

I think "Nothing this gruesome could be real" is easily the most offensive line in the franchise. Other ones that come to mind for me would be Fred's weird desert line in "Ghastly Ghost Town" and Shaggy and Scooby's Chinese impression in "Mystery Mask Mix-Up."

A couple of the Yabba shorts come to mind too, "Bride and Gloom" is just a trainwreck of offensive stuff imo. The plot of the episode deals with Tumbleweed being threatened by the villain Horrible Homer, who demands the town send him a wife or he'll destroy the town. Instead of protecting the women in town, Dusty and Yabba literally round up all of the women in town to appease this man and save themselves, which is so wrong on a number of levels considering it's been established that this is an extremely awful and creepy man. The other most offensive part is when Yabba goes undercover as a woman to capture Horrible Homer, Homer says something like "now that I've got a wife, I'm gonna need you to cook me some dinner!" There are a number of other offensive things in the episode, but those were the two worst parts in my opinion.

"Go East Young Pardner" also comes to mind. When the guys go to New York for training, the chief of police refers to their professional training process as "babysittin' a bunch of hicks," and not only does he say this directly to their face, it's literally the first thing he says to them when they walk in the door.

I may be forgetting some other instances but those are the most offensive lines in the franchise that come to mind for me.

Becker

3/4/2024 02:35:17 pm

Ah yeah, the Chinese impression was quite questionable, particularly the way their faces were animated during it.

I refuse to watch the Yabba shorts, and I think I could've lived perfectly content without learning about all that stuff lol.

Man, the Scrappy years were so damn weird. The random-ass eyebrow-raising stuff they were able to insert into the episodes boggles my mind, it feels so not Scooby.

Another awful moment — uhm, actually, a whole main plot — is when Shaggy literally two-timed a couple of girls, and when he realized he managed to set up dates with both of them at the same time, like an idiot, he decided to trick one of the girls into thinking Scooby in dude clothes was actually her date. Messed up on so many levels. Good ol' classic Scooby-Doo right here, clearly. Man, Shaggy especially was taking a beating from the writing team those years, with this and the intentionally insulting "Nothing real could be this gruesome" line (worst piece of dialogue ever in the franchise, even including Velma... that's how bad it is), and so many other instances of awfulness in those shorts. My guy was not making a good case for himself that series.

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 03:40:09 pm

Yeah, Shaggy definitely did some questionable things during that era lol. I momentarily forgot about "Double Trouble Date," but yeah, that was definitely messed up on Shaggy's part. If he really wanted to go out with them both, it's kinda ridiculous that he would come up with this extremely elaborate scheme rather than just changing the date or something lol.

"Good ol' classic Scooby-Doo right here, clearly." *Theme of The New Scooby-Doo Movies plays* "Scooby Dooby Doo, he's catfishin' you"

Becker

3/4/2024 05:13:59 pm

Or he could've just taken out the girl he was more interested in and told the other one an issue had come up and the date needed to be called off (if he maybe didn't expect both of them to accept the date and he was just shooting his shots, if there's any benefit of the doubt I could give Shaggy here). But to instead make a dog in disguise go out with one of the girls is just inexcusable no matter what way you look at it lmao.

Lol, and the catfish is Guess Who trying to emulate the classic theme songs and falling on its face.

Matt

3/4/2024 06:32:15 pm

My loosely ordered bottom 10 at the moment would be:

10. (Insert random Guess Who episode here, they are almost all the same to me)
9. See #10
8. Double Trouble Date
7. Now You Sia, Now You Don't
6. Scooby of the Jungle
5. Bride and Gloom
4. Runaway Scrappy
3. Ransom of Scooby Chief
2. Scooby Dooby Guru
1. A Mystery Solving Gang Divided

Off the top of my head. Call it an unofficial list because I may have forgot some

@Becker- Double Trouble Date is a good shoutout, it was already on my worst list before you brought it back up as well lmao. Truly a "Wait, did they really make this episode????" moment of the franchise

@Wildwind- Funnily enough I was just reading through the Scoobyaddicts boards for some of these and... you may need to explain yourself for this one LMAO: https://scoobyaddicts.proboards.com/thread/1985/hoe-showdown

Just joking around with the explaining yourself of course, opinions naturally change

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 07:35:32 pm

@Becker Ah yes, Guess Who catfished us all with that awful theme song lol.

@Matt "Double Trouble Date" definitely isn't good, although I wouldn't say it's quite bad enough to make my worst list. I'm a little surprised not to see "Watch Out The Williwaw" or "Dog Gone Scooby" on there since I know you hate both of those. Out of curiosity, is the Sia one just on there because of the controversy that's come out related to her in past years, or was there another reason you hated that specific episode? Nothing about that episode stands out as worse than the others imo, so I was just curious.

Lol! I have no memory of making that 12-year-old post saying I liked it. The only thing I can think of is I found it "so bad it's funny" (either that or my opinion REALLY changed lol). I deleted it now as it's not representative of my opinion at all now, as per my worst list I consider it one of the worst episodes in the franchise.

Matt

3/4/2024 08:04:12 pm

I guess how you feel about Double Trouble Date is me with Law and Disorder and Go East Young Pardner, those episodes are terrible but I don't have them as low as you do

About the Sia episode, I'd be lying if that wasn't a part of it. Me having such a strong disdain for the guest star definitely hurts as well as the fact that I think the episode is beyond dumb even regardless of that

As for Willawaw and Dog Gone Scooby, I believe I have put them on past worst lists, but I don't find either of them as offensively awful (or just flat out offensive) as I find the rest of the list there. I would probably put Jaguaro below Willawaw these days

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 08:49:02 pm

I didn't remember much about "Double Trouble Date" other than the basic plot, so I just rewatched it. It's still not on my worst list, but it honestly feels like a bizarre piece of fanfiction that somebody would write. The plot also makes even less sense than I remembered, as the whole plot is based around the girl not knowing she's on a date with a dog due to having issues with her glasses...except it's a double date with Shaggy and the girl he's going out with, so how are both of the girls fooled? lol

That's fair, as an episode I didn't mind it, but I'm also not a fan of the guest star here.

Becker

3/5/2024 04:25:12 am

@Matt, my top 10 worst eps would comprise of all 10 Velma eps lol. But if we don't include that, then pick almost whichever 5 eps of Guess Who and the Scrappy shorts in whatever order, I can't even muster up to go through them individually to assess which ones are the worst. Dissecting and deep diving into these 2 shows is the last thing I intend on doing lmao.

@Wildwind, I remember going through the ScoobyAddicts The Scooby-Doo Project page and seeing you gave it a 3/10 about a decade ago. I was flabbergasted seeing that lol, knowing your opinion couldn't be more different on it now.

Matt

3/5/2024 09:02:11 am

@Wildwind- Yeah it is just so strange and bizarre, and not
in a good way this time. This is definitely another one where the villain’s motives make sense because of what Shaggy and Scooby are doing

@Becker- That’s fair, for the vast majority of Guess Who episodes I feel the same way besides the two that got named on my worst list. Scrappy shorts are definitely more interesting for me to dissect than Guess Who for just the strangeness of them as a whole, but trust me, I definitely get why you feel that way about them. I felt that way for a long time myself. Also, can I assume Scooby Dooby Guru is one of the 5 Scrappy shorts based on your previous post? Lol

Becker

3/5/2024 10:36:59 am

Scooby Dooby Guru is usually the first episode my mind goes to when I think "worst Scooby episode" (besides all of Velma). It's the prime example of every aspect that makes those shorts suck. So if I had to choose one, it would probably be that. Shaggy's infamous line is what tips it over to #1 if anything lol, and I'm not even part of the groups of people it targets. Still can't believe how they managed to let that slide, the censors must have been sleeping.

Matt

3/5/2024 11:38:46 am

Yeah, it definitely deserves that worst spot, it is unfathomably offensive. I honestly wish I could give it my worst spot, but A Mystery Solving Gang Divided is just such a sour and absolutely miserable watch for me that it has to be my worst, with the note that I haven’t seen Velma and wouldn’t count it if I had. Honestly, Ransom of Scooby Chief used to be my very worst episode, but not only is that not the case anymore, but that episode is actually PLEASANT compared to A Mystery Solving Gang Divided for me now

WildwindVampire link

3/5/2024 01:59:09 pm

@Becker Mine would too lol, that's why I excluded them here. Oh yeah, I remember that "The Scooby-Doo Project" comment (I just checked and it's from 2009, nearly 15 years ago). For whatever reason, I remember not liking it when I first watched it because I found it really weird, but my perspective on that episode has done a complete 180, and I'd honestly consider it the best special now.

The Guess Who episodes I'd consider to be the worst of the franchise actually come to mind quite easily for me. Other than "A Mystery Solving Gang Divided," I'd put "Ollie Ollie In-come Free!" and "The Fastest Food Fiend!" close to my worst top 10. I found Ricky Gervais to be super annoying in the former, and the latter is just extremely boring to me. As somebody who's seen a few Jim Gaffigan's comedy specials, they just make him so insufferably flat here imo. Other ones that would come close would be "Quit Clowning!" and "Space Station Scooby." Personally, a lot more Scrappy episodes get close to my top 10 worst of the franchise than Guess Who episodes.

Also, yeah, I have no idea how in the world some of the stuff in "Scooby Dooby Guru" (or "Bride and Gloom," for that matter) got past the censors. Neither should have even gotten past the drawing board imo. I know it was a different time back then, but some of the stuff in both of these seem so obviously offensive even for the 80s, and they don't even really try to hide the offensiveness.

@Matt Perhaps the worst part about "Double Trouble Date" to me was the awful ending, where the girl finds out Scooby is a dog, and simply giggles and says "Well, nobody's perfect!" in response. Just felt like a huge cop-out ending with zero creativity that cemented the fact that I just wasted 7 minutes of my life lol.

Matt

3/5/2024 04:39:39 pm

A 180 of opinion on The Scooby Doo Project doesn’t surprise me too much tbh. I always liked it, but it took a little bit of time for me to see it as a franchise masterpiece as I do now so I get how it needed to take time to really resonate

Ollie Ollie In-come Free is definitely up there with the worst of the worst series. Actually, you can pencil that in at 9

Not only was that ending a lazy cop-out, but it was also a completely unearned reference to Some Like It Hot

Becker

3/5/2024 06:02:24 pm

@Wildwind, genuinely atrocious ending from every standpoint. But especially Lucy saying "Well, nobody's perfect" and then knowingly and willingly kissing Scooby has so many bestiality alarms going off, it's genuinely disgusting. Like, what the fuck am I watching!?. Betty being completely aware yet perfectly fine with the whole situation from the start makes no sense whatsoever, as a rational human being you should leave Shaggy if he's doing this shit. Moose, the "villain", is actually the person most in the right and most justified in his actions lmao. Maybe it's just me, but seems 100% understandable to wanna beat up a guy for setting up your sister with a dog. The writers clearly don't agree. The only clever moment in the whole episode was Lucy asking Scooby what his accent is and him responding with "Danish", cuz of his dog breed. I liked those 3 seconds of the runtime. And Shaggy trying to gaslight Moose when they sit at the table made me smirk purely for the nonsense, Shaggy's unhinged there. Oh yeah, and Scrappy was in the episode, barely noticed him besides the rollercoaster confrontation.

Matt

3/6/2024 09:29:16 am

The entire episodes just crosses over into uncomfortably weird territory rather than interestingly weird. I truly can’t believe they made this episode. Part of me wants to leave it off my worst list at times because it’s kinda funny to just gawk at it, but then I rewatch it and realize what a trainwreck both in idea and execution it is. Moose is 100% the hero here lol

WildwindVampire link

3/6/2024 01:17:52 pm

@Becker I hadn't remembered Betty being complicit in Shaggy's behavior before rewatching it, but I was shocked when the first line was Betty being like "I can't believe you're tricking this other girl, Shaggy" lol. I honestly would have dumped Shaggy if I were her. The "Danish" line was the one part that got a good laugh out of me too; that was a clever line haha.

@Matt Yeah, completely agreed that this is uncomfortably weird rather than interesting, and that Moose is the only hero of the episode lol.

Becker

3/3/2024 06:49:11 pm

"I rewatched the Yabba shorts", I feel so bad for you lol. You definitely should've spent that time watching Shaggy's Showdown, it's actually worth a damn. I would not choose to watch a Yabba short under any circumstances, it really ain't it.

What I've always loved about A Bum Steer for Scooby is that it's so endlessly entertaining, even by the high TSDS standards. Many scenes are just so funny to me. I'd say Mine Your Own Business is similarly a bit overlooked as an episode. It's a great SDWAY ep, but I guess when you have such a classic show with so many bangers, some of them will be less talked about naturally.

I'd rather rewatch The Spooky Fog over Ghastly Ghost Town, both are pretty slow, but I find myself more invested in Spooky Fog (plus it does have a good amount of funny and entertaining scenes for the episode to not bog down too much), and in general I much prefer Don Knotts over The Three Stooges as guest stars.

Matt

3/3/2024 07:19:32 pm

Well to be fair, re-watching Yabba shorts just to know isn't exactly the same amount of mental capacity that would've been used to watch a movie I've never seen. I would want to sit down and really pay attention to the movie, where with these, I didn't really have to pay THAT much attention lol

I agree that it is very entertaining, especially the fact that there was just a dude dressed up as a cow screaming at them lol. Mine Your Own Business is probably one of the toughest episodes to determine its popularity to me. There are a LOT of people who see it as one of the most iconic and recognizable episodes of the franchise, then there are a LOT that completely forget about it compared to several other Where Are You episodes. I'm not sure there's another episode thats legacy is as varied in comparison to the rest of the series

I would say I would rank The Spooky Fog ahead of Ghastly Ghost Town as an episode, but in terms of an old west setting, Ghastly Ghost Town stands out more to me. Don Knotts is easily the better guest star lol

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 09:37:31 pm

I would definitely rank "The Spooky Fog" as the better episode too, and as to who the better guest star is, you might say it's Knott even a competition lol.

JakeSDfan27

3/3/2024 05:20:51 pm

Mine Your Own Business (Where Are You) (Good)

The Ghastly Ghost Town (Good)

The Spooky Fog of Juneberry (Good)

A Bum Steer for Scooby (Good)

Go West, Young Scoob (Great)

A Night on Haunted Mountain (Great)

Scooby-Doo! Shaggy's Showdown (Haven't seen it yet... but I bet it will be good)

The Movieland Monsters! (Really Good)

WildwindVampire link

3/3/2024 06:36:53 pm

Great ratings, Jake! I'd definitely recommend Shaggy's Showdown. It's my favorite DTV that we've gotten in the past 10 years.

Dzsasztin

3/4/2024 05:17:45 am

Vild Vest Vampire is a standout of Yabba shorts. I don't know what went sort of right in production, because Gary Greenfield wrote all the episodes, and with that one exception they are monstrously bad!

When my casual viewer friends asked me about my opinion on "Velma", I was like, sure it's a mockery of my favorite characters, but you know, when a franchise has more than 50 years of content, even being the worst version is hard, I told them deep in the lore of Scoobyverse there exists a void called Yabba-Doo...

So yeah, while decent and great episodes made this list, the inclusion of ALL the Yabba shorts definitely makes this the weakest set of episodes on a poll by default.

Wonder if any of them would get votes...

Maybe a poll for best AND one for worst Yabba-Doo episodes would be interesting!

P.S. Voted for Mine Your Own Business. Can you guess which one?

P.S.2. Not the Yabba-Doo one, if it gets a vote, it wasn't me, just to make sure.

P.S.3. I watched every Scooby-Doo franchise episode in chronology with my brother, and when we got the Yabba shorts, we almost wanted to QUIT! Even now when we think about that traumatic experience we still shiver in horror. There is a short, Runaway Scrappy, where I felt pain for the character assasination of characters I don't even care for. The file of that episode we had abruptly shut down when Scrappy was still crying. We never bothered to finish it, to date, that's the only Scooby-Doo episode I haven't watched in its full entirety and I don't even really plan to.

Just wanted to share this, TLDR, I have mild, semi-comical PTSD from Yabba-Doo.

WildwindVampire link

3/4/2024 10:52:59 am

Totally agreed on "Vild Vest Vampire," and not just because there was a supernatural threat. I felt the atmosphere was significantly better and more interesting. I have no idea if they had separate writers for Yabba and Scooby, but if that was the case, maybe they got somebody who wrote for the Scooby shorts to make a supernatural episode.

Oh boy, I don't know if that poll would get many votes. I don't think too many people would want to subject themselves to rewatching some of those lol.

Haha, "Runaway Scrappy" was definitely one of the worst, although I find "Bride and Gloom," "Go East Young Pardner" and "Law and Disorder" to be a bit worse personally. The character assassination in "Runaway Scrappy" is definitely bizarre though; like I mentioned in an above comment, what baffles me most about the episode is that it seems like it would have been so easy to just have them be too busy for Scrappy or something? Why did somebody say "I'll know, I'll make them into huge jerks that make Scrappy cry"? lol.

Shadowscooby

3/5/2024 08:59:52 am

Scooby Dudes:
I enjoyed this episode. I like the western feel of this episode. I liked the super bulls as a villains as well as the giant chicken. It was funny seeing Agent 1 and 2 having unfortunate luck in this episode. Dr Phibes telling Agent 1 to smack Agent 2 was funny. The parodied George Bush scene was funny.

WildwindVampire link

3/5/2024 01:42:26 pm

It's admittedly been a long time since I've seen this one, but I also enjoyed the episode. The super bulls were interesting villains. I also liked the George Bush scene haha.

Jacob Staggs

3/5/2024 11:41:06 am

My top 10 worst episodes evolve over time within reason. Here they are in no particular order
What the Hex Going On- One of only two where are you episodes that are not fantastic excellence. In fact, I would call this one bad and extremely boring.
Pigskin Scooby - I am not a sports person so it was hard to watch.
Phantom of the Country Music Hall - Might be the worst episode ever.
Spirited Spooked Sports Show
Curse of Viking Lake - Very uninspired.
Scooby of the Jungle - It's bad.
Scooby's Pinch Hits
When You Witch Upon a Star
Night of the Living Toys
Any episode of Mystery Incorporated.

WildwindVampire link

3/5/2024 01:41:39 pm

Oh wow, this is a super interesting list! Fun to see different opinions. I remembered you hated "What the Hex Going On?", although "Curse of the Viking Lake" being on here was a surprise. Interesting to see "Scooby of the Jungle" on every list that's been commented here.

Weekly Poll #220

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