Summary

• The Scooby-Doo franchise's legacy is solidified by various series over its 50-year lifespan.
• Fans react ionately to Velma series, continuing to show the ongoing popularity of Scooby-Doo.
• Each Scooby-Doo series brings unique elements while preserving the original mystery-solving gang formula.

As one of the longest-running cartoon franchises, looking at all the Scooby-Doo shows in order cements its impressive legacy. This cowardly cartoon dog has spanned decades and entertained millions of people through the years, from its groovy beginnings in 1969 to the most recent series, Velma. The classic set-up for the series follows Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. team, Shaggy, Velma, Daphne, and Fred, as they stumble onto seemingly supernatural occurrences and get to the bottom of them. These characters have stuck with fans for over 50 years in various cartoon series, as well as live-action movies.

Velma is the latest attempt to bring the Scooby gang back to the small screen, albeit this is a more adult-oriented take with some modern commentary. The show has received considerable backlash from fans who feel it mocks the beloved characters of the original. With such a ionate response, it proves Scooby-Doo is still a franchise that people care about. Looking at the Scooby-Doo shows proves the franchise has been there for multiple generations of fans and will likely continue on for many more.

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

1969-1970

The original and perhaps most beloved series was created when Hanna-Barbera was seeking out a more wholesome and less intense television show than their past superhero cartoons. Each campy episode of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! had the same structure, which became comforting and familiar for young viewers. There was also plenty of slapstick humor supplemented by Shaggy and Scooby.

After chasing someone around, the gang would always solve the mystery by revealing the true identity of the monster or ghost; usually, a crotchety older person exploiting a local legend to cover up a crime. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! quickly took off, and after just a couple of years, Hanna-Barbera would need to grow the franchise to satisfy audiences who couldn't get enough of Scooby-Doo and the gang. As hard as it is to believe, there were only 25 episodes in those first two seasons.

The Scooby-Doo Movies

1972-1974

The next Scooby-Doo show to follow the original was The Scooby-Doo Movies. This wasn't a series of movies but rather a show of hour-long episodes that came after Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! These episodes had a guest star slot and would feature familiar heroes like Batman and Robin, along with The Harlem Globetrotters, Josie and the Pussycats, Speed Buggy, and many others.

The Scooby Gang solves mysteries alongside very famous (cartoon-drawn) faces.

For this particular incarnation of the franchise, it's the guest stars that make the shows memorable as the format is largely the same as the original, but the Scooby Gang solves mysteries alongside very famous (cartoon-drawn) faces. The Scooby-Doo Movies was another hit and would run until 1974. After that, reruns of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! would air until the franchise moved from CBS to ABC in 1976. There were two seasons and 24 episodes and it played along with the original series for kids for years.

The Scooby-Doo Show

1976-1977

Scooby-Doo went through yearly format changes in the 1970s and was oftentimes paired along with Dynomutt, Dog Wonder to create the Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour. Dynomutt was actually a mechanical dog superhero sidekick to another Hanna-Barbera superhero named Blue Falcon. Along with various Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour and Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics crossover episodes, there were also new regularly formatted Scooby-Doo episodes that featured new characters like Scooby-Doo's cousin, Scooby-Dum.

The late 1970s were responsible for introducing a lot of new characters to the franchise and for crossing over with other Hanna-Barbera properties. This is a series that is hard to categorize since it really took a lot of different Scooby-Doo cartoons and batched them together under one name. There were 40 total episodes, but it included Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour (16 episodes) and Scooby's All-Star Laff-a-Lympics (8 episodes), Scooby Doo, Where Are You (10), and Scooby's All-Stars (6).

Scooby's All-Star Laff-A-Lympics

1977-1978

Watching the 1970s Scooby-Doo shows reminds fans of the interconnected nature of the Hanna-Barbera universe. The title alone is a perfect example of the fact that Hanna-Barbera was trying as hard as possible to milk Scooby-Doo. Although, Laff-A-Lympics does have a neat concept of a series where over forty characters from across Hanna-Barbera franchises crossover for a parody of the Olympics. There were five shows in the block, including one with Captain Caveman and another with Blue Falcon.

The second season would be renamed Scooby's All-Stars until its cancelation. ing Scooby-Doo in these episodes were mostly cartoon characters from all across Hanna-Barbera, including Yogi-Bear, Mumbly, Captain Caveman, Dynomutt, Blue Falcon, and many more. Through the series, there were 24 total episodes (with eight listed as Scooby's All-Stars) and then they were all packaged together in re-runs under The Scooby-Doo Show name, along with classics from the original series.

Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo

1979-1980

Scooby-Doo And Scrappy-Doo introduced another well-known character to the franchise; Scooby's comically tiny, rough, and tough nephew Scrappy. Unlike his uncle, Scrappy is brave, feisty, and eager to help the gang solve mysteries, sometimes charging headfirst into danger, while crying catchphrases. The character is not well-liked by many fans and was even turned into the villain in the first of the live-action Scooby-Doo movie. Despite this, the addition of Scrappy led to him sticking with his uncle for a while.

Scrappy also never went away, despite the fans' sometimes hatred of the little dog. However, it might not be that Scrappy was hated as much as it was that he soon replaced the other human characters, with Fred, Velma, and Daphne often taking a backseat to the little guy. Despite that, the first season of the show only ran for 16 episodes before it came to an end. Hanana-Barbera also created shorts that played in other cartoons with the characters after this.

The New Scooby And Scrappy-Doo Show aka The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries

1983-1985

In 1983, The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show aired for one season, before its name was changed to The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, adding a little confusion to the franchise's history. This version of the show saw the return of Daphne Blake in the first season, which was a nice return since most fans missed the gang and wanted them more than they wanted more Scarppy-Doo adventures. However, Fred and Velma would have to wait until the second season for their return.

Despite there not being a lot of love for Scrappy-Doo from fans, he remained on the show while other characters came and went.

This series would also see the end of the sitcom laugh track that played over previous seasons. Despite there not being a lot of love for Scrappy-Doo from fans, he remained on the show while other characters came and went. This series was a lot more successful than the last one with Scrappy, as it lasted for two seasons and 26 episodes, although Scooby-Doo still struggled to find its footing and get more than a couple of seasons at a time in any format.

The 13 Ghosts Of Scooby-Doo

1985

This was Hanna-Barbera's seventh incarnation of the Scooby-Doo franchise, with Scrappy-Doo, a very different Daphne, a revamped Shaggy sporting a red shirt, and, of course, Scooby-Doo. However, it also introduced some new characters. This included Flim Flam, an ambitious adventurer who could con his way out of any tricky situation. The new adventure also introduced scary elements to the kids' show.

Vincent Van Ghoul, a magician also s the small gang of regular characters to help return 13 ghosts to the Chest of Demons. The famous thing about Van Ghoul was that he was voiced by legendary horror icon Vincent Price. This was also the first time in the Scooby-Doo franchise that real ghosts were introduced. It was a huge shock for some fans, as it was no longer about unmasking some scam artist or criminal and Scooby-Doo faced actual real monsters, making it more horror and less comedy.

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

1988-1991

While the franchise has been able to remain popular for so long, sometimes there are new elements introduced into the Scooby-Doo show in order to make them feel fresh. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo brings the characters to look at the early days of Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby as young kids and a puppy. This series was unique in the way it deviated from the traditional style of animation and presented a more soft, cute, and bubbly style of animation.

The show itself was also more goofy and zany than the previous series, embracing the comedic aspects of the series rather than the scary ghost stories. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo successfully entertained audiences until 1991, when reruns of older shows resumed. Reruns of classics aired for over a decade, which is why even kids of the 1990s and 2000s have seen the original series. This wasn't new either, as other shows like Muppet Babies and Tiny Toons did the same thing.

What's New Scooby-Doo?

2002-2006

After the hiatus that began in 1991, it took a decade for Scooby-Doo to return to the small screen in 2002 on the Cartoon Network. This is largely thanks to the popularity of the original cartoon, the live-action Scooby-Doo movie, and a DTV series of movies starring the character. Returning to Saturday morning cartoon television, it continued its run as one of the longest-running cartoon series with a new series appropriately named What's New Scooby-Doo?

This series returned to its roots with the gang encountering villains in disguises and costumes rather than real monsters and ghosts.

This series went in a completely different direction from its predecessor with modern and more realistic changes to Scooby-Doo and the gang. Gone were the goofy cartoonish Hanna-Barbera sound effects of the past, including the laugh track never returning. At the same time, however, this series returned to its roots with the gang encountering villains in disguises and costumes rather than real monsters and ghosts. This helped pull it back from the supernatural and more into the mystery aspects again.

Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get A Clue!

2006-2008

This series came on the air in 2006 and mainly focused on Scooby-Doo and Shaggy. In the show, Shaggy has a ridiculously wealthy uncle named Albert Shaggleford who disappears mysteriously, leaving Shaggy a large house and inheritance. Shaggleford is also an inventor, and it's revealed that he has disappeared to avoid the antagonist, Dr. Phibes. The Scooby villain attempts to steal his inventions and take over the world, forcing Scooby and Shaggy to work together to stop him.

Shaggy & Scooby Get A Clue is the most visually unique series in of animation, airing on The CW's Kids's WB Saturday morning block. The animation style tried to make the characters look like they did in the live-action movies, and it was one of the only cartoons to not use the traditional Hanna-Barbera animation style. Also, this was the first time that Casey Kasem did not voice Shaggy, and he instead voiced the evil Dr. Phibes (based on Dr. Evil and named after the Vincent Price horror character).