Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is the first incarnation of the long-running Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. It premiered on September 13, 1969 at 10:30 AM EST and ran for two seasons on CBS as a half-hour long show. Twenty-five episodes were produced (seventeen in 1969-1970 and eight more in 1970-1971).

Origin
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Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was the result of CBS and Hanna-Barbera's plans to create a non-violent Saturday morning program which would appease the parent watch groups that had protested the superhero-based programs of the mid-1960s. Originally titled Mysteries Five, and later Who's S-S-Scared?, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! underwent a number of changes from script to screen (the most notable of which was the downplaying of the musical group angle borrowed from The Archie Show). However, the basic concept—four teenagers Fred, Daphne. Velma, and Shaggy and a large goofy Great Dane dog Scooby-Doo solving supernatural-related mysteries—was always in place.

Writing
Scooby-Doo creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears served as the story supervisors on the series. Ruby, Spears, and Bill Lutz wrote all of the scripts for the seventeen first-season Scooby episodes, while Ruby, Spears, Lutz, Larz Bourne, and Tom Dagenais wrote the eight second-season episodes. The plot varied little from episode to episode. The main concept was as follows:
 * 1) The Mystery, Inc. gang turn up in the Mystery Machine, en route to or returning from a regular teenage function when their van develops engine trouble or breaks down for any of a variety of reasons (overheating, flat tire, etc.), in the immediate vicinity of a large, mostly-vacated property (ski lodge, hotel, factory, mansion, etc.).
 * 2) Their (unintended) destination turns out to be suffering from a monster problem (ghosts, Frankenstein, Yeti, etc.). The kids volunteer to investigate the case.
 * 3) The gang splits up to cover more ground, with Fred and Velma finding clues, Daphne finding danger, and Shaggy and Scooby finding food, fun, and the ghost/monster, who gives chase. Scooby and Shaggy in particular love to eat, including dog treats called Scooby Snacks which are a favorite of both the dog and the teenage boy.
 * 4) Eventually, enough clues are found to convince the gang that the ghost/monster is a fake, and a trap is set to capture it.
 * 5) The trap may or may not work (more often than not, Scooby-Doo falls into the trap and they accidentally catch the monster another way, usually if the plan is explained in detail before attempted execution it fails). Invariably, the ghost/monster is apprehended and unmasked. The person in the ghost or monster suit turns out to be an apparently blameless authority figure or otherwise innocuous local who is using the disguise to cover up something such as crime or a scam.
 * 6) After giving the parting shot of "And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you blasted meddling kids" (sometimes adding "...and your stupid dog!"), the offender is then taken away to jail, and the gang is allowed to continue on their way to their destination.

Episodes
Main article: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! episode list

Cast
As with most Hanna-Barbera shows, Scooby-Doo features an emphasis placed on verbal rather than visual storytelling, and the work of the voice artists was particularly important. Don Messick, the voice of Astro the dog, Dr. Benton Quest, and Boo-Boo Bear -- among others -- provided the raspy, mumbling voice of Scooby-Doo. Radio dee jay Casey Kasem voiced Shaggy, young actor Frank Welker voiced Fred (which began Welker's long career in voice work), and actress Nicole Jaffe voiced Velma. Indira Stefanianna Christopherson voiced Daphne during the first season, and moved to New York City to marry and start a family before production began on the second season. As a result, Nicole Jaffe's roommate, Heather North, took over the role of Daphne.


 * Don Messick as Scooby-Doo
 * Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
 * Frank Welker as Fred Jones
 * Stefanianna Christopherson (Season one) and Heather North (Season two) as Daphne Blake
 * Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley

Music
For theme song, see Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song

Studio musical director Ted Nichols wrote an instrumental theme for the show, which was for the opening credits of and under the title cards for the premiere episode, What A Night For A Knight. The closing theme of the first show was the now more familiar Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song, written by David Mook and Ben Raleigh and recorded by Mook three days before the show's September 13 broadcast premiere. After Nichols's theme was used as both the opening and closing theme of the second broadcast episode, A Clue For Scooby Doo, Mook and Raliegh's theme became the permanent opening credits theme, and was also heard as the closing credits theme on all but three episodes: Hassle in the Castle, Which Witch is Which?, and A Night of Fright is No Delight, which used the original instrumental theme in syndication in the 1990s. Nichols' original theme is, however, heard under the title card for each episode of both this and the follow-up series, The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and is very prominently used as background score for most Scooby-Doo episodes through 1979.

The second season featured "chase scene" songs produced by La La Productions (which had originally been contracted to create the music for Josie and the Pussycats, the first of many shows made from the same mold as Scooby-Doo). These songs were written by Danny Janssen and Austin Roberts, and were performed by Roberts, who also made a new recording of the Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! theme song for the second season episodes.

Both seasons contained a laugh track, which was standard practice for American cartoon series during the 1960s and 1970s. It was removed for syndication in the 1980s. The laugh track was then reinstated when Cartoon Network began airing the show.

Release and reaction
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! was a breakaway hit for Hanna-Barbera and CBS, who quickly introduced similar cartoons to accompany Scooby-Doo: Josie and the Pussycats (1970), The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971) (which re-imagined the toddlers from The Flintstones as high-school students), and The Funky Phantom (also 1971).

In the UK, in 2005, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! came 49th in Channel 4's "100 Greatest Cartoons" [1]. As of 2006, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! is also the only classic Hanna-Barbera series that continues to air on Cartoon Network; the others were gradually moved to Boomerang in the early 2000s. All 25 episodes were released to DVD in March 2004 as ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete First and Second Season''.

Home media
Episodes from season one and two were released to VHS under the title Classic Scooby-Doo. Releases include: Classic Scooby-Doo - Mystery Mask Mix-Up, Classic Scooby-Doo - Which Witch is Which?, Classic Scooby-Doo - That's Snow Ghost, Classic Scooby-Doo - The Haunted House Hang-Up, Classic Scooby-Doo - Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too, Classic Scooby-Doo - A Gaggle of Galloping Ghosts and Classic Scooby-Doo - Foul Play in Funland. Each VHS release contained its titular episode and a second episode. All 25 episodes were released on DVD in March 2004 by Warner Home Video as ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete First and Second Seasons''. A DVD entitled ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The Complete Third Season was released on April 10, 2007, made up of episodes produced in 1978, added to the Scooby's All-Stars package, and later syndicated as part of The Scooby-Doo Show''. WHV announced the release of another DVD compilation, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Volume 1: A Monster Catch, boasting the first four episodes of the series remastered, on January 27, 2009.[3] Soon, more DVD compilations were released: Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Volume 2: Bump in the Night, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Volume 3: Hello Mummy, Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! Volume 4: Spooky Bayou''.

Airing history

 * Canada (English and French)
 * Teletoon and Télétoon (1997–present)
 * Teletoon Retro and Télétoon Rétro (2007–present)
 * Jamaica
 * Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (1980-1997)
 * CVM Televsion (1998-2006)