Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!

***Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!*** is an American animated mystery comedy television series produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of the network's Saturday morning cartoon schedule on September 13, 1969, and aired for two seasons until October 31, 1970. In 1988, a selection of episodes from the later series *Scooby's All-Stars* and *The Scooby-Doo Show* were aired on ABC under the *Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!* name, and they were released in a DVD set marketed as its third season.

## Overview

The series centers on a group of characters consisting of four teenagers Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, and their talking dog named Scooby who travel in their van, named The Mystery Machine, bumping into and solving mysteries. Once solved, the group typically discovers that the perpetrator of the mystery is a disguised person who seeks to exploit a local legend or myth for personal gain.

## Voice cast

Main article: List of Scooby-Doo characters

* Don Messick as Scooby-Doo
* Casey Kasem as Shaggy Rogers
* Frank Welker as Fred Jones
* Stefanianna Christopherson as Daphne Blake (season 1)
* Heather North as Daphne Blake (seasons 2 and 3)
* Nicole Jaffe as Velma Dinkley (seasons 1 and 2)
* Pat Stevens as Velma Dinkley (season 3)

## Production

### Origin

Further information: Scooby-Doo

*Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!* was the result of CBS and Hanna-Barbera's plans to create a non-violent Saturday morning program that 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 Scared?*, *Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!* underwent a number of changes from script to screen (the most significant being the downplaying of a musical group angle). However, the basic concept—a group of teenagers and their dog 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 17 first-season episodes, while Lutz, Larz Bourne, and Tom Dagenais wrote the eight second-season episodes with Ruby and Spears as story editors. The plot varied little from episode to episode. The main concept was as follows:

1. The gang is driving in the Mystery Machine, either returning from or going to a regular teenage function, when their van breaks down for any of a variety of reasons (overheating, flat tire, out of gas) in the immediate vicinity of a large mostly vacated property (ski lodge, hotel, factory, mansion).
2. Their unintended destination turns out to be suffering from a monster problem (ghosts, Yetis, vampires, witches, etc). The gang then volunteers 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 chases them.
4. Eventually, enough clues are found to convince the gang that the ghost/monster is a fake. Fred then develops a much too complex trap to capture it (only for it to invariably go awry). Alternatively, the gang calls the local sheriff, only to get stopped by the villain half-way.
5. Eventually, the ghost/monster is apprehended and discovered to be disguised. Once unmasked, the ghost/monster turns out to be an unsuspected authority figure or otherwise innocuous local who is using the disguise to cover up something, such as a crime or a scam.
6. After giving the parting shot of "And I'd have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling kids", the offender is then taken away to jail and the gang is allowed to continue on the way to their destination.

### Music

The second season featured bubblegum "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 animated series made from the same mold as *Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!*). 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. The series' theme song has been covered by several subsequent artists, including Matthew Sweet for the 1995 TV special and album *Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits*; Third Eye Blind for the 1998 film *Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island* and the 2003 film *Scooby-Doo! and the Monster of Mexico*; Billy Ray Cyrus for *Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost* (1999); Jennifer Love Hewitt for *Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders* (2000); the B-52's (Cindy, Kate and Fred) for *Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase* (2001); MxPx for the live-action *Scooby-Doo* film (2002); and Krystal Harris for *Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire* (2003).

*Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!* utilized a laugh track, a common feature in most animated TV series until the late 1970s. It was removed for syndication in the 1980s. Following Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera and its networks' (TBS, TNT and Cartoon Network) initial broadcast of the series in 1994, the laugh track was reinstated in 1997.

## EpisodesEdit

### Season 3 – *Scooby's All-Stars* (1978)

The first nine episodes of the 16-episode 1978 season of *Scooby-Doo* were broadcast under the *Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!* name. The revival series was cancelled soon afterward and the remaining seven episodes that were intended for the revival were instead broadcast during the *Scooby's All-Stars* block; all 16 were rerun during this block and later syndicated as part of *The Scooby-Doo Show*. See List of *The Scooby-Doo Show* episodes for entire season run and *The Scooby-Doo Show* for proper production credits.