What If: Scooby Doo Edition Part 2

As I mentioned, I said I would have more Scooby Doo What ifs, and now I have a few more in addition to what I previously posted; the reason I didn't post more What ifs in the first blog is because I wanted to take a break, get some lunch, etc.

But now, I have returned and with more What ifs from Scooby Doo's history.

Let's pick things up with this: we know that Scooby was canned in 1986 and he didn't get back on the air until 1988 on ABC, but let's do a bit of revisionist history here and say that what if Scooby managed to either good ratings that kept him on the air for 1986 on ABC, or an executive or someone from Hanna Barbera or the network saved the show and Scooby aired in a new incarnation in 1986-1987.

For starters, what would the show have been called? What kind of mysteries would have been shown, would they have been involving real ghosts or fakes like before? Would Scrappy have been there, would Fred, Daphne and Velma have been there? Would there be new characters?

First, I did see or read somewhere that Scooby Dee was supposed to possibly be on Scooby Doo in 1986-1987, possibly as his girlfriend, so let's start with that; I think if Scooby Dee was Scooby's girlfriend, there would probably be no need for Scrappy Doo and he would be gone for 1986.

And without Scrappy, what would the Superstars 10 movies have been like? Would Scooby Dee have been on those as well? Like i've said before, who knows?

And speaking of those movies and where they were aired, this leads to another what if: What if Hanna Barbera took a chance and did what they did with The Jetsons in 1985, specifically putting Scooby Doo in syndication with 65(or whatever number of new episodes they decided to do)shows and airing them on the same stations the Scooby reruns aired back then.

Again the casting becomes an issue here, as there were a couple cast members that would be easily obtainable, Casey Kasem and Don Messick; as for the other cast members, would there be a need for any others? Would the whole gang have been in the series, would Fred, Daphne and Velma have been there? What about Scrappy Doo, would he have been there?

What would the format have been? Would there have been real ghosts or monsters or just fakes? It's an interesting question, that could have been answered; remember, the Jetsons were only on for one season back in the 60's on ABC, however the shows were rerun on Saturday mornings on the major networks for many years afterwards.

Becuase those reruns were succesful enough, Hanna Barbera decided to put new Jetsons shows in syndication; Scooby Doo meanwhile was a network show and had been a network show for most of its run, but what if Hanna Barbera figured Scooby Doo could work on Weekdays in new shows?

Eventually Warner Brothers(who now owns and bought out Hanna Barbera in the 90's) decided to make a new Scooby series called What's New Scooby Doo? and in the later stages of that show's run, WB(and Kids WB) decided to run new episodes on weekdays; oddly enough, Kids WB ran on some of the same stations that ran the syndicated reruns of Scooby back in the 80s(thanks to research done by yours truly, i've found few markets that aired Scooby reruns and WNSD on the same stations, albeit with a gap of 20 or so years; i.e. St. Louis, Chicago, and a few others).

So, in theory if some of the same stations aired WNSD and Scooby reruns, then maybe Scooby could have worked in syndication with new episodes; remember that in 1985, syndication was a lot different from today, there was no Fox(yet), no UPN and no WB Network, so a lot of cartoons(new ones, done specifically for syndication) aired in first run on various stations around the country in syndication.

Bottom line, in my opinion, yes Scooby Doo could have worked in new episodes and new adventures in syndication, but it would have made for interesting competition in a lot of markets; with reruns of shows, shows like He-Man and Thundercats and others, and other first run competition, Scooby might not have been succesful in syndication, but still it would have been worth a shot.

Moving on, we have a short what if; What if Scooby Doo and the Goblin King was made earlier and with no Fred, Daphne and Velma, but with Scrappy Doo there and with maybe a different plot.

I think Scooby Doo and the Goblin King was a decent movie, but it was ruined by the ending; if Fred, Daphne and Velma didn't appear in the movie and Scrappy was there instead, maybe it would have been recieved better and besides, didn't that movie seem like a long Scooby and Scrappy episode anyway?

Our final what if is one of the biggest what ifs in Scooby's history; we know that Shaggy and Scooby were solving mysteries on their own in various series and movies, and we know that those two are the most popular characters in the franchise, but what if, what if the other three characters solved mysteries on their own, in their own adventures and own series?

Fred, Daphne and Velma have their own fan bases and their own fans, and people who write fan fics about them solving cases by themselves(like me for example), so let's take things a step further; let's say that Fred, Daphne and Velma got their own series and got to solve cases on their own a la the 1980-1982 Scooby and Scrappy Doo series maybe.

In Shaggy and Scooby Get a Clue, we did see in the episode "Almost Ghosts" that Fred and the girls were asked to investigate a ghost at a military base(where they saw Shaggy and Scooby and all 5 solved the case together); however, it seems that Fred, Daphne and Velma were solving their own cases when they were called to the military base, so let's go with the fact that the three of them took a few cases without Shaggy and Scooby and managed to be succesful detectives without Shaggy and Scooby.

I definitely think Fred and the girls could support their own half hour series, with their own challenges and own cases, it could happen and Warner Brothers should do this eventually, it would work; the problem WB has is that they are afraid to try new things, and if Scooby was owned by another company, like Disney for example, they would be more then willing to try Fred, Daphne and Velma solving cases by themselves.

Another reason why WB won't do this ever is that they are afraid the fans would complain and that the show would turn into a soap opera with Fred and Daphne and their romance, and that Velma would be a third wheel; that is so untrue, because every fan fic i've read that has Fred and the girls on their own solving cases is written very well, and those three could be succesful detectives on their own.

The problem as I said is with Warner Brothers, they are afraid to write for their "straight men" Fred, Daphne and Velma and want to milk Shaggy and Scooby dry as far as comedy; part of the reason why Scooby Doo is so succesful is that every body does their part and that Fred, Daphne and Velma are as capable at solving cases as Shaggy and Scooby.

However, the people who own Scooby Doo are unwilling to try anything new, which is why they refuse to do anything with Scooby other then what they usually do; they don't make any movies or series that deviate from the usual Scooby idea, four teens and a Great Dane unmasking ghosts and monsters who turn out to be people who are trying to commit some sort of crime or steal some treasure or valuable asset.

WB refuses to write stories that have real ghosts and monsters and when they do people complain, the fans complain, parents complain, etc. If Warner Brothers would do some different things with Scooby, then maybe people would like the franchise more and more fans would get into the show.

Until that point, Warner Brothers will have to put up with fans who want these things I mentioned and until they start to do things differently, the show and franchise will be as stale as a loaf of bread from the Clinton administration; and with that, I bid you farewell for now, but rest assured I will have more Scooby Doo blogs and other blogs soon.