Posted
on September 13, 2016
What
a debut! Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! made its debut on this
date in 1969.And the cartoon series went on to lead to more series, reruns, and revivals, movies, videos, puppet shows, Lego shorts, video games, stage plays, and even comic books!! And don't forget merchandising: lunch boxes, a board game, coloring books, underwear, and on and on.
In
2013, TV Guide rated Scooby Doo as the fifth greatest TV cartoon of
all time.
What's
so good about a Saturday-morning cartoon with four teenagers and a
talking Great Dane?
Well....there
were mysteries to solve. There were monsters to search for and spooky
supernatural-seeming stuff to explore. There were humorous missteps.
And antics. And the occasional shenanigan, an even a few romps into
tom-foolery!
I
missed all of that – I have literally never seen a single episode
or movie of Scooby-Doo – but I have heard some great things about
the series. My hero, the dearly departed scientist and
science-explainer Carl Sagan, admired the series's skeptical stance
and even wished that an adult show with a similar bent would be a
great public service.
You
may wonder what Sagan meant by “skeptical stance.” Apparently,
whenever there seemed to be a ghost haunting a town or a
not-of-this-world monster terrorizing the countryside, the gang would
eventually track down the ghost or monster – and it would always
turn out to be a criminal playing tricks in order to make off with
some loot or some scoundrel in a mask trying to frighten people for
his own nefarious purposes.
After
being unmasked by the kid detectives, the criminal would often say
something like, “I would've gotten away with it if it wasn't for
you meddling kids!!”
Apparently,
however, at least one of the newer Scooby-Doo retreads has a totally
different – and disappointing – feel. Scooby-Doo on Zombie
Island is a betrayal to the original show and in fact is just
like most TV shows that deal with so-called paranormal activity: it
ends up with the idea that supernatural creatures like ghosts,
zombies, and werewolves do exist. One reviewer asked, “Scooby-Doo, how could you?”
(I
read that Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated gets back to its skeptical
roots – hooray!)
Try
watching an episode or two of Scooby-Doo. Here is one – and
you can find links to many more on that page!
Also
on this date:
Plan
ahead:
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And
here are my Pinterest boards for:
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