Scooby-Doo and His Friends
The character of Scooby-Doo was created about 50 years ago, in the late 1960s, as part of a mystery-themed children's cartoon series that resembled mystery books for children that were popular at the time. Since that time, Scooby-Doo shows have been popular with generations of young fans and even adults who have loved the shows since childhood. Over time, Scooby-Doo has seen some changes, but the basic format of the shows remains the same. Scooby-Doo, a talking dog, has adventures and solves mysteries with four human friends: Fred, Daphne, Velma, and Shaggy, who is Scooby-Doo's best friend/owner.
In children's mystery book series, groups of friends often solve mysteries with spooky themes in fun locations. Episodes of Scooby-Doo follow basically the same premise, but they also have patterns of their own. They investigate monsters and places that are supposedly haunted, and capture villains who are disguised as supernatural creatures. Anyone who has seen the show knows basically how the story will go (with the exception of a few episodes that add a twist to the theme), but it's always a fun ride!
Scooby-Doo isn't just one series; it's an entire franchise of series. Over the years, as one series of Scooby-Doo comes to an end, another begins, often making slight changes to the characters and using different animation styles. Fans of the shows often have a particular series and animation style that they prefer over others, but really, all of them are fun! Scooby-Doo endures partly because it's a series that doesn't take itself too seriously, often poking fun at itself as well as general tropes of the mystery genre, and partly because it's made of the same stuff that many nostalgic children's shows and book are made of: friendship, fun adventures, mystery, monsters and ghosts, and good guys who always manage to catch the bad guys! Hop into the Mystery Machine with the gang, and enjoy the ride!
Like all of my projects, this site is a work in progress. Some of the tables of episodes in different series of Scooby-Doo are missing pieces of information, but I'll fill those in as I rewatch episodes.