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When Frank Sinatra
sang "Strangers in the Night," did he know he would inspire
the name for the longest-running cartoon on network TV?
Probably not. Nonetheless, that Great Dane named Scooby-Doo
(as in “dooby dooby doo”) has appeared on television under no
less than twelve titles.
It all began in 1969 as Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! The
traveling companion of four hep-cat teenagers, Scooby-Doo
helped solved mysteries while simultaneously murdering the
English language (though the fact that he could even speak
should count for something). Scooby’s best friend was the
skinny, goofy Shaggy, with whom he shared a love for Scooby
snacks, among other delicacies. Also along for the ride was
the much hunkier Freddy, the babelicios Daphne, and Velma, the
brainy girl who did most of the mystery cracking.
The inexplicable fivesome tooled around in the Mystery
Machine (a groovy painted van), ending up in some pretty
creepy towns menaced by ghosts, ghouls or mummies. When the
gang would split up to look for clues Freddy would “take the
girls,” leaving Scooby and Shaggy to fend for themselves,
usually ending up in each other’s arms out of fear. After an
extensive chase scene/musical sequence, the villain would be
caught, reveal his true identity and curse those meddling kids
for foiling his plans.
The show lasted for two seasons before reruns took over. In
the years to follow new incarnations of the show were produced
under various titles and, it's interesting to note, that while
the show itself underwent many changes, the characters did
not. Aside from a modified Daphne appearing in
The 13 Ghosts
of Scooby-Doo, the gang retained their late-sixties garb well
into the eighties and nineties. This included knee-highs, a
mini-skirt and lumpy turtleneck sweater for Velma, a rockin’
minidress and head scarf for Daphne, and groovy bell-bottoms
for the guys. Scooby remained in his natural canine glory
throughout.
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