A Fool's Utopia 10.22.09: The Mystery Five

Posted by Ron Martin on 10.22.2009

This week in one man's utopia we talk about the history of one of the greatest spooky cartoons ever, Scooby Doo. Also included for your leisurely pleasure, absinthe, a Great Pumpkin board game, other magazine covers featuring Marge Simpson, Slime Slurps and the Garfield Halloween Special.

I've spent much of October talking about creepy shows and movies because that's what we do here in October. Most writers on pages like this are horror movie fanatics. Something about the genre attracts people fanatical enough to write about what they love. Here we are in October and I've written about the impact of The Twilight Zone and differences between remakes of Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th. Today, I give to you the show that may have made it possible for all these freaks to write about what they enjoy.



Scooby Doo, Where Are You? has to be a childhood favorite of most everyone, especially for those that liked a little monster in their Saturday mornings. Years before legend tripping would be cool, Scooby Doo scratched the spooky itch.

Picked up in 1969 by CBS, Scooby Doo was pitched as a five man band and dog who solved mysteries between gigs. After initial rejection, the lineup was altered to the legendary one we all know and love. Two characters were morphed into Fred (originally "Ronnie"), Velma and Shaggy were no longer siblings and Scooby became a Great Dane. The iconic song led us into a world where we would encounter haunted houses, spooky ghosts, zombies and monsters. The show was so successful in its first incarnation that a half dozen or so other shows around the same premise (Jabberjaws, Speed Buggy, Josie and Pussycats ) popped up almost immediately, thus dominating the childhood memories of anyone growing up in this era.



The original run of Scooby Doo, Where Are You? is much celebrated, but only lasted 25 episodes across two seasons. Like any network execs, CBS couldn't keep their hands off something successful. They decided to incorporated celebrities into the show and double the running time creating The New Scooby Doo Movies that would run for a season in an hour long format. Celebrities or other Hanna Barbera cartoons would hook up with the Scooby Gang and help them solve mysteries. This is why growing up you would often see Scooby and Shaggy on the mystery trail beside Mama Cass, Batman and Robin, the Three Stooges or Don Knotts.

The third incarnation of the show happened over on ABC and for two seasons, they didn't know what to do with it. The Scooby Doo Show was paired with all kinds of cartoons (most notably Dynomutt) in various incarnations (including Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics and Scooby's All Stars). A couple of these runs featured Scooby's cousins Scooby Dee and Scooby Dum, but by the end it was back to the original format with the original cast.

A prime time movie (Scooby Goes Hollywood) led to the introduction of one Scrappy Doo and the new show Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo. For a season, Scrappy joined the gang in a jump the shark moment. Threatened with cancellation, the creators, like every other show thought a youth infusion would be the answer. Instead, Scrappy became one of the most hated cartoon characters of all time.



The next season would see the biggest change in the show yet as Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo became a straight comedy. The rest of the gang was history, the mysteries and spookiness were mostly forgotten and the half hour format was abandoned for the more eighties friendly three seven minute segments format. Yes, these are the episodes you can change the channel quickly on without remorse. In fact, if you didn't I would figure out that you are actually a bodysnatcher and not a real human. Don't blow your cover, dude.

The New Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo Show would get even wackier. In a desperate attempt to keep up with the rest of mid-80s TV, the show brought back Daphne and re-evolved into its mystery format, albeit in two 11 minute episodes per half hour. Occasionally even Fred and Velma would make appearances, but not even they could save us from the suck that was Scrappy Doo and campy (in a bad way) production.

The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo would end the original run of the show. To capitalize on the success of Ghostbusters and other horror related cartoons, the show was re-animated and the monsters were real. If you've ever seen Scooby with Scrappy, Shaggy, Daphne, a wizard and a small Mexican Boy – this was the show you were watching. If you haven't ever seen this incarnation, you are a better man than I.



The gang then became little kids, became live action, was re-animated and updated in lots of formats. Amazingly, Scrappy has never re-appeared on any of the TV shows (despite having a brief, yet brilliant cameo on the original live action movie) and Casey Kasem is still doing the voice of Shaggy.

I know what you're thinking. You're thinking ‘Why the hell did I just sit through a crappy, convoluted' history of Scooby Doo. To this I would answer two ways. One, it was only a history of the original incarnation. I didn't get into the rebirth of the series. Secondly, like The Twilight Zone and Jason and Freddy before it, Scooby Doo has become an American iconic show that is ingrained in every one of our brains. We all know what a Scooby Snack is. "Ruh-roh" has become a common phrase. This show is one of the first that shapes the warped minds of horror fans who eventually come and write for sites like 411. Halloween is a little over a week away…what better time to discuss a little Scooby Doo?

SEVEN DAYS CLOSER
A recap of Halloween related activities


Thursday

Ghost hunting in Salem. Before the weekend started and literally thousands of people crowding the streets, I got in one last ghost hunting trip around town. One of my favorite spots is around the Witch Trials Victims memorial. It has one of the oldest graveyards in the country, plus a creepy half burnt house where Nathaniel Hawthorne courted his wife. I've had some success here before, but my first impression is I came up empty handed here. Oh well.

Friday



Drank absinthe with Salem witches. For those of you not in the know, absinthe is an alcohol that is so strong its suppose to cause hallucinations. Because of this hallucinatory action, it was banned in the USA for a hundred years. Recently made legal, I paid $10 for a small glass. I drank about half of it. The stuff taste terrible. Don't let the licorice introductory taste fool you. I didn't hallucinate, but now that I see that green fairy, I kind of wish I had.

Saturday



In honor of our last day on the east coast, the woman and I decided we had to cash in on this Dunkin Donuts phenomenon. Luckily for us, you can't walk fifteen feet without running into one. In Salem alone, there are four in the historic district. The Witch Trial Victims Memorial? Dunkin Donuts just around the corner. One of the ten most haunted locations in America (according to Travel Channel) – Dunkin Donuts right next door. To my liking, they had several fall/Halloween themed donuts. One Fall Harvest, Scary Sprinkle and Boston Scream donut later, I was completely satisfied with my Dunkin Donuts experience – though I didn't try the coffee.


Sunday



Found this baby at the previously mentioned Everything Five and Under store in Danvers, MA. As I've stated before, once Charles Schulz passed away they branded everything possible with The Great Pumpkin and Charlie Brown Christmas. It should come as no surprise there is a rather simple, yet quirky board game for The Great Pumpkin. You start out in the pumpkin patch with Linus, have to go around and collect candy (minus points for getting rocks), find a costume and get back to the pumpkin patch in time to mock Linus one last time before heading out to the Halloween party. Not too bad for a fiver. I would have liked a more diverse choice of characters to choose from (Note to creator: Sally and Snoopy never went trick-or-treating), and there never was a ghost wearing a derby hat that I'm aware of, however, this misses are too be expected in a game probably mass produced by people who have never even seen the special.



Monday



It's getting to that point where I like to watch my specials. Good thing last October I bought the Garfield Holidays DVD with the Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas specials on it. Too bad this isn't on TV anymore. It's not The Great Pumpkin but it's a quality special. Pretty timeless and a bit scary too boot. I'm pretty sure the pirate house Garfield ends up in is the exact same place that the Scooby Gang met up with the Harlem Globetrotters and solved a mystery.

Tuesday



Continuing on the entire Halloween special theme, I watched Disney's House of Villians. For some reason I've been getting the Disney Family Movies premium channel for free. This month it pays off in the form of this Halloween edition of the House of Mouse. The Disney Villains decide to crash the party and take over the theater. Awesomely, there are cameos from even little known villains and theme park only characters (hitchhiking ghosts) and a dual between Jafar and Sorceror Mickey. Before that takes place, we get some excellent and very old scary Disney shorts – mostly involving Donald Duck. In one short both Goofy and Donald die to come back as ghosts. In another, literally decades before its time, Goofy, Mickey and Donald are ghost hunters. The funny thing, these shorts from the 40s-60s wouldn't be made today. Holier than though parents would crucify Disney for showing a short where Donald Duck dies or Goofy tries to shoot a ghost with a shotgun. All in all, good stuff. This week I'm going to check out The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad.


FIVE RANDOM UNRELATED THOUGHTS

1. I love the new DVD packages I've been seeing. All three Scream movies for $15 or all five SAW movies for $20. Both are great deals. Maybe not so coincidentally, both series have new chapters coming out soon.

2. Sports Thoughts:

A. I play in two fantasy football leagues. In one I have Tom Brady as my QBs. In the other I have Drew Brees. I lost in both leagues last week.

B. Bottom of the 9th, two outs and up by 1 – I thought this was going to be the year for my Dodgers.

C. This is how I know I'm old – I get up in time to watch two plus hours of pre-game on Sundays.

D. I'm sick of hearing how great the San Diego Chargers are. Every year they're everyone's pick from the AFC and we're told they have the most talent in the NFL, yet every year they hover around 9 wins and are up and down. The Broncos beating the Patriots was a much more impressive feat, but to listen to sports type people, you'd think the Broncos just defeated the undefeated two time champions or something. They beat a team that will once again hover around 9 wins. The only plus is that they most likely won't make the playoffs this year because not everyone in their division is a complete pushover as they have been for the last four years.



3. I thought Marge Simpson looked better on the cover of Maxim years ago than on the cover of Playboy. I write this off as Playboy over airbrushing out the imperfections. Did Julie Kavner receive a bonus for this?

4. My Rant of the Week: Surprise, this has to do with driving once again. I live in a town that has no decent driving. Either I have a redneck who is in a truck that is held together by duct tape cutting me off or a person three times my age (that's saying something) in the left lane going 15 miles under the speed limit. I am not exaggerating about that, kids. The speed limit just outside my edition is 35 MPH. Routinely, in the left lane, I am behind someone going 20. Did they not have left lanes when you had to crank a car to get it to go?

5. Luckily, I was out and about on vacation and missed the entire balloon boy fiasco, so I don't have to own up to thinking it was real at any point. I will admit that if I had watched it while it was going down, I think the dad's hair would have given away his guilt to me.


Remember when soda came in glass bottles? When Zagnut and Zero bars were legitimate candy bar choices? How about when you put pennies in small cars to make them go? If any of these sound familiar to you, your probably ready for a little thing I like to call RETRO.

I can remember many, many walks to the store. Everytime I could get $.35 from my mom, I headed down to the Village Pantry a couple of blocks away. The object of desire? Slime Slurps.



It may not seem as exciting today, but back then when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, gummies in the shape of creepy crawlies seemed to me both groundbreaking and ridiculously cool. Frogs, flies, grasshoppers, scorpions – all were represented in the Slime Slurps branding. After peeling back the packaging, I was presented for the first time ever, my first food dilemma. Do I bask in the coolness of a two-colored scorpion or do I eat it never to see it (at least not in this form) ever again. Eventually, the gummy goodness was too much to deny, but I never ate a Slime Slurp Beetle without a touch of sadness.

Today, you can go to the store and get a five pound box of giant double headed gummy snakes with gummy rats in their mouths. It's gotten a bit out of control. Too much gummy. I will always default to the simple pleasures of the first time I ate a green and yellow bug. It was delicious.

While the next item on the list is another childhood favorite of mine and a quick search on the internet informs me that it may not be as RETRO as I think. I talk of Scholastic Book Ordering Forms. For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about, it was a sheet very similar to this, only mid-80s themed.



Scholastic did the work of the devil. I would get this sheet two or three times a year and it was an adrenaline rush. Quickly flipping through the four to six pages, I'm circling any and everything I could possibly want from Encyclopedia Brown mysteries to Bunnicula books. Scary activity books or Mad Libs were not to be left out. After circling everything not carrying a Strawberry Shortcake or Rainbow Brite logo on it, it was time to beg my mom for all the money she had in her pocket. Surely, she couldn't deny me the right to read – the right to learn! Seeing as how the books were way overpriced and could probably be brought on the discount rack at your local Barnes and Nobles today, she pretty much did deny. I won't say I walked away empty handed, but my dreams of a grade school library fit for a President were dreams never fulfilled. I wish there were something today that was actually legal that could get me as excited as the new Scholastic catalogue did when I was a kid.



Forgotten Music Video




Glam rock, you got to love it. Great White is about the best example of a generic hair band there is. They had the look, the guitar riff and they got their one hit. Even this video is generic. It's a study of hair videos at the time. Before rappers would make music videos their personal "my dick is bigger than yours" moment, videos were made on the cheap like this. Get the band, have them play the song, throw in some hot chicks and maybe some smoke. You got a video. For a band like Great White this video is more than adequate enough. I am not ashamed to say that I owned this album on tape. Mostly I am not ashamed because I got it for free from a friend who no longer wanted it. I'll take just about anything if it's free. That's how I got the tape for Milli Vanilli as well.

Random Shot from Random SNES game I owned

23 YEARS AGO TODAY

October 22, 1986

#1 Song



"When I Think of You" by Janet Jackson


#1 Album



Fore by Huey Lewis and the News

#1 Movie



Crocodile Dundee

NOTABLE OPENS: The Color of Money

I must leave you now.