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Scooby Doo
Scooby-Doo
is a long-running American animated series produced for
Saturday morning television in several different versions
from 1969 to the present. The original series,
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, was created for Hanna-Barbera
Productions by writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, CBS
executive Fred Silverman, and character designer
Iwao Takamoto. Hanna-Barbera
produced numerous spin-offs and related works until being
absorbed in 1997 into Warner Bros. Animation, which has
handled production since then. Although the format of the
show and the cast (and ages) of characters have varied
significantly over the years, the most familiar versions of
the show feature a talking dog named Scooby-Doo and four
teenagers: Fred "Freddie" Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley,
and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers.
These five characters (officially collectively known as
"Mystery, Inc.", but never referred to as such in the
original series) drive around the world in a van called the
"Mystery Machine", and solve mysteries typically involving
tales of ghosts and other supernatural forces. At the end of
each episode, the supernatural forces turn out to have a
rational explanation, typically criminal plots involving
costumes, latex masks and special effects intended to
frighten or distract. Later versions of Scooby-Doo
featured different variations on the show's supernatural
theme, and include characters such as Scooby's cousin
Scooby-Dum and nephew Scrappy-Doo in addition to or instead
of some of the original characters.
Scooby-Doo
was originally broadcast on CBS from 1969 to 1976, when it
moved to ABC. ABC aired the show until canceling it in 1986,
and presented a spin-off, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,
from 1988 until 1991. A new Scooby-Doo series,
What's New, Scooby-Doo?, aired on the WB Network during
the Kids' WB programming block from 2002 until 2005. The
current Scooby-Doo series, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get
a Clue!, airs Saturday mornings on The CW network.
Repeats of the original series, as well as second-run
episodes of What's New, Scooby-Doo?, are broadcast
frequently on the Cartoon Network and Boomerang in the
United States and other countries. |
