Scooby Doo, Where Are You?

Trivia

• The main source of inspiration for this came from Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' books, that involved four youngsters, and their dog, solving crimes and mysteries.

• Other inspirations were the 1940s radio drama, "I Love a Mystery", the "Archie" gang from the long running comic book series and "Archie Show, The" (1968), and "Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The" (1959), in which the character of beatnik Maynard G. Krebs was a large influence on the character of Shaggy.

• The original names for the characters during the show's development, when it was known as "Mystery Five" or "Mysteries Five," and later "W-Who's S-S-Scared?" were Freddy as "Geoff", later "Ronnie" (Freddy was actually identified as Ronnie on the final storyboards for the first few episodes of the series), Daphne as "Kelly", Velma as "Linda", Shaggy as "W.W.", Scooby-Doo as "Too Much" (as in: "That's just too much!" a popular catchphrase of the time).

• Under the title of "W-Who's S-S-Scared?", this series was originally rejected by CBS executives, who thought the presentation artwork was too frightening for children and that the show must be the same. CBS Executive Fred Silverman was listening to Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night" (with the scatted lyric "Scooby-dooby-doo") on the flight to that ill-fated meeting. After the show was originally rejected, a number of changes were made in the series: the dog was renamed Scooby-Doo (after that Sinatra lyric), the spooky aspects of the show were toned down slightly, and the comedy aspects tuned up. The show was re-presented, accepted, and presented as the centerpiece for CBS's 1969-1970 Saturday Morning season.

• "Too Much" (later Scooby-Doo) was originally written as a Great Dane, but fearing their creation would be too close to the titular character in the comic strip "Marmaduke," creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears changed Scooby/"Too-Much" to be a big, sloppy sheepdog (which itself was far too close to "Hot Dog" from the "Archie" comics that inspired the series). After meeting with Hanna and Barbera about the issue, Scooby was changed back to a Great Dane. Character designer Iwao Takamoto went to a dog-breeding colleague at the studio for advice on what elements made up a prize-winning Great Dane, and then preceded to break every "rule" in his design of Scooby, including the double-chin, the bow-legged hind-legs, and the spots on his back (No 'real' Great Dane has spots). Scooby's utter lack of prize-winning characteristics is spoofed in episode 1.5, "Decoy for a Dognapper."

• Freddy was named after CBS Executive Fred Silverman.

• The vocal "Scooby-Doo Where Are You!" theme was not the original theme composed for this series; musical director Ted Nichols had originally composed an instrumental theme for the show, which alternates with the the more familiar David Mook/Ben Raleigh theme (which was recorded three days before the premiere of the show on 13 September 1969) on the original broadcast prints of the show. Nichols incorporated his tune as the main recurring theme for the incidental music score, and a truncated version of it underscores all the episode title cards for both this series and "New Scooby-Doo Movies, The" (1972). Episode 1.1 "What a Night For a Knight" (13 September 1969) used the Nichols instrumental theme under the opening credits sequence, with the Mook/Raleigh tune for the closing credits. Episode 1.2 "A Clue for Scooby-Doo" (20 September 1969) was the only one to feature Nichols' theme for both opening and closing credits. The following episodes used the Mook/Raleigh theme for the opening credits and the Nichols instrumental theme under the closing credits sequence: episode 1.3 "Hassle in the Castle" (27 September 1969, episode 1.13 "Which Witch is Which?" (6 December 1969), and episode 1.16 "A Night of Fright is No Delight" (10 January 1970). All other episodes used Mook and Raleigh's theme for both opening and closing credits.

• David Mook performed the "Scooby-Doo Where Are You!" theme for the first season episodes, while Dan Janssen performs it for the second season episodes. Janssen also co-wrote and performed all the "chase songs" present in the second season episodes.

• During production of the second season (1970-1971), Casey Kasem became a strict vegetarian, and wanted his character Shaggy to follow suit. Kasem was promised by Hanna-Barbera that his character would become vegetarian from that point on. H-B actually kept their end of the bargain for the 1970-1971 season of the show (as long as one assumes that, in episode 2.5 "Haunted House Hang-Up," Shaggy's bologna slice is 'vegetarian' bologna and that the pizza he eats in the final scene is vegetarian-safe pizza). In subsequent spin-off series, however, Shaggy is routinely seen snacking on non-vegetarian foods. Kasem put his foot down over this issue in 1995, after he was required to perform Shaggy's voice for a commercial advertising (decidedly non-vegetarian) Burger King Kids Club meals. Kasem refused to perform the voice after that, and did not return to the role until "What's New Scooby-Doo" (2002) with the requirement that (of course) Shaggy be a strict vegetarian in that series, which he is. For the record, Shag's also a vegetarian in the live-action Scooby-Doo (2002).

• Shaggy is the only character (apart from Scooby himself) to be in every incarnation of the series.

• Velma's famous line, "My glasses; I can't see without them!" was not originally scripted for the show. During a table read for the voice artists, Velma's voice-over actress Nicole Jaffe, who was near-sighted as well, lost her glasses and uttered a variation of what became Velma's famous catchphrase. The writers liked the line so much that Velma losing her glasses became one of the show's trademark gags. Velma loses her glasses in the first episode, "What A Night For A Knight", but the actual line is first spoken in episode 1.5 "Decoy For A Dognapper."

• For the record: In spite of widespread public belief to the contrary, the "short girl with the glasses" is actually named "Velma" with a "V," not "Thelma" with a "T"-"H." The name misspelling/ mispronunciation is actually spoofed in a scene that was deleted form Scooby-Doo (2002) (see the deleted scenes listing for that film).

• The myth that "Freddy and Daphne go of and have sex when the gang splits up to look for clues. This is why we hardly ever see them actually looking for any clues; we always see Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma by themselves." Actually, the reason we never see Freddy or Daphne when the gang splits-up is because creators/writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears found writing for Fred and Daphne (the "straight" characters, in contrast to the more comedic other three characters) boring. Therefore, they would always find an excuse to split the gang up, so that they could focus on writing gags for Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma (who in later episodes found herself "splitting-up" with Fred and Daphne, so that the writers could devote even 'more' screen time to Shaggy and Scooby).

• The myth that "Velma is a lesbian; she has a crush on Daphne." Just because Velma's boyfriend is not a member of the gang like Daphne's is does not make her a lesbian. Neither does her being paired with Daphne when Freddy goes of on his own to find clues. The writers actually seem to imply in a number of episodes that Velma and Shaggy are seeing each other (they are often paired together at dances and such in the series).

• The myth that "Shaggy is a pothead / drug addict. That's why he has the munchies and he always sees the ghosts (hallucinations) before the others." and its variant, "Scooby Snacks contain drugs." Mind you, the first one may be the 'only' rumor on this list with some truth to it. Shaggy is a "beatnik/hippie"-type character, and beatniks and hippies were known for their "free-thinking" ways, which often included the uses of drugs such as marijuana, LSD, etc. However, not 'all' beatniks and hippies used drugs, and it is very possible that Shaggy was one of those beatniks/hippies that didn't (This is, after all, a Saturday morning television show). The second one is completely false: Scooby Snacks are nothing more than regular doggie treats (it's not much of a stretch to imagine a guy who'd eat chocolate-covered hot dogs, chocolate-covered corn-on-the-cob, and "liverwurst ala mode" eating doggie treats if you really think about it).

• The term "Scooby gang" was used in the television series Buffy The Vampire Slayer as a reference to the mystery solving team.

• The term "Scooby Snack" was used as a slang expression for drugs during the 80's & 90's, and featured in the hit song "Scooby Snacks" on the Fun Lovin' Criminals debut album "Come Find Yourself".