As a retro cartoon obsessive, I am very, very familiar with the adventures of the Scooby gang as they drove around in their psychedelic minivan and encountered engine troubles 300 yards from every haunted building in North America.
I've always held a very controversial opinion about the original "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" series: Scooby is a totally unnecessary character. He exists for merchandising purposes as the gang's cute, silly mascot, but if you really listen, most of his lines are just repeats of what other characters just said, except with every consonant replaced with an "R," and he more or less exists so that Shaggy has somebody to talk to while Fred builds traps, Velma finds clues, and Daphne gets kidnapped or lost.
Despite its reputation as one of the most formulaic television shows of all time, "Scooby-Doo" and its characters have become more complicated over the years as Scooby learned to think for himself, Daphne gained some a degree of agency, Velma started displaying emotion, and Fred became progressively less competent; Shaggy is perhaps the character who has changed the least from his initial incarnation. Though Scooby and Shaggy occasionally fought, they always made up by the end of the episode (or movie), and only a couple of the more mature films and specials have ever really called the team's integrity into question.
"Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated" aired from 2010-13 and was recommended to me by a friend who knows very well my passion for binge-eating Pull-n-Peel Twizzlers while watching cartoons in my bed, my ironic love-hate relationship with Scooby-Doo in all of its repetitive glory, and my affection for shows that question or deconstruct their own tropes. In a franchise first, the show's 52 episodes are tied into an overarching plot — it's still generally episodic like past installments, but each episode reveals a new piece of the bigger mystery behind all of the smaller ones.
The other big development for the series is its exploration of the gang's relationships. Though Fred and Daphne have always had slight romantic tension (as have Shaggy and Velma, albeit to a much smaller and more infrequent degree), Mystery Incorporated ups the ante by focusing a great deal of time on Daphne's unrequited crush on the oblivious, trap-obsessed Fred and on Shaggy's struggle between his under-the-table relationship with Velma and his friendship with Scooby-Doo. It's pretty relatable watching Fred continually friendzones Daphne by accident or cringing as Shaggy repeatedly dodges the moment where he's supposed to tell his closest friend that there's another person in his life who's equally important to him. Mystery Incorporated has convinced me more than any prior series of Scooby's essential role within the team: He is usually the only one who can motivate Shaggy into action, and the writers give him more personality than ever before. Scooby can be selfish, petty, and mean, even to his friends, which is hardly behavior becoming of the silly 1960s mascot dog. The cast strikes a remarkable balance between the recognizable archetypes they've always been and well-rounded, developed characters.
Not only are the characters well-developed, but the show is incredibly well-written. There are probably a dozen jokes per episode that leave me in stitches, with a few that have been so funny that I've had to pause the show due to laughing so hard. It's self-aware, constantly lamp-shading the ridiculousness of Mystery Inc.'s tendency to skip school and instead creep around town trying to prove that ghosts aren't real. Every aspect of the Scooby-Doo formula, from old men dressing up as yetis in order to commit real estate scams to the classic "meddling kids" line is mercilessly and hilariously mocked by writers who, like me, seem to view the franchise with equal parts incredible reverence and hilarious criticism.
It's a kid's cartoon. It's Scooby-Doo. And yet, it's incredibly clever, with dynamic and human characters, side-splitting jokes, and a compelling overarching storyline. It has nostalgia appeal, sure, but it's also a legitimately fun and enjoyable take on a pop culture icon that was a part of every cartoon-watching kid's childhood.
