I like to watch TV. It is a chance to escape from reality a bit. It can make you laugh, cry, or feel many different emotions. Or you can just watch it to kill time. While there are many different shows to watch, my personal favorites are the ones from the Scooby-Doo franchise. I enjoy the characters, the settings, and the jokes. For over 50 years, Scooby-Doo has been a pop culture staple. In honor of the 50th anniversary of one of my favorite pieces of media, I decided to rank the 14 different TV incarnations of Scooby-Doo. I would rank the movies in order, but ranking 55 films would be too much.

14) The 13 Ghosts of Scooby Doo 

This adaptation of Scooby-Doo ran for a single season of 13 episodes in 1985. It was the shortest running Scooby-Doo show, and in my opinion, the worst. There are simply too many new characters added, and Fred and Velma, two members of the gang, are not present. The show also redesigns the characters too much, and overall seems like a bizarre show. The classic style and characters are changed here. My favorite part of Scooby-Doo is watching the gang interact and hang out, so to see new characters and classics removed makes it seem different, and a show that I do not enjoy. New characters such as Flim-Flam are unlikable and very annoying, and make the show irritating to watch. Overall, this it is the weakest entry in the Scooby-Doo franchise.

13) Shaggy and Scooby-Doo, Get a Clue!

Running from 2006-2008 for 26 episodes, this incarnation of the franchise has Shaggy inherit his rich uncle’s mansion and riches, and along with Scooby-Doo, go on crazy adventures. This show suffers from two key factors: the horrible art style, and Shaggy’s voice. The art style is simple, and is a bit too simple in my opinion, with the characters having dot eyes and too basic of a style, almost looking incomplete. The other problem is Shaggy’s voice. In this show, Shaggy is portrayed by Scott Menville, who is best known for portraying Robin in the Teen Titans franchise. He, in my opinion, gives no real effort to sound like Shaggy, and instead sounds like Robin with a raspier voice. This voice, along with a bizarre art style and lackluster writing, makes it an underwhelming show that is very forgettable.

12 + 11) Scooby and Scrappy-Doo and Scooby and Scrappy-Doo (shorts)

The 12th and 11th spot goes to this pair. This series ran from 1979-1980, and again as new shorts from 1980-1982. These series introduce us to Scrappy-Doo, Scooby’s nephew. This show was originally created to spice up the franchise, as by 1979, the formula for Scooby-Doo was stale, and ABC threatened to end their relationship with Hanna-Barbera (the producers of the show), and cancel the show. By adding Scrappy-Doo, they were able to spice up the show. The show began to focus more on Shaggy, Scooby, and Scrappy, and the rest of the gang was barely included, and often only had mute appearances. Like I said for The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, my favorite part of the show is to watch the gang interact, and in this show, the gang barely interacts with one another. Overall, the show was a cheap ratings trap that tried to spice up Scooby-Doo, which made for a stale show with little substance.

10) Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics

Coming in 9th on this list, we have Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics. Running from 1977-1978 for 24 episodes, this show involved teams of famous Hanna-Barbera characters (such as Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, and Scooby Doo), competing in comical “Olympic events”, and scavenger hunts. The main team presented were the Scooby-Doobies, which had the Shaggy, Scooby-Doo, and Scooby-Dum (Scooby’s dumb cousin). Most of the comedy from the show involves the Really-Rottens, a team composed of bad guys, failing miserably, and the other teams playing honestly, with slapstick and traditional Hanna-Barbera humor involved. All in all, while an OK show on its own, it is not a very remarkable show when it comes to Scooby-Doo.

9) A Pup Named Scooby-Doo

From 1988-1991, the 8th incarnation of Scooby-Doo ran on television. In this show, the gang is aged down a lot, and they are children versions of themselves. This was during the time period in the late 80s in which every show had a spin-off version with the characters as younger children or babies. This show is similar to the normal franchise, and is pretty bland. The characters’ personalities remain mostly the same, and the only difference is that they are kid versions. Unlike the other entries on this list, I have no particular gripe with the show, as it is perfectly bland. While not good, it was not bad, and was an average entry in the Scooby-Doo franchise, earning it a respectable #10 ranking on the list.

8) The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show

In this iteration of Scooby-Doo, things return to normal. For the first season of this show, the gang consists of Scooby, Scrappy, Shaggy, and Daphne (which I did not enjoy very much, as Fred and Velma were absent). But for the second season, Fred and Velma returned to the show as minor characters, which was OK (for some episodes, they did not even speak). This show, while not bad, had some generic mysteries, but was refreshing to see the gang back together. It was consistent, and at sometimes can be enjoyable. Otherwise a good show that let Scooby-Doo return to form.

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I will leave the list here for now. Tune in for the second part of the list!