Scooby-Doo Mystery Incorporated

[­MarioOrangeDash]

Eh, I haven't watched it enough to give it a real opinion, but I'm not a fan of the animation so far. Most of the time I'll just stick to watching What's New Scooby Doo.

[Jjs Goodman]

For anyone who cares, the final two episodes of this will air today at 5 PM.

RIP SDMI: April 5th, 2010 - April 5th, 2013

[Elastic Dawg]

SCOOOOBY DOOOBY DOOOOOO

[CartoonCF]

Shame this show had to end so soon.

Oh well..

[SG19]

For anyone who cares, the final two episodes of this will air today at 5 PM.

RIP SDMI: April 5th, 2010 - April 5th, 2013

What a coincidence that the show began and ended on the same day

[Young Nug]

BUMP

 

This is a good show. Like, really good. Prior to this show, the Scooby-Doo franchise was in a weird place. The direct-to-video movies released ranged from being good (Pirates Ahoy) to meh (Chill Out, Scooby-Doo) to just wtf (Samurai Sword). The shows up to that point varied as well. After What's New, Scooby-Doo (which played it a little too safe, imo) and Shaggy And Scooby Get A Clue (which was just......What the fuck was that), the entire franchise was in a state of disarray. No one really knew what to do with Scooby. And that's when Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, and Mitch Watson came into the picture.

 

Mystery Inc changes the formula up, but just enough. Each individual episode (or at least the first 13) is pretty similar to What's New Scooby Doo, tbh. The gang still solves a mystery each episode, there's still the "meddling kids", "let's split up" and "let's search for clues" lines every episode. But, to add to the once an episode mysteries, this show introduces a breath of fresh air into the show- Continuity. An overarching mystery, revealing that before Velma, Daphne, Fred, Shaggy and Scooby were solving mysteries, another group came before them, solving the mysteries of their hometown. As the show continues, the mystery of the town (Crystal Cove) unravels, thanks to clues dropped by the mysterious Mr. E. But more on that later.

 

Another thing that's changed is the characters. While people like Shaggy and Daphne are the same, Velma gets a snarky, and moderately lonely edge to her character, and Fred gets denser and more obsessed with traps than ever before. Plus, now everyone's eager to get into each other's pants- Velma and Shaggy are dating, and Daphne desperately wants Fred (at least, that's how things are at the start). These are welcome changes, because for once, these guys feel like teens and are acting like it. In the original series, they were more like stoner college dropouts. In What's New and the DVD Movies, they were more like bland as hell adults. And in Shaggy And Scooby Doo....What the fuck. But here, they feel like real teenagers, and the show is better for it. New characters, like Sheriff Bronson Stone and Fred's Dad, along with Angel Dynamite and Professor Pericles, are funny, mysterious, and menacing all at once. The tone is also darker- In the very first episode Fred steals a dead body. That's pushing it already.

 

As the show continues and the mystery of Crystal Cove unravels, the show improves. The animation gets better, the tone gets darker, and things get more interesting. After the first 13 episodes, things get really interesting. Compared to the second half, the first half of Season 1 is rather basic (and at times, similar to the DVD movies), but there are still good episodes- The episode with the Hex Girls and the one with the Robo Dog are wonderfully dark and funny. The second half, after the Gang splits and reassembles (the episode where this happens is pretty great) is where the overarching clues and Mr. E start to become important, and entire episodes devoted to the mystery, like "Escape From Mystery Manor" and "All Fear The Freak" are some of my favorites of the show. I love how the show is also more horror oriented- Escape From Mystery Manor is a legit homage/parody of the Saw movies, and it's my favorite episode of Season 1.

 

The Season Finale is sorta depressing, but things have an air of hope that they'll get better. I don't want to spoil anything, but in short, all of Mr. E's clues fall into place, and the Gang takes steps into mistrust, lies, deceit, and eventually seems to follow in the footsteps of the original gang. After crazy chases and fights and reveals, it all culminates into one line, showing just what the show can do.

 

"Mystery Incorporated is dead."

 

And then the episode ends, after a scene with Scooby and Pericles. And things look bleak. Scooby is going to a farm, Fred has left the town, Shaggy goes to Military School, and Velma and Daphne are no longer friends, and alone. But there's still a mystery to be solved. And even though it seems like this mystery will never be solved, as long as this show is Scooby-Doo, that's exactly what's gonna happen. This is a great show, I can't wait to jump into Season 2. I urge anyone who's even had a remote interest in Scooby-Doo to watch this. It will exceed your expectations.

 

SD:MI: Season 1- 9.5/10. I could have done without the romance between Shaggy and Velma, it killed their characters a little. But otherwise, great first season.

lol i analyzed this kids show way too much

[Joe Biden]

Let me start off my review by paraphrasing my 13 year old self's opinion on the show.

"I don't really like this show that much. I find it to be completely boring and uninteresting."

 

Well, I just got done watching the whole series today and my 13 year old MAD-loving self's opinion can suck it. This show is really awesome.and I think it's definitely better than the original show. I know I usually say that it's hard to top any of the classic shows, and that's mostly true. Looney Tunes spinoffs are okay, Tom and Jerry spinoffs are mediocre, and Scooby Doo spinoffs are usually just as formulaic as the original. Scooby-Doo, Where Are You just had four teenagers and a dog driving in a van, they have to solve this mystery about who's haunting [place name], people splitting up for clues, Shaggy and Scooby eating Scooby Snax, they find the ghost/monster, chase scene with music, they trap the ghost/monster, he or she is revealed, the infamous villain catchphrase is muttered as he or she is taken to jail, and the episode ends. Repeat that for 24 more episodes and you've got Scooby-Doo, Where Are You.

 

This incarnation, however, has Gravity Falls-esque tone, plus development and continuity all throughout (see above post for more detail). All of the episodes (or in this case, chapters) are connected together very nicely. The Season 1 finale gives you tons of questions to be answered. What will happen to Mystery Incorporated? Will Fred find his parents? Will they ever get back together again? All of the questions are answered in Season 2.

Daphne leaves the gang for a celebrity, a woman called "Hot Dog Water" takes her place briefly, and Fred's father, the mayor, reveals to be the Freak of Crystal Cove.

 The show is not your ordinary Scooby-Doo show. It will keep you hooked with it's brilliant and surprising twists and plots. And on a related note, did I mention that the fucking theme song is awesome? Because it is. A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is still my favorite SD spinoff comedy-wise, but this is definitely the best incarnation ever since PNSD. I definitely recommend it to everyone, fan of Scooby-Doo or not.

9.5/10

Edited October 28, 2015 by Freaky Fred

[WhoBibbles]

thanks to clues dropped by the mysterious Mr. E. But more on that later.

Wait, is that where Mysterious Mr. Enter came from or just a coincidence? O_o