[[ScoobyDoo http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Meddlers.jpg]]

-->"Here comes those meddlin' kids to join the chase
-->No kreep can keep them away (Don't try to stop them)
-->When monster all dissapears without a trace, the kids find the clues right away
-->The villains never learned that crime dosn't pay
-->And now regret what they did (and now they're sorry)
-->If they were lucky they 'd have gotten away
-->If it wasn't for those meddlin' kids"
-->--- '''The Hex Girls'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM4RoA-R77s&feature=related Those meddlin' kids]], ''ScoobyDoo and [[TheMovie the Witch's Ghost]]''

-->"The only thing I hate worse than bad guys is meddling kids."
-->-- '''The Chief''', ''TeamoSupremo''

When the evil character is finally brought to justice, he claims that he would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those "meddling kids" (or whoever it was who foiled his plot). He may be evil, but he gives credit where credit is due. The classic form is, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"

Not to be confused with [[ExecutiveMeddling those meddling executives]].
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!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

* In ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh The Abridged Series}}'':
--->'''Pegasus''': And I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling...
--->'''Bakura''': Don't you even ''think'' of making a Scooby-Doo reference!
** Ironically, Professor Cobra actually says this line in its entirety in an episode of the Season 3 dub of ''{{Yu-Gi-Oh GX}}''. Ditto for Bakura in the original's Season 5.
* Referenced directly in the GagDub of ''GhostStories'', where Hajime exclaims, "And you would've gotten away with it too, if not for us meddling kids. I've been waiting [[MediumAwareness five volumes]] to make that joke!"

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

*There is an ''[[ArchieComics Archie]]'' issue where Archie and Jughead solve a crime and the crooks are being led away in restraints by the police. One crook complains about being stopped by a bunch of dumb kids and Jughead fires back "This 'dumb kid' is not the one wearing handcuffs!"
* In TheDCU, Dick Grayson and Tim Drake investigate the sabotage of Grayson's circus. Eventually, they crack the case and caught the crooks. When one of the crooks says this quote, Grayson dismisses it saying that they were sloppy and the police would have figured it out on their own. However, since that would have created some really embarrassing press for the circus, it was better that the once and future Robins took care of this.
* The ''PinkyAndTheBrain'' story in the second-to-last issue of the ''{{Animaniacs}}'' comic book gave a ShoutOut to this in the form of Pinky's response to that issue's AreYouPonderingWhatImPondering?:
-->'''Pinky:''' I think so, Brain. But would the villains really ''have'' gotten away with it, if it weren't for those pesky kids and their dog?

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Film ]]

* The first ''Wayne's World'' movie had MultipleEndings including a nonsensical ScoobyDoo one which used this phrase.

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[[folder: Literature ]]

* One of the {{Troperrific}} chapter headings in ''SoonIWillBeInvincible'' is "And Now For Those Meddling Children".

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

* Occasionally happens in ''{{Monk}}''.
* In ''{{Stargate SG-1}}'', Daniel says "And you would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for us meddling kids" after a bounty hunter fails to capture SG-1.
**That line is made even funnier when you realize that Michael Shanks [[http://www.tvguide.com/celebrity-blogs/Paris-Hilton-Shameless-19811.aspx ad libbed it because he hates when the characters explain to the villain what the audience already knows]].
* TheSarahJaneAdventures' teenaged protagonists, with help from IntrepidReporter Sarah Jane, meddle muchly in the plans of would-be alien invaders.
* Seen at the end of an episode of ''{{Numb3rs}}'' in which Don, his team and his brother Charlie investigate spooky activity at a supposedly abandoned airbase.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]

* MagicTheGathering's Unhinged joke set has a card called Meddling Kids, which is also a reference to the real card Meddling Mage.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

* In the Second ''GoldenSun'' game, one of the Pirates delivers the line if you visit them in jail after turning them over to the local government.
* An optional line of dialogue in ''[[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic Chronicles]]''. If you know how this goes, you'll know what to say.
* Baron K. Roolenstein, the main antagonist of ''[[DonkeyKongCountry Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble]]'', uses this line verbatim after his robot KAOS is defeated a second time.
* In the main GBA generation ''{{Pokemon}}'' titles, the Team Aqua/Magma goons accuse you of being a meddling kid after you stop them from stealing the Devon Goods ''again'' in Slateport.
* Used by the Prophet in FinalFantasyX2 if he is fingered as the culprit in the Mi'ihen Highroad mystery sequence.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Comics ]]

* [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/0181.html Defeated Eternion says a variant of this line]] in ''{{Adventurers}}!'' (He then follows it up with a double AndZoidberg)
-->'''Eternion:''' "And I would have got away with it too if it wasn't for you pesky adventurers!"
* Used word for word in [[http://eecomics.net/?strip_id=1063 this]] strip of EmergencyExit by the villain's second in command
* Also used in [[http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0196.html this]] ''OrderOfTheStick''.

[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The TropeNamer: While the exact wording sometimes varied, every episode of ''ScoobyDoo'' ended in this vein, making you wonder what the local police were doing all that time.
** ThisTroper saw a ContinuityNod to this in one of the newer episodes:
-->"Hey, are you meddling... kids?"
** ''A Pup Named ScoobyDoo'' consistently added "...and that mangy mutt!" and this seems to have become the most quoted version.
** Also played with in recent installments, such as when a villain attributes his capture to an unrelated character who'd tripped him as he was fleeing, or when two 10-year-old perpetrators claim they'd have gotten away with it, "if it wasn't for you meddling grown-ups!"
** Similar sentiments were often expressed in other HannaBarbera shows about crime-fighting teen with comic pet sidekicks: ''JosieAndThePussycats'', ''ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKids'', ''TheFunkyPhantom'', ''SpeedBuggy'', ''ClueClub'' and ''{{Jabberjaw}}''.
* An episode of ''{{Futurama}}'' had a CorruptCorporateExecutive remark "And I would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those blasted meddling adults!"
* When Donald Duck foils one of his plans to shut down the HouseOfMouse, Pete remarks that he "would've gotten away with it if it weren't that meddling duck!"
*In an episode of ''KimPossible'', Kim cuts off a villain's post-foiling rant, citing the "meddling kids" line as cliché. The villain denies he was going to say it, but no one believes him.
* The Joker does a ShoutOut to this in an episode of ''JusticeLeague''. Referring to some superpowered children the government was trying to mold into {{tyke bomb}}s, which he turns to his side, he states:
-->'''The Joker:''' "And they would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for me meddling with the kids!"
* Averted in the relatively new (as of 2009) PBS Kids series "Martha Speaks," in which the villain, being taken to jail, says "[The plan] would have worked, too, if it wasn't for... it not working."
* In Sideshow Bob's first speaking appearance on ''TheSimpsons'', he takes this to its logical conclusion, adding "Treat kids as equals! They're smarter than you think!" Considering that he had spent most of his time that episode running quality children's programming, it's an especially good point.
* ''SouthPark'' uses this trope in the episode ''Child Abduction Is Not Funny'': "I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren't for those meddling policemen."
*''LloydInSpace'', "The Ride Along", has this somewhat opposite version: "I almost got away with it too thanks to those meddling kids"... referring to Lloyd and his friend Eddie who turned out to have chased down an undercover cop (the real baddie was cornered by Eddie's dad).
* The ''TeamoSupremo'' Halloween episode (which itself completely parodied ''ScoobyDoo'') used this trope.
* Lampshaded in HarveyBirdmanAttorneyAtLaw:
--->'''Old Man Backoff''': I would've gotten away with it, too, if it wasn't for-
--->'''Harvey''': "These meddling kids..."
--->'''Old Man Backoff''': No, the damn cotton market!
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