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"There's a mystery in town, so call the coolest pup around
Oh, Scoo-oby! A pup named Scooby-Doo!
(Scooby-Dooby Doo, Scooby-Doo!)
"

A Pup Named Scooby-Doo is one of the more ambitious additions to the Scooby-Doo franchise, airing from September 1988 to August 1991 for 30 episodes. In it, Mystery Inc. (here called "The Scooby Doo Detective Agency") are aged-down to pre-teens and placed in a new continuity, but still solved supernatural themed mysteries in which the Monster of the Week turned out to be some crook in a mask.

Notable for its Denser and Wackier humor which bordered on outright self-parody, poking fun at all of the tropes and clichés from the previous inceptions of the characters, the most notable being the constant use of a Red Herring foil, seen here Once per Episode in the form of a rotten kid named... Red Herring. This was accompanied by appropriately broader designs and over-the-top cartoon animation which made the original show's already Limited Animation look like still photos by comparison.

The creative team at Hanna-Barbera responsible for the series would leave for Warner Bros. after the first season to work with Steven Spielberg on another, more successful series with similar concepts.

More recently, the concept of revisiting the cast in their earlier years appeared in the movie Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins (an Alternate Continuity to the live-action duology serving as a possible explanation for how the gang first met and solved their first mystery) and the video game Scooby-Doo! First Frights. The movie set them as meeting in high schoolnote  while the video game had them meet in elementary school. The character designs from this series would be used in the 2013 puppet film Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map.

This was the last animated series to have Don Messick voice Scooby-Doo, with Scooby-Doo in Arabian Nights being the last work to have Don Messick voice Scooby in general.

The show uses several of the same tropes as the original series as well as many of its own. See the Shout-Out page here.

The Scooby Gang as kids would later be revisted in the 2020 CGI film, SCOOB!


Tropes:

  • Adapted Out: This being a Spin-Off Babies series with none of the main cast legally old enough to drive, there is no sign of The Mystery Machine, at least in the form of a van. They are occasionally seen riding around on an oversized, moterized skateboard with the appropriate color and decorations, but it's never named.
  • Adaptation Expansion: This show is the first to give us Doo Manor and that it is to be Scooby's upon adulthood. In the franchise's Archie comic, this is expanded upon, being Spooky Doo's and is left to Scooby on a part of him knowing his nephew to be a coward. This also explains why during Scooby's puppyhood Dada Doo and Uncle Horton would both be living at their brother's home, until the rightful heir came of age.
  • Adaptation Personality Change: In other series, it is either Velma or Fred who is skeptical about the existence of ghosts and monsters. Here, it is Daphne.
    "I keep telling you, there are no such things as ghosts!note 
  • Adaptational Dumbass: Freddy. He was a lot more serious and competent in previous shows, but not here, where he is more scatterbrained and often believes in supernatural phenomenons and creatures, and almost always accuses bully Red Herring of being the ghost or monster.
  • Adults Are Useless: In "Curse of the Collar", Scooby's mother gives him the Doo family collar, which an apparent ghost repeatedly tries to steal. Whenever Scooby tries to give the collar up to the "ghost", his mother can be heard yelling, "SCOOBERT!", indicating an awareness of the situation; yet, she does nothing to stop her son from being terrorized.
  • Agent Scully: At the end of "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner", Daphne still doesn't believe in ghosts even after spending nearly the whole episode interacting with one.
  • Amnesia Episode: "The Return of Commander Cool," where Shaggy is dressed as the titular superhero but ends up with amnesia and thinks he really is Commander Cool for the majority of the episode.
  • And That's Terrible: The Very Special Episode about drugs repeatedly reminded the audience at home that drugs were very, very bad. Every time Velma was bringing up the subject, she'd take a long pause and then virtually spit the word out in disgust ("He was selling...DRUGS!"); similarly, Scooby would react with revulsion whenever the word was spoken.
  • Animation Bump: Common when Glen Kennedy was animating; the characters suddenly moved in a more fluid, bouncy manner, and were more prone to bizarre movements and bouncy wild takes.
  • Antidisestablishmentarianism: In "For Letter or Worse", The first word the contestants playing the titular game show is "Antidisestablishmentarianism". The Brainy Bunch figures it out as soon as the host informs the contestants it's the longest word.
  • Arkham's Razor: Used almost every episode during The Summation, every suspect is listed... and the one character who isn't listed for whatever reason (too unlikely, had an alibi, or the writers simply didn't feel like including him / her) is invariably the culprit. "Horror of the Haunted Hairpiece" is an especially egregious example, as the culprit openly hated the business he was trying to close, and made no attempt at an alibi...but was still never suspected by the gang for some reason.
  • Art Evolution: The first season's animation was more bright and colorful, and often more fluid. It was digitally colored in-house at H-B. From the second season onward, the show's look changed, due to the animation now being produced using hand-painted cels. Glen Kennedy also left after the show's first season, so the animation got less fluid and over-the-top. The final season also had a number of Off-Model moments and other animation problems.
  • Badass Adorable: Scooby is a puppy this time around but that doesn't mean he won't face the Monster of the Week (as long as there are Scooby Snacks involved of course).
  • Bag of Holding: In "The Babysitter From Beyond", Sugie's diaper bag somehow has enough room for her teddy bear, her playpen, her blanket, a whole refrigerator of her baby food, and a giant boulder.
  • Balloon Belly: In "For Letter Or Worse", Scooby ends up really fat for a couple of scenes after eating a literal truckload of Scooby Snacks. He slims back down when seeing the Monster of the Week causes him to deflate.
  • Banister Slide: Scooby and Shaggy do this in Scooby's giant doghouse in "The Sludge Monster From The Earth's Core" episode.
  • Batman Gambit: This is how the gang catches the monster in "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book". The gang pretends to have found another limited edition Commander Cool comic book (the monster had previously stolen the other one). This prompts the monster to show up to take the (actually fake) comic book and allows the gang to catch him. It's a Batman Gambit because this plan would not have worked if the monster's secret identity, the comic book's creator, hadn't been so greedy as to try to make his limited edition the only one in the world.
  • Battle Butler: Dawson, the stand-in for Daphne's usual butler Jenkins in "Dog Gone Scooby", chases off a pack of angry stray dogs by acting even bigger and meaner.
  • Big Eater: Both Scooby and Shaggy, at their usual, have enormous appetites. Scooby scarfs down an entire sundae in a single bite in the opening.
  • Bigger on the Inside (combined with Clown-Car Base): Scooby's dog house is definitely this—on the outside, it looks a regular dog house, but on the inside, it's an opulent mansion that's luxurious enough to impress Daphne.
  • Blind Without 'Em: Velma, who even as a kid needs them to exaggerated levels. She trips and loses her glasses in "A Bicycle Built For Boo", and spends most of the chase scene either down on her hands and knees desperately feeling around for them, or being rescued by Scooby from her various Blind Mistakes.
  • Brick Joke:
    • In "Now Museum Now You Don't", Red Herring is aware that Shaggy and Scooby entered the museum disguised as a mother and a baby, and he tried to expose them only to accidentally provoke a real mother with a baby, and she chases after him. By the time the Scooby-Doo Detective Agency has caught the Samurai Ghost, Red appears again, still being chased by that lady.
    • "The Computer Walks Among Us" has Gus the janitor showing the gang his mopping kayak. He's not seen again until the end of the episode, where he's gotten Velma's robot to row said kayak.
  • Captain Colorbeard: The villain of the episode "Ghost Who's Coming to Dinner" is a ghost pirate named Boobeard.
  • Character Catchphrase: Many of the same from the original series and many others.
    • "Jinkies."
      • "Velma said, 'Jinkies.' It must be a clue."note 
    • After Shaggy makes a pun:
      Shaggy: "Get it, Scoob?"
      Scooby: (after much laughing) "I don't get it."note 
    • "Zoinks!"
      • One time the gang said it for the culprit, she said, "How did you know I was gonna say that?".
    • "Would you do it for a Scooby Snack?"
      • Averted in "The Computer Walks Among Us". Scooby enters a dark closet when Velma kisses him.
      • Also averted in "Curse of the Collar", where Scooby enters Dr. Needlemeyer's office for his parents, declining the Scooby Snack.
    • Daphne: "That will be all, Jenkins."
      Jenkins: "Yes, Miss Blake."
    • "It could only be...Red Herring!"note 
    • "Let's split up, gang!" (always said by Fred when splitting up is completely inappropriate).
    • "There's no such things as ghosts!" Ironically, Daphne doesn't even believe the slightest possibility of monsters existing (even when they met an actual ghost), while in most series she believes, along with Scooby and Shaggy, the monster might be real (or at least more open-minded). Even her parents don't believe in ghosts.
    • Red Herring often states "That's not very funny" whenever he gets laughed at for getting his deserved comeuppance for his bullying ways.
  • Character Exaggeration: Done to Fred, Daphne, and Velma. Shaggy and Scooby are about the same as ever. That may be because it's close to impossible to exaggerate them. They've always had bottomless stomachs, they've always been complete cowards, and they've always done anything for a Scooby Snack or twenty. Sometimes a whole box.
    • Scooby simply adores Velma in this show. She gets as many "wet puppy kisses" from Scooby as Shaggy does.
  • Clear My Name: The gang helped Velma do this in one episode when she was facing suspension after being framed for using a robot (which she did create) to break in to the school lockers.
    • The gang also helped Shaggy and Scooby after they were framed for stealing a pair of priceless katana from a museum.
  • Clothespin Nose Plug: Scoob puts a clothespin on his nose on to elude Stikweed's stench (unfortunately he still smells it).
  • Cloudcuckoolander: Freddy, who is completely clueless during every mystery they try to solve. Other than Red Herring, Freddy has also claimed that the Mole People were the culprits (or even that the culprit was working for the Mole People).
  • Come Back, My Pet!: "Dog Gone Scooby" has the gang look for Scooby after he runs away due to thinking they don't want him around anymore.
  • Comic-Book Adaptation: The fifth issue of Hanna-Barbera Presents featured two comic stories based on A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
  • Competition Coupon Madness: In "Terror, Thy Name is Zombo", Scooby and Shaggy go through 450 boxes of cereal to be the first to ride a new roller coaster at a local amusement park. When the park owner asks in astonishment how they were able to eat that much cereal, Shaggy replies, "Like, we were hungry."
  • Conflict Ball: In "Night of the Living Burger", Shaggy and Scooby have fallen out and spend the whole episode bickering, and we never find out what they were arguing about in the first place. When Daphne asked them, they had both forgotten.
  • Conspicuous Trenchcoat: Shaggy and Scooby try this in "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book" to avoid Dr. Croaker spotting them and stealing their rare Commander Cool comic. The trouble is, everyone recognizes them anyways, notably Daphne...
    "Ewww, don't you two know that the Bogart look is out this season?"
  • Conspiracy Theorist: Freddie frequently comes up with bizarre theories about aliens (or the mole people, or Red Herring) trying to conquer the earth in the most harebrained way imaginable.
  • Continuity Nod: In "The Return of Commander Cool", Carol Colossal's toy company is being tormented by an alien, that turns out to be her secretary, Barbara Simone in an attempt to steal blueprints. Ms. Colossal returns in the episode, "Wrestle Maniacs", revealing that she hired Ms. Simone back on as her secretary through a prison-release work permit. She notes that good help is hard to find.
  • Cosmetically-Advanced Prequel: Averted for the most part. The setting is the early 1960's (which makes sense, as the original took place in the later 60's), and the music is rooted in Doo Wop and Motown. Though Velma has a computer, it's an impossibly bulky UNIVAC-style model. Daphne does have an 80s-style Status Cell Phone and she's tasked by her parents to manage an arcade at one point, bringing this trope somewhat into play.
  • Crossover Cameo: Yogi Bear and Ranger Smith appear in "The Story Stick". Yogi notably is portrayed as much more of a vicious wild animal than his regular self, scaring the villain off in one scene, and would be almost unrecognizable were it for the fact that he still has his trademark hat and tie on.note  Yogi and Boo-Boo also appear on a TV in "Lights, Camera, Monster."
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: Only in the episode "Night of the Boogie Biker" is Freddy right about bully Red Herring being the monster. It's also the one episode where was attempting to not accuse Red Herring...
    • Played with in another episode, when the gang is planning on creating a movie. Freddy suggests that they make a film about them solving a mystery, and the gang congratulates him on having a good idea. This is apparently so rare that the show is "interrupted" by a special news bulletin featuring an announcer shouting "FREDDY HAD A GOOD IDEA! IT'S A MIRACLE!"
    • Also played with in the episode "Dog Gone Scooby" as well. They do flashback to their first mystery as babies, where Red was the monster (Fred claims to have known all along, but only made this claim after he was unmasked). This is also one of the few episodes in which interrogating Red is actually helpful, as he had seen Scooby at the butcher shop.
  • Deadpan Snarker: Daphne tends to make snide remarks about Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby's quirks.
  • Diabolical Dogcatcher: There's an evil dog catcher who sometimes goes after Scooby. What kind of a dog catcher goes after dogs that aren't strays?
  • The Ditz: Freddy isn't very bright.
  • Does Not Like Spam: Scooby loves Scooby Snax as per tradition, but he utterly hates Acme Dog Biscuits.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?:
    • Daphne's parents talk about "Tuesday nights" as if they're special nights to be intimate with each other. When asked why they reference Tuesday nights with a seductive tone, Daphne says Tuesdays are actually for counting money, which usually lasts until Saturday.
    • Scooby's reaction to eating a Scooby Snack. He moans with pleasure, then shoots into the sky as fireworks go off, and finally drifts back to earth with a happy smile on his face. Oh, and Shaggy usually holds him afterwards. This happened to Daphne when in the presence of her favourite singer. This seems to be a Shout-Out to Snuffles the Tracking Dog from Quick Draw McGraw, who would often react that same way to getting a biscuit. Muttley has also done this.
  • Drives Like Crazy: Velma whenever the gang is on the skateboard. In the first episode, Daphne and Fred beg her to slow down as she follows Scooby to a building.
  • Drugs Are Bad: As a result of being produced during the height of the Anti-Drug campaign, this episode is extremely anvilicious when it comes to drugs, even for an American kids show. Most shows had maybe one or two special episodes about drugs, this show had it become a recurring motive.
    "DRUGS?! Drugs can mess you up!"
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: The first episode is the only one that does not include a picture of Shaggy being dragged by Scooby in the Episode Title Card. As well, Velma is portrayed as The Silent Bob, where the gang reacts to Velma speaking, not her catchphrase of "Jinkies".
  • Easily Forgiven: Zig-zagged in "Dog Gone Scooby". Scooby runs away because he thinks the gang doesn't want him around anymore. When they finally find him near the end of the episode, Scooby is still angry at Shaggy even after he apologizes, but he immediately forgives Daphne and Velma.
  • Elvis Impersonator: "The Spirit of Rock'n Roll" had an Elvis Presley Expy named Purvis Parker, and the gang met one of his impersonators.
  • Episode Tagline:
    • In the episode "Scooby Dude", Scooby's catchphrase becomes "Drugs?! Yuck! P'tooey!".
    • The episode where Acme Dog Biscuits are featured gives Scooby a one-episode catchphrase. "Racme Dog Biscuits? Ruck!!!"
  • Everybody Did It: A variation in "For Letter or Worse." While only one person— namely, Prestina— is the culprit, it turns out that the majority of the suspects the gang met were Prestina in various disguises.
  • Everybody Do the Endless Loop: Lampshaded by the characters yelling, "Start the music!" whenever a chase started. The chase montages were even filled with clips of the characters (and sometimes the monster) dancing.
  • Everyone Has Standards: As big as their appetites are, Shaggy and Scooby don't care for Mr. O'Greazy's fast food (as it's just that disgusting) or Crusty Baker's restaurant menu (which includes uncooked spaghetti and breadsticks made of wooden sticks).
  • Expository Theme Tune: And a catchy one at that.
    There's a mystery in town, so call the coolest pup around! Oh, Scooby! A Pup Named Scooby-Doo!
  • Expy: There are some character designs that are clearly based on those of characters from earlier Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
  • Extremely Overdue Library Book: In "The Ghost of Mrs. Shusham,", the titular ghost demands Shaggy return an overdue book to the Old Coolsville Library by midnight. Shaggy proceeds to tell his friends that when he was younger, he checked out a book entitled Pizza Parrot and the Butterbean Bunnies from the library only for Scooby to accidentally bury it in the backyard. In Shaggy's defense, however, the library closed down shortly afterwards, preventing Shaggy from ever returning the book at all.
  • The Drag-Along: Per usual, Shaggy and Scooby have to be dragged kicking and screaming on missions because of their cowardice.
  • Faint in Shock: Parodied In "The Were-Doo of Doo Manor". Scooby and his parents faint every time someone says "Were-Doo" out loud. In-Universe, it's called a "Doo Family Faint."
  • Fairplay Whodunnit: Usually the clues to figure out who it is will be right there in the episode, although sometimes you'd have to ignore whatever funny antics are going on at the time to see them (for example, a suspect might be carrying some item that in hindsight helps prove he's the monster, but you might not see it because Shaggy and Scooby are having some funny reaction at the time).
  • Fearless Infant: In "The Babysitter from Beyond", Shaggy's baby sister Sugie does not appear to be fazed by the monster Boogedy Bones.
  • Feud Episode: In "Night of the Living Burger," Shaggy and Scooby have just had a fight and spend nearly the whole episode with their backs to one another, refusing to speak. This hinders the gang's attempts at solving a mystery involving a giant monster hamburger. Once all is said and the two are speaking to each other again, they realize that neither one remembers why they were arguing in the first place.
  • First-Step Fixation: In "The Babysitter from Beyond", the Monster of the Week is trapped in a basement due to several large objects barricading the door. The monster climbs out of the basement through a nearby window, goes into the house through the door, removes the obstructions, then goes back outside and climbs back into the basement so that he can leave.
  • Formula-Breaking Episode: Toward the end of the original run, one episode was done in a Three Shorts format with simpler, more slapstick-oriented plots, possibly as a shout-out to the franchise's earliest attempts to change up the "monster mystery" formula (though sans Scrappy).
  • Franken-X: The episode "Chickenstein Lives" had the gang face a chicken Frankenstein monster named Chickenstein.
  • Free-Range Children: The kids run about Coolsville with little concern from their moms or dads (who do appear in the show at some point or another).
  • The Ghost: We don't see Freddie's parents at all in the series.
  • Good Parents: All of the parents of the main kids have them...well, except Freddie's due to them being The Ghost. Mr. and Mrs. Rogers are notable in that they're not only good parents to Shaggy and baby Shugie but they're like another set of parents to Scooby-Doo.
  • Go Through Me: Shaggy and Scooby have both stated in one episode that if you mess with Velma, you mess with them.
  • Headless Horseman: Actually, the headless skateboarder. No joke.
    "DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!!!! OH, DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!!!!
  • Heroic BSoD: In "Night of the Boogey Biker", when Red Herring was revealed to be the criminal after Fred Jones was made to promise not to accuse Red Herring of committing the crime for once,note  Fred throws a nasty tantrum.
  • "Home Alone" Antics: The episode "The Babysitter From Beyond" is nearly a Whole-Plot Reference to Home Alone with the gang trapped in a house as an escaped convict, a crazed babysitter, and a 3 headed zombie attempt to get in. The gang construct a trap using a giant tennis racquet and pulleys to combat one of the crooks.
  • I Will Show You X!: In "A Bicycle Built for Boo", Freddie, under the belief that Red Herring stole Shaggy's bicycle and painted it blue, damaged Red's bicycle with a sandblaster.
    Freddie: (sheepish) Well whattaya know. It's not Shaggy's bike after all. Oops.
    Red: I'm gonna "oops" you, Freddie!
  • Identity Amnesia: Shaggy loses his memory and believes himself to be his hero, Commander Cool.
  • Idiot Hero: Fred becomes a hilarious ignoramus in this show, a characterization that stuck for a while, showing up in the live action movies, and every once in a while in What's New, Scooby-Doo?, the animated movies and Scooby-Doo! Mystery Inc.
  • Insane Troll Logic: Fred in this series has a vivid imagination and explains things with little to no sense at all.
  • The Jeeves: Jenkins. Dawson, who responds to Daphne's call when Jenkins isn't available, also counts.
  • Jerkass: Innocent in most cases or not, Red Herring is still a huge jerk to the gang.
  • Jerkass Has a Point: Red may be a jerk, but he sure has every right to be annoyed with Freddie constantly accusing him of crimes he didn't commit.
  • Just Eat Him: In the episode "Wanted Cheddar Alive", after being chased by a literal cheese monster for the entire episode, Scooby solves the problem by eating at the villain's costume when he's cornered.
    Shaggy: "Like, nice work, Scoob, you licked the monster!"
  • Language Barrier: In the episode "Now Museum, Now You Don't", the monster of the episode is a "samurai ghost". However, at one point he tries to steal some valuable swords, and Velma says something to him in Japanesenote . He steals the swords anyway, but that proves he doesn't understand Japanese, since Velma was saying to him, "Those swords are fake." Now why would a Japanese ghost not understand Japanese? It's one of the major clues that he is actually the curator of the museum.
  • Lantern Jaw of Justice: Shaggy's dad is a police officer with a big chin.
  • Lighter and Softer: While the original wasn't necessarily all that scary, this is even more lighthearted.
    • Also Denser and Wackier, as this series is also a lot more cartoony than the original series.
  • Limited Wardrobe: As is standard for cartoons, the characters always wear the same clothing in every episode.
  • Little Miss Snarker: Daphne is far more sarcastic in this series than in other incarnations as she’s often exasperated with Fred’s idiocy.
  • Lorre Lookalike: The episode "Snow Place Like One" features a character named Mr. Morganson whose voice and appearance are inspired by Peter Lorre. Unlike past series' Lorre Lookalikes, however, he's not the villain of the episode.
  • Lost in Imitation: This show developed the personalities of the heroes much more than the original show. Velma's braininess, Daphne's wealth, and Freddy's idiocy all became signature traits and have been a part of the franchise since.
  • Mailman vs. Dog: In "Catcher on the Sly", Buster McMuttmauler at one point tries to lure Scooby into a trap by disguising himself as a mailman. His disguise backfires when a bunch of other dogs promptly attack him.
  • Meaningful Name: Red Herring. Freddy always suspects him, to the point where other characters start to Lampshade this, but he was only the culprit once. And that one time was the one time Freddy wasn't allowed to accuse him.
  • The Meddling Kids Are Useless: While this trope is already common in the franchise, "Curse of the Collar" featured it in the flashback establishing the villain's motive. He was the "ghost" of a Dog Catcher who blamed Scooby's parents for his crimes being exposed...except all indications are that his boss would have caught him anyway. At most the Doos made the arrest slightly easier by chasing him into a cage because he was chasing an apparently non-stray puppy.
  • Mid-Battle Tea Break: In "The Were-Doo of Doo Manor", just as the Were-Doo about to attack Shaggy and Scooby, a bell sounds, indicating that it's snacktime, so they all stop what they're doing and go to a table to eat. Once they're finished, Shaggy and Scooby run off and the Were-Doo chases after them.
  • Monster Clown: In "Terror, Thy Name is Zombo", the costumed monster the gang face is a hideous clown ghost named Zombo.
  • Monster of the Week: As usual, every episode has the gang defeat and unmask criminals disguised as monsters and other supernatural creatures.
  • Morphic Resonance: In "For Letter or Worse," the culprit turns out to be Prestina, who, as a Master of Disguise, goes undercover as various people in the television studio to throw the kids off her trail. However, she grabs the Villain Ball by always wearing a gold ring on her hand regardless of who she's pretending to be, allowing Velma to make the connection and expose her.
  • Mythology Gag: This show brings back Ruby Doo, Scrappy's mother, who hadn't appeared since the early 1980s.
  • Narrative Shapeshifting: Scooby would often change his appearance to that of the Monster of the Week.
  • No Fourth Wall: In some episodes, the characters would talk to the viewers directly after catching the monster, asking them whether they had figured out who the monster is.
  • Noodle Incident: In "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book", when Shaggy tries to tell the others that Dr. Croaker attempted to steal his Commander Cool comic, Fred and Daphne complain that he's claimed to have been attacked by comic book villains before with no details given aside from the names of the villains and where Shaggy claimed to have been accosted by them.
  • Not Me This Time: In one episode, Fred repeatedly accuse Red Herring of committing the crime, which lead to a Running Gag of him saying this in that episode.
    • It was inverted in another episode. The gang challenges Fred to go without accusing Red Herring of any crimes for twenty-four hours, just before a motorcycle is stolen. It turns out that this was the one time Red did do it (he was secretly adding a sidecar to the bike as a present). Fred has an epic Heroic BSoD at the news.
  • Not Quite Dead: In "Curse of the Collar", the gang deals with the ghost of the dogcatcher with a grudge against the Doo Family, Buster McMuttMauler. Which as usual wasn't real. But then later in the series we see that the real Buster McMuttMauler is still very much alive as well.
  • Not So Above It All: Velma is normally quite reserved, but the opening to "Wrestle Maniacs" sees her get very into cheering on a wrestling match, much to Daphne's surprise.
  • Once a Season: In every season, there is an episode where Commander Cool and Mellow Mutt are a significant part of the plot.
  • Once an Episode: In every episode, Freddy blames Red Herring for being behind everything, even in the episode where the gang is supposed to prove Red innocent.
    • Almost every episode. The gang challenges him to go 24 hours without doing this in one episode and he succeeds, only to find out that Red was the culprit. He takes the news...rather well.
  • Opening Narration: Most episodes begin with Shaggy narrating what he, Scooby and the gang are doing, often ending in a Title Drop.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: Played entirely for laughs, of course. In "The Story Stick", Velma finds a clue as usual and says "Jinkies", but this time nobody chimes in that it must be a clue, because everyone else is busy looking under tree stumps and the like and are too far away. Velma says "Jinkies" louder, but still they don't hear. So Velma gets so frustrated she brings out a megaphone and screams "I SAID JINKIES!!!" prompting Fred to finally say the line about Velma finding a clue.
  • Overly Long Name: One episode features a character named Rosemary Kate Heather Tiffany Bibby Smith Jones Wolfe Nelson. Her birth name is Laura Jane Carla Barbie Mallory Madeline Morton Mitchell. She usually goes by Julie.
  • Pepper Sneeze: Occurred with newspaper ink instead of pepper in "A Bicycle Built For Boo", where Scooby went into sneezing fits over smelling newspaper ink.
  • Phrase Catcher: The villains in each episode say to the gang: "I would've gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you pesky kids. Oh, and that puppy."
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Velma demonstrates in "Now Museum, Now You Don't" that she's actually quite skilled at karate despite her small size. The samurai ghost winds up learning this the hard way.
  • Policeman Dog: In "Robopup", the Blakes' security guard introduces the titular Robopup to the gang, whose purpose is to solve crimes — which is particularly helpful since the house is being haunted by the Ghost of Chef Pierre.
  • Real After All: The cast actually does find a real ghost at one point, though it's a harmless friendly ghost named Mr Boo. The Villain of the Week's plan would result in the house he haunts to be demolished, which would mean the good ghost would cease to exist, so the team ends up having to help him.
  • Red Herring: Short of using an actual red fish, you just can't get more literal than this: Red Herring was the name of an actual character, a local bully. Once an Episode, Freddy would accuse him of being the culprit; the accusation always came out of nowhere, with zero evidence to support it. Fred's logic was that Red was a jerk, and thus must be the villain. Red would always respond with an airtight alibi, much to Freddy's chagrin. Only in the episode "Night of the Boogie Biker" was Red actually the monster.

    To make matters worse, in said episode, the other kids bet Freddy that he can't go a single case without accusing Red of anything, and he struggles the whole way. So when it ends up being literally the only time Red was actually guilty, Fred, upon finding out, drops to the ground in tears, kicking and screaming "I knew it! I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it I knew it!"
  • Rich in Dollars, Poor in Sense: If only because Daphne's status as a rich girl is played for all it's worth. Apart from Velma, she usually plays the Only Sane Man role (especially with regards to Fred).
    Daphne: "Jenkins? Be scared for me."
    Jenkins: "Yes, Miss Blake. AHHHHHHHH!"
  • Running Gag: The show has several running gags.
    • Freddy accusing Red Herring of being behind the crime, which is often followed by Red Herring or Daphne explaining why Red Herring can't be the perpetrator.
    • Shaggy making a joke, asking Scooby if he gets it, and Scooby laughing hysterically before admitting that he doesn't get it.
    • Scooby's speech impediment of pronouncing words as if they began with R resulted in a tendency for him to parrot a word spoken by another character and the other character correcting him with "No, (insert word Scooby parroted spoken normally)".
    • Almost every episode includes a We Interrupt This Program moment (see entry below).
    • "The Were-Doo of Doo Manor" has a Doo Family Faint occur at every mention of the word "Were-Doo".
  • Sarcasm-Blind: Freddy is always blissfully unaware of Daphne and others' sarcastic remarks.
  • "Scooby-Doo" Hoax: Like in most continuities, every episode is about the gang stopping a criminal who disguises themselves as a monster or ghost.
  • Self-Parody: One of the first Scooby-Doo shows to do so, often lampshading the usual tropes and conventions associated with the franchise.
  • Shrinking Violet: Velma. In early episodes, her only lines in the entire show were "Jinkies" and the name of the real crook (when this happened, the other characters would usually exclaim: "Velma talked!" in complete astonishment). Later episodes gave her more lines, with "Jinkies" instead becoming her Verbal Tic that she'd found a clue.
  • Skewed Priorities: Daphne once refused to be saved from a fall because the helicopter Jenkins brought doesn't match her dress.
  • Snub by Omission: After the villains are revealed, they will say the traditional, "And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids." Many times, Scooby would have to remind them to finish by saying, "Oh, and that puppy."
  • Speech-Impaired Animal: Scooby, naturally, has his speech impediment of pronouncing every other word as if it began with the letter R. However, it is less frequent than the original.
  • Spelling for Emphasis: In "The Were-Doo of Doo Manor", Mumsy Doo warns Shaggy that Scooby is detecting the presence of a W-E-R-E D-O-O.
    Shaggy: A Were-Doo?
    (Cue a Doo Family Faint)
  • Spin-Off Babies: The premise of the show is that Scooby and the gang are now children.
  • Spoiled Sweet: Daphne, in this incarnation, is depicted as being very rich, a tad spoiled, and extremely vain, but she's also very level-headed, and loyal to her friends no matter what.
  • Start My Own: Lester Leonard left the Critter Getters to start his own monster-catching business.
  • Status Cell Phone: Rich girl Daphne had one, even if it was Anachronism Stew (the original series premiered in 1969, which means this series would take place around the early-to-mid 1960s.)
  • Strictly Formula: Find bad guy, interview suspects, find clues, trap the monster, and let Velma reveal who the monster is. Of course, this formula has been found in many Scooby-Doo spin-offs, so it's naturally lampshaded to a great extent.
  • Tally Marks on the Prison Wall: "Now Museum, Now You Don't" has Scooby and Shaggy wrongly accused of stealing the samurai swords at the museum. They end up having an Imagine Spot where they're in prison with gray beards and have numerous tally marks on the walls of their prison cells to keep track of how long they've been in jail.
    Shaggy: Like, it's almost Christmas, Scoob.
  • Teen Genius: Velma went from being The Smart Guy to being an Omnidisciplinary Scientist, having a super-computer devoted solely to crime-solving stuffed in a briefcase, and doing work for NASA even.note 
  • The Television Talks Back: Quite a bit...
    • In "Wanted Cheddar Alive", the gang watch a news report about a cheese monster who had been ravaging Coolsville. Tying into one of the shows running gags, Scooby exclaims "A rease ronster??", to which the CEO of the Scooby Snacks company being interviewed on TV replies "No, a cheese monster."
    • In "The Babysitter From Beyond", it happens twice. First, during a TV spot for the horror film Boogedy Bones Rises From the Grave, the announcer states that the movie is "guaranteed to scare your socks off." Shaggy says, "Like, I don't wear socks!" In true Tom Ruegger fashion, the announcer replies "Then you'd better get some!" Later on, a Coincidental Broadcast starting as Shaggy is speaking even had the newscaster say "We interrupt Shaggy to bring you a Coolsville news bulletin!"
  • Tell Him I'm Not Speaking to Him: Shaggy and Scooby did this throughout "Night of the Living Burger", using Daphne as an intermediary.
  • Time-Passage Beard: Shaggy and Scooby's Imagine Spot of being in prison after being falsely accused of stealing the samurai swords in "Now Museum, Now You Don't" depicts the pair as having long gray beards to underscore that they've been locked up for a long time.
  • Title Drop: At the beginning and end of every episode there is a mention of the show's title.
  • Theme Tune Roll Call: "Join Shaggy and the crew: Daphne, Freddy, Velma, too! Scooby, a pup named Scooby-Doo!"
  • Took a Level in Dumbass: Freddie is significantly dumber than he's ever been depicted in previous Scooby-Doo incarnations. The personality trait stuck around in later productions.
  • Trademark Favorite Food: Although Shaggy and Scooby are known to eat just about anything, there's nothing they love more than Scooby Snacks.
  • Unnamed Parent: None of the characters' parents have their names revealed.
  • "The Villain Sucks" Song: Most of the episodes have a song about the episode's monster and how threatening they can be sung during the obligatory chase sequence.
  • Villainy-Free Villain: Red Herring, who was never guilty of the crimes, but was still an obnoxious punk.
  • Vocal Dissonance: Casey Kasem still voiced Shaggy with the same inflection as the adult version even though the character was about 13 years old here.
  • Vocal Evolution: Freddy's voice became deeper in later episodes when his voice actor went through puberty.
  • We Interrupt This Program: More often than not, a newscaster may interrupt the episode with a "special announcement" usually either relating to the episode's plot or to signal to the audience that one of the show's running gags is about to occur or has just occurred.
    "We interrupt A Pup Named Scooby-Doo for this special announcement. Velma just said 'Jinkies,' and you know what that means! Thank you."
  • Wild Take: Several. The animators seemed to have a running bet to see who could make the next wild take even more outrageous and surreal. Glen Kennedy's wild takes have often been the most off the wall.
  • Writers Cannot Do Math: In "The Schnook Who Took My Comic Book", Shaggy says there's only three first editions left. If you count them there are actually four. Two in Selma's case which she was selling, one in the case she keeps for herself, and one in Wendell McWendell's case.
  • You Meddling Kids: With emphasis on kids this time, and the villains often would refer to them as "pesky kids" rather than "meddling."
  • Your Television Hates You: Seen and then played with in the opening scene to "The Were-Doo of Doo Manor." During Shaggy's sleepover at Scooby-Doo's luxurious doghouse, they decide to watch some TV. But the first thing they see on the screen is the opening to Monster Theater, which of course scares them. They change the channel, only to find Yuck Cinema starting up (showcasing red slime oozing down the screen), and then change the channel to find Walter the Wonder Pup, one of Scooby's favorite shows, starting up. But this week's episode involves lots of "monsters and yuck", to which Shaggy and Scooby rush to turn the set off.

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Red Herring

Fred accuses Red Herring, a bully named after this trope, of stealing Shaggy's bike.

How well does it match the trope?

5 (23 votes)

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Main / RedHerring

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