Today the Couch looks at the quickly gone and forgotten 10th incarnation of Hanna-Barbera’s Scooby-Doo franchise, Warner Brothers’ Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!.
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! debuted on September 23, 2006, and ran for two seasons during the Kids WB Saturday morning block of The CW Television Network. The show’s second season premiered on Teletoon in Canada on September 6, 2010.
This series boasted a number of notable features: Despite being produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this was the last cartoon series produced by Hanna-Barbera co-founder Joseph Barbera. This show also came along right on the heels of the 2002 live-action Scooby-Doo movie, so the characters were redesigned to resemble their movie counterparts; Scooby was drawn with dot eyes, for example. Get a Clue! was the third show in the Scooby-Doo franchise, after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo and What’s New, Scooby-Doo?, that was not animated or drawn in the usual Hanna-Barbera style. This was also the first series in which Casey Kasem did not voice Shaggy, but was instead done by Scott Menville (although Scott Innes or Billy West have portrayed the character in many of the Scooby-Doo animated movies made for television or home video). However, in this series, Kasem did voice Shaggy’s rich and on-the-run Uncle Albert. Another noticeable difference was that Shaggy wore a white short-sleeved shirt with a green stripe across the middle and green sleeves instead of his trademark green t-shirt (Shag didn’t even sport his red shirt from the 80’s here). Frank Welker still did Scooby’s voice, replacing the late great Don Messick, who died of a stroke in 1996. In addition, Shaggy and Scooby are considerably not as cowardly this time around.
Get a Clue! was one of the rare Scooby shows which deviated from the usual formula of the Mystery, Inc. gang solving mysteries involving fake ghosts and monsters. Unlike in, say, The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo, in which the selling point was that the monsters were real, here we got no ghouls, spooks or ghosties at all, real or otherwise. The premise of the show revolves around the fact that Shaggy Rogers’ incredibly rich Uncle Albert Shaggleford disappears and names Shaggy as his sole heir for an inheritance. With the help of the inheritance, Shaggy has upgraded the Mystery Machine, so it now has the ability to transform itself into a number of other different vehicles, like the “Hot Dog Making Machine”.
Dr. Albert Shaggleford had made some enemies before disappearing, though. Among the most dangerous is the archetypal evil genius and technology pirate out to take over the world and/or become immortal–truth be told, his motivations were about as clear as Gargamel’s—Dr. Phineas Phibes (who gets his name from the Vincent Price villain The Abominable Dr. Phibes). Dr. Phibes recruits various sidekicks and minions to help him with his plans, among them Dr. Trebla. (Dun-dun-dunnn!)
It appears that the supposedly late Dr. Shaggleford was, beyond being rich, an inventor in his own right, and his clueless young heir is now in possession of some very interesting nano technology. The top secret nanotech formula has been mixed in with Scooby Snacks, which, when eaten, cause a variety of day-saving side effects.
The duo are also aided by Robi, A loyal robotic servant with a tendency to bust through walls and other highly destructive things without second thoughts. Robi would also have various uses for Shaggy and Scooby, though he is a rather lousy cook, various impressions, and giving out safety tips Insector Gadget style. He also projects holograms of Uncle Albert when he wants to talk with Shaggy. One clever bit was that Robi also usually called Scooby “Rooby Roo” due to misunderstanding Scooby’s unique vocalizations.
Shaggy and Scooby-Doo have a mission: armed with an updated Mystery Machine, a loyal robot servant, their new riches and the new and improved Scooby Snacks, they must stop the evil plans of Phineas Phibes and save the world. In episode 2, Shaggy upgrades the Mystery Machine from its original form, to a high-tech transforming vehicle. However, it usually transforms into machines inappropriate for the tasks at hand. In their spare time, Shaggy and Scooby are fans of the show Chefs of Steel, the famous mystery solver Chad Chatington, and the giant monster-fighting robot named Badgerly, the Adverb.
What of the rest of the gang? Fred Jones, Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley only made occasional appearances; only appearing in 2 episodes of season 1. Fred and Daphne made a non-speaking cameo in a single season 2 episode, getting barred from entrance to a party. However, their silhouettes run across the screen in the opening credits in amongst the silhouettes of all the show’s regular cast.
“Hey kids, you’re probably wondering why we didn’t get a bigger role on this show. Well frankly, so are we! Why do I keep getting passed over? I’m hot!”
“No parts for us in any of the Superstars 10 movies and now this? Seriously, what’s the deal? You gotta be perpetually hungry to get a decent role on one of these shows??”
“Look on the bright side. At least we didn’t have to appear in those lame-oh Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show episodes where it was just Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy driving around the countryside being chased by somebody! Geez Louise, what were they thinking??”
Trivia Time: Coincidentally this is not the first time that Frank Welker has done the voice of Scott Menville’s pet as the two of them did the voice of Ma-Ti (Menville) and his pet monkey Suchi (Welker) in the 1990-96 cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers.
Further coincidence is Scott Menville’s voicing Shaggy, a character previously voiced by Casey Kasem. Both voice actors have also played Robin in Teen Titans and Super Friends respectively.
Here’s the opening:
A YouTube commenter referred to Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! as “the series which raped the Scooby-Doo franchise”, and apparently Warner Brothers must have felt the same way, as this show hasn’t seen the light of day since its’ initial run on Kids’ WB!. So far it’s never even resurfaced on Cartoon Network, and they used to carry Pink Panther and Pals. A friend told me that WB has basically swept this show under the rug and refuse to so much as acknowledge it anymore. Myself, I have no comment on how good or bad the series was, for you see, there’s another notable feature about Get a Clue!: I’ve never actually seen an episode of this show. I kept saying that I was going to check out an episode just to say I’d seen it, but the series went off the air before I ever got to. That said, based in what I’ve read about Get a Clue!, I have to say that I didn’t think the idea sounded all that bad, at least not on paper. The show’s theme song was delightfully ear-splitting, and the premise actually sounds pretty fun: 2 kooky funsters suddenly finding themselves super-rich living it up in a mansion with a robot butler, the latest high-tech toys and super power-inducing nanotech to play with, that sounds pretty cool to me, sort of like Richie Rich meets Dexter’s Laboratory. In fact, it sounds similar to a show idea I had about a year ago with the working title Dream, about the kooky children of wealthy boo-billionaire celebrity parents who have crazy-cool fun in their high-tech pleasure-filled mansion while driving their butler/nanny crazy; it would’ve been like Disney’s Jessie, only good, but I digress. I think perhaps the problem people had with this show is that it was just too great a depature from the usual Scooby fare. No fake ghosts, no mysteries, little to no Fred, Daphne or Velma, and those dot eyes on the Scoobster were just kind of jarring. Like another infamous Kids’ WB! bomb, Loonatics Unleashed, Get a Clue! might have fared better if the producers had went with all-new characters in the lead roles instead of placing this in an established franchise since it was such a huge deviation from the norm.
So while I never actually saw Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (I know some episodes of this are available on DVD, so maybe I’ll check it out one day), I can’t entirely hate on this show. Ultimately it may not have worked, but I have to at least give Warner Bros. credit for trying something different, especially since it didn’t involve Scoob and Shag just drifting aimlessly around in the Mystery Machine and getting into endless brainless chase sequences with some big goon again and again.
She has a large head, and you know what they say about people with large heads…they have a hard time shopping for hats.
She was originally a fashion doll from the 1970’s. Incredibly well-preserved, don’t you think?
She’s voiced by Ashleigh Ball. Anyone who shares a voice with Rainbow Dash has got to be cool.
She’s cute.
She can talk to animals. I can talk to animals too, but they don’t talk back.
She has a seemingly never-ending assortment of hairstyles and outfits. Most cartoon characters only get 1 outfit, or all of their clothes just look the same.
She’s cute.
She has a dumb waiter in her bedroom, whereas most of us just have dumb waiters at our local Chili’s.
How many other people can pull off a polka dotted scooter?
Happy New Year! For the first Twinsanity blog entry of 2014, we examine the somewhat spotty career of fast food mascot the Burger King. What a fairly short but strange trip it’s been…..
DETROIT – FEBRUARY 03: Burger King mascot, The King poses in the green room during the “Jimmy Kimmel Live” Show at Super Bowl XL February 3, 2006 at the Gem Theatre in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Getty Images)
We all remember the 1970’s. The clothes, the music, the gregariously over-the-top and occasionally entertaining Kung Fu movies, but did you that back in the 70’s, McDonald’s had a rival in the bizarre kid-vid commercial arms race? Yes, before the Burger King Kids Club, there was…The King.
Speaking of which, have you ever wondered what became of the Kids Club? You might want to check the King’s basement.
In the 70’s, the Marvelous Magical Burger King reigned on weekday afternoons and Saturday morning commercials along with his very own court of puppety oddballs: the Duke of Doubt, a foppish skeptic who didn’t believe in magic and as a result was made to look like a fool every time; Sir Shake-A-Lot, a quaking knight whose passion for shakes has left him with permanent internal freezer burn; the Wizard of Fries, who was a robot (this was during the era of Star Wars, you must remember) whose shtick was taking everything anyone said too literally; and the Burger Thing, a giant burger head on a picture frame who guffawed bad jokes and terrible puns. (I swear I’m not making this up). Get a gander at what it was like in the court of the King:
All was hunky-dory for a while, but ultimately, the ads just couldn’t cut the mustard, and eventually the King’s court was disbanded. As for whatever happened to the King’s co-stars, well…….
“Whaddaya think’s in the Special Sauce? It’s amazing what those Gobblins will do for leftover fry bits from the grill. Who’s the king now, beeyotch?”
Undeterred, the Powers That Be at BK were determined to keep the King in the limelight. They vowed to make him better than he was. Better. Stronger. Funner. Their experimentation took them to a very dark place, the jungles of Columbia to be exact. They tapped into the forbidden arts of Dark Burger Magic, resulting in a new, creepier King; the dosage of Magic injected into him also resulted in the King’s head growing to thrice its’ normal size. It was time to get back to work.
For some unfathomable reason, people found these new ads to be off-putting (Can’t imagine why), and eventually, Burger King retired the monarch in 2011. These days, the King does the occasional magic show in Las Vegas (fans loved it when he pantsed David Copperfield on stage), but mostly he just likes to lurk. Anywhere. At anytime. So you just might bump into him one day.
During my time of internet surfing, I came across this old Kids’ WB! promo advertising the network’s airing the reruns of Steven Spielberg’s Tiny Toon Adventures.
Ah, the dubbing. So bad….
What I find interesting about this particular promo (aside from wondering why only 2 singing voices were heard in the variation of the Tiny Toons theme song if the entire cast of TTA was supposed to be singing) is how it’s acts as though Animaniacs is the seasoned veteran series and the Tiny Toons characters are treated like the new kids on the block, when in reality. Tiny Toons started and stopped before Animaniacs. TTA ran from 1990 to 1995, while A! ran from 1993 to 1999. Yet, on Kids’ WB, Cartoon Network and later The Hub, A! was always acquired first, and TTA wasn’t acquired until after the A! reruns got decent ratings. These weren’t even new episodes of TTA; they were only “new” to Kids’ WB because they never aired on that network before. It must be somewhat grating for the TTA characters to have a series that they helped to create go on to surpass them in popularity. It’s kind of like your little brother or sister constantly getting picked for a team before you.
The Warners didn’t know it yet, but the Tiny Toons were only harbingers to the coming horror. A far greater threat to their security on the WB network was looming over the horizon. A threat that goes by the name of…
If the Warners think that having to share a network with the Tiny Toons is bad, wait until all of the comedy cartoons are forced to share a tiny cubicle.
Twin Images 
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