Hey kids (of all ages), it’s Saturday Morning Cartoon time again!
Not long ago, my weekday upload for grownups was an episode of WAIT TILL YOUR FATHER GETS HOME featuring an appearance by Jonathan Winters. Like Don Adams and Phyllis Diller, Winters had also guest starred on Hanna-Barbera’s top Saturday Morning ‘toon… But, in his case, he also brought along the same Granny Maude Frickert character to both shows.
SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? (Basically ersatz DOBIE GILLIS characters crossed with the old I LOVE A MYSTERY radio show plus a semi-anthropomorphic dog thrown-in for good measure.) was a big hit for the studio in 1969. Not only did it get a second production season, which was kinda’ rare for Saturday Morning Cartoons, but is spawned a slew of follow-up series, one-shot video features, and even big-budget live-action movie adaptations.
Scooby and the gang also became the go-to template for many of HB’s ‘toons through the ’70s, as YOGI BEAR had been for the ’60s. Just rename the Meddling Kids, and swap-out the dog for a semi-anthropomorphic car, phantom, cat, shark, or even a goofier-looking dog, and there’s your new show. Heck, even the Justice League got a pair of Meddling Kids and their dog when HB took over the superheroes’ license with SUPER FRIENDS.
Scooby’s second program, the NEW SCOOBY-DOO MOVIES, had the mystery adventures extended to an hour-long, and featured guest stars. And what a mixed-bad that lot was! Sometimes real people, like Cass Elliot, Davy Jones, or Jerry Reed, voiced by their real-world selves. Sometimes fictional characters, like Batman, the Addams Family, or the cast of other HB Scooby-esque cartoons. Sometimes a splitting of the difference, with the onscreen personas of real people voiced by impersonators, as with the THREE STOOGES and LAUREL AND HARDY due to the originals being retired or dead. From September, 1972. More from the OldHorseman.
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