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Post by moonscar on Apr 7, 2021 3:04:06 GMT -5
I stalled on watching "Guess Who" for a couple years but I've finally gotten round to watching most of the episodes now, and I've got to say - it's unfortunately one of my least favourite incarnations of Scooby. "Be Cool" had far worse animation but the writing was much sharper and it had a few episodes I would class as really enjoyable. "Guess Who" just seems lacklustre in a lot of areas as I was hoping for a sorta back to basics approach.(since the animation was very retro)
I dunno, I find it hard to articulate and I've still to watch most of Season 2 but I'm quite disappointed with the show, overall. Bringing back guest starts was a strange choice for a 52-run series and it seemed to run out of steam, almost immediately.
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Post by russm on Apr 7, 2021 14:56:02 GMT -5
It's like all the ingredients are there but it just hasn't been cooked properly.
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Post by scoobyfan27 on Apr 7, 2021 16:11:37 GMT -5
I’m so happy you brought this up moonscar. Even though I love Guess Who it pains me to say the show can be extremely bland at times. Which is a bit frustrating because you look at the animation, design, and background paintings and it’s all BEAUTIFUL. It’s arguably the best animation/design out of all the series. (Not counting DTV’S). It’s like the classic but with an actual budget and HD filter on it. I can’t get over how gorgeous the animation is. But then that’s it. I’ve seen many episodes that have just left me like “ehhh that was...ok”. It’s just so vanilla. Like the writing in Be Cool, WNSD, and SDMI was actually captivating and had moments that left you on the edge of your seat. Also the scenes where the monsters where chasing them were so aesthetically pleasing to look at. In Guess Who it all seems so copy pasted copy pasted. Like Velma literally ALWAYS says “it makes perfect sense”. And certain themes are re used constantly where it just seems so forced and lazy. And what’s even more frustrating is that you will read the sypnosis of the episodes and it seems so amazing and great. Then you watch the actual episode and it’s executed POORLY. and just leaves you feeling like something was missing. It hit me when I saw the throwback episode of “Mystery State Finals” in SDMI where they had the retro animation and characters. To me THAT is how you should do retro Scooby. It was retro but captured the spooky essence of the original and was exciting. Guess Who many times has episodes that seem so dull and uninspired. And the characters sometimes repeat the same dang lines EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Like I understand and expect the meddling kids line to be used all the time because it’s classic and iconic. But Velma saying “suspicious....”, “it makes perfect sense”, etc, EVERY SINGLE STINKIN EPISODE just grates me because it feels like the writers just don’t care and will copy and paste anything. I sometimes fantasize what a show with the writing of Be Cool and animation of Guess Who would’ve been like. That would’ve been the perfect combination in my opinion. |
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Post by elemage on Apr 7, 2021 20:00:51 GMT -5
Guess Who is a distilled, concentrated version of what Warner Bros. thinks Scooby is and thinks Scooby should be. In other words, everything wrong with the franchise right now is present in this show.
It has good ideas, such as making someone physically fight the monster, something we haven't seen since the Scrappy days. (Wonder Woman trying to behead the fake minotaur, Wanda Sykes pelting the fish demon thing with cans of dog food). It makes Daphne morally grey by making her loot an abandoned department store for her favorite lipstick, which gives her a lot of depth. (Hell, she then stands around trading make-up tips with JOKER. We stan a queen who ignores crimes for fashion.) Actually, it really drives home that Daphne is a "whatever it takes" kind of person because in another episode, she runs over the head of a monster with a giant, rideable lawn mower. Thank GOD the villain wasn't inside.
But then, as I stated before, it falls into the pitfalls that the franchise has been embracing as of late; an overabundance of tired, cliche tropes that were never a huge part of original Scooby to begin with (the hallway of doors trick, which is present in every single episode), Velma telling a real life ghost to his face several times that he's just a hologram to the point of looking like an idiot, and that stupid, lazy theme song that's just a recycling of the original theme. And don't get me started on how the gang recites the guest's accomplishments in unison like the children of the corn.
I tolerate this show, and at a few points I actually like it, especially when an episode tries something new (like the Jason Sudeikis one), but it is nowhere near one of my favorites. I do like them subtly making Daphne a career criminal and hardened killer. But it's almost certainly not an intentional choice, so they don't get bonus points for it.
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Post by matt on Apr 7, 2021 21:23:45 GMT -5
I’m so happy you brought this up moonscar . Even though I love Guess Who it pains me to say the show can be extremely bland at times. Which is a bit frustrating because you look at the animation, design, and background paintings and it’s all BEAUTIFUL. It’s arguably the best animation/design out of all the series. (Not counting DTV’S). It’s like the classic but with an actual budget and HD filter on it. I can’t get over how gorgeous the animation is. But then that’s it. I’ve seen many episodes that have just left me like “ehhh that was...ok”. It’s just so vanilla. Like the writing in Be Cool, WNSD, and SDMI was actually captivating and had moments that left you on the edge of your seat. Also the scenes where the monsters where chasing them were so aesthetically pleasing to look at. In Guess Who it all seems so copy pasted copy pasted. Like Velma literally ALWAYS says “it makes perfect sense”. And certain themes are re used constantly where it just seems so forced and lazy. And what’s even more frustrating is that you will read the sypnosis of the episodes and it seems so amazing and great. Then you watch the actual episode and it’s executed POORLY. and just leaves you feeling like something was missing. It hit me when I saw the throwback episode of “Mystery State Finals” in SDMI where they had the retro animation and characters. To me THAT is how you should do retro Scooby. It was retro but captured the spooky essence of the original and was exciting. Guess Who many times has episodes that seem so dull and uninspired. And the characters sometimes repeat the same dang lines EVERY SINGLE EPISODE. Like I understand and expect the meddling kids line to be used all the time because it’s classic and iconic. But Velma saying “suspicious....”, “it makes perfect sense”, etc, EVERY SINGLE STINKIN EPISODE just grates me because it feels like the writers just don’t care and will copy and paste anything. I sometimes fantasize what a show with the writing of Be Cool and animation of Guess Who would’ve been like. That would’ve been the perfect combination in my opinion. Honestly this probably reflects my views on the show more than my many comments have. My comments have seemed pretty harsh and filled with ranting but I generally like the show. Some aspects are just disappointing to me like this thread has shown |
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Post by matt on Apr 7, 2021 21:32:16 GMT -5
Guess Who is a distilled, concentrated version of what Warner Bros. thinks Scooby is and thinks Scooby should be. In other words, everything wrong with the franchise right now is present in this show. It has good ideas, such as making someone physically fight the monster, something we haven't seen since the Scrappy days. (Wonder Woman trying to behead the fake minotaur, Wanda Sykes pelting the fish demon thing with cans of dog food). It makes Daphne morally grey by making her loot an abandoned department store for her favorite lipstick, which gives her a lot of depth. (Hell, she then stands around trading make-up tips with JOKER. We stan a queen who ignores crimes for fashion.) Actually, it really drives home that Daphne is a "whatever it takes" kind of person because in another episode, she runs over the head of a monster with a giant, rideable lawn mower. Thank GOD the villain wasn't inside. But then, as I stated before, it falls into the pitfalls that the franchise has been embracing as of late; an overabundance of tired, cliche tropes that were never a huge part of original Scooby to begin with (the hallway of doors trick, which is present in every single episode), Velma telling a real life ghost to his face several times that he's just a hologram to the point of looking like an idiot, and that stupid, lazy theme song that's just a recycling of the original theme. And don't get me started on how the gang recites the guest's accomplishments in unison like the children of the corn. I tolerate this show, and at a few points I actually like it, especially when an episode tries something new (like the Jason Sudeikis one), but it is nowhere near one of my favorites. I do like them subtly making Daphne a career criminal and hardened killer. But it's almost certainly not an intentional choice, so they don't get bonus points for it. This is put more eloquently than what I have been trying to do. The first paragraph is perfectly put and I agree 100%. I just wish they didn’t play it so safe |
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Post by moonscar on Apr 8, 2021 7:13:28 GMT -5
Yeah, I agree wholeheartedly with the above comments. It just doesn't have all the elements that made "The New Scooby-Doo Movies" so special. The only thing it has over that show is animation quality (which is kinda a given). I'll finish Season 2 once all the episodes are available in the UK and see if it improves any.
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Post by Doo on Apr 8, 2021 18:41:54 GMT -5
Guess Who is a distilled, concentrated version of what Warner Bros. thinks Scooby is and thinks Scooby should be. In other words, everything wrong with the franchise right now is present in this show. It has good ideas, such as making someone physically fight the monster, something we haven't seen since the Scrappy days. (Wonder Woman trying to behead the fake minotaur, Wanda Sykes pelting the fish demon thing with cans of dog food). It makes Daphne morally grey by making her loot an abandoned department store for her favorite lipstick, which gives her a lot of depth. (Hell, she then stands around trading make-up tips with JOKER. We stan a queen who ignores crimes for fashion.) Actually, it really drives home that Daphne is a "whatever it takes" kind of person because in another episode, she runs over the head of a monster with a giant, rideable lawn mower. Thank GOD the villain wasn't inside. But then, as I stated before, it falls into the pitfalls that the franchise has been embracing as of late; an overabundance of tired, cliche tropes that were never a huge part of original Scooby to begin with (the hallway of doors trick, which is present in every single episode), Velma telling a real life ghost to his face several times that he's just a hologram to the point of looking like an idiot, and that stupid, lazy theme song that's just a recycling of the original theme. And don't get me started on how the gang recites the guest's accomplishments in unison like the children of the corn. I tolerate this show, and at a few points I actually like it, especially when an episode tries something new (like the Jason Sudeikis one), but it is nowhere near one of my favorites. I do like them subtly making Daphne a career criminal and hardened killer. But it's almost certainly not an intentional choice, so they don't get bonus points for it. This is put more eloquently than what I have been trying to do. The first paragraph is perfectly put and I agree 100%. I just wish they didn’t play it so safe Yeah, I think playing it safe is Guess Who's greatest downfall. Not that safe is a bad thing, but when they just focus on the same tropes over and over with no character development, then it gets real old real fast. Back in the days Jon Colton Barry from Be Cool was regularly on here, he talked quite a bit about how "playing it safe" was actually quite dangerous because it could stifle a franchise's potential. Honestly, I think his sentiment is so on-point and it makes me wish he (or someone who has similar opinions to him) could be in charge of the franchise's creative direction long-term. |
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Post by matt on Apr 8, 2021 21:02:43 GMT -5
This is put more eloquently than what I have been trying to do. The first paragraph is perfectly put and I agree 100%. I just wish they didn’t play it so safe Yeah, I think playing it safe is Guess Who's greatest downfall. Not that safe is a bad thing, but when they just focus on the same tropes over and over with no character development, then it gets real old real fast. Back in the days Jon Colton Barry from Be Cool was regularly on here, he talked quite a bit about how "playing it safe" was actually quite dangerous because it could stifle a franchise's potential. Honestly, I think his sentiment is so on-point and it makes me wish he (or someone who has similar opinions to him) could be in charge of the franchise's creative direction long-term. It would never happen because of the backlash over Be Cool (which I maintain is mostly about the animation style) but if Jon Colton Barry was put in charge of Scooby Doo in general that would be a phenomenal choice. He would push for making it better through character development and fresh ideas. Of course, Warner Bros thinks that all of the fans don't want changes, but A. SDMI's popularity proves otherwise and B. I think most fans, at least the involved fans, say otherwise and would be excited for pushing the envelope a little bit based off of most of the complaints based off of Guess Who, including right here. I just think Scooby deserves better than settling. The character development from the gang is sorely missed between the previous two incarnations (whether you agreed with the specific choices or not, they certainly succeeded in adding to the gang's characters) and this one, where most of the development, if there is any, goes toward the guest stars |
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Post by wileyk209 on Apr 15, 2021 22:03:38 GMT -5
So far I really enjoy it. It's the second Scooby-Doo series from Warner Bros. Animation that I actually liked watching (the first being "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated.") Sure, I am unfamiliar with half of the guest stars, but I particularly enjoy the retro 1970s throwback the series has, very much like in "Night of the Living Doo," the "Legend of the Vampire" and "Monster of Mexico" direct-to-video movies, and some of the commercials WBA did with the Scooby gang. In a way, it often feels like if "Night of the Living Doo" was a series, though I will agree some of the lampshading of the formula is a little tiresome, like the need to always incorporate the "Scooby-Dooby-Doors" device (though at least I like how it usually takes a wacky twist halfway into the gag, like dressing the gang in amusing costumes), or the villain having to always say the "meddling kids" line (usually followed by the guest star's name). And with that, I'm not too big how in most cases, the villain turns out to be someone we've seen before, the one they'd least suspect in being the ghost or monster (like Shaggy said in one episode, "It's always the nice ones!") Though there were a few episodes where the villain turned out to be a blatantly suspicious suspect from the start, so much I'd think that he/she was just being a red herring like they typically are! And I'm not too big on this over-skeptical Velma that's like in the recent direct-to-video movies, either. But otherwise, the voice acting is pretty good, and I really do like the retro 1970s art and animation style; it's even neat to see the more contemporary celebrities rendered in the 1970s Hanna-Barbera style. And the episodes animated by Snipple Animation have really fluid and cartoony animation (similar to their work on "Looney Tunes Cartoons" and the Animaniacs revival), compared to the Korean studios (like Digital eMation) being more in line with the original shows' limited animation. I also love how it makes very heavy and prominent use of the classic Hanna-Barbera sound effects library, something the franchise usually wouldn't do since Warner Bros. Animation took over in the late 1990s, especially since Advantage Audio was doing the sound design, after hearing them mostly avoid the H-B sounds in "Be Cool Scooby-Doo" (save the classic "Scooby teeth chatter"), they go all out and use them here! The last time Advantage Audio used so many H-B sound effects in a Scooby-Doo -related production was in "Bravo Dooby Doo," way back in 1997! (Though this may be attributed to how Advantage Audio has been bringing in new sound designers and editors in recent years.)
Overall, I've found this series to be really fun so far!
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