The Real Reason the Format Changed in 1980

[candy1026]

Guys, if you break something into smaller pieces, you don't have more of it. You have more pieces but not more of what you had before. I can't legally find a video of Scrappy and compare his screentime to that if the first season, but I have a theory that despite the differently alotted story lengths, his total amount on screen for each bunch of three is totally the same. Same for Shaggy and Scooby, thus debunking the idea that the format changed more to focus on him. (If someone tests this I would be grateful) 
I think that Scooby-Doo was combined with the Richie Rich show for combined advertisement power or whatnot. The shorter shows were to alternate between them.
They removed Fred and Velma because six is way too many characters to make a decently written short, and Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy were the most interesting/popular what have you.

[Doo]

I would definitely agree with this sentiment. You can tell many of the Richie Rich Hour shorts are much more focused around Scrappy than they are Shaggy and Scooby. And yeah, many of the Scrappy shorts feel a bit thin plot-wise as it is, so having the other three characters involved would have made it much more difficult for them to write for all of those characters, and still do the characters justice.

[Deleted]

I agree with this sentiment too. Though I do have one discrepancy with it. In what Multiverse is Daphne not one of the most popular characters? I can understand Fred and Velma getting cut for a bit (Fred's duller than Steve Trevor that even Frank Welker admits it and Velma is too blunt in the long run), but Daphne's removal might have been a major ratings drop...and HB clearly knew it...which is why Daphne returned quicker...compared to Fred or Velma. Come to think of it, I wonder why 13 Ghosts didn't try to add Fred back alongside Flim Flam initially. I mean that would be a great mystery novel for Fred to write about wouldn't it?

[ShaphneLegacy27]

Yeah, removing Daphne and cutting the run time was the mistake. What should have happened was HB should have put the show on a three year hiatus than return in 1983. Scrappy would have likely had a better reception. 11 minutes was fine but 6/7 minutes was too short

[elemage]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that the format change had nothing to do with Scrappy, but rather that the writers just didn't know what to do with the Gang anymore, so they had to radically change the formula. Which, y'know, is pretty understandable. Just wish they'd decided to do pretty much anything other than "Looney Tunes, but with Scooby!"

Personally, I couldn't see Daphne, Fred or Velma participating in any of the vignettes from Richie Rich or Puppy Power Hour. Then again, if they had kept the core six and just switched up which members were in which vignette, we could've gotten some much needed development of certain friendships (like Fred and Shaggy solving a mystery together, or Velma and Scooby facing off against a monster, or Fred and Scrappy bonding over traps, etc.). Or heck, instead of the Yabba shorts, give us shorts of Fred, Daphne and Velma solving actual mysteries. (I love Yabba, but considering he hasn't shown up ever again outside of like one DC comic and one recent Scholastic "encyclopedia", he clearly is not relevant.)

The only thing I don't understand is why Velma and Fred didn't return for 13 Ghosts. Clearly HB knew Velma and Fred were important and popular enough to return in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries multiple times, so why not bring them back in the very next series that was in production? Furthermore, why not bring back any of the trio for the three movies in the 1980's? Boo Brothers was released in late 1987, meaning it was probably put into production during the era of The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries, so at the very least it should've featured Heather North as Daphne. And Frank Welker provided voices for Ghoul School and Reluctant Werewolf, so it's not like the actors weren't around.

[Deleted]

For 13 I can understand no Velma. A character like Velma is a wet blanket in that scenario...and Velma's V.A at the time (Marla Frumkin) is considered more of a Daphne voice than a Velma voice...and who needs 2 Daphne's with one being a wet blanket right?

Now the super star 10, those might have worked better if the appropriate Mystery Inc member was with Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy.
Boo Brothers would have been the ideal place for Velma.
Daphne to ghoul school (as the most iconic of the 3, the almost full 13G cast should be in that one)
Fred for RW.

[elemage]

Feb 20, 2020 22:39:33 GMT -5 @shaphnesince2002 said:

For 13 I can understand no Velma. A character like Velma is a wet blanket in that scenario...and Velma's V.A at the time (Marla Frumkin) is considered more of a Daphne voice than a Velma voice...and who needs 2 Daphne's with one being a wet blanket right?

Now the super star 10, those might have worked better if the appropriate Mystery Inc member was with Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy.
Boo Brothers would have been the ideal place for Velma.
Daphne to ghoul school (as the most iconic of the 3, the almost full 13G cast should be in that one)
Fred for RW.

I actually agree with each of the movies following one of the other three teaming up with Shaggy and the Doos, and your choices make perfect sense;

Velma would've been perfect to bounce off of Scrappy and help with solving the clues.
Daphne would've provided a much-needed feminine touch with the girls.
And Fred, with his mechanical prowess established in later series, would've been a perfect replacement for Googie as part of Shaggy's pit crew.

As for Marla, yeah she definitely sounds way more like a Daphne than a Velma. But I think they still could've used Velma well in 13 Ghosts. She could've decided to stay behind with Vincent while Fred went into the field with the others. She could've been the one to relay the lore of each ghost in Vincent's place and gotten some subplots where she bounces off of Vincent, learning about the mystic arts (though still being slightly skeptical) and becoming essentially Vincent's apprentice.