Ranking the classic seasons of Scooby Doo

[matt]

Here are what I consider to be the "classic" seasons of Scooby Doo: Both seasons of Where Are You, both of New Movies, All 3 of Scooby Doo Show, and the first season of Scrappy Doo. I'd love to see what other people's favorites are, but now let's get into my rankings

8. New Scooby Doo Movies season 2: Small sample size and doesn't really contain the very best of the show in my opinion, but there are several gems here
Strongest episodes: Haunted Showboat, Mystery on Haunted Island, The Haunted Carnival
Weakest episodes: Mystery in Persia, The Exterminator I guess

7. Scooby Doo Show season 3: Escapes last place due to having a lot of episodes, but there are a lot of uninspiring efforts here in my opinion
Strongest episodes: A Menace in Venice, Diabolical Disc Demon, Creepy Case of Old Iron Face
Weakest episodes: Watch Out, the Willawaw, Jeepers It's the Jaguaro, Creepy Tangle in the Bermuda Triangle (unfortunately, I wanted to love it but I feel like it was missing something)

6. Scooby Doo and Scrappy Doo season 1: Very good season of Scooby Doo here. Scrappy might be irritating to some, but the mysteries here are really solid, and I can easily look past it
Strongest episodes: Shiver and Shake, that Demon's a Snake, The Scarab Lives, The Night Ghoul of Wonderworld
Weakest episodes: Hairy Scare of the Devil Bear, but more importantly, RANSOM OF SCOOBY CHIEF

5. Scooby Doo Where are You season 2: Contentiously low here, but the other ones are just even stronger than this season, which is still VERY good
Strongest episodes: Haunted House Hang Up, Nowhere to Hyde, Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Werewolf
Weakest episodes: Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright, Mystery Mask Mix Up

4. New Scooby Doo Movies season 1: The best 5 or 6 of this one can go up against any other season, but there are a few duds (maybe that's a strong word) in the pack
Strongest episodes: Lochness Mess, Dynamic Scooby Doo Affair, Ghost of Bigfoot
Weakest episodes: Ghost of the Red Baron, A Good Medium is Rare

3. Scooby Doo Show season 1: Exceptional season of Scooby Doo here. Not much else to say
Strongest episodes: High Rise Hair Raiser, Ghost of the Bad Humor Man, Headless Horseman of Halloween
Weakest episodes: Ghost That Sacked the Quarterback, Scooby Doo Where's the Crew

2. Scooby Doo Show season 2: The top two was the hardest choice by far, but this one being shorter was what gave the other season the edge, but this is the most consistently excellent season in Scooby Doo history bar none
Strongest episodes: Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats, Creepy Cruise, Chiller Diller Movie Thriller
Weakest episodes: Gee I don't know, I guess the Ozark Witch Switch

1. Scooby Doo Where Are You season 1: Of course, this is probably what everyone expected, but it was a close call. But almost every episode is a stone cold classic (actually, an argument can be made for every episode in this season)
Strongest episodes: What the Hex Going On, The Backstage Rage, A Night of Fright is no Delight, but I could go on and on
Weakest episodes: Foul Play in Funland, and this is a hard one but maybe Decoy for a Dognapper

[Doo]

Feb 19, 2021 18:34:30 GMT -5 matt said:

2. Scooby Doo Show season 2: The top two was the hardest choice by far, but this one being shorter was what gave the other season the edge, but this is the most consistently excellent season in Scooby Doo history bar none
Strongest episodes: Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats, Creepy Cruise, Chiller Diller Movie Thriller
Weakest episodes: Gee I don't know, I guess the Ozark Witch Switch

I'm a little surprised not to see The Creepy Heap from the Deep among the strongest episodes!

[matt]

Feb 20, 2021 11:52:36 GMT -5 Doo said:

Feb 19, 2021 18:34:30 GMT -5 matt said:

2. Scooby Doo Show season 2: The top two was the hardest choice by far, but this one being shorter was what gave the other season the edge, but this is the most consistently excellent season in Scooby Doo history bar none
Strongest episodes: Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats, Creepy Cruise, Chiller Diller Movie Thriller
Weakest episodes: Gee I don't know, I guess the Ozark Witch Switch

I'm a little surprised not to see The Creepy Heap from the Deep among the strongest episodes!

Honestly it was really close. All I knew for sure that Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats was my favorite for sure and Ozark Witch Switch isn't quite as high on my list as the rest (it's still REALLY good though because of that dark atmosphere), but the rest of them are all right there together as all time greats. I went with Creepy Cruise as my second because I absolutely love the crime in the episode because it is very well thought out and Chiller Diller mainly because I absolutely LOVE the train setting and Boothville is really, really good as well, but the those two spots really could've been any combination of the rest. I actually had Hang in There penciled in before I changed it to Chiller Diller!

[Doo]

8. Scooby and Scrappy-Doo (season 1) - I like some of the mysteries here and think they were enjoyable enough, but I was annoyed by Lennie Weinrib's Scrappy a bit. Not to the point of not wanting to watch it, but it brought it down since there are a lot of other great seasons here.
Strongest episodes: The Scary Sky Skeleton, I Left My Neck in San Francisco, The Ghoul the Bat and the Ugly
Weakest episodes: The Ransom of Scooby Chief

7. The New Scooby Doo Movies season 2: I hate ranking this so low, but the season was pretty hit or miss. How short it was certainly didn't help it.
Strongest episodes: Mystery on Haunted Island, Spirit Spooked Sports Show, The Exterminator
Weakest episodes: Mystery in Persia, Haunted Candy Factory

6. Scooby Doo Show season 3: These are so much harder to rank than I would have expected haha. A solid season and I really like the globetrotting aspect, but there were kinda too many Shaggy/Scooby antics sometimes to the point of detracting from the mystery
Strongest episodes: To Switch a Witch, Who Was That Cat Creature I Saw with You Last Night?, A Menace in Venice
Weakest episodes: Beast Is Awake in Bottomless Lake, Jeepers It's the Jaguaro, Creepy Tangle in the Bermuda Triangle

5. Scooby Doo Where are You season 2: Amazing season, and it's hard to rank them, but it suffered from the same thing that The New Scooby-Doo Movies did, where it wasn't very large and there were a few weak episodes.
Strongest episodes: Nowhere to Hyde, Haunted House Hang Up, Don't Fool with a Phantom
Weakest episodes: Scooby's Night with a Frozen Fright, A Tiki Scare Is No Fair

4. Scooby Doo Show season 1: Like Matt I also don't have much to say here. It's an incredible season.
Strongest episodes: High Rise Hair Raiser, Scared a Lot in Camelot, The Harum Scarum Sanitarium
Weakest episodes: The Ghost That Sacked the Quarterback (I guess, but it's not bad)

3. Scooby Doo Where Are You season 1: Here's where it gets really tough. I love almost every episode in this season but the other two just stand out a little more
Strongest episodes: A Clue for Scooby-Doo, What the Hex Going On, A Night of Fright is No Delight
Weakest episodes: Decoy for a Dognapper, Foul Play in Funland

2. New Scooby Doo Movies season 1: A few duds but overall a solid season that I have so much nostalgia over.
Strongest episodes: Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner, Ghost of Bigfoot, Lochness Mess
Weakest episodes: A Good Medium is Rare, Ghost of the Red Baron

1. Scooby Doo Show season 2: The amazing dark tone of this tone of this whole season can't be compared to any other season. It's incredible and I'd love to see a return to it someday. It's a shame this had to be the shortest season. There were honestly no weak episodes in this set which is why I picked it for my top choice.
Strongest episodes: Vampire Bats and Scaredy Cats, Creepy Heap from the Deep, Chiller Diller Movie Thriller
Weakest episodes: None