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WILD WEST C.O.W.-BOYS OF MOO MESA

WILD WEST C.O.W.-BOYS OF MOO MESA

(ABC, September 12, 1992-December 4, 1993)

Greengrass Productions, King World Productions, Gunther-Wahl Productions (season 1), Ruby-Spears Productions (season 2)

MAIN CAST:

Pat Fraley – Marshall Moo Montana
Jim Cummings – The Dakota Dude, Saddle Sore, Skull Duggery, Jack
Jeff Bennett – The Cowlorado Kid, Buffalo Bull
Michael Greer – Mayor Oscar Bulloney
Joe Piscopo – Sheriff Terrorbull/The Masked Bull
Charity James - Lily Bovine, Tewah
Kay Lenz - Cowlamity Kate Cudster
Troy Davidson - Cody “Calf-Pint” Calf
Danny Mann – Boot Hill Buzzard
Michael Horse – J.R.

           While a meteor may have killed the dinosaurs, the next one to hit Earth was a little more merciful.

The cast: Buffalo Bill, J.R., Cowlamity Kate, The Cowlorado Kid, The Dakota Dude, Calf-Pint, Marshal
Moo Montana, Miss Lily, Sheriff Terrorbull, Saddle Sore, Mayor Bulloney, Boot Hill Buzzard.

            With the powerhouse Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise in full swing, networks were hungry for their next big mutant hit resulting in a swell of similarly-themed shows. It just so happened that this particular iteration came from a member of the Ninja Turtles family. Comic book artist and writer Ryan Brown worked on Ninja Turtles comics for both Mirage Studios and Archie Comics and designed action figures for their toy line. Along the way, he conceived of Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa, the product of a strange meteor crashing in the Old West of 19^th century America creating a massive and high-rising mesa and mutating all the nearby animal lifeforms (with the unexplained exception of horses). They all became human-like with the ability to speak, and created their own society based on the American West (filling in whatever gaps they didn’t know along the way) called Moo Mesa. 

A minor representation of Cow Town used as a background for a sticker playset.

            The idea actually began as a line of action figures, which were released in 1991 by Hasbro. Brown sold the idea to ABC where it was developed into a series by Bob Carrau with ABC’s Greengrass Productions and King World Productions. Animation production was handled by Gunther-Wahl, who used the figures as the base for their character models while making some alterations here and there, and the actual animation was done by A.D. Productions. The series centered primarily on Cow Town, making full use of its Western genre themes with liberal doses of steampunk thrown in. Adding to the Western flavor was a theme song performed by country singer Billy Dean, who also wrote it with Verlon Thompson. Although fairly faithful to the renderings of the Old West, cow elements found their way into things such as names or building designs (one building in Cow Town resembled a bull’s head, complete with horns). Other bizarre buildings included one shaped like a cowboy boot, one shaped like a high-heeled pump, a pharmacy shaped like an old-fashioned pill crusher, and the Sheriff’s office which resembled a covered wagon.

The lawcows confront a pair of bank robbers.

            Maintaining law and order on the Mesa were the C.O.W.-Boys: Marshal Moo Montana (Pat Fraley), deputy The Dakota Dude (Jim Cummings) and The Cowlorado Kid (Jeff Bennett). Moo was the unwavering leader of the lawcows, who had a strong sense of duty and lived by the Code of the West (incidentally what the “C.O.W.” in the title stood for), which he seemed to make up on the fly during a given situation. Moo’s usual battle cry was “Let’s rodeo!” Dakota was a bull of few words who was superhumanly strong, able to lift giant boulders and pull a sinking riverboat out of the water by himself (of course, his strength varied by episode). Cowlorado was the youngest and rashest of the bunch. A master with a lasso, he was desperate to earn his deputy star and often tried to prove himself to Moo, which often led him into deep trouble. Their primary transportation were their horses: Cyclone, Rebel and Jezebel, respectively. That’s right—humanoid bovines riding horses.

Cowlamity Kate wrangles a desperado outside of The Tumbleweed.

            Decent citizens of Cow Town included Miss Lily Bovine (Charity James), who owned and ran the local saloon, The Tumbleweed (whose building was shaped as a beer mug). She was Moo’s primary love interest, but often found herself taking a backseat to his first love: the law. Cowlamity Kate Cudster (Kay Lenz) was a tomboy rancher who owned and ran the Golden Cud Mine. She could give Cowlorado a run for his money with a lasso and had a relationship with Dakota. Cody Calf, nicknamed “Calf-Pint” by Moo, was a young boy who lived and worked at The Tumbleweed. He idolized Moo and often tried to help the lawcows, but usually wound up in trouble. Also featured were scientific inventor Indian buffalo J.R. (Michael Horse) and blacksmith Buffalo Bull (Bennett), who occasionally helped the lawcows.

Mayor Bulloney plots with Sheriff Terrorbull.

            But, what good are lawcows without desperados to fight? Living right in their home town was the crooked Mayor Oscar Bulloney (Michael Greer). Bulloney lived up to his name and did everything he could to lie, cheat and steal from his constituents. However, whenever an outside force threatened his operations he backed the lawcows 100% in their stopping the new villains. Working with Bulloney was the equally-crooked Sheriff Terrorbull (Joe Piscopo), who doubled as the masked desperado The Masked Bull. Terrorbull’s henchmen were Saddle Sore (Cummings), a comically inept scorpion, and Boot Hill Buzzard (Danny Mann), an even more inept buzzard (as the name implied).

Ad for the show.

            Wild West C.O.W.-Boys of Moo Mesa debuted on September 12, 1992. Episode titles (and sometimes plots) were often parodies of Western movies and books using frequent cow puns. To decrease the threat of the violence on the show, the guns featured didn’t fire bullets or look real. Instead, they often fired ammunition indicative of the shooter’s theme or the gun design. For instance, Moo’s gun was a golden revolver that fired Marshal Stars, which he always used to disarm and incapacitate with trick shots. The writers for the season included Cliff Roberts, Marilyn Webber, Elana Lesser, Cliff Ruby, David Benavente, Michael J. Benevente, Jack Enyart, Francis Moss and Ted Pedersen, with Ruby and Lesser serving as story editors. The music was composed by Gordon Goodwin.

The show performed well-enough in the ratings to gain a second season. However, there was a falling out between Gunther-Wahl and ABC, which caused them to leave the project. Animation duties were handed over to Ruby-Spears Productions who managed to keep the look and feel of the show consistent, despite some minor changes in the animation style and character movements. Wang Film Productions took over as the new overseas animation facility. New writers for the season included Rich Fogel, Tony Marino, Mark Jones, Buzz Dixon and Mark Seidenberg, with Fogel and Seidenberg taking over as story editors. Lisa Goodwin and Dan Savant took over scoring duties along with Goodwin.

Moo Montana coloring book page.

            Several other changes happened within the show itself. The intro was revised to insert shots of the various villains and a few episode clips in between the remaining shots from the original intro. Terrorbull was removed as the primary threat in the season’s first episode; exiled to another town after losing a bet to Moo where he took up residency as its sheriff. Dakota also became more verbose; cracking jokes and having full conversations. Ultimately, the series didn’t return for a third season although ABC kept it on the network until the fall of 1994. Reruns of the show returned in 1998 on Toon Disney, running until 2001. To commemorate this, Kid Stuff manufactured new Moo Mesa items such as 3-inch articulated figures, plastic cups, place mats, sticker activity set and a small poster with a frame.

Character select screen from the arcade game.

            While the cartoon was in development, Brown entered into talks with Konami to produce an arcade game based on the concept. It was a run-and-gun style shoot-‘em-up built on the engine from their 1991 release, Sunset Riders. The player had to rescue Miss Lily from The Masked Bull and his cronies through several levels, which a player could select to play in any order. The player could choose from the three main lawcows and Buffalo Bull, who was added to complete the four character line-up. The lawcows used their firearms and horns in charging attacks, as well as gained power-ups by shooting chickens flying overhead. The game was released in 1992 in two and four-player versions.

The first issue of Archie Comics' Moo Mesa series.

            After the first season ended, Archie released two Moo Mesa comic series of thee issues each; the first beginning that December and the second that following March. The very first issue featured a pull-out wanted poster. Along with Hasbro’s figures, a line of story books, coloring books and VHS tapes were produced by Random House. Collegeville/Imagineering LP released vinyl Halloween costumes based on Moo and Cowlorado. Farley Candy produced Moo Mesa-themed fruit snacks, and to fight the cavities those gave kids Tsumura International Inc. produced a line of personal hygiene products including bubble bath, a shaving kit, and toothbrushes. Character watches, Moo Mesa-themed clothing, backpacks and a Moo mask were also available. Betras Plastic released a dinnerware set including a dish, bowl and glass.

Familiar bovines appear on Ninja Turtles: Fast Forward.

            In 2006, Brown returned home and rejoined Mirage’s Turtles franchise. His second debut on the second volume of Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (he was principally involved with the first volume) brought a crossover with the C.O.W.-Boys in issue #21. The C.O.W.-Boys would again appear in #s 32, 52 and 58. #32 also featured an exclusive variant cover that was made available at an event at the Wayne Center for the Arts. In August of 2006, robotic versions of the C.O.W.-Boys made an appearance on the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles episode “Home Invasion”. Renditions of Moo, Cowlorado, Dakota, Terrorbull and Boot Hill were featured, amongst several original characters. In 2008, artist Tristan Jones was slated to write a new comic mini-series with art by Fernando León González, Jr., but the series never materialized.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Bang’em High” (9/12/92) – Bulloney plans to have The Masked Bull get rid of Moo with explosives.

“A Snake in Cow’s Clothing” (9/19/92) – Moo and Dakota become suspicious of a new bull in town who drives the women crazy when Lily is robbed.

“Bulls of a Feather” (9/26/92) – Puma discovers that Terrorbull is The Masked Bull, leading Terrorbull to break his brother Horribull out of jail to protect his identity.

“School Days” (10/3/92) – Buzzard disguises himself as a schoolmarm to trick the kids into helping The Masked Bull’s latest crime.

“A Sheepful of Dollars” (10/10/92) – Cowlorado volunteers for Lily’s cattle drive, discovering he’s actually driving bad-tempered sheep.

“Thoroughly Moodern Lily” (10/17/92) – Bulloney gets Lily’s rival Sadie Wowcow to run her out of town in order to get to a secret buried under the Tumbleweed.

“Wetward, Whoa” (10/24/92) – Bulloney corners the water market when the town dries up, but Cody discovers the cause of the drought.

“Wedding Bull Blues” (10/31/92) – Kate plans to marry Dakota in order to inherit her father’s ranch before Bulloney gets his hands on it.

“Legend of Skull Duggery” (11/7/92) – Cody, Carly and Jake follow a treasure map they found in Kate’s attic.

“Stolen on the River” (11/14/92) – In order to prove himself Cowlorado goes undercover in order to catch Five Card Cud and retrieve a stolen ring.

“Dances with Bulls” (11/21/92) – Moo and Terrorbull end up in trouble when they both go after the Gila Gang.

“The Big Cow Wow” (11/28/92) – Cody and Tejua help the C.O.W.-Boys stop the Hole in the Ground Gang before they disrupt the Pueblo’s annual Cow-Wow.

“Another Fine Mesa” (12/5/92) – When everyone seems to forget Moo’s 10^th anniversary as marshal, he considers taking a sheriff job in his hometown of Miller Glen.

Season 2:

“No Face To Hide” (9/11/93) – Terrorbull challenges Moo to see who can bring down a train thief first, and the loser has to leave Cow Town forever.

“The Down Under Gang” (9/18/93) – A gang offers the use of their underground hideout for a cut of stolen goods.

“Cow Pirates of Swampy Cove” (9/25/93) – The C.O.W.-Boys head to Newportleans in order to track down Longhorn Silver and his pirate band.

“The Cacklin Kid” (10/2/93) – Lily’s uncle ends up trapped on a treasure hunt and she sets out to save him before the Cacklin Kid and his gang find him, and the treasure, first.

“Skull Duggery Rides Again” (10/9/93) – Skull Duggery comes to Cow Town and uses a rapid-aging gas on the citizenry.

“Billy the Kidder” (10/16/93) – Moo has to get Billy to jail but his gang kidnaps Cowlorado in order to get Billy back and discover the location of their stolen gold.

“How the West was Shrunk” (10/23/93) – A scientist turns a piece of found meteorite into a shrink ray.

“Circus Daze” (10/30/93) – A crooked ringmaster plans to hypnotize the town in order to steal their valuables.

“No Way to Treat a Lady” (11/6/93) – The C.O.W.-Boys find themselves up against a bandit gang comprised of women.

“Night of the Cowgoyle” (11/13/93) – The C.O.W.-Boys have to stop a hideous flying beast from terrorizing stagecoaches.

“Boom Town or Bust” (11/20/93) – When gold is found in Cow Town, Bulloney and bandits try to cash in on the following rush.

“The Fastest Filly in the West” (11/27/93) – Outlaws steal a fast horse in order to rob the Pony Express.

“The Wild Wild Pest” (12/4/93) – An airship captain kidnaps a convention of scientists in order to force them to make him a weapon that will allow him to conquer the mesa.

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2020.

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (SHORTS)

SCOOBY-DOO AND SCRAPPY-DOO (SHORTS)

(ABC, November 8, 1980-December 18, 1982)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Ruby-Spears Productions (season 3)

MAIN CAST:

Don Messick – Scooby-Doo, Scrappy-Doo, Yabba-Doo (season 3)

Casey Kasem – Norville “Shaggy” Rogers

Frank Welker – Deputy Dusty (season 3), various

For background information on Scooby-Doo, check out the post here. 

            The fifth incarnation of the franchise took a different approach. Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo aired as part of The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show hour-long programming block on ABC Saturday morning. This marked the first and only time Scooby would receive second billing in a program title. 

Following the slow downplay of the Mystery Inc. team and the mystery plots in general in Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo, the rest of the gang was eliminated and the old format dispensed of in favor of focusing exclusively on the antics of Scooby (Don Messick), Shaggy (Casey Kasem) and Scrappy (Messick, replacing Lennie Weinrib whose voice was felt didn’t fit the character) as they continued to travel around in the Mystery Machine. The episodes were made up of three 7-minute segments, as opposed to the original half-hour format. Much like the theatrical shorts of yesteryear, the gang engaged in slapstick chase adventures through various fantastic settings, such as fairy tale spoofs and even the future, and encountered legitimately mystical and supernatural beings. Gone was the mystery solving, villains in creepy costumes waiting to be unmasked, and even the Hanna-Barbera laugh-track that followed the franchise from its inception.

 

A boy and his dogs on the road.

With Shaggy now the de facto leader, his cowardice was scaled back to levels equal to how he was represented in the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (he was always chicken, but had become profoundly more exaggerated as the series went on). Scooby became the new primary source of comedy with his cowardly reaction to situations. Scrappy also matured some as a character, shedding the naiveté he was depicted with in the prior show to be more knowledgeable of his actions. He was made more competent and able to tackle most of the threats they faced, backing up his claims of “Puppy Power!” However, Scrappy was usually pulled away from a conflict by the others before being able to prove that fact (can’t have imitable violence on a kid’s show, after all!). 

Scrappy up for a fight.

Beginning late on November 8, 1980 following a voice actor’s strike, the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo segments were interspersed with Richie Rich segments between them. The intro combined elements from Richie’s theme and a variation of The New Scooby-Doo Movies theme. The block’s intro was the only time the two franchises crossed over, with the gang seen around Richie’s mansion and even on his television. The series was written by Haskell Barking, Doug Booth, Larz Bourne, Dick Conway, Tom Dagenais, Tony DiMarco, Diane Duane, Mark Evanier, Willie Gilbert, Dave Ketchum, Glenn Leopold, Norman Maurer, Duane Poole, Dick Robbins, Dalton Sandifer, Tom Swale and David Villaire, with Poole, Swale and Ray Parker serving as story editors. The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin and Paul DeKorte.

 

For the third season, the show was moved to a new programming block known as The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour. This was a joint venture between Hanna-Barbera and Ruby-Spears Productions, who had created and produced The Puppy’s New Adventures that shared the block. Ruby-Spears was started by former Hanna-Barbera employees and Scooby-Doo creators Joe Ruby and Ken Spears, and had been taken over by Hanna-Barbera’s parent company, Taft Broadcasting. Although Hanna-Barbera continued the pre-production and voice-over work on their series, Ruby-Spears handled the actual production for the entire program. As a result, some sound effects unique to Ruby-Spears found their way into the Scooby segments. Sandifer was joined by Paul Haggis, Gordon Kent, Elana Lesser, Cliff Ruby, Ron Sellz and Matt Uitz on writing duties.

The Fearless Detective Agency.

Two of the Scooby segments in each episode returned to the mystery format with Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy now working for Shaggy’s Uncle Fearless Shagaford’s detective agency. Fearless basically resembled an older version of Shaggy with a goatee. However, their occupation was intercut with typical teen adventures rather than being the strict focus. Scrappy’s presence was noticeably toned down in those segments, with a greater focus placed on Shaggy and Scooby. Fearless was only seen in “Disappearing Car Caper,” being otherwise a muffled voice on the phone that generally seemed angry at Shaggy and the dogs. Three of the segments, “Maltese Mackerel,” “Stakeout at the Takeout,” and “Beauty Contest Caper” made significant use of the retired original 1969 score. 

Deputy Dusty, Yabba-Doo and Scrappy fight crime in the West.

The third segment of each episode featured Scrappy teaming-up with a new Doo relative: Yabba-Doo (Messick). Yabba is the Scooby equivalent to Quick Draw McGraw who protected Tumbleweed County along with his owner, Deputy Dusty (Frank Welker).

The 50th Anniversary edition of the DVD.

When broadcast individually, the Scooby segments featured a modified version of The Scooby & Scrappy-Doo intro maintaining Weinrib’s Scrappy voice in his introduction but substituting the ending with the rest of the gang for an episode clip. The segments were later repackaged and broadcast from 1984-85 as Scary Scooby Funnies, whose intro utilized some of the footage from the Richie Rich block opening, and as part of Scooby’s Mystery Funhouse from 1985-86. In 2008, the first seven episodes, including the Richie Rich segments, were released on The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show: The Complete Series vol. 1 by Warner Home Video, later re-released as part of the Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection in 2017 and for Scooby’s 50^th anniversary in 2019. From 2012-2014, 21 different segments were released on the various 13 Spooky Tales compilation DVDs and as bonus content on Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon. The entire series was also made available for streaming through Amazon Prime and on YouTube by Warner Bros.

 

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“A Close Encounter With a Strange Kind / A Fit Night Out For Bats / The Chinese Food Factory” (11/8/80) – The gang is captured by aliens who want to study Earthlings. / A flat tire forces the gang to stay at a vampire-infested mansion. / The gang stumbles across a burglar while serving as factory watchmen.

“Scooby’s Desert Dilemma / The Old Cat and Mouse Game / Stowaways” (11/15/80) – An evil Arabian magician wants to practice on the gang. / The gang encounters a Cat Man and his evil felines in the Tibetan mountains. / The gang accidentally stowaway on a ship and have to avoid an angry first mate.

“Mummy’s the Word / Hang in There, Scooby / Stuntman Scooby” (11/22/80) – The gang encounters a mummy in the Sahara Desert. / Hang gliding sends the gang into trouble. / The gang ends up mistaken for movie stuntmen.

“Scooby’s Three Ding-A-Ling Circus / Scooby’s Fantastic Island / Long John Scrappy” (11/29/80) – The gang take a job at a circus. / A fishing trip leads to an island full of prehistoric creatures. / Scooby and Shaggy have to rescue Scrappy from a pirate.

“Scooby’s Bull Fright / Scooby Ghosts West / A Bungle in the Jungle” (12/6/80) – The gang take a turn at bullfighting. / The gang visit a ghost town with actual ghosts. / A butterfly hunt leads to danger in the jungle.

“Scooby’s Fun Zone / Swamp Witch / Sir Scooby and the Black Knight” (12/13/80) – Scrappy gets Scooby into a competition with a carnival strong man. / The gang ends up on the menu for a swamp witch. / Scooby meets a black knight in Scotland.

“Waxworld / Scooby in Wonderland / Scrappy’s Birthday” (12/20/80) – A wax museum’s owner wants to add the gang to his collection. / Scooby dreams he and Shaggy chase white rabbit Scrappy through Wonderland. / Scrappy’s birthday leads to revelations about his past.

“South Seas Scare / Scooby’s Swiss Miss / Alaskan King Coward” (12/27/80) – A fire god terrorizes the gang in Hawaii. / Scooby falls in love with a poodle and saves her from a bear. / The gang hunts for gold and end up finding an ice monster instead.

“Et Tu, Scoob? / Soggy Bog Scooby / Scooby Gumbo” (1/3/81) – A visit to the Colosseum yields lions and warriors. / A swamp monster interrupts the gang’s fishing trip. / A dog-hating cook chases the gang through Mardi Gras.

“Way Out Scooby / Strongman Scooby / Moonlight Madness” (1/10/81) – The gang visits Mars. / The gang decides to get in shape and joins a gym. / A visit to Shaggy’s ancestral home reveals he has the curse of a werewolf.

“Dog Tag Scooby / Scooby at the Center of the World / Scooby’s Trip to Ahz” (1/17/81) – The gang visits a military base and accidentally gets enlisted. / A visit to Carlsbad Caverns brings out monsters and other trouble. / Scooby dreams that he’s in Oz.

“A Fright at the Opera / Robot Ranch / Surprised Spies” (1/24/81) – The gang meets the Phantom of the Opera. / The master of a robot ranch wants to turn the gang into robots. / The FBI enlists the gang’s help on a case.

“The Invasion of the Scooby Snatchers / Scooby Dooby Guru / Scooby and the Bandit” (1/31/81) – Aliens clone the gang to kidnap a local TV station. / A guard and his tiger give chase to the gang at the Taj Mahal. / The gang ends up getting in trouble with a group of tough truckers.

Season 2:

“Scooby Nocchio / Lighthouse Keeper Scooby / Scooby’s Roots” (9/19/81) – Scooby dreams he’s in the world of Pinocchio. / The gang waits out a storm in a haunted lighthouse. / The gang investigates the haunting of Scooby’s family at their mansion.

“Scooby’s Escape from Atlantis / Excalibur Scooby / Scooby Saves the World” (9/26/81) – Scooby must save the others from a Centaur in Atlantis. / Scooby pulls out Excalibur and becomes England’s ruler. / The gang stops an alien invasion of Earth.

“Scooby Dooby Goo / Rickshaw Scooby / Scooby’s Luck of the Irish” (10/3/81) – Scrappy has to babysit when a steam bath turns Shaggy and Scooby into babies. / The gang encounters a dragon in China. / A leprechaun tortures the gang with the promise of a pot of gold.

“Backstage Scooby / Scooby’s House of Mystery / Sweet Dreams Scooby” (10/10/81) – The gang has to take over the show when Marvo the Magician disappears. / A witch needs one ingredient for her potion: dog tails. / Locked in a museum, the gang fantasizes about participating in historical events.

“Scooby-Doo 2000 / Punk Rock Scooby / Canine to Five” (10/17/81) – The gang travels to the future. / A Scrappy-looking alien tries to destroy Shaggy and Scooby whom he believes kidnapped Scrappy from his planet. / The gang takes a job with a doctor who is a werewolf.

“Hard Hat Scooby / Hothouse Scooby / Pigskin Scooby” (10/24/81) – The gang works on a vampire’s building. / The gang must flee from man-eating vegetables. / Scooby and Shaggy are in a football game playing against real monsters.

“Sopwith Scooby / Tenderbigfoot / Scooby and the Beanstalk” (10/31/81) – The gang competes against an evil Baron in an air show. / The gang meets Bigfoot. / The gang encounters a giant at the top of a beanstalk.

Season 3:

“Maltese Mackarel / Dumb Waiter Caper / Yabba Rustle Hustle” (9/25/82) – The gang has to deliver a Maltese Mackarel to a ship’s captain. / The gang tries to clear Bugsy Burton of a diamond theft. / Scrappy heads West to help Yabba-Doo and Deputy Dusty.

“Catfish Burglar Caper / Movie Monster Menace / Mine Your Own Business” (10/2/82) – The gang helps a Yacht Club solve a string of robberies. / A movie director turns his actors into real monsters. / Yabba fights with two brothers over a gold mine.

“Super Teen Shaggy / Basketball Bumblers / Tragic Magic” (10/9/82) – Shaggy thinks he’s a superhero. / The gang plays basketball against a cheating team. / A magic show serves as a diversion for a pair of bank robbers.

“Beauty Contest Caper / Stake-Out at the Take-Out / Runaway Scrappy” (10/16/82) – The gang must find missing beauty contest contestants. / The gang must find Fearless’ insurance company’s gold. / Scrappy runs away, believing Yabba and Dusty no longer care about him.

“Who’s Scooby-Doo? / Double Trouble Date / Slipper Dan the Escape Man” (10/23/82) – A machine switches Scooby and Shaggy’s bodies before it ends up stolen. / Shaggy accidentally makes two dates for the same night. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty track down an escape artist.

“Cable Car Caper / Muscle Trouble / Low-Down Showdown” (10/30/82) – Two stolen cable cars are used in a bank robbery. / The gang enters a dangerous sailboat race against Muscles Malone. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty pursue an escaped criminal.

“Comic Book Caper / Misfortune Teller / Vild Vest Vampire” (11/6/82) – The gang stops the theft of a rare comic book. / Scooby gives a bully some bad advice. / Count Zarko tries to turn the town into zombies.

“A Gem of a Case / From Bad to Curse / Tumbleweed Derby” (11/13/82) – Fingers Malone steals some jewels. / A gypsy queen hires the gang to retrieve her stolen amulet. / Dusty enters the crooked derby.

“Disappearing Car Caper / Scooby-Doo and Genie-Poo / Law & Disorder” (11/20/82) – The gang tries to stop a car thief who shrinks the cars to steal them. / Genie Jasmine and her dog Genie-Poo invite Scooby to Arabia. / Dusty is framed for a crime.

“Close Encounters of the Worst Kind / Captain Canine Caper / Alien Schmalien” (11/27/82) – The gang are part of an alien scavenger hunt. / The gang protects Captain Canine from a dogcatcher. / An alien is kidnapped and put into a circus the he must be rescued from.

“The Incredible Cat Lady Caper / Picnic Poopers / Go East Young Pardner” (12/4/82) – The gang is hired to stop a female cat burglar. / A bully and his dog ruin the gang’s picnic. / Yabba, Dusty and Scrappy go to New York for training.

“One Million Years Before Lunch / Where’s the Werewofl / Up a Crazy River” (12/11/82) – A time warp sends the gang into prehistoric times. / Scooby drinks a potion that turns him into a werewolf. / The town must be protected from pirates.

“Hoedown Showdown / Snow Job Too Small / Bride and Gloom” (12/18/82) – The gang ends up caught in a feud between Scooby’s family and the McGlurks. / The gang encounters an Abominable Snowman. / Yabba, Scrappy and Dusty must find a bride for Horrible Homer to save the town.

Originally posted in 2015. Updated in 2020.