Trivia

The show was originally created to expand upon the success of The Archie Show. Scooby Doo writer Mark Evanier has stated that the teenagers were based on characters from another CBS show, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis. Fred was Dobie Gillis, Daphne was Thalia Menninger, Velma was Zelda Gilroy, and Shaggy was Maynard G. Krebs (even having similar goatee beards and hairstyles). Other influences were the 1940s radio drama, "I Love a Mystery" and Enid Blyton's Famous Five books.

A number of rumors about "hidden jokes" and "subliminal messages" surround this series: - "Freddy and Daphne go off and have sex when the gang splits up to look for clues. This is why we hardly ever see them actually looking for any clues; we always see Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma by themselves." Actually, the reason we never see Freddy or Daphne when the gang splits-up is because creators/writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears found writing for Fred and Daphne (the "straight" characters, in contrast to the more comedic other three characters) boring. Therefore, they would always find an excuse to split the gang up, so that they could focus on writing gags for Shaggy, Scooby, and Velma (who in later episodes found herself "splitting-up" with Fred and Daphne, so that the writers could devote even more screen time to Shaggy and Scooby). - "Velma is a lesbian; she has a crush on Daphne." Just because Velma's boyfriend is not a member of the gang like Daphne's is does not make her a lesbian. Neither does her being paired with Daphne when Freddy goes off on his own to find clues. The writers actually seem to imply in a number of episodes that Velma and Shaggy are seeing each other (they are often paired together at dances and such in the series). - "Shaggy is a pothead/ drug addict. That's why he has the munchies and he always sees the ghosts (hallucinations) before the others." and its variant, "Scooby Snacks contain drugs." The first one may be the only rumor on this list with some truth to it. Shaggy is a "beatnik/hippie"-type character, and beatniks and hippies were known for their "free-thinking" ways, which often included the uses of drugs such as marijuana, LSD, etc. However, not all beatniks and hippies used drugs, and it is very possible, considering this is a Saturday morning television show, that Shaggy was one of those beatniks/hippies that didn't. The second one is completely false: Scooby Snacks are nothing more than regular doggie treats (it's not much of a stretch to imagine a guy who'd eat chocolate-covered hot dogs, chocolate-covered corn-on-the-cob, and "liverwurst ala mode" eating doggie treats if you really think about it).

During production of the second season (1970-1971), Casey Kasem became a strict vegetarian, and wanted his character Shaggy to follow suit. Kasem was promised by Hanna-Barbera that his character would become vegetarian from that point on. H-B actually kept their end of the bargain for the 1970-1971 season of the show (as long as one assumes that, in episode 2.5 "Haunted House Hang-Up," Shaggy's bologna slice is *vegetarian* bologna and that the pizza he eats in the final scene is vegetarian-safe pizza). In subsequent spin-off series, however, Shaggy is routinely seen snacking on non-vegetarian foods. Kasem put his foot down over this issue in 1995, after he was required to perform Shaggy's voice for a commercial advertising (decidedly non-vegetarian) Burger King Kids Club meals. Kasem refused to perform the voice after that, and did not return to the role until _"What's New Scooby-Doo" (2002)_ with the requirement that (of course) Shaggy be a strict vegetarian in that series, which he is. For the record, Shag's also a vegetarian in the live-action Scooby-Doo.

Under the title of "W-Who's S-S-Scared?", this series was originally rejected by CBS executives, who thought the presentation artwork was too frightening for children and that the show must be the same. CBS Executive Fred Silverman was listening to Frank Sinatra's "Strangers In The Night" (with the scatted lyric "Scooby-dooby-doo") on the flight to that ill-fated meeting. After the show was originally rejected, a number of changes were made: the Hanna-Barbera staff decided that the dog should be the star of the series (instead of the four kids) and renamed him Scooby-Doo (after that Sinatra lyric), the spooky aspects of the show were toned down slightly, and the comedy aspects tuned up. The show was re-presented, accepted, and presented as the centerpiece for CBS's 1969-1970 Saturday Morning season.

The original names for the characters during the show's development, when it was known as "Mystery Five" or "Mysteries Five," and later "W-Who's S-S-Scared?"

• Freddy: "Geoff", later "Ronnie" (Freddy was actually identified as Ronnie on the final storyboards for the first few episodes of the series)
• Daphne: "Kelly"
• Velma: "Linda"
• Shaggy:"W.W."
• Scooby-Doo: "Too Much" (as in: "That's just too much!" a popular catchphrase of the time)

David Mook performed the "Scooby-Doo Where Are You!" theme for the first season episodes, while Danny Janssen performs it for the second season episodes. Janssen also co-wrote and performed all the "chase songs" present in the second season episodes.

The character name of Scooby was taken from an earlier Hanna-Barbera show, Moby Dick and the Mighty Mightor, which featured Scooby the Seal. Both Scooby-Doo and Scooby the Seal had the same voice, provided by Don Messick.

Shaggy's real name is Norville.