Since 1969, kids and adults haven’t been able to get enough of the beloved crime-solving dog Scooby-Doo. IP holder Warner Bros. Television just struck a deal with Netflix and Greg Berlanti for a highly sought-after live-action reimagining.
“Scooby-Doo! The Live-Action Series” is written by Josh Appelbaum (“Wonder Park”) and Scott Rosenberg (“Jumanji: The Next Level”), based on characters created by Hanna-Barbera. It will be produced by Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman for Berlanti Productions. Along with writers Appelbaum and Rosenberg, with André Nemec and Jeff Pinkner for Midnight Radio. Executive producers include Berlanti Productions’ Jonathan Gabay and Midnight Radio’s Adrienne Erickson.
This deal comes right on the heels of last week’s premier Berlanti Productions’ “Dead Boy Detectives.” Which hit Netflix’s Top 10 U.S. series list within 24 hours and was in the Top 3 all weekend. The company is also behind the streamer’s hits “You” and “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.”
The Franchise
While plot details are still under wraps for this new series, odds are it will stick with the franchise’s tried-and-true formula. Typically the stories follow teens Fred Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, Shaggy Rogers, and their talking dog Scooby-Doo. The crew travels in a van called the Mystery Machine solving supernatural mysteries.
“Scooby-Doo!” is one of those rare franchises that never lay dormant for very long. It premiered on CBS in 1969 and ran until 1976. At that point, it moved to ABC where it aired until 1986. After a two-year break the spinoff “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo!” aired from 1988 until 1991, cuing its longest hiatus. Then, Kids’ WB and its successor The CW created two reboots that premiered in 2002 and ran until 2008.
In 2010, Cartoon Network got in on the action and aired reboots until 2018. Then Boomerang premiered its original animated series “Scooby-Doo! and Guess Who?” on its streaming service in 2019, later moving to Max. Recently, Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) created the spinoff “Velma” which just wrapped its second season on Max.
In terms of the big screen, there have also been a few entries to the franchise. In 2002, Raja Gosnell directed a live-action adaptation from a script by James Gunn. It starred Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, and Linda Cardellini and spawned a 2004 sequel. In 2020, the animated feature film, “Scoob!,” released during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ll keep you posted on updates about Netflix’s “Scooby-Doo! The Live-Action Series” as they become available.
