Top 10 Things Mystery Incorporated Did Wrong

Top 10 Things Mystery Incorporated Did Wrong

Scooby Doo has been through alot in the Warner Bros. era huh?! Sure the previous one What's New Scooby Doo tries to revamp the show, but didn't hit new ground and sadly didn't grab the adult crowd like Scooby Doo On Zombie Island did around the late 90s. So around the 2010s, Warner Bros. attempted to make a Scooby Doo series more "adult" with Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated. While some people claim it's the best Scooby Doo ever in the franchise (though most of them were not Scooby Doo fans in the first place), some say it was the worst reboot in the franchise.

While I'll admit the attempt to make it more adult seemed like a good idea on paper. Honestly, the idea did look good on paper. But many people, especially the fans won't admit the the problems in the show are very BIG problems and sadly is the reason why the idea fell flat. Don't believe me ask Joe Ruby and Ken Spears as well as the writers and the forigen voice actors anyone who were involved with the show and they will tell you that it didn't live up to their expectations.

This is why I'm hear to explain the top 10 problem Mystery Incorporated got wrong. Here's I'll talk about the problems and compare it to the other shows in the Scooby franchise to see what the show tried to do but fail miserably.

10.) Depending Too Hard on Dark, Gritty Atmoshpere

One of problems many forms of media do nowadys is that if they want to be more adult, they rely on making thier materal darker and gritty. Needless to say, making things darker and grittier doesn't make anything better. Hell, some people make the arguement that making something darker and edgier doesn't make it better.

In Mystery Incorporated, while I appreciate the show for going darker and grittier to compete with "adut" shows like Lost and Game Of Thrones. It still doesn't seem to fit the tone the shw is going for. The need to be darker and grittier was absurdly too much for a show like Scooby Doo.

One of the more well balanced examples of this was Scooby Doo On Zombie Island which had a darker and gritty feel to it, but it's strengths came from that it was the most adult incarnation of the series. The characters and world was more realistic than many of the incarnations. In that show the deaths some of the minor characters felt more justified and resonable. There, it was a good reason to make the movie more adult.

While Mystery Incorporated felt like the need to throw in character deaths as an excuse to be darker and edgier. The deaths of many of the characters (such as Hot Dog Water and Mr. E's assisstant) felt extermely pointless and not nessessary to the plot. And because this world they created relied on being

9.) The Enviroment Was Too Crude

As you know I never liked crude enviroments. (You can call them Crapasack Worlds) Especially if the characters are behaving crude with out a reason. One of the problems with many shows nowadays is that they like to use that mean spirited world as an excuse to make the world more realistic without giving it any dimension. Shows like The Simpsons, South Park and of course Family Guy have used this and many times . Needless to say, it really hasn't aged well and this example of cruelity can really backfire, if not done well.

In Mystery Incorporated, the world they created seems very crude and unpleasant to watch. I wouldn't mind if the world tried to be a parody (similar to A Pup Named Scooby Doo did with the franchise), but because MI is a show that wants to take itself seriously most of the time, it feels out of place when the world tries to be crude without any reason for it.

8.) Putting In Too Many Cameos and Mythology Gags

A mistake most crowd pleasers often get is the huge amount of fanservice to please the audience. Shows like Family Guy rely on this because it feels familar to the audience and therefore adding refrences gives the audience a nostalgic view of the past. Shows like Ninja Turtles (2012) use this to appeal to the fans of the orginal who would threaten the staff with torches and pitchforks in case they don't. Hell, even the Star Wars prequels were extremely guilty of this, throwing too many cameoes to please the audience. Mystery Incorporated's numerous mythology gags and pop culture refrences seem a little too forced.

I'll be honest, while pop culture gags are no stranger to media nowadays (Aladdin). I'll be the one to say this: References are similar to product placement. The proper way to use it is how well can it work for the show or how can you be blantant, but funny with it. (Though Mystery Incorporated problem was it was making jokes while trying being serious.)

References like the Taylor Lautner Twilight refernce might have seemed funny for it's time, but after a while it feels definatly dated now. Hell, a potshot of Twilight seems pretty dumb considering the show that wants to take itself seriously. The refrences and cameos don't make as much sense either, characters like Dynomutt in the "Heart Of Evil" and the other incarnations in "The Mystery State Club Finals" felt like a nice touch, but seemed pointless to the rest of the story. But the bigget mistake of all was spending the first five minutes of one episode making fun of Scrappy Doo and Film Flam by having them show in the museum. This little jab at this franchises biggest mistake seemed pointless and not nessesscary to the show's tone.

7.) Too Many Details and Plotholes In The Story And Premise

Nowadays shows try to go the more complicated route in order to sound more adult. The story as well as the premise is what many fans of MI see as the crowning jewel of the franchise and many fans see this as excellent and praise it as the "Best Scooby Doo Ever." The reality is that while the show tries to use the phrases "this is bigger than you or me", or "things will never be the same" to enthuse people. The premise and story seems very shallow and absurdly stupid, so much that in the long run it becomes too complicated and hard to follow. Honestly, if you told me the whole story from Mystery Incorporated from the very first episode to the final episode. I really couldn't tell you.

It starts simple with the gang finding a locket that belonged to one of the members of the previous gang. But then it's revealed that they're alive and one of them is helping the gang, while another one is in hiding, another one is pursuiting them and the two are Fred's parents wereas Fred was kidnapped by the corrupt mayor. And every one of them is after this sort of disc pieces that reveal a treasure. But it turns out Fred's real parents are corrupted as well by this curse that is somewhat the whole town has been cursed and the only ones to stop it is Scooby because Scooby comes from a long line of chosen ones and they must get these special artifacts. OMG!! This is just too much!!

That's the ultimate problem with the story. I feel like there's too many loopholes everywhere and they need to find a new loophole to get around something. One of the charms of the other Scooby Doo incarnations is that true they're silly in the long run. They were also very flowing, they knew exactly how much to give to the characters and exactly how much to give to the details of the mystery. This show has way too many details going on here.

Not to mention the whole idea that the crimes Scooby and the gang solves is completly pointless here. The entire plot is Scooby and the gang solve mysteries (like any other Scooby incarnation). The entire problem of this is that none of the mysteries have little to no involvement with this overarching story the show is trying to force. And yes, the second season the episodic mysteries merged a bit with the overarching story, but the reason why this overarcing story does not work is because it has too many plotholes and the episodes feel like a chore to get through. The people who are the bad guys are almost always used for a cheap gag and is never shown up again nor do thier motives don't matter at all they're problems are never seen again.

The problem is that everything in this show is so hard to follow and doesn't hold up well. It also goes without saying that this plot is super absurd when you get to the whole reality of it. And for a show that's trying to take itself seriously (Yeah, I know I've been stating this over and over, but it's really the major problem here), it really doesn't fit.

Shows like Gravity Falls has this overarcing plot, but the world and characters they created is likable you hardly don't notice. As I watched the recent Be Cool Scooby Doo I've noticed how simple the story (or mystery, if you prefer) is, but you spend so much time having fun with the characters and how wacky it is, you really don't notice the information until the end.

6.) Characters Arcs Absent And Even More Exaggerated

Now a bad plot and premise can't be all that bad as long as they have good characters to follow right. Well, even Mystery Incorporated got that wrong. None of the characters have any decent arcs or character development. How do I know this? Let's start off with our main characters:

Fred is obsessed with ascots and traps. Daphne is just a Fred obsessed fangirl who pines for Fred and nobody else. Velma is obessed with Shaggy (see a problem with the girls, here) and just as worst as the other characters because he rejects her, Shaggy and Scooby eat alot and that's just about it.

But here's the million dollar question: What else do weknow about these main characters?!

Nothing! Nothing at all because their characters are hardly explored. all we know is that they come from families that I guess reject them mainly because they hate they're kids, I guess. Shaggy's family hates him, Daphne's family hates her because she's not as successful as her sisters. The show doesn't even reveal anything new about the characters. Why does Velma like Shaggy anyway, she goes on about him but we learn nothing. Daphne's parents obvious dislike toward Fred isn't explored either. When you get down to it, why the hell are these characters together. Sure, they try to add this stupid excuse in the plot saying that "this has all happened before." Honestly, this is a pretty lame excuse for the reason these characters have been acting like jerks toward other characters and each other.

The other Scooby Doo incarnations didn't really need to spell that out because we already knew thier friendship with each other just by looking at how they acted together. It's one the finest moments of "show, don't tell" ever made and the other incarnations are better for it.

Yeah, all that talk and I didn't even talk about the other characters. The mayor (Fred's kidnapper) is just as dumb and stupid. They try to give him a redeem moments in season 2, but seriously how the hell can you go from kidnapping a baby and redeeming him. We get a new mayor in season 2, which to her credit seemed like a pretty good character at first. But then she gets botched for some sort of forced relationship with Sherieff Stone. And Sheriff Stone is by far the worst character in the show's run.

5.) The Need To Be Self Aware

Let's be honest, ever since A Pup Named Scooby Doo. (My favorite incarnation by the way.) The future Scooby incarnations seem to have this thing of tearing down every cliche in the shows run. While A Pup Named Scooby Doo did this okay, many of the future incarnations seem to follow the trend.

The problem is pretty much loud and clear in MI. Every cliches in the franchises run has been torn apart in order to make the franchises run to make an obvious joke possible. Fred is stupid, Daphne is stuck up, Velma is the know it all nerd that always has to be right and Shaggy and Scooby eat alot and goof around. Not to mention the whole idea of some person running around dressed like a monster in order to scare people off for some reason is been made fun of to the brim. The problem is that not only does MI use that as an excuse for everything, but also the fans of the show use it as well by saying "it keeps things interesting."

Let's face it, Scooby Doo, heck, every form of media, (From books, to movies, cartoons and video games) has always been about nonsense. The goal of lampshading in a show that's trying to take it's material seriously is to make fun of the jokes and cliches that don't work for the show and harm the seriousness of the story. That way you can take out the cliches that many fans are sick of. Beleive me, I know there's a serious Scooby story you can make, but you have to make fun of it because it would work.

A good example of this again, Scooby Doo On Zombie Island. The scene where the owner of the house refuses to let Scooby eat at the dinner table is funny because it's pointing out that the cliche doesn't work for the movie and the darker tone the show is going for. The goal is making fun of the cliche because it gets in the way of our story and it doesn't work for the tone of the movie.

MI tries to point out the obvious like the reason the Mayor and the Sherieff doesn't want to investigate nor let the gang investigate because they see the monster as a tourist attraction is another one of the show's lame excuses. I can see the joke. Because it explains why don't the authority figures solve it before Scooby and the gang does, but it's pointless anyways because it clashes with this dark and serious story you're going for.

The same goes with the characters you're trying to develop witch I disscussed previously. You're trying to make self aware jokes with our characters as well, Fred's obsession with ascots and trabs is lampshaded to death, Daphne obession with Fred is lampshaded to death as well as Shaggy and Scooby's eating habits. All of this lampshading and self-awareness is just the writiers attempt to make fun of how insercure they are of the show and point out all of the cliches before your audience can. How are you supposed to take all this seriously if the show is going to spend all this time lampshading the cliches to death?! You can't be self-aware and serious at the same time, because the truth is they just don't go together. You need to keep some sort of balance between the cliches that work for the franchise and only make fun of the ones that don't work or just get rid f them entirly.

4.) The Ending

Let's be honest, the ending, is the first major problem of the show. So after this Evil Entity destroys Crystal Cove somehow and the curse is lifted. But what's the twist everybody's happy. No, I'm not kidding, that's the ending here. All the characters in the town have become nice. And on top of that, everything that was in the first episode has been repeated in order to show how well their world has been turned around. This is about the most laziest writing ever made. Just like I said about the problems about the previous problems about this crapsack world and you're just going to override it with that the curse was causing them to act like this?! For a show that's trying to take itself seriously, this is some really lazy storytelling.

3.) The Romance

Yeah, you'll knew this was coming. Let's get into the most hated feature in Mystery Incorporated, the romance. This is by far the stupidest aspect of the series, so bad that even the fans of the show hate it. Yep. Even the fans hate the romance in the show.

Let's start from the begininng: Fred has a relationship with Daphne and Velma wants a relationship with Shaggy, but is too afraid of it because he doesn't want to hurt Scooby. Okay it seems okay at first right. But then things go worse when Shaggy and Velma do begin thier relationship and by god does it get bad.

The problems begin when Velma starts to gets all angsty and drama queen making Shaggy do things he doesn't like. Like speak his hippie talk (another thing the show pretty much makes fun of) and gives him different pants to wear. Yeah, because that's a good girlfriend right?! Things go from bad to worse once Scooby finds out about thier relationship and begins to act agnsty over Velma and fight over Shaggy. They even go as far as bearing as Scooby barring his teeth at her and Velma calling him a "dog." Yeah, they threw in that term in a Scooby Doo cartoon.

Fred and Daphne though to thier credit they start off okay. The downside is Fred's an idiot who doesn't understand love and seems to avoid Daphne at all costs. He starts to notice her when Daphne dresses up as a Hex Girl (in the most sluttiest outfit ever, seriously guys) and sings a song about her feeling (to it's credit, it's a good song) but then they go from bad to orse when Fred proposes to her. Yep! You heard that right, Fred asks Daphne to be his wife. (Keep in mind, Fred and Daphne are in high school in this incarnation.) Sure they break up in the 1st season finale, only for Daphne to abandon the team and date that Taylor Lautner knockoff (because poking fun of Twilight is fun, right?!) who ends up being the bd guy so she can join them again.

Okay after all that talk about it, what does all that damn romance amounts to? Absoulty nothing. Yep. All of that romance they forced in that show is completly pointless. Nothing good came out of it, and it just seemed like a pointless effort to mke the show dramatic and dark. Hell, wouldn't it be eaiser if Shaggy just told Scooby about starting a relationship with Velma. That would've just been alot easier and safer to deal with. Heck, Shaggy starts to take interest in a Chinese girl and not once does Scooby or Velma take notice of this. Really, then what was the point of this whole romance? That's right, they had to add it for all this silly melodrama the show is trying to provide.

Fred and Daphne's is not much better. Daphne starts getting jittery when dating Fred so much she gets excited when she even says the word "boyfriend." Which makes her just a creepy as Fred, but when Fred start organizing her schedules, she starts to show concern. And the biggest problem here is they hawk it off as a joke and give Fred a reason for why he's doing this. I'm sorry, but no Fred going all stalker on Daphne is not cool, it's sick and wrong. Ad you're turning this into a creepy joke? But wait it get's worse, Fred starts obsessing over Daphne after she leaves him for that Taylor Lautner knockoff by putting a lock of her hair on the bear and naming her Daphne. This doesn't work because all of this is played for laughs and drama at the same time.

And on top of things, my friend brought up a really good point. And that is: "Was there ever a time where Velma and Daphne have not talked about boys?" and "When has Velma and Fred or Daphne and Shaggy ever interacted together?" After watching the entire show, I realized there isn't one. I watched the whole show and there hasn't been an entire time where Daphne and Shaggy interacted (well, I'll get to that later) nor Fred and Velma. Hell, the only time they interected was when they were setting up the trap in the "Menace of Manticore" and that's it. That showed me that the gang had absolutley no character whatsoever and had nothing to talk about. Luckily, the future incarnations like Be Cool Scooby Doo have resolved this by eliminating the romance iand keeping the character friends.

2.) The Way All The Characters Are Treated

This ties into what I said in #9 and #5. The way every character treats each other is completely horrible. Velma is shamed for being ugly and fat this is shown in episodes such as "Grim Judgement" and "Secret Serum" where Velma doesn't wear a bathing suit. The only thing I can guess is that they're going for a Meg Griffin joke, but again the show is trying to take itself seriously, so in all honesty the joke was just being cruel and mean just to slam at Velma being unattractive. Hell, more problems occur in the episode "The Wild Brood" where Scooby and the gang come across a bunch of bikers dressed like wild orcs. Only for them to be disgused as nerds who don't want to show thier faces because many people prefer it. Really, that's supposed to be joke that they're ugly and they reason they put on masks is to hide hidious faces. This isn't supposed to be a joke, it's just characters being cruel to each other. Even the beautiful characters get this like "Where Walks Aprhodite" where a beauty queen gets cruely humilated at a beauty pagant.

But let's get to the Elephant In The Room. The scene in the episode "Night Terrors." Here's how it starts the gang has to stay at a lodge on a snowy night. The gang are hit with a gas that causes hallucinations. Both Daphne and Shaggy are hit with this gas and Daphne thinks it's Fred and Shaggy thinks Daphne likes him and they begin to make out. OMG! This act of sexual misconduct Shaggy commits is not only gross, but also out of character for him. He even gloats about it. This moment really pisses me off because it shows that Shaggy was okay with molesting Daphne. And before all you fans ask me, yes, I'm aware this moment is a homage to The Shining and true, it's one of the shows most artistic episodes. But that doesn't excuse that Shaggy was okay with sexually assualting Daphne, it's sick and terrible. And that scene alone caused me to hate this show entirely.

1.) The failure to be Simple

Like I keep saying. The #1 problem is that no matter what you have to draw comparison to the other Scooby incarnations (well, at least the ones with this type of formula). The thing is the other Scooby incarnation found other ways to excite us with unquie locations for the gang to look for ghosts and deal with the problem they encountered. And in all honesty, it's a unquie problem and a unquie lesson. The lesson is some times kids should meddle if something doesn't look right. A simple but fun message and Hanna Barbara (and Joe Ruby and Ken Spears) delivered it in a balanced way because Scooby and the gang are normal kids. Here, it's pretty much pointless because the townsfolk are unwilling for the gang to solve the mystery and the gang are basically breaking the law in order to solve the mystery. So you're message from the other incarnations is already confused.

Now what I get from Mystery Incorporated fans is that MI is more adult than the previous incarnations. The reality is that elements SEEM more adult, but in reality the elements are very childish. One of the examples is that the monster strikes and Scooby and the gang can't really solve the crime because the idiot mayor and the idiot sherriff see the monster as a tourist attraction. Which is not only childish, but not realistic at all. But the real problem is what the characters and thier dillemas. What out main characters are going through feels so high school. And yes, I know they're teenagers, but compare it to the other incarnations and how adult the gang handled their situations. (Although in wacky ways, because it's a cartoon after all.) These dilemmas serve as very distracting.

The point I'm getting across is not that Scooby Doo was always about being simple and fun. (After all, it's for kids) I get that this show wanted to be more adult after What New Scooby Doo was such a disappointment with the older crowd. But at least What's New Scooby Doo for all it's campyness, dated and sillyness, it kept focus on what it's talking about. Hell, I can see a little kid who grew up with Scooby Doo tell me this was thier favorite incarnation and I;ll be okay with it. The problem with Mystery Incorporated was that it was trying to hard to appeal to the adult crowd and it failed to be simple because it wanted to be for adults. I get the need to make that Scooby Doo equvilant to Lost and Game Of Thrones. But this is for kids and honestly I can see an adult trying to make a Scooby Doo cartoon that can appeal to adults and kids.