“And I would have gotten away with it if not for you meddling kids!”

Scooby-Doo and his pals are the ultimate in funny-scary.  Created for television by Hanna-Barbera in 1969, the stories of investigations of haunted amusement parks and mysterious monsters.  In early episodes they all turned out to be hoaxes designed to keep people from discovering some sort of skullduggery but later on there were some real paranormal encounters.  The characters were inspired by the popular “Dobie Gillis” television series based on the stores by Max Schulman, with Fred an amiable everyman, Velma the brain, Daphne the rich girl, and Shaggy the goofy one.  The dog breed was unsettled in the planning stages, and sheepdog and German Shepherd were considered before they settled on a Great Dane.  He was originally called “Too Much” and the name Scooby-Doo was inspired by the “doo be doo be doo” part of the Frank Sinatra song, “Strangers in the Night.”  Celebrate Halloween with some tricks and treats from Scooby-Doo.