MYSTERY INCORPORATED Is The Perfect Show For Fans Of RIVERDALE And SCOOBY-DOO
Mystery Incorporated is a new fan made Scooby-Doo show. Created by Dade Elza and Jessica Chancellor, the show has major Riverdale vibes. It was successfully funded via Kickstarter, but due to Covid restrictions, filming had to be delayed. But the first episode is out now on YouTube with a second episode available on Indiegogo. I watched the first episode and it’s not too bad as long as you know what you are getting into.
This show has combined many different names and backgrounds from many different iterations of Scooby-Doo, which is great for long-time fans of the show. The setting is Coolsville, the city from A Pup Named Scooby Doo, and there are many references to The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo. The first ghost is from an episode of the original Scooby-Doo Where Are You?. These are all nice touches and homages to this incredibly long running show. I thought the casting was pretty good too. Everyone looks the way they are supposed to with a more modern filter over them. For example Shaggy doesn’t wear bell bottom pants anymore, but he still wears his basic green and brown colors. I really appreciate having the Hex Girls in the show too, they have always been a fun group for me since their first appearance in Scooby-Doo And The Witch’s Ghost. I think one of their best decisions was having a real great dane for Scooby rather than trying to make a cgi talking dog.
There are a few creative decisions I don’t really like so far. They had to add a darkness and grit to everyone, so I get that the characters were never going to be light hearted and campy like in the cartoons, but only time will tell if some of these decisions will pay off. Daphne is my main complaint. Daphne didn’t start out as one my favorite Scooby-Doo characters, but Be Cool Scooby-Doo really turned me onto her character. She’s fun, popular, rich, but also incredibly versatile, brave, and curious about the world. This show seems to really be leaning into the rich and popular, but so far is heading into the inevitable nervous breakdown always having to be perfect will lead to. I hope that they grow her character more into what she can be, and I honestly have no reason to believe they won’t based only on the first episode as she has proven to be more than just a mean girl by the end of the episode. I will say, having Shaggy be a drug dealer trying to reform his life, while the obvious choice for him, is something I still enjoy.
My main complaint is that the monsters are real. The thing I love about Scooby-Doo is that at the end of the day the real villain is usually just a greedy person. It was always fun to go with the gang of friends as they discover clues while evading the monster knowing that they will eventually unmask the villain at the end. While having real monsters is not unheard of for the franchise, a mystery involving real people will always be more interesting to me. I think the animated Mystery Incorporated actually did a really good job of balancing real people villains with the supernatural pretty well, so maybe this live action one will choose a similar path.
Overall, I did enjoy this fan made show. Sure, there are parts with awkward dialogue and the kind of drama that only shows about teens can get away with, but at the end of the day I do want to watch episode two. I’m interested to see overall where they take this show. If you’re interested you can check out the first episode below.