he popular Scooby-Doo franchise began with the 1969 series Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!, followed by several versions of the show under different titles. By 1979, ABC was considering canceling the series because they felt the show's formula was getting stale, as evidenced by its declining ratings. Hanna-Barbera pitched a new cast member - namely, Scooby-Doo's youthful and overconfident nephew Scrappy-Doo - that would keep the series fresh while maintaining the show's proven formula, with the result that the Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo series was born.

With the exception of the additional cast member, Scooby-Doo and Scrappy-Doo stuck to the tried and true Scooby-Doo format during its initial season. Teenage friends Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and their more-friend-than-pet, a Great Dane by the name of Scooby-Doo, couldn't resist solving mysteries, which they came across with unsettling regularity. That is, all except Shaggy and Scooby felt compelled to solve mysteries. The two were much too cowardly for that type of pastime, but being outvoted three to two (and with the addition of Scrappy, four to two) meant they had to face their fears on a regular basis. What appeared to be supernatural occurrences involving ghosts and monsters the gang was always able to expose (with much intermittent running and general panic) for the shams they were; attempts by unscrupulous individuals using special effects and costumes to scare away others in order that their crimes could succeed.

The gang was led by Fred, who also drove their green colored van, the Mystery Machine. When the group split up while investigating in order to cover more ground, which they invariably did, fashionable Daphne and brainy Velma normally went with Fred, while the team of Shaggy and Scooby (who did most of the panic and running) went their own way. When Scrappy-Doo joined the team his boundless courage and scrappy attitude were in direct contrast to his uncle Scooby, who he looked up to and believed was every bit as fearless as himself, even though all evidence pointed to the contrary. When Scrappy-Doo saw danger, he went charging in with the call of, "Ta-da-da-tut-tut-tah, Puppy Power!" But before his reckless abandon could get him into serious trouble, Shaggy and Scooby would grab him and drag him away in their own headlong flight to safety. Scrappy had a way of finding himself in the thick of the action anyway, but as usual the gang's resident bookworm, Velma, was the first to put the clues together and solve the mystery.

Significant changes were made to the show in its second season. Fred, Velma and Daphne were dropped from the series and Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy traveled all over the world on their own. Stories were also reduced to 7-minute segments and played at intervals with segments of Richie Rich as part of the hour-long Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show. The three no longer solved mysteries, but rather encountered genuine supernatural beings which Shaggy and Scooby did their best to escape and Scrappy did his best to splat. The tone of the stories was also changed to a type of silly comedy, where the bad guys sometimes even talked directly to the camera. This format was used throughout the second and third seasons.

In the series' fourth and final season its format was changed yet again. Segments (still seven minutes in length) were now rotated with an unrelated canine cartoon starring Petey the puppy as part of The Scooby and Scrappy-Doo/Puppy Hour. Stories reverted to the more traditional tone Scooby fans were used to except that, with a few exceptions, the supernatural element was eliminated from the show altogether. Shaggy, Scooby and Scrappy worked for the Fearless Detective Agency, owned by Shaggy's uncle Fearless Shaggyfurt, on cases that involved ordinary criminals committing common crimes. Shaggy's uncle was never seen, but when he had a case he'd telephone the agency and give the three their assignment. At other times they took cases directly from visiting clients. How Shaggy and Scooby came to work for the agency may have been the biggest mystery, because they remained as cowardly as ever and were never enthusiastic about getting a case.

An additional segment was included in the fourth season that starred Scrappy-Doo and his (other) uncle Yabba-Doo. Stories took place in the remote western town of Tumbleweed, where Scrappy and Yabba assisted the town deputy, Dusty, in maintaining law and order.

As was customary with the Scooby-Doo cartoons, before long the show was reformatted and presented under a different title in order to keep things fresh. In 1983 a new series was produced called The New Scooby and Scrappy-Doo Show. Scrappy-Doo was also later featured in The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries (1984) and The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo (1985). Other shows with a Scooby-Doo theme included A Pup Named Scooby-Doo (1988), What's New Scooby-Doo? (2002) and Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! (2005).