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Warning: This DVD sets contains Scrappy-Doo. You have been alerted.

By 1980, Hanna-Barbera was running out of ways to showcase their cashcow character Scooby-Doo. To help keep the series running, they’d often reinvent it, either by adding/replacing characters, switching genres or adding co-stars. With the Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show, they did all three. Instead of the classic 30-minute programs in which the entire Mystery, Inc. gang tried to solve mysteries involving monsters-that-weren’t, here we got just Scooby, Shaggy and the always-irritating Scrappy Doo. And instead of solving mysteries, they spent seven-minute shorts in almost-Looney Tunes-style comedy gags (one involves the three waking up in the middle of a Mexican bullfighting arena, and Scrappy goes all matador on the local bovine). To fill up the now-hour long show, the Scooby shorts alternated with those of long-time comic character Richie Rich, whose adventures usually consisted of some goofball or another trying to steal his money.

The format of the show lends to its appeal. While these are classic characters, they can wear out their welcome rather fast. With each crew only getting the spotlight for seven minutes at a time, it’s much easier to digest them. The animation is typical for Hanna-Barbera – clean and crisp, but not all that detailed.

Comprised of two discs (why can’t Warners release these old H-B shows as complete sets?), volume one features seven of the shows, as well as an interesting retrospective on the character of Richie Rich.

The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show certainly wasn’t the best of the various Scooby shows, but it tried to be different and was successful enough at it that it remains fairly entertaining for the fans of the genre.

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