An Utterly Definitive Ranking of Be Cool Scooby Doo!, By Me Of Course™

Very Serious™

Throughout my 3 and a half years writing about film and media on the internet Scooby Doo has always been a constant as I think that this franchise is one of the most influential in my film and TV taste. From its obvious use of mystery and horror tropes to its various queer characters and the way that we can read them to the way it has changed and evolved in over 55 years while still maintaining the simple formula since September 13th 1969. One of my favourite iterations is also one of its most divisive, 2015’s Be Cool Scooby Doo! Be Cool Scooby Doo immediately followed Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated which in my opinion is the best show in the entire franchise and Be Cool Scooby Doo wisely made the decision to not imitate Mystery Incorporated by returning to the tried and trued formula but adding a healthy dolloping of absurdist humour and firmly developing its own identity along the way. It received initial unfair backlash for its character design but if you stick with it, I think it’s a deeply funny and unique iteration of the show that rewards you if you stick with it. To celebrate it, I will rank all 52**episodes of the show because this is the kind of shit I excel at!

*The ranking numbers will make sense at the end.

**There’s writeups for my top 26 because I want to get this list out before 2025 lol.

51. S2E26 Pizza O’Possums/The Curse of Half Beard’s Booty.

50. S1E2 Game of Chicken.

49. S1E6 Trading Chases.

48. S1E11 Me, Myself and AI. .

47. S1E1 Mystery 101.

46. S1E7 Be Quiet Scooby Doo!

45. S1E4 Poodle Justice.

44. S2E4 How To Train A Coward

43. S1E5 Grand Scam

42. S1E12 Area 51 Adjacent

41. S1E17 Sorcerer Snacks Scare

40. S2E15 Greece is The Word

39. S1E15 If You Can’t Scooby Doo The Time, Don’t Scooby Doo The Crime

38. S1E3 All Paws on Deck

37. S1E25 The North Case Scenario

36. S1E22 I Scooby Doo Do

35. S1E23 El Bandito

34. S2E16 American Goth

33. S2E14 Fright of Hand

32. S2E21 Junkyard Dogs

31. S2E19 Naughty or Ice

30. S1E19 Be Cold, Scooby Doo

29. S2E1 Some Fred Time

28. S2E11 In Space

27. S2E22 Protein Titans 2

26. S2E5 Worst in Show. I always find episodes where Scooby interacts with other dogs interesting because I guess I always think of him separate from other dogs because he’s Scooby Doo! But a dog show setting is an enjoyable way to highlight this and I love how everyone’s subplots come together in the episode with Daphne and Scooby training together for the dog show, Shaggy and Velma visiting tourist attractions during a chase and Fred pretending to be a rich man to impress other dog owners make this a really strong comedic showcase for the show.

25. S2E3 Renn Scare I do think it is quite funny that renaissance fairs are a setting that have popped up in multiple Scooby Doo shows (it’s also in What’s New Scooby Doo) but I think it works with the gang’s modern gadgets and the extreme historical accuracy of this particular fair (precisely why Velma likes it lol). I love the recurring gag of Daphne pretending she’s invented modern items like toilet paper and the reveal of the villain recapped in a historically accurate way for Velma specially is a treat.

24. S2E2 There Wolf. There Wolf, an episode set in an animal hospital has a lot of moving parts but I think that all of them come together. Daphne’s gimmick for the episode is pretending to be a mime and I think it is very well executed with Velma’s constant advice to ignore her and one of the hospital workers being deathly afraid of mimes because his parents were mimes as well are all great sources of comedy. I love how Scooby is assigned as a patient because he’s not hungry anymore and it turns out that Shaggy is actually much more unhealthy than him! The animal hospital also has an eerie atmosphere all of its own

23. S1E18 Saga of The Swamp Beast Within this ranking you’re gonna see some of the types of episodes I have a particular spot for and anything vaguely set in the South/swamp setting etc is a soft spot for me but I think this episode is genuinely a very strong mystery. It has one of my favourite Daphne episode long quirks, dressed up like a vampire and narrating the events occurring like she’s in Interview With A Vampire. The hot sauce scene with Herman Hank is so goddamn funny especially with the name of the sauce being “Earrrrr”! I think the mystery is also very well put together with more twists than your average episode with reveals upon reveals.

22. S1E10 Kitchen Frightmare Another soft spot of mine is also episodes that involve restaurants and restaurants that involve ice/snow monsters, winter/christmas etc and Kitchen Frightmare is an episode that has both so I very much enjoy it. I love Shaggy and Scooby’s relationship to Chazz, the owner of Cheese Volcano and I love how he constantly creates little figures out of cheese to express his feelings. Daphne’s personality trait this episode is constantly making jokes like a stand up comic and I love how it finally comes to fruition in the finale. I also adore how Velma goes mad about solving the mystery and connecting it all back to the fact that the monster is a yeti, I love when Velma is unhinged!

21. S2E13 Silver Scream I love a Scooby Doo episode where it creates its own mythology like movie stars, TV shows or pop stars in this universe and so Silver Scream is an extremely enjoyable episode for me. The gang are visiting Fletcher Films’s studio lot where the ghost of Archie Barnes is trying to ruin the restoration of his last film and this studio setting provides ample comedic opportunities satirising modern Hollywood (one of the films that the studio is producing is Monkey in A Suit 3) and I love how Fred is trying to save everyone on the studio lot and consistently ruining the -the productions.Daphne’s persona this episode as a studio tour guide is also very funny and enables her to do a *voice.*

    

20. S2E23 World of Witchcraft Whenever Scooby Doo involves witches I feel I am bound to enjoy it because witches immediately have a spooky vibe which is what I’m looking for in a Scooby episode yet I like that we don’t actually have a witch monster, the gang are simply on trial for alleged witchcraft in Salem in some sort of relitigation of the witch trials. I love how all of this mess starts with Daphne just stating off the cuff that she’s a witch, not realising what she’s getting the gang into and her monologue at the trial is pretty hilarious for the utter lack of anything she says. I love Fred’s feud with goats in this episode and I love when Shaggy and Scooby are questioning whether Mrs Baker’s pies are “The Best Pies in The East” and she says she helped write the Pie Laws of 1982! Also I love seeing Lewis Black return to Scooby after his role in Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated!

19. S2E17 Omelettes Are Forever When going into this rewatch there are episodes that I expected to be high up on the list but Omeletttes Are Forever was not one I anticipated this high but this rewatch I very much enjoyed the episode. I am not all that knowledgeable about the spy genre especially old school spy movies which this episode is paying homage to but I love the utter commitment to the bit in regards to every element of this episode like the constant puns that every character mugs for the camera. I really like the jet setting aspect of the episode, not only is it very faithful to spy films but it reminds me of What’s New Scooby Doo and how the gang would end up in various different countries in that show’s era. I also love the subversion of the spy formula with the mastermind being an old woman and that this plot is ultimately about ending breakfast!

18. S1E16 Gremlin On A Plane Gremlin on A Plane is the kind of episode that I feel I have no coherent argument for being this high on the list besides “vibes!”. This episode just brings me joy. The jumbo plane setting is unique for Scooby Doo and I love how Shaggy and Scooby gorge on ice cream and then immediately have brain freezes and how the gremlin uses food against them! Big Earl, the owner of the plane has a very funny gag where he keeps mistaking people’s names. Daphne’s personality trait of being a pilot is both really funny but also manages to serve the plot in the end and there’s a solid emotional beat that works really well. The finale is delightfully ridiculous as farm animals eventually end up in the mystery machine by the end and I love how the villain reveal gets sidetracked by the absurdity. The mystery isn’t the strongest, bringing this episode down a little but I adore this episode!

17. S1E21 Eatin’ Crow Another Scooby Doo speciality that I happen to love is the episode set on a farm with a scarecrow villain. I really don’t know why but the vibes are always just vaguely Halloweeny in the best way and I think that Eatin’ Crow is a great episode in this style. I love the judgemental atmosphere established from the opening with shady looks emanating from every member town. Fred is also desperately trying to impress Emily, the daughter of the owner of the farm and it results in some hilarious gags when she inadvertently witnesses some of the gang’s fuck ups. There’s some nice lore built up between the two families living on the land that builds up a solid mystery and the reveal is actually pretty interesting. And Daphne’s gimmick for this episode being that she desperately wants a pet and picks up every animal that she sees is so goddamn funny especially when these animals start to cause a mess.

16. S2E18 Ghost in The Mystery Machine The mystery machine turning against the gang is another plot that also featured in What’s New Scooby Doo? but I think that is better executed here for multiple reasons. First off I love that Fred is so emotionally attached to the Mystery Machine which feels like a recent development in the franchise and taking it away from him has become a common emotional point (see: Scooby Doo! Frankencreepy) and while it’s easy to make “ha ha fred wants to fuck the mystery machine.” jokes I always like seeing him have emotional interiority. Daphne’s vibe this episode being that she thinks that she is in a dream is very funny and very well executed especially when she thinks she makes the Mystery Machine fly. Also the way that this episode ultimately connects to Professor Huh? and its ultimate conclusion? *chef’s kiss.*

15. S2E8 The Curse of Kaniaku The Curse of Kaniaku was another episode that I had come into this rewatch with positive feelings but I was so impressed with this episode on this rewatch. I think it’s such a fun and vibrant episode that feels like it is using the aesthetics of anime and other Japanese animated art forms without feeling appropriative or like an outsider looking in. Kaniaku has such a cool design feeling like a combination between a crab monster and a Transformer. I also love the way Velma is a fashion icon in Japan but after Daphne arrives she becomes the fashion icon du jour and Velma feels left out. The bit works as comedy and also as an emotional beat with Velma and Daphne because I always enjoy when they get to bond together emotionally. Also Kaniaku beating Scooby in the fake diversion dance contest is rather hilarious tbh.

14. S1E14 Scary Christmas One of two seasonal episodes ending up in my top 15 I obviously have a soft spot for Christmas episodes and they were bound to be at least in my top 25 but I love how both of these Christmas episodes do something very funny and very Be Cool Scooby Doo. For example Scary Christmas has a pterodactyl as its monster just because and I honestly think that is rather delightful and feels very much of the essence of this show! The episode introduces lore that Christmas Day is Daphne’s birthday and her constant feeling that she has been left out every birthday of her life. It’s a nice emotional beat for her even if it occasionally feels like lore they made up so they could give her something to do in the episode! Fred has a recurring joke about visiting orphanages for Christmas and I love how exaggerated the orphan’s eyes become, it’s such a good recurring gag.

13. S2E20 Night of The Upsetting Shorts Night of The Upsetting Shorts is maybe the strongest comedic showcase for the show and its unique brand and sense of humour. I love that this episode is half about how horrifying the shorts that Fred is wearing are to the rest of the gang (remember, fred was there before paul mescal), it’s the kind of gag that only Be Cool would go for yet it’s so goddamn funny. I love the setting of the episode being a retirement home in Florida during a storm as Shaggy visits his ‘Grammy’. There’s such a specific code of conduct and cast of characters that is understood with this atmosphere from the constant bickering about their grandchildren’s achievements (or lack there of) to that one crazy cat lady that you know has a room that is highly unsanitary and should probably be inspected. The storm adds a nice foreboding atmosphere around episode and even if the mystery isn’t the greatest (somewhat on purpose), velma’s outfit here sends me every time I see it!

12. S1E9 Screama Donna Like I mentioned earlier with Silver Scream I love when Scooby Doo episodes create their own mythology and forcing the gang to perform as a band is just guaranteed enjoyment for me so Screama Donna is just such a strong episode for me. I love the character design of the ghost of the Prima Donna, she has the energy of your grandmother who’s convinced she could’ve been Barbra if she got the chance but also has some demonic vampire energy that really works for the dramatic nature of the character. Some of the comedic beats of the episode work really well especially the bizarre rules Bones Malone’s manager Jasper establishes like no panthers and everyone speaking in a higher voice around him and it’s very funny that this is completely made up by the manager and he’s completely confused why everyone is doing this. I also just love when the gang (as Mystery Machine) perform the mystery reveal in song, it’s just rather delightful and I love seeing Velma taking centre stage.

11. S1E24 Into The Mouth of Madcap Theme parks are a good setting for a Scooby episode especially abandoned theme parks which have a unique ambience all of their own and Into The Mouth of Madcap uses its theme park setting really well. The gang is kind of split up in lots of small fractions throughout the episode and there’s an eerie fog hanging over all of the park especially when Fred’s on his own walking over the bridge trying to solve the mystery. In the episode Daphne has to mind her friend’s son Wayne and I love how he is utterly silent for the most of the episode until the end when Fred is revealing the clown he loudly interrupts and explains the mystery as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. There’s also a really strong setpiece on a rollercoaster where Velma, Daphne and Wayne are being chased by Madcap the clown while Fred and Shaggy and Scooby aimlessly try to save them. I also love how the madhouse reflection reflects their Where Are You? character design.

10. S2E7 Halloween As much I love Christmas episodes of Scooby Doo Halloween episodes are honestly where it’s at and I think that this is one of the strongest in the franchise. I love how the one unsolved mystery in Fred’s repertoire is established as occurring on Halloween and that’s part of the reason he doesn’t go out on Halloween but also he also can’t distinguish between monsters and children in costumes which is a really funny gag. Velma despises Halloween for its over-commercialisation and moving away from the roots of Samhain (which she mispronounces btw!) so Daphne dresses up as her as they go trick or treating which is very funny as it’s so rare to see Daphne so this droll in this which is especially a delight since in my opinion Grey DeLisle is so excellent at a droll voice. I love the use of Baba Yaga and her house with chicken legs and it sufficiently stands out from the way Mystery Incorporated used the legend, I especially love the witch design. I also love that Fred is dresed as ‘nordic detective Bjorn Bjorgensen’ as a child.

9. S1E20 Giant Problems OK this is probably an overrate because this is a Scooby Doo episode that is set in Ireland that doesn’t feature a leprachaun as a villain but I really do think this is a very good episode that I’ve seen more than a few times and it holds up. I love when Daphne is oblivious about all of the random things that her parents own and a castle in Ireland is just the tip of the iceberg for her. She also starts to develop an Irish accent (which is actually not that bad tbf to Grey DeLisle!) and Velma cannot understand a lick of what she is saying and it’s always a little bit funny to see Velma so clueless when her whole character trait is that she’s the smartest of the bunch. The monster for the episode is a giant and I really enjoy this monster not only because I was so glad it wasn’t a leprachaun but it also works with the noise building suspense but I also like how they used elements of giant mythology like the giant goose egg and the cave. Also Velma and Shaggy using every gadget in the mystery machine is a delight!

8. S1E13 Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wrath Where There’s A Will, There’s A Wrath is a very interesting case as it is one of the first cases of a remake of a previous Scooby Doo episode, that episode being A Night of Fright Is No Delight from Scooby Doo Where Are You? and that is a tricky case, especially when the episode is as iconic as this episode. But I really love this episode and I think that it walks this tricky line so well. It takes the basic skeleton of the original episode where Scooby is invited to stay a night in a rich man’s house to claim a fortune of his will but a phantom is up to no good and adds its own uniquely Be Cool Scooby Doo skeleton. I love the two twin sisters Trudy and Ruby who are so intertwined together that they cannot finish their sentences without each other. Daphne’s quirk this episode is being a teenager at a slumber party which is used just the right amount without becoming annoying and can be so funny especially when she is doing Charades and doing Star Wars and the gang cannot guess it all. And this episode is the origin of poor Velma having to carry all of the gang on her back.

7. S2E10 Scroogey Doo I ranked Scary Christmas so high because I think it is such a funny and uniquely Be Cool Scooby Doo take on a Christmas episode yet for me Scroogey Doo is just that little bit superior for me personally. It is somewhat a take on Charles Dickens’s 1843 classic A Christmas Carol as Ebeneezer Scrooge is present in the narrative and being visited by the ghosts as usual in any other Christmas Carol narrative but the main bulk of this episode is focused on Velma and her own Christmas Carol style narrative where three ghosts visit her to show her what her life could have been if she hadn’t joined Mystery Inc. It’s such a smart idea for a Scooby take on A Christmas Carol and as I’ve mentioned earlier in the list I love Velma as a character and I appreciate when we get Velma focused episodes and even if you always know that she’s gonna stay with Mystery Inc I think it’s such a well executed episode and one of the best Christmas episodes in the franchises’s history.

6. S1E8 Party Like It’s 1899 Party Like It’s 1899 is a really intriguing episode as there is a mystery within a mystery as the gang visit a Victorian era mystery costume party and have to solve both mysteries and this is an episode I always have positive feelings to but when rewatching this I forgot how wickedly funny it is. Each one of the gang is rather devoted to being in character except Fred who is so annoyed that he is playing ‘Bumbling Constable Jeery’ yet he is so funny with his mishaps especially with his extremely large moustache. All of the English accents are pretty solid and I really enjoy seeing the gang playing different characters, it gives the episode some sort of novelty and I suppose I am a simple person because whenever Velma says “For I am Flumsy The Maid” in a slightly sad British accent I just think it is so funny! The mystery as I said is really well executed and never feels confused or gets messed up in the two mysteries which are both more complicated than your average Scooby episode.

5. S2E6 Mysteries on The Disorient Express This episode pays homage to Agatha Christie in its titling but this train set mystery has an identity all of its own and while it is ridiculously overstuffed, that is exactly the point of the episode and I thinks it works delightfully. Daphne’s personal gimmick this episode is blocking her senses one at a time by using earplugs, noseplugs and a sleeping mask because she thinks it will heighten her senses and it is one of those Daphne quirks that is so stupid it is so funny but actually manages to fit into the plot which is really cool. Fred starts moaning at the start of the episode that he has no mysteries to solve and he is utterly desperate for one (for example there’s a really funny gag where he runs in delight when he hears a woman screaming!) and I think that is such a good character motivation to begin this episode with because there are so many monsters in the episode and it feels slightly overwhelming both for the audience and the characters especially with the reveal which is such a cool conclusion to the story.

4. S2E9 Vote Velma Vote Velma has such an ingenious premise that I can’t recall from any other Scooby show, of a monster that is attacking candidates running in a mayoral race and to catch the monster Velma runs as a candidate in the race and I just think there are so many little details that make this an outstanding episode. For example it’s pretty obvious to the rest of the gang that Velma is not exactly the most media friendly candidate and to compensate they throw a rally with pancakes and the incumbent candidate Mayor Putnam says with annoyance “They played the pancake tactic” and it’s such a patently ridiculous thing to say but it works in this heightened reality really well that the episode has established. I love how Daphne springs into life when Velma enters the race and becomes her campaign manager and I always love when Daphne and Velma have a relationship where Daphne is enthusiastically trying to make Velma do something and Velma is very reluctantly abiding by that. I actually do think the episode does capture something about politics where so often people are wooed by meaningless political showpersonship and the ‘vibes’ of a candidate and I also do think the villain reveal is very intriguing and shows how once one of us made it, they want to be considered ‘one of the good ones’. Good episode!

3. S1E26 The People Vs Fred Jones The People Vs Fred Jones is one of the episodes that convinced me when I was watching Be Cool Scooby Doo that show was really something special. Basically doing an inversion of every other Scooby Doo episode, this episode is about Fred being on trial for a monster and essentially the prosecutor is making the case that he has been the mastermind behind all of the monsters and mysteries that they have ever solved. This is such an intriguing premise for an episode and it works spectacularly with the mystery of the Happy Sunshine chemical factory in this old abandoned town frozen in the 50’s and the Toxic Mutant but there are so many other elements that make this one of the best episodes of the show. Daphne is Fred’s lawyer on trial and I think the gag that she ‘got her law degree’ by playing the game Bippy’s Law School Adventure is just so funny and the fact that this game is the cause of a bet that results in both Daphne and Velma shaving their heads is such a well executed gag. I also love that the Jury is made up of past villains from the series so far which is such a fun easter egg especially for a season finale. Ultimately The People Vs Fred Jones is a perfect episode to me, one that its genius premise and executes it so beautifully.

2. S2E12 Doo Not Disturb As a general rule Be Cool Scooby Doo has a much more comedic tone than Scooby Doo Mystery Incorporated and I think its comedic senses are so astute and feel unique in the franchise but Doo Not Disturb is a rare instance of Be Cool Scooby Doo toning down the comedy in favour of going to more of the horror flavour of Scooby Doo and it results in one of the series’ best episodes. The episode is obviously taking pointers from two horror classics, Psycho and The Shining with the gang being locked in a hotel during a snow storm and also an overbearing mother figure watching over the hotel but these influences help the episode stand out from the rest of the series. A foreboding atmosphere is immediately established by the rules that populate the hotel like “Good boys use coasters.” and “Good boys don’t wear their shoes in bed.” and the repetitive ticking sound is so good at building suspense for Mother. The horror dominated episode doesn’t mean that there aren’t some good comedic beats like the gang not allowing any control which results in him going more than a little mad which is so funny and Daphne relentlessly trying to arrange the room to achieve feng shui is also quite funny. Another Shining homage is the room 455 which nobody must enter and I love the way it is established with the opera and the glowing green light which is used so smartly in the finale of this episode. The cellar is also such a good setpiece with the abandoned dolls and the huge S which establishes the family drama which is at the centre of the episode’s reveal which is unexpectedly rich for a Scooby episode. It was really hard not to put this number one!

   1. S2E24 + S2E25 Professor Huh? Pt 1 + Pt 6 3/4 I had considered splitting these two episodes apart in this ranking because these are separate episodes and maybe they should be ranked apart but it felt weird having these apart because as a two-parter they work so well together and are in my opinion the pinnacle of this show and what is doing as a Scooby Doo show. It feels rather weird to have Professor Huh? and Doo Not Disturb be my top two because while I think they are the two best episodes of the franchise, they’re also probably the episodes that are the most unlike the rest of the series but I think Professor Huh? is just an outstanding piece of Scooby Doo media. I love how Professor Huh? is introduced to the audience with the eccentric numbers and highlighters plastered all over his prison wall and his request for a sandwich served over the astronauts on the Apollo 11 mission, it’s so bizarre and yet never explained. To get into the meat of these episodes I think it is worth saying that Professor Huh? is Fred’s father and while Fred’s father being a criminal/monster is more than a little bit borrowed from Mystery Incorporated, I think the third puzzle piece in this episode being Rose enhances this reveal. Rose used to solve mysteries with Fred as a child and were always dying to solve the Professor Huh? case until they both realised that his father was Professor Huh? and Fred couldn’t face it but Rose reported him. I love their repartee in these two episodes because they are working against each other to solve the case and Rose is desperately trying to frame the gang as accomplices to Professor Huh? but under all of that exterior you can tell that there is a mutual understanding between them and respect and even a desire to return to a more simple, childlike time when they were both friends who solved mysteries together. It’s such a rich relationship between them and while my reading might be kind of spoiled by the ending reveal that Rose has orchestrated all of this (including Ghost in The Mystery Machine and The People Vs Fred Jones) to stop the gang from solving mysteries for free that she was getting paid for but both his relationship with Rose and his relationship with his Dad are complicated and I personally love that for Fred. This episode goes huge in scale with the gang even ending up on a spaceship at the end of part 1 and an amazing car chase sequence in part 2 which in my opinion is an all timer in the franchise but ultimately this episode is about the relationships I mentioned and the bond that the gang has with each other despite all of the annoyances they’ve had before. I’d personally love a Be Cool Scooby Doo season 3 but this was a hell of way to leave us off!