Am sadly not going to be as gushing of "A Bum Steer for Scooby" respectfully as the previous reviewer. This is one of the early episodes of 'The Scooby Doo Show' (my second favourite Scooby Doo show) that didn't quite connect with me as a child, found the mystery on the bland side and there are a lot more memorable villains on the show than the ones here while enjoying the little character moments and humour.
Twenty plus years on since first viewing, and have seen it and almost all the show's episodes quite a number of times, "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is certainly not a bad episode of 'The Scooby Doo Show' at all. There are definitely worse episodes of the show as well (i.e. "The Diabolical Disc Demon"), but as far as Season 1, a season that had a strong first half but got a little less consistent from this episode onwards, goes "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is one of the lesser episodes.
Very few episodes of any of the Scooby Doo show incarnations are irredeemable in my view, and "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is a long way from being that. Although the rushed looking drawing is still present, the animation is lively enough with some atmospheric colours, the burial grounds setting has some lovely attention to detail and the flying bull looks great and gives one the heebie jeebies. The music suits the atmosphere and didn't seem too discordant with the action. The theme song is one of the franchise's classics, very infectious even if it doesn't quite have the singing-along factor of the original theme song.
Shaggy and Scooby are delightful, they are both very likeable and amusing and the episode and the whole show even still shows their ability to think quickly in a fun, crafty way in some encounters despite being cowards. Fred, Daphne and Velma are true to character and well done too, but they don't have as much to do. The writing intrigues and the endearingly goofy humour from Shaggy and Scooby still charms and brings a smile to the face. The episode is at its best at the start and in Shaggy and Scooby's interaction with the medicine man in unmistakable Shaggy and Scooby style. The flying bull is by far the best of the villains, although the true identity is never surprising for a second. All the voice acting solid, and the episode is one of the few times where John Stephenson doesn't voice a villain (villain duty here is provided by Frank Welker, demonstrating too why his animal noises are unequalled in voice actor history).
Like as a child though, the mystery still struck me as a bit bland and the story in general too slight. It is fairly basic, although the clues are nice as are how things are tied together, and any suspense or anything like that intended is spoiled by that the villains' identities and their plan are pretty obvious from the start. Also found the pace stop start, it starts off very well with a very promising opening, slows down when at the ranch, picks up when at the burial grounds and then loses momentum again.
Was very mixed on the antagonists. The best by far was the flying bull, which was very scary through child's eyes and still does have the creepy factor. The medicine man (the one with the most screen time) has a cool look, had a promising entrance and interacts very well with Shaggy and Scooby, but lacks menace and could have had a stronger personality generally. Saw absolutely no need for the other, introduced out of nowhere minutes before everything is solved and doesn't really do anything. In fact the whole ending felt on the rushed side.
Concluding, decent episode but never quite connected with me sorry to say. 6/10
Twenty plus years on since first viewing, and have seen it and almost all the show's episodes quite a number of times, "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is certainly not a bad episode of 'The Scooby Doo Show' at all. There are definitely worse episodes of the show as well (i.e. "The Diabolical Disc Demon"), but as far as Season 1, a season that had a strong first half but got a little less consistent from this episode onwards, goes "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is one of the lesser episodes.
Very few episodes of any of the Scooby Doo show incarnations are irredeemable in my view, and "A Bum Steer for Scooby" is a long way from being that. Although the rushed looking drawing is still present, the animation is lively enough with some atmospheric colours, the burial grounds setting has some lovely attention to detail and the flying bull looks great and gives one the heebie jeebies. The music suits the atmosphere and didn't seem too discordant with the action. The theme song is one of the franchise's classics, very infectious even if it doesn't quite have the singing-along factor of the original theme song.
Shaggy and Scooby are delightful, they are both very likeable and amusing and the episode and the whole show even still shows their ability to think quickly in a fun, crafty way in some encounters despite being cowards. Fred, Daphne and Velma are true to character and well done too, but they don't have as much to do. The writing intrigues and the endearingly goofy humour from Shaggy and Scooby still charms and brings a smile to the face. The episode is at its best at the start and in Shaggy and Scooby's interaction with the medicine man in unmistakable Shaggy and Scooby style. The flying bull is by far the best of the villains, although the true identity is never surprising for a second. All the voice acting solid, and the episode is one of the few times where John Stephenson doesn't voice a villain (villain duty here is provided by Frank Welker, demonstrating too why his animal noises are unequalled in voice actor history).
Like as a child though, the mystery still struck me as a bit bland and the story in general too slight. It is fairly basic, although the clues are nice as are how things are tied together, and any suspense or anything like that intended is spoiled by that the villains' identities and their plan are pretty obvious from the start. Also found the pace stop start, it starts off very well with a very promising opening, slows down when at the ranch, picks up when at the burial grounds and then loses momentum again.
Was very mixed on the antagonists. The best by far was the flying bull, which was very scary through child's eyes and still does have the creepy factor. The medicine man (the one with the most screen time) has a cool look, had a promising entrance and interacts very well with Shaggy and Scooby, but lacks menace and could have had a stronger personality generally. Saw absolutely no need for the other, introduced out of nowhere minutes before everything is solved and doesn't really do anything. In fact the whole ending felt on the rushed side.
Concluding, decent episode but never quite connected with me sorry to say. 6/10
