“I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for you meddling kids!” recognize this line? If you’re a Scooby Dude like me then your heart starts to race upon hearing that catch phrase of costumed villains the world over. You have the formula of the show memorized; the mystery machine breaks down right near a supposedly haunted area. you now that inevitably that gang will split up with Fred, Daphne, and Velma pairing up and finding clues while Shaggy and Scooby find food, fun, trouble and the monster/ ghost/ witch/ robot/ witch doctor. You know that Fred will set up an overly complicated trap that will fail, and by some stroke of luck the gang will catch, and de-mask, the villain. But even the adamant Scooby dudes like me have things to learn, here are some of the most surprising things I’ve learned about the series:

-Shaggy’s real name is Norville Rogers

-The series was originally named “The Mysteries Five” and then “Who’s S-S-Scared?”

-The show was created in response to angry parents who thought that the superhero shows of the time were too violent

-Fred was originally two people but was merged into a single character for the final version of the show

-Rumor has it that the name of Scooby Doo was created after a CBS executive was listening to Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” and got inspiration from the songs ending of “Dooby Dooby Doo”

-The popular theory that Scooby and Shaggy are stoners who always have the munchies, is simply not true according to the entire creative team that developed the show.