Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! (1969)

The first incarnation of what has become a franchise-of-sorts. Scooby-Doo was a large, loveable but cowardly Great Dane who hung around four California high school students (Fred, Velma, Daphne and Shaggy). The four teen-agers were in constant search of mysteries and adventures, driving around in a bright green van known as the Mystery Machine. Many of the group's adventures involved villians who took on supernatural disguises (ghosts and monsters); the villians' activities usually involved blackmail, theft, fraud and other forms of corruption. At the first hint of trouble, Scooby-Doo (and usually, Shaggy as well) running for cover; they usually found themselves in even deeper trouble. It usually took the promise of a Scooby snack to get Scooby (and Shaggy) to come out of hiding. The mysteries were always solved by the end of each show (the villian proclaiming, "And I would have gotten away with it if it hadn't have been for you kids!" or some similar line).