Netflix is in the process of reviving our collective childhoods once again, by way of a live-action Scooby-Doo series being developed by Jumanji franchise co-writer Scott Rosenberg and Citadel creator Josh Appelbaum. To date, the new project hasn’t looped in longtime franchise star Matthew Lillard in any capacity, but you can bet he’s been asked for his thoughts. And much like his beloved character Shaggy, his hopes for Netflix’s series are, like, pretty cool, man.
It’s unclear when the new Scooby-Doo might land among Netflix’s upcoming TV shows, given only the synopsis has been made public at this point, but hopefully Lillard’s thoughts imparted to EW will make it to the creative team’s ears, just in case what they’re crafting isn’t already on the same path. As he put it:
My general thought is that I'm really happy for them. I think that the show needs to come back. We haven't done an animated series now in years, which I think is horrible. I think that it's a great way for kids to understand storytelling. It's the first introduction to ghost stories for a lot of kids, right? It's about friendship and sticking together as a gang and working together to solve mysteries — and that normally it's a dangerous white man behind a mask. These are the things that kids have to learn.
My biggest hope for the first Scooby-Doo live-action TV show is that the only CGI will be used to make Shaggy's neck go all accordion-like after he eats 14-layer sandwiches. (Maybe in every episode, maybe not.) Everything Lillard is saying, however, comes in at a very close second.
Sincerely, I've been a lifelong fan of the gang, and I know I've written somewhere on this site about Daphne being my first childhood crush. Hanna-Barbera's Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? no doubt factored into my lengthy love of all things horror, and it solidified an untold number of narrative tricks and tropes (while also instilling a fascination with impossible hallway door connections).
Lillard, who previously shared advice for the incoming Shaggy portrayer, voiced his further hopes for the new live-action show, saying:
I think that having it back is good. My hope is that they hold onto what's tried and true and take their hack at it. But the reality is that I'm sort of a purist when it comes to that franchise. The core of it is really about friendship. It's really lovely, and I hope that they hold onto that.
SImilar to HBO Max's maligned and envelope-pushing Velma, the new version (which is also backed by mega-producer Greg Berlanti) will track the familiar characters coming together for their first mystery at a summer camp. Longtime friends Daphne and Shaggy get wrapped into a potentially supernatural case involving a lost Great Dane puppy and a murder. In this unvierse, Velma is the local with all the science know-how, while Freddy is the dashing-if-daffy new kid. Naturally, these teens have secrets that are in danger of coming to light the deeper they dig into the strange happenings.
So long as the writers remember all of the core values that were there from the start, and that their core friendship is key to their longevity as a threat-thwarting quintet. Sure, they get annoyed with each other, and if Fred brings up traps ONE more time, somebody might snap. But none of that goes beyond the end credits.
Meanwhile, Matthew Lillard has remained an all-out scream king for as many years as he’s played Shaggy, and will be returning to the franchise that started it all with Scream 7. Which — ahem, ahem — makes it a great time to also have him return to live-action Scooby-Doo in one way or another. So here’s hoping those meddling showrunners make it happen, or no Showrunner Snax for them.
