<P> In 1968, parent - run organizations, particularly Action for Children's Television (ACT), began to protest about what they perceived as excessive violence in Saturday morning cartoons . Most of these shows were Hanna - Barbera action cartoons such as Space Ghost, The Herculoids and Birdman and the Galaxy Trio, and virtually all of them were canceled by 1969 because of pressure from the parent groups . Members of these watchgroups served as advisers to Hanna - Barbera and other animation studios to ensure that their new programs would be safe for children . </P> <P> Fred Silverman, executive in charge of daytime programming for the CBS network at the time, was looking for a show that would revitalize his Saturday morning line and simultaneously please the watch groups . The result was The Archie Show, based upon Bob Montana's teenage humor comic book Archie . Also successful were the musical numbers The Archies performed during each program (one of which, "Sugar, Sugar", was the most successful Billboard number - one hit of 1969). Silverman was eager to build upon this success, and contacted producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera about possibly creating another show based on a teenage rock group, this one featuring teens who solved mysteries in between gigs . Silverman envisaged the show as a cross between the popular I Love a Mystery radio serials of the 1940s and either the Archie characters or the popular early 1960s television series The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis . </P> <P> After attempting to develop his own version of the proposed show called House of Mystery, Barbera, who handled the development and sale of Hanna - Barbera shows while Hanna handled production, passed the task along to story writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and artist / character designer Iwao Takamoto . Their original treatment, based in part on The Archie Show, was titled Mysteries Five and featured five teenagers: Geoff, Mike, Kelly, Linda, Linda's brother W.W. and their bongo - playing dog, Too Much, who were all members of the band Mysteries Five . When The Mysteries Five were not performing at gigs, they were out solving spooky mysteries involving ghosts, zombies, and other supernatural creatures . Ruby and Spears were unable to decide whether Too Much would be a large cowardly dog or a small feisty dog . When the former was chosen, Ruby and Spears wrote Too Much as a Great Dane but revised the dog character to a large sheepdog (similar to the Archies' sheepdog, Hot Dog) just before their presentation to Silverman, as Ruby feared the character would be too similar to the comic strip character Marmaduke . Silverman rejected their initial pitch, and after consulting with Barbera on next steps, got Barbera's permission to go ahead with Too Much being a Great Dane instead of a sheepdog . </P> <P> During the design phase, lead character designer Takamoto consulted a studio colleague who was a breeder of Great Danes . After learning the characteristics of a prize - winning Great Dane from her, Takamoto proceeded to break most of the rules and designed Too Much with overly bowed legs, a double chin, and a sloped back, among other abnormalities . </P>

List of scooby doo tv shows and movies