Zoinks!

I, like many Gen-Xers and subsequent generations, grew up on Scooby-Doo. When I was a kid, I would watch it all the time. As I grew up, my love for the show turned into the kind of ironic love that hipsters had for it- you'd watch it because as an adult, you realize it was kinda stupid.

I especially loved episodes with guest stars- Don Knotts, Sandy Duncan, and Jonathan Winters are all favorites.

I bring this up because this summer, Cartoon Network (or CN, feh!) debuted Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. It's GENIUS. It's got the same kind of attitude that the first live action movie had. More to the point, it has much stronger writing than any previous incarnation (except for the movie). There's continuity between episodes (including an overarcing metaplot), call backs to previous Scooby series, and romantic subplots. Daphne's trying to woo Fred, not to mention the Velma-Shaggy-Scooby love triangle. There are also some celebrity voices, including Gary Cole, Patrick Warburton, and Lewis Black.

Sadly, Scooby-Dum has yet to make an appearance.

Not only is this show great, but apparently they'll continue the old Scooby tradition of guest stars and crossovers. Allegedly, WB animation is in the works to have Mystery Inc team up with this guy...

OUTRAGEOUS!

That's right. In an instance of corporate synergy done right, the new Scooby cartoon will have a crossover with Batman: The Brave and the Bold. This is brilliant; I mentioned I loved the guest appearances, but THE best were the ones with Batman and Robin. Said cartoons brought us the greatest sentence ever uttered by the Dark Knight until Frank Miller's "I'm the Goddamn Batman" line. To wit-

"Look at that adorable chipmunk, Robin!"

Upon hearing this news, I was filled with nerdish glee. Here is my reaction, captured for posterity...

New episodes air Mondays at 7pm on Cartoon Network; several of the episodes are On Demand, if you have that and aren't living in a cave.