5 servings of comfort food that’ll bring joy to your screens

Scooby-Doo

You might wonder how a series of scares could quality as comfort food, but think about it. These meddling kids get to travel the world together and take in all manner of exotic sights, both natural and supernatural.

Cost, scheduling, packing, and other factors seem to be non-issues. They can experience all of the enjoyment without the hassle, and it’s hard not to get swept up in that enjoyment when they wind up in a new locale every week.

In fact, the biggest things that Scooby and the gang have to worry about are the costumed crooks who rely on mischievous scare tactics over deadly force. Of course, this provides plenty of intriguing mysteries, which are easy enough for kids yet aren’t too juvenile for adults. It’s no wonder why the gang is always eager for the next one.

Whether it’s international strife, political division, global warming, or some other world event, nothing seems to matter outside of this van. The characters don’t seem to think of much else except solving mysteries, helping those in need, and enjoying each other’s company. They are perfectly content to stay the same.

Sure, they’ll add a gimmick, personality quirk, or stylistic change every few years to keep things from getting too stale, but the franchise doesn’t reek of desperation from trying to fix what isn’t broken. At the end of the day, the appeal always comes back to how well these characters gel and how much they love what they do.

That enthusiasm is infectious. These guys are genuinely fun to be around. That’s probably why they’ve lasted so long while most other Hanna-Barbera characters have faded from the public eye. You’d think this would earn them the same ire as other long-running properties like The Simpsons or SpongeBob SquarePants, but that’s not the case.

Rather, it’s oddly comforting to know that our friends at Mystery Inc. won’t alienate us from what made them special in the first place. At the risk of sounding self-indulgent, it’s no mystery why Scooby-Doo is such a potent piece of comfort food.