What a Night for a Knight

I'm a really big fan of Scooby Doo, and I could watch it all day, regardless of how silly the episodes could get.

What a night for a knight is the first episode of Scooby Doo Where Are you, and the entire Scooby Doo franchise as a whole.

You can tell this episode is a pilot; for one thing the episode is set over the course of one day. Most of the original Scooby Doo episodes tend to be set at night, and night only. Another thing that makes it different from the other episode of the series is that the gang doesn't meet the monster until ten minutes in (although we do see the Monster at the beginning). It was very obvious at this point that Joe Ruby and Ken Spears were testing the formula.

The plot involves Scooby and Shaggy who are walking home from the movies, when they notices an abandoned truck, they look inside and there is nothing there except for a black knight suit. They inform the gang of what they found. The gang, decide to return the black knight. Mr. Wickles the museum curator tells them of the legend of the black knight. When the moon is full the black knight is suppose to come to life. While driving back the gang notices that Scooby is wearing a funny pair of glasses. The gang decides to go to the library to learn where these glasses come from and learn that these glasses are found only in England. Believing that something must being going on the museum, the gang find themselves in another mystery.

As an episode it's silly, but enjoyable. I love the dark and creepy atmosphere (which occurs in most episodes of Scooby Doo), and the general tone of the episode. The reveal of the villain at the end is not surprising at all, but it makes for a good mystery.

8 / 10

"What a Night for a Knight" is ground-breaking for being the first episode of the first incarnation of Scooby Doo 'Scooby Doo Where are You'. This said, it deserves more than that distinction, as to start out on one of the show's classics is very impressive indeed.

There's so much that is great in "What a Night for a Knight", everything that makes me a fan of Scooby Doo is present here and it's the first episode.

A standout feature in "What a Night for a Knight" is the atmosphere, a real darkness and creepiness, some moments among the darkest and creepiest of the entire show. It's not all dark and creepy though, even so early on in the show there is an ideal balance of mystery and comedy, and while the comedy is sort of goofy and silly it's in an endearing sort of way and never annoying or juvenile. There is some hilarious writing here, including one of the funniest final trap scenes of the show.

The mystery in "What a Night for a Knight" acquits itself just fine, with some nice clues and a case that's easy to follow and comprehend. It's formulaic, but not in a way that's overly predictable, which is true of Scooby Doo at its best or when it's still solid. Again the dark and creepy atmosphere helps enormously, as well as the humour, how well established the lead characters are, Shaggy and Scooby's charming and amusing friendship and an unforgettable and initially genuinely frightening foe in The Black Knight.

Black Knight's true personality may not be much of a surprise for anybody adding up the clues along with the gang (though it is nowhere near as obvious as in "Never Ape an Ape Man" and "Mine Your Own Business", examples of it only could have been one person), but my younger self did find myself surprised, due to that the criminal himself was much smaller than in the Black Knight guise that towered over the rest of the character.

Here, the animation is lively, atmospheric and nicely drawn. Maybe not as accomplished in finesse as animation now, but for back then it's quite impressive and compares favourably against a lot of mid-late Hanna-Barbera shows. The music adds to the impact the atmosphere creates, and it is very difficult to resist the classic theme song that is one of the most iconic in animation. The voice acting is very good, especially from Don Messick and Casey Kasem (amazing that Frank Welker is still voicing Fred nearly 50 years on and so consistently, what an amazingly talented guy he is).

Overall, a great start to what still holds up as the first and best incarnation of Scooby Doo. 10/10 Bethany Cox

Scooby Doo, Where Are You!

S1E1: What a Night for a Knight (1969)

Scooby, Shaggy and the rest of the gang find themselves in a museum, which is supposed to be haunted by a mysterious knight from England that comes to life whenever there's a full moon. This here will always be best remembered for being the first episode in the series and on that level alone it contains a certain soft spot. The monster this time out is actually a pretty good one and one that was featured throughout the opening titles. The charcoal looking knight is quite effective as it really does look like something that would be haunted. The actual mystery surrounding it isn't too hard to figure out but then again that's not overly important and especially this early in the series. All of the main characters were immediately likable even from this first episode so it's easy to see why this series would survive for so many decades going forward.

Episode: B+

I remember seeing this episode when I was around 8-9 years old. I was saying to myself... so this was the first episode, huh? No wonder Scooby-Doo would last for decades. This was an amazing pilot. I also like how simple the mystery is. Hanna and Barbara did a really good job hinting what the plot will be like for majority of the seasons.

For the characters, they were likable from the beginning. Shaggy and Scooby-Doo will continue to be my favorite characters from this day. I also love Fred, Daphne, and Velma too. The Black Knight is a great villain to start out with. He is certainly memorable for being the first monster the gang ever encountered.

Overall great episode. It's not perfect though so... 8/10

Solid first episode, a museum is a great place for an episode and they show a lot of different exhibits they dont jsust spend the entire time in the medieval part. The knight is a good design for the bad guy. Pretty sure they say it was a full moon at the beginning when the suit of armour goes missing and the same night when they're in the museum meaning i guess the professor was just tied up in front of all of those people for two weeks. Also shaggy's weird set of skills i assume will never be brought back up again. The animation was a lot better than I expected it was going to be for something made in the sixties.