10 Annoying New TV Characters Only Added To Boost Ratings
1. Scrappy-Doo - Scooby-Doo
In 1979, Scooby-Doo's ratings were in the toilet, and ABC was threatening to cancel the series, though it's weird now to think about such an iconic cartoon being cancelled. The writers knew what they had to do: write a young, hip new character to spice things up! That always helps! In this case, it was kind of successful. The introduction of Scrappy boosted ratings and lead to the show being rebuilt around his presence. Surely people tuning into a show called Scooby-Doo would want to focus on Scrappy, right?
Scrappy is another loud mouthed, hyper, incredibly annoying addition that just can't stop stealing the spotlight and ruining the series for everyone. He's unbelievably obnoxious and usually threatening to fight the villains by himself, which is meant to be cute but just gets old. Although he became a big part of the show after being introduced, it was soon clear how hated Scrappy was by the general public, and so his role was slowly reduced in later iterations of the franchise.
However, when it came time to make the live action Scooby-Doo film in 2002, Scrappy returned in a major role. This time, he was actually the villain, angry at Mystery Inc. for abandoning him years ago just like the show abandoned him. Sorry, Scrappy. You kind of deserved it.