"Shaggy Busted"^[1][2] is the third episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. It premiered on Adult Swim on July 7, 2002,^[3] was written and directed by Vincent Waller, and co-written by Michael Ouweleen, with Erik Richter directing the episode's live-action sequence. In the episode, Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo are pulled over for erratic driving while driving the Mystery Machine en-route to a monster attack, and falsely arrested for driving under the influence, with Fred Jones then hiring Harvey Birdman to defend them. The episode received a positive critical acclaim, receiving praise for its story, subplot, and ending. It was seen by 1.7 million viewers at first airing, and is notable for including the first appearance of Peanut in the series.^[4]

Plot

In a partially live-action sequence, the Mystery Machine, playing loud music reminiscent of the early Doobie Brothers, is pulled over for erratic driving. The driver, Shaggy Rogers, tells the officer that they're off to the old abandoned cotton mill, where he's going to meet his friends and investigate the green monster that's said to inhabit it. The officer misinterprets this to mean they're under the influence of marijuana, and when he asks them to step out, they speed off, the officer unloading his gun in rapid fire after them.

Back at Sebben & Sebben, Harvey Birdman is having trouble keeping track of his files. He tells Avenger they need a clerk, and, after reassuring the eagle that the newcomer won't be a replacement for him, begins interviewing for one. One of the candidates, a young man named Peanut, who dresses much like Harvey, tells about his last job at a baltimization plant (believed by the Japanese to be an aphrodesiac), where his supervisor was killed (implied by him) and he decided to just "move on"; thinks he's just kidding, Harvey hires him, not thinking much of responding "sure" to his request for a gun.

Fred Jones comes in to hire Harvey, as Peanut jumps around posing with his new gun. When Fred mentions "the gang", Harvey believes him to be a member of a real gang, and thinks his ascot is gang colors. Ignoring this, they meet up with Daphne Blake and Velma Dinkley at the jail, where Harvey speaks with Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. The two of them giggle constantly, and Velma has to assure Harvey that Shaggy and Scooby aren't high, just stupid.

In the court cafeteria, Harvey eats with the opposing attorney, Spyro, and attempts to cut a deal, but Spyro refuses. The case goes to court, and, while Harvey gives a stirring speech for his opening remarks, Spyro stages a Victorian play to reenact what happened the night in question. Spyro's first witness presents the evidence, which consists of a number of pizza boxes, eyedrops, and some clips, all of which were in the Mystery Machine when it was pulled over. Harvey counters that the clips are Daphne's hair pins.

Harvey brings Velma to the stand, and after she describes Shaggy and Scooby's manner as normal, Spyro cross-examines her and presents a series of video clips and pictures which, out of context, seem to show the whole group as engaging in marijuana use. The group goes out to the Birdcage bar, where Fred decides to go look for the monster. The next day, as Harvey is about to continue his case, Fred and Velma return with the monster, a large, green, leafy creature. In reality, he is Old Man Backov, who's given up on growing cotton and changed crops to soy beans. Scrappy-Doo soon arrives, but is picked up by Avenger and flown away, as everyone continues to laugh.

Reception

Patricio Kobek of The Gamer praised the depiction of Scooby-Doo characters in the episode as a "real treat" in the "hippie vibe" of Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo leading to them being mistaken for marijuana users, calling "Such a take on the classic characters [a]s by no means wholesome of family friendly".^[5] Jake Uitti of Under the Radar ranked the episode as the second-best episode of the first season and the 10th-best Adult Swim first season episodes overall, calling it "Low hanging fruit [that] audiences ate [u]p", complimenting the "quick scene cuts and comical antics [that] the charmed the bong smokers [and] was a hit immediately".^[6]

David Kaldor of Bubbleblabber lauded the episode as the best of the series, running "the obvious “hah, Shaggy and Scooby act like they’re high” gag [I]nto the ground, the crux of that joke mainly plays on how much profiling goes into drug charges like that. It’s even more evident when it’s made clear numerous times that the two of them aren’t high, they’re just stupid which, intentionally or not, points to how quick to persecute and harshly punish even those who might SEEM in possession of it. Obviously there are plenty of arguments for and against marijuana legalization, but this episode sidesteps that by, perhaps inadvertently, making it about the motives of the judgment as opposed to the actual crime [and notinng] Since 2002, when this episode first aired, marijuana laws have changed quite a bit. While a third of U.S. states still haven’t decriminalized it, the conversation around its uses has expanded exponentially, from medicinal uses to recreational. Whether you use it or don’t, approve it or not, it's become a much bigger presence in a lot of fields. However, while some have been overturned, many who were charged for crimes before this are still imprisoned, showing that previous conviction to convict still remained. Obviously, this is not at all what a 10-minute cartoon about Scooby-Doo characters was ever trying to convey, but that’s where we seem to be now".^[7]

Sam Barsanti of The A.V. Club noted that while not the "cleverest" Harvey Birdman episode, the episode did "illustrate the show’s basic premise very cleanly", complimenting the "easy, obvious joke [of the Mystery Machine gang being mistaken for drug users] as play[ing] a little better when the prosecutor brings up questionable clips from old Scooby-Doo episodes that show the characters running through smoky rooms and pausing mid-blink so it looks like their eyelids are drooping".^[8] The Thorn of The Critical Eye praised the episode as the third-best episode of the series, "riff[ing] off the Scooby gang to such perfection", also complimenting the introduction of Peanut for "add[ing] to the nonsensical aspect of the show [as] the ultimate random element".^[4]

References

External links

• "Shaggy Busted" at IMDb