Warner Bros. Animation's 2019 iteration of the venerable Hanna-Barbera franchise (the "teenagers" still solving paranormal mysteries first appeared in 1969) carries the gimmick that the old series leaned upon only occasionally: a guest star sometimes an actual celebrity such as Jim Gaffigan, Wanda Sykes, Jaleel 'Steve Urkel' White, Whoopi Goldberg, and Ricky Gervais, or sometimes a fictional figure such as Batman, Wonder Woman or Sherlock Holmes.
They join Scooby, Shaggy (who continues to be voiced by Matthew Lillard, from live-action Scooby movies), Fred, Daphne, and Velma in the usual, seldom-varying setup of unmasking a sinister threat who (almost) always turns out to be a mere mortal in disguise, carrying out some obscure crime in the interstitials. Velma invariably explaining how all the clues fit together in the almost ritualistic finale. Recognition by savvy writers that even viewers know this is very old and trite stuff allows this show to get away with some occasionally brilliant post-modern satire that multiple generations of viewers can appreciate.
In one dizzying interlude, the Mystery Machine gang runs into none other than the Funky Phantom crew, characters from an extremely short-lived Scooby-Doo ripoff cartoon of 1971 Saturday mornings (Hanna-Barbera pillaging themselves), and the two sets of teens compete in mystery-solving. Incidentally, the main distinction between the franchises was that the Funky Phantom Crew actually had real ghosts in its roster—and Spongebob Squarepants voiceover performer Tom Kenny earns kudos for doing a neat imitation of the late Daws Butler, the original Funky Phantom.
Some guests just do schtick but the offbeat casting does drive the business up a notch or two for sheer inspiration. George Takei won't let Star Trek be mentioned by name for legal reasons. Mark Hamill's walk-through takes place in Japan, riffing the comic-con trivia that the Star Wars actor attended school there (and inspiring running gags that Shaggy and Scooby have a fan-stalker fixation on Hamill). Bill Nye (the Science Guy) and Neil DeGrasse Tyson tag-team as guests in an episode set on a space station.
A visit by high-speed superhero the Flash results in multiple mini-tributes to vintage Scooby adventures, except the Flash brings the old villains to justice much too swiftly for the teenagers' comfort (and there's yet another voiceover cameo by Hamill). And Penn & Teller appear in a Vegas-set mystery with a delightfully sublime concluding twist (and possible homage to their obscure movie vehicle Penn & Teller Get Killed).
A recommended addition to J collection shelves, Scooby-Doo! And Guess Who? proves you can teach an old dog new tricks. Aud: P