'The New Scooby Doo Movies' was not a perfect series, with the most common problem being less than great animation. Some guest stars, villains and episodes fared stronger than others.
"Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner" is not a classic of the series, but it still entertains. It is the first of two guest appearances by Don Knotts, and have always remembered this episode to be the better one of the two. "The Spooky Fog of Juneberry" needs to be re-watched, which it will be done once this reviewer gets to it in watching the episodes in order of release, though from memory it was one of the series' least interesting.
Not a perfect episode by all means "Guess Who's Knott Coming to Dinner". The mystery is not as interesting as it could have been, playing second fiddle to Knotts' guest appearance and there isn't enough of it, pretty much being almost neglected until reasonably far in. The villains are quite dull and pretty easy to figure out. Plus the animation continues to be not so brilliant, some nice colours and backgrounds but crude drawings, some rushed-looking character designs and goofs.
However, Knotts proves to be a very entertaining guest star, with some great lines and fun if somewhat obvious disguises. The music is atmospheric and energetic, with a catchy theme tune. The writing is endearingly silly and often very funny, not just from Knotts but also from Shaggy and Scooby. As well as the humour, the episode does succeed in giving off a creepy enough atmosphere in places and it is not a dull episode by any stretch of the imagination. Sure the story could have been better balanced, but it is tighter paced than "The Ghastly Ghost Town".
Shaggy and Scooby never fail to bring a smile to my face, and their friendship and goofy chemistry is beautifully realised and a huge part of the franchise's charm. Fred, Velma and Daphne don't make as big an impression, but still serve a point and are enjoyable enough. The voice acting is very good, especially from Don Messick, Casey Kasem and Knotts himself.
On the whole, not a great episode but still has a lot of enjoyable aspects. 7/10 Bethany Cox