Question: Why does every Scooby Doo villain confess at the end of the show? Why, instead of keeping quiet, do they always utter the classic words “And I would’ve gotten away with it too if it weren’t for you meddling kids!”?
Answer: Because adding a trial requires showing a courtroom which requires adding more cast members which increases costs.

Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of which have the same answer: to better manage costs. The costs are frequently economic though not always. The series focuses narrowly on the impact of costs. It does not claim these costs are the sole cause. To read more in the series, visit https://medium.com/galileo-onwards/costs/home.

Any episodic television show only has a fixed duration— typically 21–28 minutes or 42–58 minutes. In that time it must ⒜ establish a scenario, ⒝ execute the plot, and finally, ⒞ wrap up.

In the case of a Scooby-Doo episode, these amount to ⒜ “the gang” arriving at a location with spooky occurrences, ⒝ Scooby-Doo and Shaggy finding and eating things, Fred suggesting the gang split up, Velma coming up with a plan, and finally, ⒞ Scooby-Doo & Shaggy running around and ending with the gang capturing and unmasking the spooky creature. The Scooby gang do all the above in just 11 minutes. (Their running around also involves a lot of reused cartoon images. You can read more reused cartooning in the Costs Matter post: Why do anime characters run with their arms behind their backs?)

To see the costs involved, let’s consider the alternative. Suppose, at the end, the perpetrator just keeps silent (as would be the practical course of action). In this case, the show has two options: ⑴ end the episode or ⑵ showing any or all of police paperwork, court proceedings, trial, and closure. ⑴ effectively implies ⑵ but viewers get no closure. ⑵ has several possible outcomes ranging from conviction to mistrial. ⑴ is unsatisfying because viewers might not like uncertainty. Imagine incorporating the entire breadth of ⑵ in a 11-minute episode. Jinkies. Additional costs from ⑵ are more drawings and voice actors. Why mess with something that works?

Thus, a confessing criminal conveniently cuts cinematic (cartooning) costs concurrently capturing other crucial entertainment essentials.

Law and Order

There was a TV show made along the lines of ⑵: Law and Order. It ran from 1990 until 2010. According to Wikipedia, “The first half of each episode would follow two detectives… and their commanding officer as they investigate a violent crime. The second half of the episode would follow the District Attorney’s Office and the courts as two prosecutors, with advice from the District Attorney himself, attempt to convict the accused.”

Not just Scooby-Doo

Of course, the children’s show, Scooby-Doo, isn’t the only one with confessing criminals. They do even in detective shows such as Psych (2006–14), Monk (2002–2009), Murder, She Wrote (1984–96) and Perry Mason (1957–66).

It’s good to remember that costs always matter.

Image generated by author using figlet. License: public domain.