Shark Bytes

Another show that preceded this with similar idea of putting multiple cartoon characters into one show was Yogi's Ark,and I recall likeing that show better; Laffalympics became predictable and same old same.

I never actually saw this show until a few years ago on Boomerang, where they showed all the episodes. It was a cute idea to bring all those characters together, but it seems like some of them were featured too often (especially some of the then-newer characters like Blue Falcon--maybe that's because they were trying to promote the current shows), and others were not featured enough (especially Hong Kong Phooey).

As reference, here are the actual overall win totals for all the episodes produced;

The Really Rottens: 3 Wins
The Scooby Doobies: 15 Wins
The Yogi Yahooeys: 8 Wins
Total possible wins: 24*

*Although the total amount is 24, the last episode had all three teams win, giving a total of 26. Discounting the last episode, the numbers (from top down) change to 2, 14 and 7 giving a total of 23, the number of episodes that had been on before the three-way tie.

In my opinion, this show never jumped - but the one thing that used to bug the hell out of me as a kid was the episode where Fred Flintstone guest stars. They never explained why a caveman was suddenly appearing in 1978. Not only that, he was being interviewed by Snagglepuss and interacting with Yogi Bear, Scooby-Doo et.al. It was so f*ing stupid! FOR GOD SAKES WHERE WAS THE CONTINUITY?!?
R.I.P. Bill & Joe.

I hate to give it a Day One, but I must. All because of the ridiculous bias toward the Scooby Doobies team. I remember loving the show as a kid, but also being very disappointed, not that the Yogi Yahooeys (my favorite) would rarely win, but by HOW they would lose. And after watching a marathon of every episode, it all came back to me. For example, why does the Rottens magician get penalized for using magic, yet the Scooby's Babu can use all the genie powers he wants with his "Yabble Dabble" spell and never get in trouble? Why do the Rottens get penalized for using a rocket engine, and yet Captain Caveman is free to use his rocket powered club without repercussion? Bu the worst part was how the Scoobies would always win in the end. The Yogi's would have a commanding lead going into the last event. No one would say anything about a bonus, or how it was a "winner take all" event. Then, after the Scoobies won, they would suddenly point out that there was a 50 point bonus, to go along with the normal scores. Or they would say that even though the Yogi Yahooeys came in second, they get zero points because we now find out that there is no points for second or third. (Neither of these two things ever happened when the Scoobies led going into the final event.) And yes, I know Scooby's name is attached to the show, but won't somebody think of the children watching! Many kids were like me and rooted for the Yogi Yahooeys. To make them lose week after week after setting them up to look like the champs was frustrating. If they really wanted to make it the All Scooby Show, then they should have had TWO teams of cheaters so no one should expect anyone else to win.

This show awesome!! Never, ever, ever jumped. I can even still watch re-runs on Boomerang for hours and hours. To the poster wanting to know if the Rottens ever appeared before: The Dalton Gang appeared in a couple Quick-Draw McGraw cartoons. I seem to recall seeing them in a western-themed Huckleberry Hound cartoon too.

This show never jumped. I loved this show as a kid. To the poster who asked if any of the Rottens existed before this show, the only one I can remember is the captain, Mumbly. He was a police detective. (Can you believe it? A good guy!) He was part of "The Tom and Jerry Grape Ape Show." He was a third spoke in that cartoon wheel, but his name was not part of the offical title. When the title song was sung, they would show scenes from all three cartoons and sing "it's the Tom and Jerry Grape Ape Show." Then they would say, "and Mumbly, too" while Mumbly held up a piece of cardboard that said "AND MUMBLY, TOO" while he giggled. Poor guy only got second billing. Maybe that's why he became rotten.

This was the best cartoon of the 70s/80s. Definitely. A few corrections to some posts above. There were definitely more than 16 episodes, so your final results is not complete. I have every episode on tape, but I've never tallied them up. I hated the fact that the Scooby Doobies won FAR moe than the Yogi Yahooeys. They probably won 75% of the time, with the Yogis winning all but a few of the rest. But more than that was the WAY the Scooby Doobies would win. They would often cheat just as much as the Really Rottens. And they would always get away with it. (Well, not quite always. I distinctly remember an episode where the Scoobies were penaltized for 'accidentally' cheating. But even as a kid I knew it was intentional.) I mean, some of hte things that Rottens did were NOTHING compared to "Yabble Dabble" Yet because Scooby had his name on the show, the judges let him get away with it. And some of the ways they had the Scoobies win were just pathetic. It was DEFINITELY fixed! I remember an episode where the Yagis had won every event up to the last won. Consequently, they had such a lead that it was imposible for either of the other teams to catch up. So what do they do? That make the final event worth DOUBLE of what it is usually worth. And even then, the only way for the Scoobies to win would be for the Yogis to get zero points. Which of course it exactly what happens. (Gee, that is funny. In other events, no matter what happens, aside from cheating, the worst you can get is a third place finish. I guess not when precious Scooby Doo is involved.) As a kid who hated Scooby, and now an adult who still hates Scooby, I hated that. What a disappointed every week. Actually, looking back it was a really stupid idea to make Scooby dominate. Think of all the disappointed kids who liked the Yogis........But over all, this show never jumped. I just wish the cheating would have been penalized uniformly. Actually, in this way, it is a lot like Wacky Races. On that show, EVERY contestant cheated throughout the whole race. But only Dirk Dastardly would get in trouble for it.

The reason why Grape couldn't always get the win is because of that Magician dude on the rottens. The Scoobies knew he could cast a spell to prevent the Grape from winning. Then the other team would usually sneak in the win after the Rottens got caught for cheating. Also there is only so many times that even the referee's darlings- the Scoobies- could get away with their own cheating through Grape. To top it off Grape's cheating would deface national treasures like the Leaning. I mean you just can't keep smashing the leaning and leaping over it instead of climbing it and expect to not get called. Even if the government doesn't expect you to pay for the crime of defacing their treasure, sooner or later a team is going to complain to the proper authorities and even start a lawsuit. Let's face it the Grape was a major cheater.

In fact, it's a pioneer in a twisted sort of way: They began using instant replay to overturn calls before the NFL even thought of the idea. Funny, I always root for the "good" guys in shows - and hated it when the bad guys, especially in pro wrestling - cheated and won. But on this show, I rooted for the Really Rottens (and Dick Dastardly in the other Laffalympics series) because their tricks are what made the shows funny. Without them, the good guys would always win in boring fashion. And I think the replays that exposed the villians' trickery ruined the fun. I know, I know, positive message and all. But hey, the good guys seldom win in real life .. at least, they don't win simply by playing by the rules; they have to outwit the villains. In Laffalympics, that never happened. Hey, gotta love some of those names - like Professor Pat. Pending ... yeah i know, it's a different show but with the same premise. Three cheers for the Really Rottens!

This show never jumped the shark. I watched it all the time when I was little. I do remember being shocked when The Really Rottens won a couple of times, but the show was just being true to life. Sometimes the really terrible jerks do win, and there's nothing you can do about it. I also used to wonder about that girl in the short shorts; I bet she became the fantasy of quite a few guys

I can't say if it jumped or not because I haven't seen the show, but from the reviews, it might be nice to see it come back staring some of the new H-B characters. Johnny Bravo, Carl, Pops, Johnny's Mom, The Powerpuff Girls, Dee Dee(from Dexter's Labritory), Dexter, and others on a 'Newbies' team, Yogi Bear, Boo Boo, Scooby Doo, The Smurfs(yes, the were H-B), Fred Flintstone(Dexter could bring him back), George Jetson(It's about his time, anyway), and others on a 'Classics' team, and Mojo Jojo, Him, Dexter's Arch-Nemesis(Can't remember his name), Princess(From Powerpuff Girls), Dick Dastardly, at least one woman Johnny Bravo has hit on, and others, both Classic and New, on a 'Bad' team. It would balance it out because Dexter could cheat even if he is on a 'good' team. It might also be funny to see other animated series do the same things. Pokemon vs. Gundam Wing vs. The Badguys of Pokemon and Gundamwing. Or The Simpsons vs. The Hill Family vs. The South Park kids. I'll shut up now.

It never JTS-ed. The only down side was why the 'captain' of the Rottens was called Mumbly--when he looked exactly like Muttley from "Wacky Races". Also, when the rabbit on the Rottens stuck his tongue out and said "blah", it looked like the finger he was holding up was the middle finger. Finally, I know all about the characters on the Yogis and Scoobies, but where did all those characters on the Rottens come from? Were they created just for this cartoon, or did they appear in earlier H-B cartoons?

Results of all the laff-a-lympics. Scoobies - 9 Yahooies - 5 Rottens - 2 Rottens usually got busted by the Cheat-O-Meter.

As hard as it may be to digest or accept, allowing the Really Rottens to routinely win would have demoralized a nation I'm afraid. Good, evil, cartoons....You know the score. I do believe that the Really Rottens won on at least one occasion. I remember looking over at my sister in disbelief when they were declared champion, as if we just saw a magical moment in the annals of cartoon depravity. Of course, that moment pushed the show into its decline....But who cares! I think the hottie with the tight shorts was "Daisy Mayhem". I'm not sure what she had done to be on the really rottens, other than create impure thoughts. A "Vern Gagne" reference talking about the Laff-Olympics. Thank you for that. Man, this is great.