In 1968, Action for Children’s Television (ACT) and other parent-run organizations began to protest the mounting rate of cartoon violence on Saturday morning children’s television during the mid-to-late ‘60’s. The most notable offender, Hanna-Barbera, had monopolized this block of children’s television, dominating it with action shows such as Jonny Quest, Space Ghost, and The Herculoids. Due to the controversial violent aspects of these shows brought to light by ACT, however, virtually all of Hanna-Barbera’s programming was cancelled. This left Fred Silverman, Hanna-Barbera’s executive of daytime programming, to find a show that would both revitalize the network and appease the parent groups that had rallied against the initial shows. Among the fruits of his research on what media did appeal to these parental groups was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series; although this detective is a crass, less-than-well-mannered drug addict, parents considered these novels good developmental tools based on their own childhoods. The recurring theme of the triumph of reasoning over superstition and the example set by an intelligent, well read protagonist (rather than the typical crime fighters and giant robots of the era) made Sherlock Holmes seem like viable inspiration. Scooby Doo, therefore, finds its roots in the Sherlock Holmes series, resulting in similar plotlines and appearances from Sherlock Holmes within the Scooby Doo series.