I would have gotten away with it, except for you meddling kids

It's a phrase I loved as a kid, when I loved Scooby Doo and now my kids love the show, which looks almost identical, but has a weird over arcing plot about evil aliens and a strange owl.

There's a real comfort in familiarity, and a structure where we know all works out in the end. My kids love the show, because Scooby and Shaggy are still hilarious, but also because that line still comes up at the end and every time, they giggle.

There's nothing wrong with comfort. It makes the journey more secure. It's why I always get annoyed when people talk about formula and romance. Lots of genres have a formula of sorts. Look at the big action movies, where the hero always saves the day. Always! And yet that formula is accepted, but one where two people fall in love and live happily ever after is criticized endlessly.

I think about this a lot, because I still have acquaintances who refer to romance as the trash they read when they need to shut their brains off and no matter how I defend the genre, I know I'm just wasting hot air.

Anyone else come up against this? Am I the only one who still gets annoyed?