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Velma (TV series)

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Velma
Genre
Based on
Developed byCharlie Grandy
Voices of
Music byCraig DeLeon
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes6
Production
Executive producers
ProducerKandace Reuter
Editors
  • Brian Swanson
  • Erin Hassidim
Running time24–25 minutes
Production companies
Original release
NetworkHBO Max
ReleaseJanuary 12, 2023 (2023-01-12) –
present

Velma is an American adult animated mystery horror comedy series based on the character Velma Dinkley from the Scooby-Doo franchise. Developed and created[1] by Charlie Grandy for HBO Max, it stars executive producer Mindy Kaling as the voice of the titular character, with Sam Richardson, Constance Wu and Glenn Howerton in supporting roles. Grandy also serves as the showrunner of the series. It revolves around Velma Dinkley and the other human members of Mystery Inc. before their official formation, making it the first television series in the franchise to not feature the Scooby-Doo character.

The series premiered on January 12, 2023 to overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics and fans, who praised the vocal performances, but were divided toward the humor and criticized its meta storytelling, characterization, and departures from established Scooby-Doo lore.

Plot

The series serves as an alternate universe origin story for Mystery Inc., pitched as a "love quadrangle" between them.[2] It primarily focuses on Velma Dinkley as she tries to solve a mystery regarding the disappearance of her mother, as well as the numerous murders of local teenage girls.[3]

Voice cast

See also: List of Scooby-Doo characters

Main

  • Mindy Kaling as Velma Dinkley,[4] a snarky teenage would-be detective, who has a crush on murder suspect Fred Jones.[5][6] She has a lifelong passion for solving mysteries, a trait she inherited from her mother, but since she went missing years prior, Velma is a lot more cautious regarding mysteries and has horrific guilt-based hallucinations whenever she attempts to solve one. She is partially modeled after Kaling and is portrayed as a bisexual South Asian–American, a first for her character.
  • Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones,[7] a popular but dimwitted 16-year-old murder suspect, and Velma's crush who is the heir to the Jones Gentlemen Collection fashion line. He is also a noted late bloomer in terms of puberty.[5] He is the only original Mystery, Inc. member depicted as white, as in other Scooby-Doo media.
  • Sam Richardson as Norville Rogers,[8] Velma's best friend and a school news reporter, who has a crush on her and frequently brings up how much he hates drugs.[9][5] He is portrayed as biracial, a first for his character, and is exclusively referred to by his real first name instead of his familiar nickname, Shaggy. He also does not share the original Shaggy's cowardice, although his love of snacks remains.
  • Constance Wu as Daphne Blake,[10] a popular girl and Velma's former best friend, who has "complicated feelings" for her.[9][11] Raised by two adoptive mothers, Daphne hopes to discover her biological parents and sells drugs to her fellow students in order to afford a detective. This version is portrayed as East Asian American, a first for her character.

Supporting

  • Russell Peters as Aman Dinkley, Velma's lawyer father, who struggles to keep her in line.
  • Melissa Fumero as Sophie, Aman's model girlfriend who also owns Spooner's Malt Shop. She is initially pregnant, but eventually gives birth to a girl in "Velma Makes a List".
  • Sarayu Blue as Diya Dinkley, Velma's absentee mother who used to write mysteries, inspiring her daughter's passion.
  • Jane Lynch as Donna Blake, one of Daphne's two adoptive mothers, who is a slightly incompetent detective investigating Brenda's murder.
  • Wanda Sykes as Linda Blake, Daphne's other adoptive mother, who shares Donna's profession.
  • Ming-Na Wen as Carroll, Daphne's biological mother and a member of the Crystal Cove Gang.
  • Ken Leung as Darren, Daphne's biological father and a member of the Crystal Cove Gang.
  • Cherry Jones as Victoria Jones, Fred's mother who often spoils and babies her son.
  • Frank Welker as William Jones, Fred's father who is ashamed of him. Welker has voiced Fred since the character's inception in 1969.
  • Nicole Byer as Blythe Rogers, Norville's African American mother and the Principal of Crystal Cove High.
  • Gary Cole as Lamont Rogers, Norville's white father who works as a therapist and Crystal Cove High's school counselor. He bears a resemblance to Shaggy's original design.
  • "Weird Al" Yankovic as Dandruff Tuba, a student at Coolsville High. A running gag involves him getting frequently injured by the gang's antics.
  • Fortune Feimster as Olive, a popular girl at the gang's school.
  • Yvonne Orji as Gigi, a cool girl at the gang's school.
  • Karl-Anthony Towns as Jacques Beau (Jock Bo), a handsome jock at the gang's school.
  • Shay Mitchell as Brenda, an attractive, popular girl at the gang's school who was murdered by a serial killer via having her brain ripped out.
  • Debby Ryan as Krista, another attractive girl at the gang's school who is murdered in the same manner as Brenda.
  • Stephen Root as Sheriff Cogburn, the incompetent sheriff of Coolsville. He resembles the animated design of Don Knotts, a former Scooby-Doo! guest star.

In addition, Kulap Vilaysack has been cast in an undisclosed role.[12]

Episodes

No.Title [13]Directed byWritten byOriginal release date [13]
1"Velma"Anne Walker FarrellCharlie GrandyJanuary 12, 2023 (2023-01-12)
Velma is implicated when Brenda is murdered in the school locker room, and is tasked with clearing her name within twenty-four hours. After hearing from Norville that it might be connected to a missing camera and a cover-up in the malt shop bathroom, she suspects Sophie is involved, but she is soon proven innocent. Aman explains Diya simply left them on purpose, supposedly solving the mystery. Velma attempts to move on, only to be confronted by the other girls, including Daphne, who lets it slip that Fred has some insecurities and is known to kick partners out of the malt shop bathroom. Velma and Norville sneak into his mansion and find the latter's camera, revealing Fred was the one who covered up the evidence. Fred explains he is simply embarrassed about being a late bloomer and seemingly plans to kill Velma, but actually just wants to buy her silence. He is nonetheless taken in by Donna and Linda. With her name cleared, Velma strives to pick up mystery-solving again and figure out what really happened to her mother, only to find Krista has been murdered as well.
2"The Candy (Wo)man"Cal RamseyAkshara SekarJanuary 12, 2023 (2023-01-12)
While Aman reluctantly agrees to defend Fred in court, Velma asks Daphne for the cold-case file on Diya, but Daphne says she'll only do it if given $500. Velma soon discovers Daphne is the school's "candy woman" and is threatened into helping her sell more drugs. Meanwhile, Norville makes several attempts to get the $500 for her, from selling a sword from his room to almost donating a kidney. He is rewarded $500 for apprehending a gunman but doesn't accept it, figuring he should win Velma's heart instead of buying it. Daphne reveals the real reason why she is selling drugs, and ends up reconnecting with Velma. Aman agrees to give Velma the $500 if she helps him prove Fred's innocence, which she ultimately does. Everyone is convinced, but Fred snaps when his childishness is displayed to the public, and he is declared guilty. While Aman's career is ruined, Daphne gives Velma her mother's file. It contains a clue, stating her phone last went off at Fred's house, much to her shock. Daphne manages to stop her hallucination by kissing her, much to Norville's dismay.
3"Velma Kai"Meg WaldowStephanie Amante-RitterJanuary 19, 2023 (2023-01-19)
While sorting out her feelings for Daphne, Velma plans to ask an imprisoned Fred about Diya, but another hallucination gets her kicked out of the prison. Coolsville High holds a women's self-defense tournament with Daphne and Velma making it to the finals. Before their fight, they both admit to liking each other, but Velma suspects Daphne won't explore her feelings because her popularity is at stake. She ends up reading Daphne's journal in front of the student body but is forced to apologize after her stunt backfires. The girls reconcile but decide to just be friends for now. Meanwhile, Norville tries to pick Fred's brain in Velma's place, borrowing his father's cardigan in order to seem like a real therapist. Fred confirms he had nothing to do with the murders or Diya's disappearance, much to Velma's chagrin. The other prisoners also seek Norville's therapy, but when he forgets to show up, they incite a riot and bust out, only to get caught by Linda and Donna.
4"Velma Makes a List"Gina GressElijah AronJanuary 19, 2023 (2023-01-19)
After Fred is exonerated and released from prison, a third girl named Lola is confirmed murdered much like Brenda and Krista. Sheriff Cogburn determines the pattern in the cases, being that each victim is attractive. Velma offers to rank which girls are the most likely to be murdered, but this prompts every girl to intentionally sexualize herself in order to make it on the list. Overwhelmed, Velma tells Fred to make the list for her, which includes Daphne, and at the cops' request, she tries to mask the girls' attractiveness to keep them safe. The girls reject this, feeling they shouldn't have to hide their true selves for any reason. Velma isn't given much time to think about this when she becomes a stepsister after Sophie gives birth. Meanwhile, Fred learns to appreciate inner beauty after reading The Feminine Mystique, and Norville helps Daphne find some clues about her parents' disappearance by rooting through the town's history with crystals. In a mid-credits scene, Norville runs into Gigi and instantly becomes attracted to her.
5"Marching Band Sleepover"Cal RamseyMatt WarburtonJanuary 26, 2023 (2023-01-26)
While Norville's new relationship with Gigi keeps him occupied from helping in Velma's investigation, Fred tells her that his house used to belong to a mad scientist named Dr. Edna Perdue. Since Fred is unable to ease Velma's hallucinations, she decides to hold a canceled marching band sleepover at her house to lure Norville over. Velma and Gigi fight over his attention before Gigi reveals that Dr. Perdue was Norville's grandmother. The sleepover goes awry after the guests start starving, so Velma, Norville, Gigi, and Fred go out to get some food in Linda and Donna's stolen police car due to the town-wide curfew. Velma eventually realizes her own selfishness and lets herself get caught by the police so the others can escape, during which she bribes Principal Rogers into telling her about Dr. Perdue. Meanwhile, Daphne infiltrates the closed crystal coves and finds her disguised biological parents there, who claim that her mothers stole her from them. After they refuse to tell Daphne more about her adoption, she secretly returns to the cove where her parents are revealed to be members of a criminal gang.
6"The Sins of the Fathers and Some of the Mothers"Meg WadlowElijah Aron
Jenna Simmons		January 26, 2023 (2023-01-26)
Principal Rogers tells Velma the story of how Dr. Edna Perdue went insane after working on a secret project called Special COvert Operation Brain Initiative (S.C.O.O.B.I.). Before she can reveal how this is connected to Diya, Velma hallucinates again. After realizing that these are caused by her father's disbelief about her mother's kidnapping, Velma confronts Aman, who decides to spend more time with her. They begin to bond, but Velma discovers Aman used her as an excuse so he can do his job on his paternity leave behind Sophie's back. Frustrated, Velma demands the answers from Rogers who tells her that Diya did research on Perdue's work. With Fred's help, Velma finds Perdue's old lab under the Jones' house where they are joined by Aman, who finally believes Diya's kidnapping after finding a note "JINKIES" in her handwriting. Meanwhile, Daphne spends time with her biological parents, only to learn that they want to use her as an insurance policy when they leave the town with the stolen crystals. They are arrested by Linda and Donna, who finally tells the truth to Daphne about her adoption and she reconciles with them.
7"Fog Fest"UnknownUnknownFebruary 2, 2023 (2023-02-02)
8"A Velma in the Woods"UnknownUnknownFebruary 2, 2023 (2023-02-02)
9"Family (Wo)man"UnknownUnknownFebruary 9, 2023 (2023-02-09)
10"The Brains of the Operation"UnknownUnknownFebruary 9, 2023 (2023-02-09)

Production

The series was first announced on February 10, 2021.[14] On July 11, 2022, the trademark for the series was listed as abandoned,[15] only for HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys to confirm the series to still be in production in an August memo, Studio IAM in South Korea handled the series animation.[16] with the series previewing at New York Comic Con on October 6, 2022.[17]

Some of the characters are notably raceswapped. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Mindy Kaling explains that "the essence of Velma is not necessarily tied to her whiteness. And I identify so much as her character, and I think so many people do, so it's like, yeah, let's make her Indian in this series."[18] Unlike most Scooby-Doo incarnations, this series will not feature Scooby-Doo himself due to studio mandates, combined with the crew struggling to come up with an adult take on the character.[19] Matthew Lillard, the current voice of Shaggy Rogers in most Scooby-Doo media, expressed his support for the cast of Velma as opposed to his disappointment of not being cast in Scoob!.[20][21]

Velma marks the second series to feature Frank Welker not voicing Fred Jones after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,[22] though Welker is still involved in the show by voicing Fred's father.

Release

The first two episodes of Velma were released on January 12, 2023, on HBO Max,[23][24][25] with the rest of the episodes being released in weekly pairs until February 9, 2023. Notably, the series broke HBO Max's record for the biggest premiere day of an original animated show.[26]

Reception

Critical response

Velma has received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 42% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10 based on 33 critics. The website's critics consensus reads, "Jinkies! This radical reworking of the beloved Mystery Team has plenty of attitude and style, but it doesn't have the first clue for how to turn its clever subversion into engaging fun".[13] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 56 out of 100 based on 15 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[27]

Saloni Gajjar of AV Club gave the show a positive review, praising most of the humor, characterization, storytelling, voice cast, and creative liberties, but stating that sometimes the show falls victim to the tropes it mocks. She concluded the review by saying, "This isn't the Velma we're used to, but it's the Velma we deserve to enjoy today."[28] Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly was far more negative and gave the show a C, describing it as a "self-aware slog" and "so extra it's minus." He criticized the strong emphasis on pop-culture references and meta humor, and how they tend to bury the few bright spots.[29] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it two out of four stars and stated "... at times the humor is smart and spot-on, but it quickly becomes exhausting. It's as if a team of very clever scribes gathered in a writers' room and recorded everything they said – and then shoehorned all of it into the series."[30]

Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence criticized the show's unbalanced tone, lack of focus, absence of Scooby-Doo, and overstuffed narrative. She also stated the series "feels a bit PG in comparison to other adult animation currently in the works." Conversely, Miller praised the voice acting as well as some of the gags, ending the review by hoping for a second season to iron out its flaws, having noted the show takes a "the first season is really the pilot episode" approach.[31] In a mixed critique, Angie Han of The Hollywood Reporter praised the "thoughtful, emotionally honest" portrayal of Velma herself, but made note of how the show loves to poke fun at televised tropes, yet "seems somewhat less sure of what it has to offer in their stead." She stated how the series' "insistence that it's not like other shows grows thin" and criticized how the cast feels more like "joke machines" than individual characters.[32]

Writing for IGN, Brittany Vincent criticized the series' portrayal of its title character, comparing her to "a biting, hateful version of Daria without the character growth," stating this aspect of the show holds it back from being what it strives to be. She did, however, praise the "side-splitting" comedy and the portrayals of Daphne and Fred, concluding that "ironically, the series would be exponentially better without its namesake – or at least a version of her with a bit more character growth."[33] Paste Magazine's Rendy Jones gave the series a 5.8 out of 10, praising the art direction and voice performances, but describing the writing as "constantly at war with itself." They also compared it unfavorably to Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, which they deemed similar in intentions but superior in execution.[1] Joshua Alston of Variety wrote the show is "irreverent to a fault," extolling most of the humor but stating it could belong to any other comedy series. He also criticized the portrayal of the Mystery Inc. gang, whom he described as "just really unpleasant to spend time with."[34]

Audience response

Audience reception to Velma has been overwhelmingly negative.[35][36][37] Asyia Iftikhar of PinkNews noted in her reflection of audience responses that the show "has been the subject of relentless criticism from fans", receiving overwhelmingly negative reviews and criticism. Iftikhar commented on how the show has been accused of "perpetuating stereotypes against South Asian women, criticised for poor attempts at self-aware comedy and slammed for losing the essence of what people love about the Scooby Doo gang".[38] Velma became the lowest-rated television shows on IMDb,[39][40] receiving similar low scores from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes and Google.[35][36][41]

References

  1. ^ a b Jones, Rendy (January 10, 2023). "Velma: Mindy Kaling's Take on Mystery Gang's Super Sleuth Can't Unmask a Clear Identity". Paste Magazine. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Codega, Linda; Graves, Sabina (October 6, 2022). "Mindy Kaling's Scooby-Doo Sleuth Uncovers a Mystery in the Velma Trailer". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 6, 2022.
  3. ^ Cordero, Rosy (October 6, 2022). "'Velma': Constance Wu, Sam Richardson & Glenn Howerton Join Mindy Kaling As HBO Max Series Leads". Deadline. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  4. ^ Silliman, Brian (October 7, 2022). "Jinkies! Mindy Kaling and the 'Velma' cast unmask a sneak peek at NYCC". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  5. ^ a b c Johnston, Dais (October 9, 2022). "Jinkies! Velma Preview: Harley Quinn Meets Riverdale In HBO Max's Meta Mystery". Inverse. Retrieved October 9, 2022.
  6. ^ Bevan, Rhiannon (October 8, 2022). "Gay Velma Has Already Been Ruined, Has A Crush On Fred In HBO Max Show". TheGamer.
  7. ^ Cao, Caroline (October 8, 2022). "Mindy Kaling reimagined Velma, but she wasn't allowed to use Scooby-Doo". MSN. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  8. ^ Daniels, Karu F. (October 8, 2022). "Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson and Constance Wu announced for Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' animated series". Yahoo!. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  9. ^ a b Kim, Matt (October 6, 2022). "First Look at HBO Max's Velma Is Full of Gore, Butts". IGN. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  10. ^ Jones, Monique (October 7, 2022). "Shaggy Is Black In Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' Series On HBO Max, Sam Richardson To Voice Character". MSN. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  11. ^ Pennington, A.J. (August 16, 2021). "HBO MAX Scooby-Doo Characters Velma Descriptions". The GWW. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
  12. ^ Shanfeld, Ethan (October 6, 2022). "'Velma': Mindy Kaling's Adult 'Scooby-Doo' Series Casts Sam Richardson, Constance Wu, 'Weird Al' and More". Variety. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  13. ^ a b c "Velma: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  14. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (February 10, 2021). "HBO Max Orders 'Clone High,' 'Velma' & 'Fired on Mars,' Re-Ups 'Close Enough' and Reveals More Adult Toons in Dev". Animation Magazine.
  15. ^ "VELMA Trademark Information". Trademarkia. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
  16. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (August 15, 2022). "Casey Bloys Addresses HBO/Max Reorg, "Extremely Painful" Layoff Decisions in Memo". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  17. ^ Milligan, Mercedes (September 12, 2022). "NYCC: WBD Spotlights 'Velma,' Tartakovsky's 'Unicorn,' DC Animation & More". Animation Magazine.
  18. ^ Bucksbaum, Sydney (October 6, 2022). "Mindy Kaling says 'Into the Spider-Verse' inspired her to make animated 'Velma' character Indian". EW.com. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  19. ^ "'Velma': Mindy Kaling's Adult 'Scooby-Doo' Series Casts Sam Richardson, Constance Wu, 'Weird Al' and More". Variety. October 6, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  20. ^ @MatthewLillard (October 7, 2022). "Love everything about this. Kick ass and take names @mindykaling @SamRichardson and the entire cast. Be Brilliant! #zoinks" (Tweet). Retrieved October 11, 2022 – via Twitter.
  21. ^ Bonomolo, Cameron (March 2, 2019). "'Scooby-Doo' Reboot: Shaggy Actor Matthew Lillard Wasn't Told He Was Being Replaced". ComicBook.com. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  22. ^ Jones, Monique (October 8, 2022). "Shaggy Is Black In Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' Series On HBO Max, Sam Richardson To Voice Character". MSN. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  23. ^ Mitovich, Matt Webb (December 20, 2022). "Mindy Kaling's Velma Adult Animated Series Gets HBO Max Release Date". TVLine. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  24. ^ Codega, Linda; Graves, Sabrina (October 6, 2022). "Mindy Kaling's Scooby-Doo Sleuth Uncovers a Mystery in Velma Trailer". Gizmodo. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  25. ^ Porter, Rick (October 6, 2022). "Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' HBO Max Series Assembles Its Scooby Gang". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 7, 2022.
  26. ^ Shayo, Lukas (January 16, 2023). "Velma Premiere Is HBO Max's Most-Watched Animated Original Show". ScreenRant. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
  27. ^ "Velma: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
  28. ^ Gajjar, Saloni (January 9, 2023). "Velma review: Zoinks! Mindy Kaling's Scooby-Doo prequel is a (mostly) fun time". AV Club. Yahoo!. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  29. ^ Franich, Darren (January 5, 2023). "Velma review: A promising reinvention is wasted on lame jokes, prequilitis, and bad meta". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  30. ^ Roeper, Richard (January 11, 2023). "Mindy Kaling's 'Velma' buries its mysteries under a barrage of pop-culture quips". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
  31. ^ Miller, Liz Shannon (January 5, 2023). "Velma Review: The Scooby Gang's Adult Animated Origin Story Is One Awkward "Zoinks!"". Consequence. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  32. ^ Han, Angie (January 10, 2023). "'Velma' Review: HBO Max's 'Scooby-Doo' Prequel Is Too Snarky for Its Own Good". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  33. ^ Vincent, Brittany (January 6, 2023). "Velma Season 1 Review: Episodes 1-8". IGN. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  34. ^ Alston, Joshua (January 11, 2023). "HBO Max's 'Velma' Can't Scare Up a Reason to Exist: TV Review". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2023.
  35. ^ a b Goffe, Nadira (January 18, 2023). "HBO's Wokeified Scooby-Doo Reboot Achieves the Impossible". Slate. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  36. ^ a b Power, Ed (January 18, 2023). "How Velma became the most hated TV show on TV". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  37. ^ Li, Shirley (January 20, 2023). "The Line That Velma Crossed". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  38. ^ Iftikhar, Asyia (January 17, 2023). "Mindy Kaling's Velma series breaks records despite intense backlash". PinkNews. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  39. ^ Henderson, Taylor (January 20, 2023). "Velma Becomes IMDB's Worst-Rated Animated TV Series Ever". Pride.com. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  40. ^ Francis, Katie (January 23, 2023). "Scooby-Doo spin-off Velma sparks huge backlash following show's debut". Digital Spy. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  41. ^ Losciale, Marisa (January 15, 2023). "HBO's 'Velma' Series Slammed by Fans Following Season Premiere". Yahoo!. Retrieved January 20, 2023.
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