The second season of the Max original adult animated series Velma is set to premiere on April 25th; against the wishes of fans of Scooby-Doo and the fans of well-written comedies. The show, which stars Mindy Kaling as the voice of the titular character, is an alleged comedic take on the classic Scooby-Doo franchise which Kaling also serves as executive producer.
The first season of Velma faced some harsh criticism upon its January 12th debut. It currently holds a 39% critics rating and a dismal 7% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it inexplicably drew record viewership for Max and went on to become their most-watched original animated series premiere; more likely relegating it background noise.
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Showrunner Charles Grandy addressed the negative response in previous interviews. He believes much of the backlash stems from die-hard Scooby-Doo fans feeling the show was trying to erase the legacy of the original cartoon or push some kind of agenda by race-swapping Velma. Grandy assures these critics that “The original Hanna-Barbera shows are still out there to watch. We are not erasing the originals.”
He continues, slipping on a little bit of racism, “We just want to be a little ice planet on the outer regions of the Scooby-verse! None of these characters are rooted to being white. We were worried about going to Warner Bros. and asking them to do it, but they said, ‘Do it. It’s time! Just make sure it’s funny and good!'”
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Considering MAX seemed confident in Velma and the vision of Kaling and Grandy they already renewed the Mindy Kaling-led Scooby-Doo spinoff for a second season last June, well before its first episode even aired. This is more of the usual in Hollywood. Giving away TV properties to people who aren’t interested in making the original works with beloved characters but rather pluck low-hanging racism and sexism “jokes” to meta the audience into a chuckle or two, at best.
Suzanna Makkos, Executive Vice President of Original Comedy and Adult Animation for Max and Adult Swim, gave this statement on the Velma season 2 pickup:
“The series that we create at Max are art and voice driven, with character and comedy coming before anything else. We’re always looking for hard comedy with heart and edge, diverse and inclusive shows with underlying thematic resonance, and character design that showcases the hand of the artist.”
She continued, “I am so excited to share these incredible series with the world, and continue to show why Max is a great home for adult animation.”
Considering that MAX has canceled 24 animated shows (along with several animated movies) to make way for more “diverse and inclusive” trash that no one could stomach (beyond a passing hate-watch), Suzanna’s remarks come off as disingenuous, to say the least.
So what can fans expect from season 2 of the Max original series centering around the iconic Scooby-Doo character voiced by Mindy Kaling? Who cares except for Mindy and the rest of her gaggle of mediocre crew at MAX? The audience has already seen what MAX and Mindy are willing to give us to “laugh” at; “subversive” boredom and unfunny jokes that do nothing but complain that you don’t get the joke.
What are you going to do while Velma Season 2 airs? Let us know in the comments!
This is makes no sense, just shoving garbage down our throats.
And yet Zaslav canned Coyote VS. Acme, I will Gladly avoid this Crap show.
Meh, it’s a sacrifice play. It’s a cheap show, with cheap talent and writing, and lets them keep making their softcore while keeping their woke credit.