Velma is an American adult animatedmystery television series that was 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 character Scooby-Doo.
The series premiered on January 12, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the voice acting and animation, but were divided towards the humor and criticized its meta storytelling, characterization, writing, and departures from the traditional Scooby-Doo mythos. Audience reception, however, was overwhelmingly negative,[2][3] with many fans and critics calling it one of the worst TV shows of 2023.[4][5][6]
A second season is in production, and is scheduled to be released in 2024.[7]
Plot
The series serves as an alternate universe origin story for Mystery Inc., pitched as a "love quadrangle" between them.[8] It primarily focuses on Velma Dinkley as she tries to solve a mystery regarding the disappearance of her mother, as well as the murders of local teenage girls.[9]
Mindy Kaling as Velma Dinkley,[10] a snarky teenage would-be detective, who has a crush on murder suspect Fred Jones.[11][12] She has a lifelong passion for solving mysteries that she inherited from her mother, but since her disappearance years prior, Velma is a lot more cautious regarding mysteries and has horrific guilt-based hallucinations whenever she attempts to solve one.[citation needed] She is partially modeled after Kaling and is portrayed as a bisexualSouth Asian American.[citation needed]
Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones,[13] a popular but dimwitted 16-year-old murder suspect, and Velma's crush who is the heir to the Jones Gentlemen Accessories fashion line. He is also a noted late bloomer in terms of puberty.[11] He is the only original Mystery, Inc. member depicted as white, as in other Scooby-Doo media.[citation needed]
Sam Richardson as Norville Rogers,[14] Velma's best friend and a school news reporter, who has a crush on her and frequently brings up how much he hates drugs.[15][11] He is portrayed as African American,[16] and is exclusively referred to by his real first name instead of his familiar nickname, Shaggy.[citation needed] He also does not share the original Shaggy's cowardice, although his love of snacks remains.[citation needed]
Constance Wu as Daphne Blake,[17] a popular girl and Velma's former best friend, who has "complicated feelings" for her.[15][18] Raised by two adoptive mothers, Daphne hopes to discover her biological parents,[citation needed] This version is portrayed as East Asian American, but retains her red hair and European surname.[citation needed]
Melissa Fumero as Sophie, Aman's girlfriend who also owns Spooner's Malt Shop. She is initially pregnant, but eventually gives birth to a girl in "Velma Makes a List".[citation needed]
Sarayu Blue as Diya Dinkley, Velma's missing alcoholic mother who used to write mysteries, inspiring her daughter's passion[citation needed]
Jane Lynch as Donna Blake, one of Daphne's two adoptive mothers, who is a slightly incompetent detective investigating Brenda's disappearance[citation needed]
Frank Welker as William Jones, Fred's father who is ashamed of him. Welker has voiced Fred since the character's inception in 1969[citation needed]
Nicole Byer as Blythe Rogers, Norville's African American mother and the Principal of Crystal Cove High.[citation needed]
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[citation needed]
"Weird Al" Yankovic as Dandruff Tuba, a student at Crystal Cove High. A running gag involves him getting frequently injured by the gang's antics.[citation needed]
Velma is implicated when Brenda is lobotomized, and is tasked with clearing her name within twenty-four hours, despite having guilt-driven hallucinations about mysteries since her mother went missing. 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 lobotomized as well.
2
"The Candy (Wo)man"
Cal Ramsey
Akshara Sekar
January 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 Waldow
Stephanie Amante-Ritter
January 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. Crystal Cove 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 Gress
Elijah Aron
January 19, 2023 (2023-01-19)
After Fred is exonerated and released from prison, a third girl named Lola is confirmed lobotomized 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 half-sister 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.
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 Wadlow
Elijah 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"
Meg Waldow
Stephanie Amante-Ritter
February 2, 2023 (2023-02-02)
With her hallucinations finally over, Velma spends all her time investigating, while the town-wide curfew is lifted due to the annual Crystal Cove Fog Fest. Fred's parents insist that Fred win the Fog King and Queen title, so he asks Daphne to be his date to increase his chances, while Norville also plans to win the title for himself and Gigi. Velma discovers a hidden phone number on Diya's "JINKIES" note, and after calling it, she realizes that the serial killer is at Fog Fest. Since girls are not allowed to attend without a date, she disguises herself as a guy named Manny. She finds that everyone gives her more attention this way, including Daphne, who becomes attracted to Manny, even telling "him" how Velma ignored her lately. After they get elected as Fog King and Queen, Fred exposes Velma's disguise, but still ends up losing the title to Norville and Gigi. Velma apologizes to Daphne for being a bad friend before the serial killer shows up and attacks them. They manage to escape, but so does the killer, leaving only a cell phone behind. In a mid-credits scene, Fred is kidnapped by the killer.
8
"A Velma in the Woods"
Cal Ramsey
Matt Warburton Stephanie M. Johnson
February 2, 2023 (2023-02-02)
Daphne and Velma hack the serial killer's phone, finding a photo of the Mount Crystal Woods. They plan to go there the next day, but Daphne rain-checks at the last minute to hang out with Olive instead. Velma lies about her hallucinations returning to lure Daphne along, and Norville invites them to stay at Gigi's family's cabin, where Gigi originally planned a romantic evening for themselves. After they all become trapped at the bottom of a ravine, Daphne admits she purposely wanted to make Velma jealous because she loves her possessive nature, while Gigi confronts Norville about him still liking Velma. They later discover a tunnel connected to the crystal mines, and it leads them to the serial killer's lair where they find Fred and the still living brains of the lobotomized girls. During this, Velma proposes for her and Daphne to start a relationship but they are interrupted when the tunnel begins to collapse. They are saved by Diya, who gets everyone safely to the surface in her van. Velma happily reunites with her mother, but when she asks who kidnapped her, Diya says she cannot remember.
9
"Family (Wo)man"
Meg Wadlow
Teleplay by : Charlie Grandy Story by : Mindy Kaling Charlie Grandy Matt Warburton
February 9, 2023 (2023-02-09)
Diya is diagnosed with amnesia and she only has three days to regain her memories before they are gone forever. Velma thinks the best way to bring her memories back is to keep her happy by lying about the events of the past two years, which includes hiding Aman's relationship with Sophie. She also lies that Sophie's child is actually hers from Norville, who agrees to play along. However, when Velma finds that Lamont has the same welding mask as the serial killer, she accuses him but he is proved to be innocent. Feeling betrayed by her actions, Norville officially ends his friendship with Velma. Meanwhile, Daphne and Fred pretend to be dating again in order to regain their popularity at school, and they reluctantly kiss to prove that, which is witnessed by Velma and hurts her feelings. Diya eventually learns about Aman's infidelity but feels freed from her loveless marriage, and her memories return. She reveals that she was the serial killer, much to everyone's shock.
10
"The Brains of the Operation"
Gina Gress
Charlie Grandy
February 9, 2023 (2023-02-09)
Velma refuses to believe her mother was the killer, but she doesn't have much time to prove her innocence before she is sentenced to death. After talking to her, she notices how mechanically she repeats all her answers, and realizes Diya was hypnotized. She remembers that the killer also hypnotized her two years ago to blame herself for Diya's disappearance. Daphne finds the pocket watch that Velma remembers the killer used for hypnosis, and they discover the logo of the Jones' company on it. Velma figures out that Victoria Jones is the killer, trying to recreate Dr. Perdue's work to switch Fred's brain with a more competent person's, so he could be a proper heir to the family company. Upon arriving at the Jones', she finds Daphne and Fred tied together in Perdue's lab and stops Victoria before she can hurt them. A fight ensues, ending with Norville's unexpected arrival, and he accidentally kills Victoria in the process. Despite solving the case and being hailed as heroes, the four of them drift apart due to the events and their complicated relationships with each other. In a mid-credits scene, Sheriff Cogburn is killed by a new murderer.
Production
The series was first announced on February 10, 2021.[20] On July 11, 2022, the trademark for the series was listed as abandoned,[21] only for HBO Chief Content Officer Casey Bloys to confirm the series to still be in production in an August memo,[22] with the series previewing at New York Comic Con on October 6, 2022.[23]
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."[24] Unlike most Scooby-Doo incarnations, this series does not feature Scooby-Doo himself due to studio mandates,[nb 1] combined with the crew struggling to come up with an adult take on the character.[25]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![26][27]
Velma marks the second series not to feature Frank Welker voicing Fred Jones after A Pup Named Scooby-Doo,[28] 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,[29][30][31] 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.[32]
Reception
Critical response
Velma has received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 39% approval rating with an average rating of 5.9/10 based on 36 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".[33]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 54 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[34]
Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. 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."[35] 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.[36]Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it two out of four stars and stated that "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."[37]
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.[38] 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.[39]
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 [with] a version of her with a bit more character growth."[40]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 felt the Mystery Inc. gang was "really unpleasant".[41]
Asyia Iftikhar of PinkNews noted in her reflection of audience reception that the show had 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."[49] Brahmjot Kaur of NBC News wrote that the accusations of stereotypes had been rebutted by some who noted characters in other television shows invented by Kaling shared similar personality traits to the titular protagonist, while citing Kaling's past influences.[45]Wired's Amos Barshad wrote that while there was likely still reactions of a racist and homophobic nature targeting the show, the main complaints were for it addressing diversity issues in a "flat, one-note manner", and that the "flippant" portrayal of Velma's sexuality had divided fans.[50] However, when discussing the issue of racial stereotyping in Velma, Lakshmi Srinivas, a professor of Asian American studies at the University of Massachusetts, felt that Kaling was being held to unfair standards as one of the few leading Asian figures in the entertainment industry.[45]
In popular culture
In March 2023, a fan-made Scooby-Doo animated cosmic horrorshort film inspired by Velma and entitled Velma Meets The Original Velmawent viral, receiving a universally positive critical reception, with GeekTyrant calling it "actually kind of a trippy short that has a dark and creepy vibe to it [and] far better and more intriguing than [Velma…] really a great concept".[51]
Notes
^The only clarification for this statement comes from Mindy Kaling, who stated "Warner Bros. Animation [said], 'Hey, you can't use the dog.'"
^Li, Shirley (January 20, 2023). "The Line That Velma Crossed". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
