Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (2024)

Velma: Season 1 Reviews

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (1)

Joe Reid Primetimer

...it's frustrating to watch the show nervously wink at its audience, assuring them that what they're watching is smarter than the IP-mining trend that birthed it. It would be a better series if it could just calm down.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (2)

Erin Maxwell LA Weekly/Village Voice

It’s an empty shell of a farce that’s not clever or engrossing. Just gross. How Kaling thought she could get away with a remake minus the sleuthing, silliness, ghouls and “meddling kids” that made it a joy really is a mystery.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (3)

Bob Chipman Moviebob Central

Scooby Don't.

Full Review | Feb 15, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (4)

Kevin Carr Fat Guys at the Movies

Leans annoyingly into the awkward racial and sexual humor while simultaneously re-treading ancient, overdone, and obvious Scooby-Doo jokes.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 28, 2023

There’s a few great moments when they poke fun at the tropes in the original cartoon, but they’re too few and far between. The meta humor and more mature storylines don’t always land. [It] has a lot of potential but it doesn’t hit like it should.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (6)

Heather Hogan Autostraddle

Every episode is a cringy, eye-rolling slog that doesn’t seem to have any idea who its audience is, yet seems to despise them all the same.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (7)

Shirley Li The Atlantic

Its edginess comes at the expense of its own characters and punishes the audience for being invested. Like a certain Mystery Inc. member rummaging around in the dark for her glasses, the series is unfocused, confused, and desperately lost.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (8)

Jen Maravegias Pajiba

Velma is unpleasant. It replaced all of the wacky yet loveable hijinks of the original IP with a complicated mess whose only nod to fans is a pile of dusty easter eggs hidden in Velma’s closet.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (9)

Korey Coleman Double Toasted

Velma is constantly pointing out how clever it is to be self-referential. At some point, the show isn't trying to be a comedy anymore - it's being analytical.

Full Review | Jan 22, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (10)

Patrick McDonald HollywoodChicago.com

I don't understand the backlash, this is both hilarious and in the same cadence as NEVER HAVE I EVER. To me, a Meta and Diverse SCOOBY-DOO comedic reboot makes more sense than an Archie comics RIVERDALE. It's called evolution, people. Zoinks and Jinkies!

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 21, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (11)

Craig Mathieson The Age (Australia)

The 25-minute episodes are a suitable delivery vehicle for the humour, but across a season it has a lot of work to do to function as a cohesive whole.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 20, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (12)

Randy Meeks Espinof

Velma is only keen on being provocative, and doesn't care if it loses bite, quality, and humor along the way. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 19, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (13)

Omar Holmon Black Nerd Problems

Honestly, the show could have been a lot better.

Full Review | Jan 19, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (14)

Nadira Goffe Slate

Velma’s attempts at modernizing the franchise are so inept, they’ve given rise to conspiracy theories that Kaling intentionally made Velma bad as fodder for an ongoing culture war in which people would beef about it incessantly online.

Full Review | Jan 18, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (15)

Joyce Slaton Common Sense Media

"Show, don't tell" is one the most universal and basic pieces of storytelling advice, so follow it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 18, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (16)

Mey Rude Out Magazine

If Velma can iron out a few kinks, and workshop a few of its worse jokes, it’ll become a great lead in for Harley Quinn. Time will vindicate Velma.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 17, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (17)

Marshall Estes The Spool

While its departure from its source material may be a turn-off for die-hard Scooby fans, it still has a lot of love for the franchise in all its iterations, especially for Mystery Inc’s beloved brain.

Full Review | Jan 15, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (18)

Darren Franich Entertainment Weekly

Velma mostly replaces the old silly sensibility with crass name-droppy pointlessness.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 14, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (19)

Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times

Jokes become exhausting in the meta, not-for-kids Scooby Doo prequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 14, 2023

Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (20)

Coleman Spilde The Daily Beast

The hotly anticipated origin story of the brains behind Mystery Inc. is well worth the wait, with a compelling mystery and even funnier punchlines.

Full Review | Jan 14, 2023

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Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (2024)

FAQs

What is Velma's terrible rating? ›

Velma's rating on IMDb is 1.3 out of 10, and its Rotten Tomatoes audience score is 6 percent. This means the show is rated lower than legendarily bad movies like The Room or Troll 2. This could lead some people to believe that Velma must be one of the worst shows ever made, but in truth, it's just kind of mediocre.

Is Velma season 2 better? ›

Velma Season 2 is an unfocused slog that fails to improve on Season 1. Flat jokes, bloated storytelling, and attempts at subverting expectations leave it feeling like an incoherent, unfunny mess while Velma and Daphne's now-canon relationship is relegated to an antagonistic afterthought.

Why is Velma rated R? ›

Violence is a shade more intense than viewers might expect given the comic tone. We see dismembered body parts, dead bodies, dripping blood and brains, bones. Velma hallucinates a werewolf-like monster who appears and sometimes invades her body, bursting out of her belly and sending tentacles into her eyes.

What was the point of the Velma show? ›

Plot. The series serves as an alternate universe origin story for Mystery Inc., pitched as a "love quadrangle" between them. 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.

Why did Velma flop? ›

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of 7%, it can be claimed as a flop. Several reasons have contributed to this. The show's decision to race-swap the protagonist and two other characters has caused mayhem among fans. Kaling is the executive producer of the show along with Charlie Grandy, Sam Register, and Howard Klein.

Is Velma the worst rated animated show? ›

Scooby-Doo spinoff series Velma has become the worst rated animated show in history on IMDb. Created by Charlie Grandy, the series puts an adult spin on the character of Velma Dinkley, voiced by Mindy Kaling.

Why is Velma black in the new series? ›

In the new TV-MA-rated series, Velma Dinkley is Indian. This decision to change the character's background (she's been a white character since 1969) was partially inspired by Peter Ramsey, Bob Persichetti, and Rodney Rothman's animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which features a Black Spider-Man.

Why is Scooby-Doo not in Velma? ›

Charles Grandy, Velma's showrunner, has explained that what made the original Scooby-Doo content for children was the presence of Scooby-Doo. Warner Bros. Animation also said that the show could not use the dog in this adult spinoff, which ultimately coincided with the creative team's desire to make a more mature take.

How old is Velma in Season 2? ›

In Ruby and Spears' original series bible, Fred and Shaggy are each 17 years old, Daphne is 16, and Velma is 15. For the purposes of this series, the kids were made roughly the same age: 16-17 in season 1, and 17-18 in season 2.

Why is Velma Indian? ›

Velma is Indian in the new show. Her South Asian ethnicity is in tune with that of her voice actress Mindy Kaling, who is an Indian American. Moreover, lending further confirmation to the character being Indian are the names of her parents - Aman and Diya - both of which are names of Indian origin.

Will Velma have a season 3? ›

Thus, Velma Season 3 will also premiere on HBO Max. The official synopsis for Velma reads: “Jinkies! This raucous reimagining of the Scooby-Doo franchise unravels the mysterious origins of Mystery, Inc.

Who plays Amber in Velma season 2? ›

Velma (TV Series 2023– ) - Sara Ramirez as Amber - IMDb.

Why did Velma quit? ›

The gang were hired to catch the Luna Ghost at the Wow-O Toy Factory. After the case was solved, Fred Jones took credit in front of the press, which upset Velma, so she quit the group, as did Fred and Daphne Blake, leaving Shaggy Rogers and Scooby-Doo alone with the Mystery Machine.

What ethnicity was Velma originally? ›

Titled Velma, the series will follow an adult-oriented and metafictional "love quadrangle" Mystery Inc. with Velma portrayed as being of Indian descent, although aware that she is normally white.

What happened to Velma's mom in Velma? ›

Diya Dinkley is a major character in Velma. She is the mother of Velma Dinkley and is voiced by Sarayu Blue. She went missing two years prior to the events of the series, and was eventually found in "A Velma in the Woods".

Is Velma appropriate for kids? ›

HBO Max's Velma Isn't Suitable For Kids

Between the bare buttocks, gruesome corpse and frank talk about sex, Velma lives up to its R-rating and is clearly not intended for the same audience as Scooby Doo.

What is Daphne and Velma rated? ›

How bad is Velma's eyesight? ›

One of the well known Scooby-Doo memes, starting in the very first episode of the franchise, is Velma Dinkley losing her glasses. It has been a regular occurrence through the various incarnations on TV, in movies and comics, etc. Velma is severely nearsighted, rendering her nearly blind without her glasses.

Is there a rated R Scooby-Doo? ›

The original cut of the live-action Scooby-Doo movie was rated R, resulting in some toning down to avoid the mature rating. For fans wanting to see the R-rated cut actually get released, writer James Gunn has shared an unfortunate update.

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