Mindy Kaling’s latest comedy series, Velma, has broken the records for the biggest premiere day for a HBO Max original animated series.
The Scooby Doo spin-off has become the most watched animated series of all time on the platform, despite receiving intense negative backlash.
The series follows 15-year-old Velma as she solves her first murder of a fellow student at her school. She ropes in Fred, Daphne and Shaggy to help her, but unlike the original series, they all hate each other.
Many viewers have criticised the series for its representation of South Asian women, as well as lacking humour and re-writing all the original qualities of the beloved characters.
Viewers took to Twitter to share their complaints, one passionate person wrote: “The level of character annihilation here is beyond disgusting. I loved Scooby-Doo as a kid.
“Fred was a capable leader and Velma was a nerd who loved and cared for her friends. Everything about this is so mean-spirited and gross. no comedy and no heart. I hate Hollywood.”
The show was written by Charlie Grandy, while Mindy served as co-creator and the voice of Velma. However even with the award-winning comedic actress on board, the jokes failed to land.
Another fan tweeted: “Nearly every joke is the obvious punchline. Anyone could write it. There’s no distinct voice and barely distinctive usage of visuals.”
As a second critiqued: “I don’t think it’s nearly clever enough to be this cynical, cruel and ‘self-aware’ (read: lazy) with its deconstruction of the Scooby Doo premise.
“In particular, some have found an issue with the crude and explicit adult humour for a show set in a high school – with students made naked in the first episode.”
There has also been a lot of criticism directed towards Mindy, as Velma is presented in a negative light, as a difficult young woman who is very self-critical.
A third shared: “I’m happy Mindy Kaling’s style of writing brown girls that hate themselves wasn’t around when I was younger and only became a thing when I was at the age where I loved my heritage and skin colour. I can’t imagine being young and already self-conscious and then seeing that portrayal.”
The show even included one of the most requested elements as it was confirmed that Velma was gay and she shared a kiss with Daphne.
However, despite this romantic interest being brought into the show, many were still left disappointed with how it was presented.
“Daphne and Velma finally canon and it’s for a show no one likes. CAN WE GET A REDO PLS,” one viewer wrote, as another added: “Daphne and Velma… but at the cost of Fred being annoying.”
