Velma

:

Season 1
  • Network: HBO Max
  • Series Premiere Date: Jan 12, 2023
Season #: 2, 1
Metascore
54

Mixed or average reviews - based on 17 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 17
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 17
  3. Negative: 4 out of 17
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Critic Reviews

  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Saloni Gajjar
    Jan 9, 2023
    83
    Velma’s suspense isn’t gripping on its own, but it doesn’t matter. The voice performances make the brief lulls worth it. The actors are clearly having a ball, with the warm chemistry between Kaling, Wu, Richardson, and Howerton shining through even though they don’t appear on screen. The supporting cast is equally charming.
  2. The Daily Beast
    Reviewed by: Coleman Spilde
    Jan 12, 2023
    80
    Velma manages to transcend the inherent eye-rolls that come with a reboot, delivering a fresh, winkingly silly take on Mystery Inc. The show is fast-paced and ridiculous.
  3. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Brian Truitt
    Jan 12, 2023
    80
    With a “zoinks” here and a “jeepers” there, “Velma” looks out for the grownups and crafts something new and, yes, groovy from the familiar. It also sets a template for retooling other aging properties to entertain everyone from Gen X to Millennials. (Looking right at you, “G.I. Joe,” "Snorks" and “Jem.”) Because what they’ve baked into these Scooby Snacks definitely needs to be shared.
  5. The Guardian
    Reviewed by: Lauren Mechling
    Jan 12, 2023
    80
    Velma is a supernatural spoof at its most beautifully chaotic.
  6. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Carla Meyer
    Jan 10, 2023
    75
    The dialogue can be racy for a show about teens, but the animation, and 40-year-olds voicing the roles, help mitigate the creepiness factor. ... Although the animated backdrops are sharper and more textured, the visuals here seem less aimed at wowing 2023 audiences than evoking the ’70s cartoon, which they do quite ably.
  7. IndieWire
    Reviewed by: Proma Khosla
    Jan 12, 2023
    67
    “Velma” is doing a lot — possibly too much — but there are emotional beats and comedic gags that do land amid a saturated creative canvas, including arcs for the future Mysteries, Inc gang that combine existing backstory with eclectic “Velma” flourishes (a big Fred twist leads to some truly outrageous scenes in later episodes).

Awards & Rankings

6
#6 Most Discussed TV Season of 2023

User Reviews

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User Score
0.7

Overwhelming dislike- based on 176 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 176
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 176
  3. Negative: 164 out of 176
  1. enut_butter
    Jan 12, 2023
    0
    There are just so many things to dislike about this show. Its greatest sin would probably be that it’s fundamentally unfunny, and while IThere are just so many things to dislike about this show. Its greatest sin would probably be that it’s fundamentally unfunny, and while I understand comedy is subjective, I can’t imagine the kind of person who would find it funny. Maybe a child, but the subject matter in the show is too mature for an actual child, leaving this show a tedious, unfunny, needlessly-subversive mess made by people with a serious dearth of talent.… Full Review »
  2. candymancometh
    Jan 13, 2023
    0
    This TV show embodies all of the worst aspects of contemporary American entertainment.
    • Reliance on stereotypes and quirkiness for humor    This TV show embodies all of the worst aspects of contemporary American entertainment.
    • Reliance on stereotypes and quirkiness for humor instead of properly setup jokes
    • Way too much emphasis placed on the sexuality if its characters
    • Snarky, insincere characters who lack any earnestness and are thus unlikable
    • Embraces nihilism to an extent that the outcome of the story becomes irrelevant
    • Overreliance on metahumor and breaking the fourth wall
    • Race-swapped characters for no reason and without any explanation    … Full Review »
  3. Tubey
    Jan 13, 2023
    2
    If this was a short skit on a website in circa. 2001, it would have been ridiculed even then.

    For it to get a full on series release in    If this was a short skit on a website in circa. 2001, it would have been ridiculed even then.

    For it to get a full on series release in 2023 is... mind-boggling. The first two episodes are beyond dreadful; absolutely NO way it recovers as the tone is set. It is unrelentingly 'woke', in every negative meaning of that word - it's the culmination of every travesty that's been released in the last ten years, distilled into the purest form of awful. It's aggressively unfunny throughout and has a bizarre hatred of the source material that seeps through the screen as you watch it; I shuddered at one point watching it.

    It exists solely to animate Mindy Kaling as Velma and nobody had the balls to say no to her at the studio.    … Full Review »
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