As a kid, Scooby Doo cartoons were something I used to watch fairly regularly. I wasn't a diehard fan but it was one of the better, of the many, cartoons I used to watch.
I had heard about the new animated series, Velma, around the time of its release but it wasn't coming out on any streaming service I was subscribed to so it went off my radar pretty quickly.
Quite by chance I signed up to a streaming service so I could watch DC Entertainment's, The Penguin, and noticed Velma was on that platform. I figured I may as well get my money's worth out of the subscription.
I did know that Velma, herself, had been race swapped for the show, which made no real difference to me, though I do prefer classic Velma if pushed to choose. However the first episode of season one was a real shock to my expectations!
No where had I heard this series was skewing very much into adult humor and themes. I was expecting something more along the lines of the original Scooby Doo show. Instead I got something akin to The Archie Andrews show smashed into Animaniacs, with plenty of PG nudity, very adult humor, rolled into characters that are very aware of pop cultural stereotypes, and very different versions of two key Mystery Inc. characters.
It was all very jarring.
I think I kept watching just to see where it was going, because of all things I don't like in animation, it's over the top Animaniacs style humor. Velma had a lot of that in the first episode but toned it down a bit as it got more into the mystery.
Honestly this was a tough watch. To the point where I probably should've just quit and accepted this show is just not for me.
The season one plot revolves around a series of very gruesome 'hot girl' murders, if they were real world crimes. As this series is a prequel, Mystery Inc. is not yet formed, and key future members are barely on speaking terms when we enter their lives. Velma, is currently the only member into solving mysteries, one of them being the disappearance of her mother.
I'm not going to go any further into the voice actors performances or what I thought of the changes made, including the complete absence of Shaggy and Scooby Doo. All of that was fine. This could of been a really good show except for one thing. None of the main characters are particularly likeable.
Velma is so self absorbed she often treats her friends badly. Daphne is kind of a typical mean/hot girl, Fred is just a total jerk most of the time, and Norville (race swapped Shaggy) is completely a doormat.
I honestly don't know who this show is for?
It's not for younger kids because of the adult humor. However, once I got over the unexpected adult humor of the show, everything else feels like a show for pre and early teens. Who makes a show with all teenage characters, who talk and act like entitled teens, for adults?
I was going to watch the second season of Velma, despite the first season being such a drag, but after the first episode, I decided there were far better shows to devote my time to.
The sad thing is, I don't have a problem with any of the cosmetic changes. It's just the character personalities are so different and unlikeable, I can't even see them having a close enough bond to want to form Mystery Inc. They don't even treat each other well, and that's despite Daphne and Velma supposedly being life long friends until Daphne got 'hot'.
I could possibly imagine anyone with no prior knowledge of the Scooby Doo universe maybe liking this, if they can get past how awful the characters are to each other. I just can't see anyone with even a mild interest in Scooby Doo over the years seeing anything recognizable here.
This isn't for Scooby Doo fans. The creators have hijacked the IP and made something... you kind of hope someone will come along, tear the masks of the writers to reveal they've all been replaced by evil imposters... and they would've got away with it too, if it wasn't for those unlikeable kids!
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