A few descriptors come to mind when I think of the Scooby Doo series. Lighthearted. Nostalgic. Classic. With HBO Max’s Velma, these associations with the iconic characters are aggressively turned on their heads. The Mystery Inc. crew is getting the complete Harley Quinn makeover from executive producers Charlie Grandy, showrunner, Mindy Kaling, Howard Klein, and Sam Register. But, if the first episode is any indication, the new series isn’t pulling any punches or even remotely concerned with common decency. Featuring the voice talents of Constance Wu, Glen Howerton, Sam Richardson, and Kaling doing double duty voicing Velma, I found pitch-perfect chemistry rounding out the presentation of these tried-and-true characters.
Photo Credit: Jen Diroche
Set in the high school years before Velma and the gang were besties, the animated series tackles her origin story as a quick-witted, acerbic amateur sleuth. We’re immediately introduced to Velma and mean girl Daphne with a rather gratuitously on-the-nose girl’s locker room shower sequence. From there, the hilariously madcap sendup of the mystery-of-the-week genre never once touches the brakes. I honestly cannot recall any series hitting a competitive joke-per-minute consistency. The writer’s reliance on meta references, pop culture witticisms, and high school slasher troupes is only sustainable because they seem to have set out to ruffle every feather in every disparate corner of the fandom and beyond.
Velma’s transformation to an angsty East Indian teen has all the trappings of a social media dumpster fire in the making. Throw in an East Asian Daphne adopted by lesbian detectives voiced by Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch and an African American Shaggy stand-in with dreads, Norville, and I’ll be shocked if Velma isn’t on a few banned media lists by midseason. What I appreciate most about these changes is how broadly this diversified cast opens up the potential for satire and social commentary. It’s all comedic fodder for the writers, and tackling the interminority stereotypes keeps the content fresher than constantly relying on Glen Howerton’s Fred for privileged white kid punchlines. Don’t get me wrong, those jokes are in abundance, but there’s a fair amount of nuance in the first episode dealing with the typical and atypical high school social strata.
I haven’t laid out the entirety of Velma’s narrative and comedic arsenal. I think it’s best to leave a little mystery around this burgeoning adventure. However, based on the threads introduced early in the series, there will be a lot of focus on the foundational experiences of these characters. HBO Max’s Velma will be available exclusively on the service in 2023.
Christian Davenport
cable201@coimicattack.net
