HBO Max
Maybe this is meta-satire and the joke is on me. If so, credit to HBO Max. If not, the synopsis for their upcoming “adult animated Scooby-Doo spinoff” (what a wild sentence) Velma truly sounds like an A.I.’s attempt to create a politically correct ad-lib.
Set to premiere later this week, Velma features Mindy Kaling as the titular character, Constance Wu as Daphne Blake, Sam Richardson as Shaggy, and Glenn Howerton as Fred. Solid cast — sounds fun, right? Just wait for the synopsis in this recent Entertainment Weekly review.
At Crystal Cove High School, Daphe is a popular mean girl orphan who deals drugs because of a dark family secret. Her boyfriend Fred personifies mediocre white richness. His mansion holds a dark secret — and he has teeny widdle privates, a subject a much conversation. “Shaggy” has become Norville, a school-newspaper striver friendzoned by his beloved Velma. He worries he’s a beta male; remember that lame humor concept from 20 years ago?”
The plot synopsis for Velma is cringe pic.twitter.com/6ty7kjBj84
— Mari 💖 (@ComicLoverMari) January 10, 2023
In addition to the above main cast of Mindy Kaling (The Office), Constance Wu (Crazy Rich Asians), Sam Richardson (Veep), and Glenn Howerton (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), Velma will also feature voice work from Russell Peters, Mellisa Fumero, Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Nicole Byer, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, Weird Al Yankovic, Ming-Na Wen, NBA All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, and more.
Granted, despite its truly cringe-worthy synopsis, the talent involved in Velma means it still has a chance at being half-decent, so we’ll reserve final judgment until the show actually debuts on HBO Max on Thursday, January 12.