It’s no surprise by now that HBO‘s most hated series, Velma (2023), received a greenlight for Season 2. This was mostly brought to light when an article from Movie Web described the shows unwanted return. Produced by Mindy Kaling (Mindy Project – 2012), the series takes a more adult theme for the Scooby-Doo franchise, as it explores a more mature origin story for Mystery Inc.
However, audiences and critics, such as Rotten Tomatoes, can all agree that this take on the WB IP was horrible, barely plot-focused, and extremely agitating to even watch and listen to. But, what spurred HBO to suddenly decide to allow such a deplorable series to continue? Let’s take a look, as we at Geek News Now explore what led to such a decision.
Mindy Kaling; From Optimistic To Problematic
Mindy Kaling at 2023 Met Gala. Image from people.com
Mindy Kaling, star of The Office (2005), produced Velma back in 2021, as she wanted to make an adult version of the Scooby-Doo series. However, this project became abandoned due to production issues. Fast forward to 2022, and production continued. After premiering in New York Comicon 2022, audiences noticed key features such as race-swapping and a complete 180 in character personality. this was met with mixed reviews.
However, after officially airing on HBO Max, the first two episodes were met with severe backlash. Velma, voiced by Kaling herself, was viewed as narcissistic, toxic, and extremely racist toward white people. Many critics had even gone to state that they feel the main character was Kaling simply inserting herself in the show, idealism and all. For example, a Reddit post made by MauLer, simplifying how bad Velma really is. There was also a severe lack of anything pertaining toward the original Scooby-Doo IP, namely the show lacking the talking canine himself. Despite this, people continued to watch this series, ironically urging others to not watch this show, as it would support the series in viewership.
Moreover, people did not like Mindy Kaling as a person, soon after. Most importantly, during a 2015 interview on Conan O’ Brian, she had openly admitted to sexually harassing costar Lee Pace on set during filming of a series. Furthermore, she threatened those working under her, stating that if word got out of what happened, she would immediately fire people on the spot. This angered people so much that, as a result, this added more fuel to the hate fire.
Hate-Watching Velma Is Still Watching
Hate-watching is still watching. Image from istockphoto.com
If you don’t like something, don’t even bother acknowledging it. This is a statement that has lived on for centuries. However, this did not apparently apply when Velma aired. Once viewership passed a certain point, HBO continued to produce episode after episode. As a result, HBO announced Velma was the most watched series on their streaming platform. And so, as time would have have it, the company soon announced Velma was greenlit for a second season.
Because viewers watched en masse, this proved as a fine point as to why HBO would continue on with production. Lesson learned, that just because you would watch something to hate on it or critique it, wouldn’t mean that TV producers would suffer. Views are views, no matter the criticism.
When will Season 2 rear its ugly head? Who knows. Do you think HBO should continue the series? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below. Also, be sure to check out our Facebook page, as we keep our readers up-to-date on the latest happenings.
As Always, Stay Geeky!
