The issue is not that she is Indian, The issue is that she IS Mindy Kaling, and that's a huge issue, she is literally just self-inserting herself to be as rude and cynical as possible.

Remember: It's a good thing Scooby-Doo isn't actually in the show; because it means that he doesn't have to suffer the same horrible fate as the other characters.

"It's more like a fake show that would be in like a Family Guy cutaway gag" is probably THE most accurate description of Velma I've heard so far.

Velma is definitely inclusive. It didn’t just turn away some people it turned away everyone.

What kills me is that HBO murdered all of their animated shows and then said "Look! Velma is the biggest animated show debut of all HBO time!" as if they didn't eliminate literally all of its competition

i’m just mostly disappointed in how none of the characters care for each other. the whole mystery gang were super close friends even though they weren’t “in the same social groups.” literally fred was the chad leader who had a hot girlfriend, but he also cared a lot for shaggy, who was just a chicken and a foodie and velma was smart but not arrogant. they all got along and solved mysteries together. this ain’t it.

Maybe the animators worked so hard on the hallucination scenes because they enjoyed velma's suffering?

There's a line later in the series where a character says to Velma, disguised as a man, that 'There's something funny about you. Not laugh out loud funny but more thoughtful and well observed like a female driven comedy'. Hearing that line made me think "Wow, if this show had a dick it'd be trying to blow itself".

This series doesn’t just hate animation, they hate teens. Most of these jokes have enormous „that’s how these stupid teens talk these days, right???“ energy.

The fact Daphne and Velma kissed to stop a panic attack has so much wrong with it.. and that's not even scratching the surface of the issues with this show

Moment of silence for Alex for risking his sanity to watch this for us

It got so much worse in the later episodes... Velma gets on a stripper pole in front of her dad and makes a joke about daddy issues, she twerks in front of a dead body, her mother shows up and is apparently hypnotized or some shite... How this stuff gets the green light is beyond me... It's not like they're making money off of it. It gets a lot of social media attention but that's it. Likes and retweets do not equal sales.

Puss in Boots did a better representation of anxiety/panic attacks than Velma

The irony is that they're trying for Velma to be depicted as a fish out of water surrounded by negative stereotypes and fools, when she actually is the worst product of the environment she criticises. She is shallow, toxic, playing for advantage and hates anyone doing better than her. She is the worst individual in the show, and the fact Kaling celebrates this character shows how radioactive she is as a real person.

One of the most mean- spirited shows I’ve ever had the displeasure of watching, and the worst part is, it literally alienates EVERYONE

"Look at how fluid this moment is." The only thing worse than bad animation for a good show is good animation for a bad show. These talented people could have been doing something worth their time and talent.

I'm thrilled that nobody, from critic, to KZfaqr, to audience member, has a positive opinion on this show. Has Mindy Kaling ever even watched an original episode or film?!

Velma: the only show that hates both the audience and itself at the same time

I love how Alex can be like "y'all are overreacting, this isn't that bad" then proceeds to list 10 reasons why the show is weird and a kinda trashy

As a nerdy half blind girl I always looked up to her but this show completely changed her whole personality

the fact they purposely aged down the characters to then put them in all these sexual scenarios is..weird

As an animator, I appreciate you separating the art from the story. I noticed her totally trying to be Daria, too, but Daria was self conscious, not berating.

I have nothing but contempt for the producers/writers, but I have nothing but respect for the animation team.

1. It’s bad 2. It’s horrible 3. Its horrendous

Remember folks, just because you're writing an unlikable character doesn't mean the audience is actually supposed to dislike them. If American Psycho can make a monster of a man and leave with a die hard fan base, Velma has no excuse.

Velma is what you would get if you let Twitter Users write a show who didn't grow up with Scoody Doo filled with self inserts and narcissists.

I feel so bad for the animators who animated this

9:21 "And throughout the show, I assume given how the first four episodes are, she's gonna become LESS unlikeable." That's where you're wrong, bud.

It's clear that the writers either never watch the show or care about the characters. Like where was Velma's intelligence? Fred's leadership skills? Daphne's loyalty and shaggy's empathy? Instead, we got ripped off by the family guy, and Rick and Morty.

As an animator, I appreciate that you gave animation the credit it deserves. Animation is HARD and takes a lot of practice and patience. Behind every animated show, there's a team of overworked, stressed, underpaid, and most of all, insanely talented people who deserve proper appreciation. So thank you for talking about that, Alex.

Your little Avatars facial expressions are drawn so damn well. You really took that to the next level!

I honestly don’t mind that they are different cultures and ethnicities. What I mind is the script

This show continues to amaze me with how it's managed to unite literally EVERYONE in hating it.

Canonically shaggy is supposed to be outrageously attractive. It’s one of the reasons the monsters chase him frequently

Changing the characters this much is like making a teenage mutant ninja tutrles show where none of them are leaders, party dudes, do machines or have attitudes. The core of scooby doo is the core of the characters to make their dynamic what it is, and mystery solving, and they spent as much time as possible not even trying to do anything approximating those things in favour of the creator making a vent show about how much she hates high school??

I think Archer is a pretty great example of adult animation that looks absolutely fantastic AND has great stories and delivery. I mean personally I think Archer (at least the first 4 seasons) are nearly perfect. It also features characters who are inherently kinda terrible people, but they're hilarious and likeable anyway.

Gumball was meant for kids but damn some of those jokes hit hard and are funny to all ages

Mystery Inc was the "adult" version of Scoobie Doo. It took the characters to extremes, with Fred neurotically obsessed with traps for example, but it still stayed true to the overall vibe of the original show. I haven't seen Velma but from what you've shown, it looks like they threw out one of the key points of the show - that the characters were very different from each other but cared for one another and complimented each other's strengths. Scoobie Doo was the original Breakfast Club, with the addition of goofy ghosts. This version seems like it's a snark fest with an on-going competition for who can be the worst person. Mystery Inc was, "Let's have fun with the characters and plots" while Velma seems to be, "Let's show you how we're superior to you idiots who like this drek."

0:22 HALF A STAR?! I DIDN’T KNOW THAT WAS POSSIBLE, LOL!

This show is made me appreciate how good of a job Deadpool has done on 4th wall breaking I have never realized how hard it is to actually make good jokes

Let’s be real this was the video we’ve all been waiting for from him in 2023

The worst part for me is how the characters personalities are just nothing like their old selves and genuinely could’ve existed as their own entities. I agree that there HAVE been different renditions in this aspect but they never just became completely new people like they have in Velma. Daphne- Daphne is characterized as the popular pretty girl who is well meaning and nice, but can be prone to accidents and clumsiness. She’s intuitive, sociable, and a people person, and she learns to use these traits to her advantage to get the Scooby Gang out of tough situations. In Velma she’s just another mean popular girl stereotype. Shes vapid and snarky and judgemental and for what?? She has never ever shown those traits. And also shes a drug dealer all of the sudden? Like why? In the original, even though she wasn’t the smartest member of the group and often got herself captured, Daphne was still well meaning and tried her best. She was a good representation of the idea that just because you arent the best at something, it doesnt mean you should stop doing it if you love it. Also Daphne was the one with rich parents that contributed to her being kind of oblivious and danger proned, but that trait is amplified by 1000 and given to Fred simply because they wanted a white man scape goat. One final note. In Velma, Fred is the one who is rich beyond reason. While he has been depicted as affluent/upper class before, I think it is Daphne to whom an affluent background was most important to her character. I think she is the only one who has consistently been written as a rich girl, so taking that away took a lot of her established background as well. Fred was the leader-adjacent figure of the group and was a bit of a chad stereotype, yes, but he was still a nice person and a level-headed figure to the group. He was a goofy snd more subdued member of the gang that balanced everybody else’s more eccentric personalities. And despite his at times cluelessness, he was far from an idiot. In most iterations of Scooby Doo, Fred has been depicted with an understanding of college level physics and engineering, and its a shame that doesnt get more attention. In Velma, I dont even have to explain it. Hes a fucking mess and man baby for absolutely no reason. And can I just say Fred has never given a hint of being obsessed with being an Alpha male. He has always been a character that was comfortable in his skin and never tried to overcompensate like they make him do in the new adaptation. Shaggy- Shaggy’s a stoner without the weed in practically every iteration of Scooby Doo. He’s just an anxious coward who wants to eat food and chill with his best friends. Aka, definitely NOT the pushover mess who knows about geodes and does dangerous things for the sake of Velma. Nor is he such a goody two shoes. Hes like the one decent character in this adaptation, but the problem is that he is only Shaggy (or Norville) in namesake only. Hes just a totally different character. Shaggy is NOT a goody two shoes pushover. He’s not the opposite of those traits, exactly, but they were never ever parts of his characterization. Also a lot of Shaggy’s appeal comes from his relationship with Scooby. Take out Scooby and you take out the heart of his character and rhe group. Velma- A character who was originally smart with a tiny streak of sarcasm (but was still ultimately well meaning) is amplified into an insufferable snarky asshole. Yes, she has had her snarky moments, but they were all balanced with moments of well-meaning and kindness. That’s what a voice of reason type character needs. Not constant uplifting or overboard pessimism, but balance.

1:41 Yeah, it's not like the franchise has been around for over half a century. Oh, wait...

this man has better humor then the whole script team combined

I’m not afraid to say that this is a horrible way to implement “inclusivity.” She really changed up the whole personality of every single character in the worst possible way.

Here's the thing: Mindy has an absolute perfect voice for Velma, her voice fits so well. That said, this show is flaming garbage and should be considered a crime against humanity.

THANK YOU FOR TALKING ABOUT THE ANIMATION!!!! Most youtubers just call the animation shit, meanwhile I'm here gaping in awe at how cool the panic attack imagery is. It almost made me watch more than 2 episodes... ALMOST! The pure hatred emanating from velma at all times held me back

I have so much respect for animators in general. The animators who worked on this have real talent. These people deserved better material to work on.

I hate how "adult" apparently means "everyone's a terrible person all the time" Like, I'm all for flawed characters, but that ain't it, chief. Even if you take Daria, who this Velma seems to be inspired by: She was a bit antisocial and made biting remarks about everyone, but that wasn't her whole character, and whether she was being sarcastic or sincere in any given scene said something about her as a person. She could be very open and vulnerable towards those she trusted (especially later on in the series, when she had developed a little), and while at times she acted as if she was better than everyone else, it was because deep down she felt she was worse. Sometimes characters treated each other poorly, but they also sometimes reconciled and even went out of their way to help each other, most characters weren't inherently malicious, just human. That's realistic! But for some reason we seem to think realism means everyone's selfish and mean, nothing really matters and everything's about sex.

I love how Alex said he wouldn’t do cartoon reviews but Velma was so bad he just had to

I know Frank Welker, Fred's OG voice actor was a part of the series (he voiced this version of Fred's father), but I can't help but think that after the series was done, he got up upon reviewing the finished product and said the famous "Godfather" film line: Look at how they massacred by boy!

Coming back to this one because It is incredibly funny for me that Velma got advertised so much but since the only thing it had going on was the shocking factor and offensive jokes, people stopped talking about it almost as soon as it ended and its been A WHILE since I last heard someone even reference the show

Velma was never condescending. This Velma is a mean girl who isn't famous in school but wants to be

I think Alex wanted to point out the show wasn't as bad as all those other Scooby-Doo adaptions but when he finally watched the show he realized it was much, much worse.

This is actually the first series everyone on TWITTER *AGREED* that it’s horrible. I mean if everyone on the drama app itself agrees on something, it’s BAD.

Those that hate Scrappy-Doo have to apologize right now, because we can all agree that this Velma show is even worse.

Imagine being one of the animators who worked on this and having to show your work to your friends and family on mute.

I think one of the strangest parts of the show is how consistently Velma is told off by multiple characters that she’s pretty horrible to everyone. She has her faults of being too judgy, mean, and nasty laid out in plain terms and just ignores all of it. In fact the show will even frame it that she’s right in her judgements, but *maybe* she was just not delivering her mean-spirited message correctly. Hell even the popular “mean girls” tell her that she’s too judgy and rude, but she just comes up with an alternate explanation of her actions to brush criticism off. It honestly comes off like someone on the writing team had been criticized for these issues, and is just mockingly parroting them in the show to frame themselves as in the right.

This show is so mean-spirited it makes shows like family guy seem like they have a lot of heart and passion put into them.

This is just so sad cause when I was younger I loved Scooby doo! I think an adult version where the mysteries get a little bit more serious could be really cool. I haven’t seen the show, but I think that it’s cool that Velma deals with those hallucination like things. Like I feel like there’s potential for a show like this to be really good, but they decided to make it stupid.

Velma has sooo much hate for people in this show and that by itself strays away from her true character, who is someone who's intelligent, helpful, respectful, brave, and loves a good mystery. Most of which the writers and everyone on this show disregarded in the first place. It's as if they didn't respect the source material in the first place....Oh now I see it.

I can't even describe the magnitude of the insult of comparing Velma to Daria. Daria was ACTUALLY WITTY. And she actually did grow as a character and admit to her own foibles.

I haven’t watched this show and have never had any intent to. To me, it seems like they took an IP, omitted the titular character, and completely changed the remaining primary characters’ personalities, so what’s left is near unrecognizable and only tangentially related (here, they investigate some mysteries too). So it feels like they should’ve just made something new altogether, but instead it feels like they just used the IP for name recognition and to try (unsuccessfully) and pull that fan base in, and could fallback on subversion

Gotta say, Alex's Peter Griffin sounds exactly like Peter Griffin doing an Alex Meyers impression

It's totally possible to make main characters who are bad and have to become good. Mega mind is a pretty good example of this. But he still gave us SOMETHING to like about him. He showed himself as a redeemable character early on and gave us something to root for. Daria isn't really "bad" either. Angsty and snarky? Yes. But it's rare that she's ever unfairly so and the times where she is, the show quickly shows us why this was wrong. Velma quite literally gives us nothing.

as an animator, i really appreciate the comments about animation in here. animators are frequently put on projects they don't really feel connected to, they might even despise it. (i know i would be if i were put on Velma.) but the animators did a good job on this show, all things considered. the hallucination scenes are animated very well and everything else is basically as good or better than most other adult animated shows. the writing, directing, design and almost everything else may be really terrible but you have to appreciate the animators for making it watchable at best.

Saw a horror skit that dunks on Velma by saying each version of her getting worse and worse is due to the universe getting thanos snapped and re written. I’d rather watch that instead

I freaking LOVE cartoons. always have always will. I was so glad when I was 14-16 and started getting into "adult cartoons" like family guy, American dad and big mouth (cause my parents actually cared what I consumed before that thank God 🤣) and was so happy there was actually a market for grown ups! I used to love watching SpongeBob from start to finish to see how the drawings and writing developed and I just feel like it's such an underappreciated art form! im subbed to so many animation channels on KZfaq now too, and Alex you're one of my favourites! and OddOneOut, Psych2Go, Impact Video Ministries... I love. keep up the good work!!!

The problem is that every character is a complete stereotype of there different ethnicity or social standing, like for example Fred is supposed to be the stupid rich white kid so all of his jokes are about that and shaggy is the weird looking nerd so his jokes are about him being sad, Daphne of course is the popular girl which means she has no personality and the worst jokes and then there’s Velma who is the quirky loner cool kid who is sassy and is apparently better than everyone, my point is that they aren’t characters but caricatures of what people are supposed to be like

Mindy has always been toxic and I'm glad it's finally coming more to light, but at what cost? What a tragedy, honestly. RIP the animators who tried in vain.

So many good points! I really feel like the creator/s sat around plotting how to make a cartoon everyone would hate and Velma was the result.

Jokes aside, the beginning part really drives home a big point. This is not the first Velma movie/ version of Velma that people absolutely shat on, thought was the worst thing. This Velma show is blowing up as if it's the biggest smudge on the holy Scooby-Doo franchises reputation. Yes its bad, funnily so, but there's other factors that contribute to why the internet cares about this one so much

Velma is that rare thing, that brings everyone together. Everyone from whichever political spectrum, background, race, identity, experience that you can think of, to all say in a single unifying voice... "Wow that was terrible, that was not good."

When fanfiction writers can make a better Scooby Doo story than a board of Hollywood writers

Okay for one my grandfather loves Scooby-Doo watching Scooby-Doo and I love it and I became a hardcore fan also fun fact Scooby-Doo once had a comic book where it was Scooby-Doo put in the Apocalypse everybody except for a couple people in the gang turned into monsters because of nanites

The worst part is scooby is literally not in the show and the real show is called scooby doo 💀

13:42 Ah yes, my favorite ethnicity... Fred

Y’know, I never realized how I didn’t take animation seriously. When Alex pointed out that the biggest video game adaptation out there is Pokémon but no one cares cause it’s cartoon really opened my eyes. Excellent point.

Mindy kaling self inseeting herself into every role ruins it every time

I love the VA that is Fred(Dennis, that’s his real name) He is great in Always Sunny, and AP Bio. Shows how horrible writing can kill even the best actors trying.

Just a quick reminder to everyone watching, if you haven't yet, even if it might sound like fun to "hate-watch" this show, please don't. Regardless if you enjoy it or not, they make a lot of money from you watching the show. So many people have hate-watched this show that it's already cleared for a season 2. Let's all band together and stop these writers from profiting off of their terrible creations. Edit: Also please don't come for the VA's in this show, they probably only did this for money.

The thing is that Daria is actually a relatable character under the surface. She isn't always correct and she isn't always smarter than every situation she is in. "Velma" (more like Mindy Kaling animated) always has a one liner or something snarky to say that none of the other characters can refute because she is some all powerful being.

There should be a death battle between the original good looking Velma versus the imposter Indian Velma.

you forgot the meta joke in CHOWDER where there is no money for animators so the scene swaps to line reading in the booth and the voice actors open a carwash

The sense of community and unity being fostered by the universal piling-on against this show deserves a Nobel Prize.

this video helped me realize that the only thing Velma is missing is laugh tracks after their jokes. 💀

THANK you for identifying the characters in Velma and specifying the ScD franchise characters they were replacing. I would have been so lost without your analysis! With your help I even figured out who Velma was portraying! Until I saw your video my conclusion was best expressed with my Google Search "does velma have a dog in it?" And Google popped up that in-text quick-answer in the results page, which proves I am not crazy for asking.

In regards to ppl saying the show seems like it was made by people who hate animation. The writers seem to hate animation. The producers seem to hate animation. But you’d find it extremely difficult to hire animators who hate animation… It’s nice knowing that at least some people involved in the project tried their hardest to be creative and try to increase the quality of the show even slightly.

What I love about Velma, is that they don't even let the audience in on what clue Velma just found. She'll just be one-hundred-percent certain somebody is guilty, and then randomly change her mind because of some detail that nobody would have been able to notice.

and the fact on an interview she said, "adults don't want to watch a talking dog", Like...where the actual f*ck did you get that information?!

It's funny... That I agree with you that it could actually fit as a cutaway with Peter saying the exact same thing you said Peter would say about Velma. And it is very weird having a Scooby Doo Show without freaking Scooby Doo lol.

I think they meant velma to be like Daria but forgot daria was how a lot of teens acted rejecting popular life but velma misses the mark where as daria was showing teens that didnt get screentime but its been done to death since then.

Ok but can we talk about how Alex evolved to reviewing animations?????

I hate how they made Fred a jerk like he always loved and cared for his friends and he and Velma were considered the most mature. They were such a duo and I hate how they took that away. Also Shaggy just feels so flat now it's unbearable to watch like I miss his relationship with Scooby Doo. And Daphne was pretty, funny, smart, and just an overall lovable character like the fact that they just resorted to making her only personality traits being hot and in love with her best friend is so lame. I ALSO MISS SCOOBY WHERE THE HELL IS HE?

Don't bring up Infinity Train. That wound is still fresh in my soul. And F HBO for cancelling it and using it as tax write-off to ensure it NEVER sees the light of day again.

Wow, this is what people were talking about last year. Now it was Verbelase spending 50k on a AMV Portrate of himself and Charlie Morningstar.

The thing that bothers me about the Daria comparison is that if the writers really were partially inspired by her then they truly know just as much about her character as Velmas. Daria was never mean or miserable just to be mean, and in fact it bothered her when people thought of her that way. As she points out in one episode, shes not miserable or mean, shes just not like the people who surround her. She usually had a point to any "meanness" she displayed, and it wasn't out of pure spite or to just make someone feel bad. Sure she had a blunt honesty that because of her social awkwardness and inability to express her emotions very well tended to come out more biting in nature, but she also had a lot of complex depth underneath all her sarcastic remarks, as did pretty much every other character. If they were aiming for a modern Daria-like vibe then they couldn't have missed the mark more. Velma doesnt seem to have any underlying point to her words or actions, other than - I'm better than you and I'm going to tell you exactly how much better, smarter, wittier, etc etc etc than you I am, constantly. But that's just my take 😋

This show got made because nobody had the guts to tell the show runners "No". That's really all there is to it.

Thank you for being 100% correct about a series/movie

Velma is phenomenal. Not the show, but the reason is that it’s brought so many people together of different cultures genders views all United to hate the show. Not sure if that was the intention but it worked out.