Velma: Season 1 - TV Reviews (2024)

The HBO comedy repeatedly winks at us over how “relevant” and biting it is. In reality, however, season 1 of Velma can’t scrounge up enough reason to exist.

Full Review | Jul 31, 2024

...it's frustrating to watch the show nervously wink at its audience, assuring them that what they're watching is smarter than the IP-mining trend that birthed it. It would be a better series if it could just calm down.

Full Review | Aug 6, 2023

It’s an empty shell of a farce that’s not clever or engrossing. Just gross. How Kaling thought she could get away with a remake minus the sleuthing, silliness, ghouls and “meddling kids” that made it a joy really is a mystery.

Full Review | Feb 22, 2023

Scooby Don't.

Full Review | Feb 15, 2023

Leans annoyingly into the awkward racial and sexual humor while simultaneously re-treading ancient, overdone, and obvious Scooby-Doo jokes.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4 | Jan 28, 2023

There’s a few great moments when they poke fun at the tropes in the original cartoon, but they’re too few and far between. The meta humor and more mature storylines don’t always land. [It] has a lot of potential but it doesn’t hit like it should.

Full Review | Jan 27, 2023

Every episode is a cringy, eye-rolling slog that doesn’t seem to have any idea who its audience is, yet seems to despise them all the same.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2023

Its edginess comes at the expense of its own characters and punishes the audience for being invested. Like a certain Mystery Inc. member rummaging around in the dark for her glasses, the series is unfocused, confused, and desperately lost.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Velma is unpleasant. It replaced all of the wacky yet loveable hijinks of the original IP with a complicated mess whose only nod to fans is a pile of dusty easter eggs hidden in Velma’s closet.

Full Review | Jan 23, 2023

Velma is constantly pointing out how clever it is to be self-referential. At some point, the show isn't trying to be a comedy anymore - it's being analytical.

Full Review | Jan 22, 2023

I don't understand the backlash, this is both hilarious and in the same cadence as NEVER HAVE I EVER. To me, a Meta and Diverse SCOOBY-DOO comedic reboot makes more sense than an Archie comics RIVERDALE. It's called evolution, people. Zoinks and Jinkies!

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jan 21, 2023

The 25-minute episodes are a suitable delivery vehicle for the humour, but across a season it has a lot of work to do to function as a cohesive whole.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 20, 2023

Velma is only keen on being provocative, and doesn't care if it loses bite, quality, and humor along the way. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 19, 2023

Honestly, the show could have been a lot better.

Full Review | Jan 19, 2023

Velma’s attempts at modernizing the franchise are so inept, they’ve given rise to conspiracy theories that Kaling intentionally made Velma bad as fodder for an ongoing culture war in which people would beef about it incessantly online.

Full Review | Jan 18, 2023

"Show, don't tell" is one the most universal and basic pieces of storytelling advice, so follow it.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jan 18, 2023

If Velma can iron out a few kinks, and workshop a few of its worse jokes, it’ll become a great lead in for Harley Quinn. Time will vindicate Velma.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Jan 17, 2023

While its departure from its source material may be a turn-off for die-hard Scooby fans, it still has a lot of love for the franchise in all its iterations, especially for Mystery Inc’s beloved brain.

Full Review | Jan 15, 2023

Velma mostly replaces the old silly sensibility with crass name-droppy pointlessness.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jan 14, 2023

Jokes become exhausting in the meta, not-for-kids Scooby Doo prequel.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Jan 14, 2023