Velma, a detective from the comic series Scooby-Doo has finally got her own show, released on January 12, 2023. Though the show has mostly received negative critic reviews with an IMDB rating of 1.3/10 and 47% rotten tomatoes, the show is booming as it ranked second on the weekly shows’ chart.
Mindy Kaling, the voice actress for the Scooby-Doo detective is also facing backlash for portraying her as an Indian “loser” on social media. At the Warner Bros. presentation in New York, Kaling said, “Hopefully, you noticed my Velma is South Asian, if people freak out about that I don’t care”. The show has currently seen a jump of 127% in its viewership.
Also read: Velma Beats The Last of Us in Debut Week With 1.3 IMDB Rating as Season 2 Reportedly in the Works
Sudden Rise in the Viewership of Velma
Velma, after its release, was facing negative critics reviews and criticism regarding its story-telling, plot, and character design as it was very much different from the goofy detective we used to watch in Scooby-Doo. The show has broken every previous record and is currently the worst-rated show of all time. Despite the show’s poor performance, its viewership has jumped a massive 127% on HBO Max and became the most-watched animated show on its debut.
Also read: Velma Season 2 is Reportedly in the Works, Fans Say: “The hate watching is really gonna make this show have multiple seasons”
The show has acclaimed a viewership of more than 37 times the watch time of any other TV series. The show has one of the worst rotten tomatoes ratings of 47% which was originally 60 but dropped down as more people started voting. It was one of the major reasons why the show suddenly had so much viewership, people were curious as to why the show was performing so poorly.
Mindy Kaling Faces Backlash After Her Comments
Mindy Kaling is currently facing severe backlash from fans on multiple social media platforms after her comment during the Warner Bros. Discovery Upfront presentation in New York, as she said, “Hopefully, you noticed my Velma is South Asian, if people freak out about that I don’t care”.
She was already receiving some hate from fans after Velma failed to please the Scooby-Doo fans as many did not like her South Asian portrayal and others hated the fact the character’s ethnicity was not white. And after her comment at the presentation, it was like adding fuel to the fire.
Mindy Kaling also commented that “I just couldn’t understand how people couldn’t imagine a really smart, nerdy girl with terrible eyesight who loved to solve mysteries could not be Indian”. In the show, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Kaling said to Meyers that she was really disappointed that the fans hated this version of the Scooby-Doo detective. She added that many people have expressed their disappointment as they weren’t satisfied with the show as it was different from what they watched growing up.
Velma is available for streaming on HBO Max
Source: Movies Web
