‘Velma’ becomes worst rated animated show on IMDb ever

Scooby-Doo spinoff series Velma has become the worst rated animated show in history on IMDb.

Created by Charlie Grandy, the series puts an adult spin on the character of Velma Dinkley, voiced by Mindy Kaling. Other cast members include Glenn Howerton as Fred Jones, Sam Richardson as Norville Rogers and Constance Wu as Daphne Blake.

While the series aims for the style of fellow HBO Max series Harley Quinn, the show has been met with mixed reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the show holds a 59 rating, while reactions online have been largely negative.

On IMDb, where users can rate shows between 1 and 10, Velma has earned an average score of 1.3 after over 50,000 votes.

As a result, Velma has become the worst animated series and the third worst rated show on the platform. The worst rated show is The Pogmentary, a documentary about footballer Paul Poghba, followed by a Turkish musical drama titled Iste Bu Benim Masalim.

In an interview with Variety, Kaling explained the reason behind changing the races of the characters which become part of Mystery Inc. In the show, Velma is South Asian, Daphne is East Asian and Norville, who becomes Shaggy, is Black.

“The original Scooby-Doo, which we’re such a fan of, is also really rooted in another era and reflective of the cultural landscape of the ‘60s and the ‘70s and what people traditionally put on TV,” Kaling said. “It just felt like, if we can have the characters be anything, why not do something new?”

Grandy added: “It started with Mindy saying, ‘I’m voicing Velma; what makes the most sense?’ What Mindy was attracted to in the character, and what I loved, was that the smartest of the gang that solved the mysteries got no credit. Going from that, why not just expand the diversity of the cast?”

Velma is available to stream on HBO Max in the US. A UK release is yet to be announced.

The post ‘Velma’ becomes worst rated animated show on IMDb ever appeared first on NME.