Why is HBO Max’s New Scooby-Doo Spinoff ‘Velma’ A Mess? MoistCritikal Explains – “Jokes Feel AI-Generated”

Published 01/15/2023, 1:30 PM EST

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HBO Max’s latest animated adult cartoon show, Velma, has been met with a significant amount of backlash from both fans and critics alike. The show, which is based on the popular character of Velma from the classic cartoon series Scooby-Doo created by Hanna-Barbera, has been brutally trolled by YouTuber MoistCritikal as well, who has criticized the show’s poor writing and lack of sensitivity.

With forced jokes and too much reliance on meta-criticism, the show seems to have left a bad taste in the mouths of both fans and critics, who think that it is too insensitive and “racial” for the young audience. But why is it so?

Is HBO Max’s Velma really bad?

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One of the main issues with Velma is that it tries to be more than its original source material. The show’s creators have attempted to incorporate meta-jokes and other elements that are meant to appeal to a more mature audience. However, these attempts have largely fallen flat, as the writing is not strong enough to support such ambitious ideas.

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Fans of the original Scooby-Doo series have also expressed disappointment with the show, as they feel that it strays too far from the original character of Velma and the tone of the original series. Many have also criticized the show’s animation, which they feel is not up to par with other animated adult cartoon shows.

“I will say, I do think a lot of this was actually written by chat GPT a lot of these jokes feel AI generated and one thing that stayed consistent from episode 1 and episode 2 is they used the same joke formula at least 50 f**king times,” MoistCritikal said. “And I’m not exaggerating when they didn’t know what kind of joke to make or how to inject humor into a situation when they were going over their quota for bad jokes to f**king ham fist in here. They’d always fall back on the tried and true getting meta with its comedy,” he further added.

What do critics feel?

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Critics have also been harsh in their assessment of Velma, with many pointing out that the show’s attempts at humor often come across as forced and unnatural. Some have even gone so far as to say that the show is a complete failure and that it is a poor representation of the beloved character of Velma.

The show is rated 1.7/10 on IMDb and has a 57% rating on Rotten Tomatoes by the critics and 7% by the audience. Thus, fans of the original Scooby-Doo series have also expressed disappointment with the show.

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Written by:

Shivaditya Ghoshal

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Shivaditya Ghoshal is an eSports writer at EssentiallySports. He holds a Bachelor's in Computer Applications and is currently pursuing his Master’s in Commerce from Lucknow. Shivaditya holds a keen passion for video games and follows all the latest releases and trends in the gaming industry.
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Edited by:

Jito Tenson