Max‘s Velma is probably the most maligned cartoon of this decade so far, but it just won’t accept its own failure. Here we are talking about a Halloween special after two entire uninterrupted seasons. Some people blame “hate-watching” for it getting this far, but it’s more likely the original contract was for two seasons and a special. If we hear of a third season after this, THEN panic.
From what I’ve seen of this show, it’s not the single worst animated production of all time, but that doesn’t mean it’s good either. The main problem is that Velma lacks an identity of its own. I don’t doubt the new spin on the Scooby Gang was intended to be clever, but all the jokes and beats are stolen from other adult cartoons, where they were done better. Add to this…maybe Mindy Kaling’s whole thing is getting kind of annoying? This is literally Mindy Kaling as Velma; she had to make herself the center of attention even when it wasn’t necessary.
The special’s title, Velma: This Halloween Needs to Be More Special, certainly sounds like the kind of pushy thing Kaling Velma would say. But you can at least take solace in this: Velma is dead. We’re not sure how, because the synopsis doesn’t go into specifics, but Velma croaks at some point in this special, which means her friends have just 24 hours to locate the dark spell book that can bring her back to life, if they can avoid the evil spirit that will try to kill them too. We admit this is an interesting plot. We wish it was an episode of Mystery Incorporated instead. Also, darn it — we love the Pinky costume Norville’s got on.
The cast of this thing is still pretty stacked: in addition to Kaling it stars the voices of Glenn Howerton, Sam Richardson, and Constance Wu as the main cast, alongside Russell Peters, Sarayu Blue, Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Frank Welker, Nicole Byer, Gary Cole, Andia Winslow, Sara Ramirez, Nicholas Braun, Fortune Feimster, Jennifer Hale, Richard Kind, Jason Mantzoukas, Saweetie, Debby Ryan and Kulap Vilaysack. Velma: This Halloween Needs to Be More Special will go live (or is it dead?) on Max October 3.
