Coming to FOX Nation: 'Rob Schneider: Woke Up in America'
FOX Nation will release a new comedy special fronted by comedian, actor and producer Rob Schneider.
"Velma," the controversial HBO spinoff of "Scooby-Doo," has been officially renewed for a second season on HBO's Max.
The show created by Mindy Kaling came under a barrage of dismal reviews from critics and fans after it debuted its first season on HBO Max, now called "Max," in January. On Rotten Tomatoes, Velma's first season has a 40% rating from critics and a 7% audience score. Velma is also currently one of the lowest rated shows in IMDB history, per the Daily Mail.
One viewer called the show "insulting to the Scooby-Doo fan base" on Rotten Tomatoes. Another observed, "Very current year. This culture sucks so bad." Velma and other characters from the original have their races and sexualities reimagined, and the program's "cultural agenda" took heat from even left-leaning reviewers as heavy-handed and unfunny.
"Velma," the controversial HBO spinoff of "Scooby-Doo" (pictured), has been officially renewed for a second season on HBO Max, according to Variety. (Hanna-Barbera)
"Scooby Don't," movie reviewer Bob Chipman wrote about Season 1 of the show. "It’s an empty shell of a farce that’s not clever or engrossing. Just gross," LA Weekly critic Erin Maxwell concluded. Another culture critic, Kevin Carr, said that the show was weighed down by overdone jokes. "Leans annoyingly into the awkward racial and sexual humor while simultaneously re-treading ancient, overdone, and obvious Scooby-Doo jokes."
A relatively positive review from Craig Mathieson, an Australian critic, was mixed. "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."
But overwhelmingly negative press has not scared off HBO producers from greenlighting a second season of the infamous show, with the executive vice president of original comedy and adult animation for Max and Adult Swim announcing the show at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Variety reported.
Left-leaning entertainment site AV Club was puzzled as well, with one writer noting, "This is somewhat of a surprise, because, well… Not that many people seemed to like Velma all that much? And we’re not just talking about the various chuds who went frothing into apoplexy the moment it was revealed that the show’s versions of classic Doo characters Velma, Shaggy, and Daphne would be—horror of horrors—non-white."
Season 1 of "Velma" features the titular character's origin story beginning in high school and was noted for its hardcore violence and adult subject matter.
Reviews have been so bad that some have wondered whether the show was a conspiracy to annoy right-wingers and drive up interest in the show.
Forbes contributor Paul Tassi tackled the theory head on, writing, "Velma is so bad in fact, that it’s spawning conspiracy theories that creator Mindy Kaling made what is essentially a parody of what the right wing thinks left wing comedy is like."
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Fox News' Scott Whitlock and Gabriel Hays contributed to this report.
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