Since “Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?” premiered as a Saturday morning cartoon on CBS back on September 13, 1969, it has become a staple of pop culture –the Mystery Machine, the insatiable Great Dane and the small-scale conspiracies that undoubtedly involve a villainous landowner and a rubber mask, have appeared in a variety of television series, movies (on the big and small-screen) and other miscellaneous media.
“Scooby-Doo” has been interpreted for live-action, computer animation and beyond. And the latest iteration of the property is “Velma,” which focuses on our favorite glasses-wearing, mystery-solving super-nerd. And this might be the most radical reinvention yet, with a harder edge, an intriguing central mystery and a wonderful art style that borrows from “Steven Universe” and oscillates between adorable and chilling.
But when (and where?) can you watch “Velma?” Read on to find out!
When Does “Velma” Premiere?
“Velma” premieres on Thursday, January 11, 2023.
Where Is “Velma” Streaming?
“Velma” is streaming (for now, at least) on HBO Max. Considering the amount of classic and contemporary animation HBO Max has unceremoniously removed from the service, it might be good to enjoy “Velma” while you still can. The future is unknown!
Are New “Velma” Episodes Released Weekly or All at Once?
The first two episodes of “Velma” are streaming now, but subsequent episodes will be released weekly on Thursdays.
What Is “Velma” About?
Charlie Grandy’s new series is a fresh take on the “Scooby-Doo” mythology, “Velma” centers on Velma Dinkley, whose mother has disappeared a few years earlier, leading to her complicated relationship when it comes to mysteries. She loves solving them and is still working on the mystery in the middle of her heart, but doing so triggers extreme anxiety, which manifests itself in ghoulish apparitions that attempt to thwart her mystery-solving. Elsewhere, Shaggy still goes by Norville Rogers and he is very much in love with Velma. In maybe the biggest deviation, this version of Shaggy abstains from marijuana! Fred is a spoiled rich kid who soon becomes a suspect in a series of grisly murders. And Daphne is a stuck-up princess who dropped Velma as her BFF, perhaps because of the underlying feelings the two have for each other. Yes, this goes there.
Is “Velma” for Adults?
This is something that everybody approaching “Velma” needs to know – this is absolutely not for kids. This is a hard-R, pushing NC-17-rated supernatural comedy. In the first episode alone there is a sequence in a girls’ shower that would make Brian De Palma blush, a murder where someone’s head is opened up and their brain removed and many, many F-bombs (among other colorful language). And it pretty much gets more extreme from there, with enough blood, nudity and explicit dialogue to earn its place as part of HBO’s adults-only programming history.
Who Is In the “Velma” Cast?
Mindy Kaling, a frequent collaborator of creator Grandy, plays Velma; Sam Richardson plays this new teetotaling version of Shaggy; Constance Wu is Daphne; and Glenn Howerton is Fred. Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Cherry Jones, Nicole Byer, Gary Cole, Stephen Root, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Ming-Na Wen and legacy “Scooby-Doo” voice actor Frank Welker are all a part of the cast.
