VELMA Officially Renewed for Season 2 at Max
The Scooby-Doo-inspired animated series Velma has officially been renewed for a second season. While the animated series was despised by a lot of people, a lot of people also tuned in to watch it, some of them enjoyed it, while others showed up to hate-watch it.
I guess it’s not surprising that Velma got a second because a report surfaced a few months ago saying that it was already in the works. I was hoping that report was wrong, but nope… it was true. No one is forcing us to watch it, though!
The announcement was made at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival by Suzanna Makkos, the executive vice president of original comedy and adult animation for Max and Adult Swim, during her “Share With” session. She said:
“The series that we create at Max are art and voice driven, with character and comedy coming before anything else,. We’re always looking for hard comedy with heart and edge, diverse and inclusive shows with underlying thematic resonance, and character design that showcases the hand of the artist. I am so excited to share these incredible series with the world, and continue to show why Max is a great home for adult animation.”
The series tells an origin story for Velma Dinkley and the Mystery Inc. gang. But, I’ll say the series is definitely set in an alternate universe because there’s nothing about this show that captures the spirit of the original Scooby-Doo gang. This show is simply mean-spirited and nothing was enjoyable about it. It also has a 7% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Mindy Kaling developed the series and she also voices Velma and she’s joined by Constance Wu as Daphne, Sam Richardson as Shaggy, and Glenn Howerton as Fred. Additional cast members include Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Ming-Na Wen, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak, and Karl-Anthony Towns.
Kaling also executive produces along with Howard Klein and Sam Register.
Some of the other Max Animated Series in Development include:
Keeping Up with the Joneses
The Newberry’s struggle to hold onto their past glory while living in the shadow of Jerry Jones and their other rich neighbors in the wealthy Dallas suburb of Highland Park.
Writers/Executive Producers: Hugh Davidson, Rachel Ramras, Larry Dorf
Studio/Prod Co: Warner Bros. Animation
Anything Factory
From Tom Kauffman (“Rick and Morty”) Anything Factory follows Henry Zingo as he returns home to reconnect with his ailing father and help his sister manage the family business: A Wonka-esque factory riddled with ethics violations.
Created by: Tom Kauffman and David Seger & Spencer Strauss
Executive Producer: Tom Kauffman
Executive Producer: Searchlight TV
Uptown Bodega
Tati Cruz has inherited her father’s old Bodega and vows to keep the business booming in a fast changing Nueva York with the help of her husband, three kids, and Rocky the bodega cat.
Writers/Executive Producers: Oz Rodriguez & Lemon Anderson
Executive Producer: Peter Murrieta
Executive Producer: Greg Walter (3 Arts Entertainment)
Studio: Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group