# Controversy over “Velma” tv show? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted\ **Created:** [January 15, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244 "2023-01-15T00:54:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/1 "2023-01-15T00:54:12Z")
So I’ve been reading that there’s a backlash against Mindy Kaling over a #MeToo joke she wrote for her new show Velma. I haven’t watched it or followed the show-does anyone know more about it or have some context? ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/2 "2023-01-15T01:07:27Z")
…firstly: 1. Mindy Kaling didn’t write the joke. She’s one of the Executive Producers on the show, but that episode (and probably the joke) was written by Charlie Grandy. 2. The joke isn’t the problem. The entire show, IMHO, is lazily written by people that hate the property they are writing about. It isn’t “OMIGOSH! THEY MADE A JOKE ABOUT #METOO!” It’s more like “Of COURSE this show would make a joke about #metoo. The humour is lazy and tired and cruel and punches down and this is entirely par-for-the-course.” ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/3 "2023-01-15T01:19:26Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > Mindy Kaling didn’t write the joke. She’s one of the Executive Producers on the show, but that episode (and probably the joke) was written by Charlie Grandy. Why is she apparently receiving the heat for it? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/4 "2023-01-15T01:31:17Z")
NM and four more words ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/5 "2023-01-15T01:37:06Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Why is she apparently receiving the heat for it? …I mean, its the internet. But she’s also an Executive Producer on the show. This, along with the other Executive Producers, is _their_ show. And the direction the show takes is entirely reflective of the same choices that she has made in the past on the other shows she has either created, produced or written for. > [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > So what was the joke? Inquiring minds want to know. [https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1ONGR\_enNZ956NZ956&sxsrf=AJOqlzUydeOzJFx0YlwAjJipowHcED21dQ:1673746566053&q=metoo+mindy+kaling+joke&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzzo3st8j8AhXcy3MBHRcdAYQQBSgAegQIBxAB&biw=1062&bih=558&dpr=1.75](https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1ONGR_enNZ956NZ956&sxsrf=AJOqlzUydeOzJFx0YlwAjJipowHcED21dQ:1673746566053&q=metoo+mindy+kaling+joke&spell=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjzzo3st8j8AhXcy3MBHRcdAYQQBSgAegQIBxAB&biw=1062&bih=558&dpr=1.75) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/6 "2023-01-15T02:02:34Z")
In her job, would Kaling be expected to know every line in the script? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/7 "2023-01-15T02:06:15Z")
According to the link @Banquet_Bear posted, Kaling did the voice of Velma, so I think we can assume she knew this line. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/8 "2023-01-15T02:09:03Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > In her job, would Kaling be expected to know every line in the script? …as I’ve said: the line isn’t the problem. Its reflective of the larger problem. The entire show is just lazy, cruel, misogynistic, sexist, and dated. And yes, as one of the Executive Producers setting the direction of the show is indeed part of her job. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/9 "2023-01-15T02:10:46Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > The joke isn’t the problem. The entire show, IMHO, is lazily written by people that hate the property they are writing about. Yes. Most of the characters are race-swapped, which isn’t the problem. The problem is that they are entirely personality-swapped. That, and that the writing is really bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/10 "2023-01-15T02:14:37Z")
She managed the amazing feat of getting the left and right to both hate the show. I think it’s at something like 18% on Rotten Tomatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/11 "2023-01-15T02:22:25Z")
Here is the _Forbes_ review: > **[‘Velma’ Is So Bad It's Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories](https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/01/14/velma-is-so-bad-its-spawned-psyop-conspiracy-theories/?sh=6c6a8c3a12e2)** > > People are certainly talking about Velma, that much is true. Just…not very positively. Velma currently has the lowest audience score I’ve seen for an HBO or HBO Max production, a 7%. To get that low requires not just “review bombing” but your show... ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/12 "2023-01-15T02:46:00Z")
I don’t know what studio exec looked at the Scooby-Doo franchise and said “You know what would improve this? Getting rid of the title character!”, but that’s the main controversy I think needs to be investigated. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/13 "2023-01-15T02:51:51Z")
I think that they weren’t given permission to use Scooby. (ETA: I’m not re-finding info on that, but regardless if he was there, he would be recast as a rabid pitbull.) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/14 "2023-01-15T02:54:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > According to the link @Banquet_Bear posted, Kaling did the voice of Velma, so I think we can assume she knew this line. Indeed it’s fair to say that she did, and as Executive Producer she could have vetoed it. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/15 "2023-01-15T03:00:38Z")
As both an executive producer and the main actor, she is pretty much the face of this project. She’s the one who had been pushing it and taking ownership of the direction they were going with it. > [@Smapti](#): > > I don’t know what studio exec looked at the Scooby-Doo franchise and said “You know what would improve this? Getting rid of the title character!”, but that’s the main controversy I think needs to be investigated. ⁢ Whatever problems this has, I don’t think this is one of them. This is a spin off, with Velma as the main character. It’s not even set in the same universe. I actually would argue the problem is that they kept everyone else. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/16 "2023-01-15T03:08:40Z")
That joke is too stupid to be offensive. The thing is, it’s so patently unfunny I don’t think that anyone would find it funny, including people who think #metoo went too far. I wonder if this show was trying to appeal to all elements of the political spectrum and ended up annoying everyone? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/17 "2023-01-15T03:22:44Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > that’s the main controversy I think needs to be investigated. We’ll have to split up. ---
**Author:** ![Banquet\_Bear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banquet_bear/32/373_2.png) [@Banquet\_Bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banquet_Bear)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/18 "2023-01-15T03:37:38Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I wonder if this show was trying to appeal to all elements of the political spectrum and ended up annoying everyone? …nah, I think it’s much simpler than that. The writers simply thought the joke was funny. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/19 "2023-01-15T03:42:48Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I think that they weren’t given permission to use Scooby. HBO is a WB property and they own Scooby-Doo, so I’m not sure who’d be in a position to deny them thr right to use their own IP. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > We’ll have to split up. Like, zoinks, man! ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2023, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244/20 "2023-01-15T03:48:26Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > That joke is too stupid to be offensive. The thing is, it’s so patently unfunny I don’t think that anyone would find it funny, including people who think #metoo went too far. I can’t muster any outrage for the joke but I think it fails to land because it connects two things that aren’t related. The #metoo movement was not about comedians being too edgy. It was about women being sexually assaulted. But the context of the joke seems to be a swipe at the larger issue of cancel culture and its perceived impact on stand up comedy. Women started talking more openly about sexual assault and this somehow meant stand up comics couldn’t tell funny jokes any longer? Was there a comic out there who had to discard a hilarious rape routine because of #metoo? And are we mad about that? Assuming we aren’t, it’s a weird non-sequitur for trying to establish that a character talks like they think someone else used to before something unrelated happened. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/controversy-over-velma-tv-show/978244.md?page=2)