TV News: Mindy Kaling animated HBO Velma series Will Reimagine Character As Being Of East Asian Descent (Won't Include Scooby-Doo Or Mystery Machine)

playahaitian

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Real talk, that was my biggest takeaway from the first episode, and something I have been absolutely turned off from for decades now. Ever since the Seinfeld finale shined a huge spotlight on how trash its entire cast was, I have not been able to enjoy any show that is just about awful people (no matter how those awful people are punished). I still haven't managed to finish Veep, and honestly, I never really tried that hard to begin with.

Very very very good point
 

Helico-pterFunk

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Very very very good point



Agreed.

My pops often jokes with certain shows that he couldn't care less what happens to ANYONE in the cast. He then loses interest quickly or criticizes the choices they're making ... whether minute, or Life & Death.

On the flip side ... IF he gets really pissed off watching a show and a certain character or two is upsetting him. Like a complete piece of shit (on purpose) antagonist ... I remind him that's effective casting and acting, lol. That person has generated the EXACT response the showrunners were after, and it's elicited that response or feedback from you. Which is true ... or when you see a show or movie that has a GREAT VILLAIN. We can all appreciate an excellent bad guy who is a scene stealer.

Lastly, I think what works so well for a series like The White Lotus (HBO) is that even though each season's cast isn't particularly likeable (deliberately) ... the stories are crafted well and there's enough suspicion / suspense generated so you actually want to see how it plays out. That's pretty interesting and effective from the show as a whole. You don't really care about the bulk of the people ... but it's fun watching it all play out.
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
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The thing that made Scooby-Doo works so well is that all of the main characters were misfits.

You have a stoner that talks to a dog. An openly gay man who won't admit the obvious. His hot girlfriend who goes along with the whole charade. And a nerdy chubby chick who carries all the extra weight and her chest.

Her character worked well with the rest. Without them it falls apart.

To put it another way. Imagine you were dating a chick built like Velma. Everything's cool, except she keeps saying "jinkies" all the time. After one or two dates that shit is going to get so annoying that you don't even want to sleep with her anymore.

However, when she uses that word in the context of a bunch of other screwballs it becomes endearing.

Same thing with the show.
 

playahaitian

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Agreed.

My pops often jokes with certain shows that he couldn't care less what happens to ANYONE in the cast. He then loses interest quickly or criticizes the choices they're making ... whether minute, or Life & Death.

On the flip side ... IF he gets really pissed off watching a show and a certain character or two is upsetting him. Like a complete piece of shit (on purpose) antagonist ... I remind him that's effective casting and acting, lol. That person has generated the EXACT response the showrunners were after, and it's elicited that response or feedback from you. Which is true ... or when you see a show or movie that has a GREAT VILLAIN. We can all appreciate an excellent bad guy who is a scene stealer.

Lastly, I think what works so well for a series like The White Lotus (HBO) is that even though each season's cast isn't particularly likeable (deliberately) ... the stories are crafted well and there's enough suspicion / suspense generated so you actually want to see how it plays out. That's pretty interesting and effective from the show as a whole. You don't really care about the bulk of the people ... but it's fun watching it all play out.

^^^^^:

Perfectly stated.

It kinda started with Seinfeld but I think it REALLY got popular with the Shield

The white main lead anti hero.

Then you got sopranos mad Men breaking bad SOA etc etc etc etc

Everyone can't be sh*t

But yes when done right? Woo boy you got a class on your hands

But right now It's lazy at this point.

White Lotus is a great example of it being used well as a most an allegory type.

But even THAT gets a little exhausting

So everyone everywhere on every level is sh*tty? I cannot watch that all the time just for my mental.

Because they RARELY get truly punished for their behavior if you REALLY break it down.
 

Helico-pterFunk

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^^^^^:

Perfectly stated.

It kinda started with Seinfeld but I think it REALLY got popular with the Shield

The white main lead anti hero.

Then you got sopranos mad Men breaking bad SOA etc etc etc etc

Everyone can't be sh*t

But yes when done right? Woo boy you got a class on your hands

But right now It's lazy at this point.

White Lotus is a great example of it being used well as a most an allegory type.

But even THAT gets a little exhausting

So everyone everywhere on every level is sh*tty? I cannot watch that all the time just for my mental.

Because they RARELY get truly punished for their behavior if you REALLY break it down.



Thanks.

Yeah - that's true regarding all the series with ANTI-heroes in the past 20 - 25 years especially.

As my pops says - in the end there should / has to be consequences. And if you've done enough dirt ... that should realistically catch up to you. You shouldn't always be one step ahead.

Good point re: when EVERYONE is shitty ... can't be good for one's own mental as a viewer.

At the end of season 2 of The White Lotus ... I liked seeing who "got away with it" (non spoiler) by playing their part. They were never someone else. They just moved on with their lives with all the chaos around them from other parties.
 

playahaitian

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Thanks.

Yeah - that's true regarding all the series with ANTI-heroes in the past 20 - 25 years especially.

As my pops says - in the end there should / has to be consequences. And if you've done enough dirt ... that should realistically catch up to you. You shouldn't always be one step ahead.

Good point re: when EVERYONE is shitty ... can't be good for one's own mental as a viewer.

At the end of season 2 of The White Lotus ... I liked seeing who "got away with it" (non spoiler) by playing their part. They were never someone else. They just moved on with their lives with all the chaos around them from other parties.

^^^^

Boom
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
BGOL Investor
Agreed.

My pops often jokes with certain shows that he couldn't care less what happens to ANYONE in the cast. He then loses interest quickly or criticizes the choices they're making ... whether minute, or Life & Death.

On the flip side ... IF he gets really pissed off watching a show and a certain character or two is upsetting him. Like a complete piece of shit (on purpose) antagonist ... I remind him that's effective casting and acting, lol. That person has generated the EXACT response the showrunners were after, and it's elicited that response or feedback from you. Which is true ... or when you see a show or movie that has a GREAT VILLAIN. We can all appreciate an excellent bad guy who is a scene stealer.

Lastly, I think what works so well for a series like The White Lotus (HBO) is that even though each season's cast isn't particularly likeable (deliberately) ... the stories are crafted well and there's enough suspicion / suspense generated so you actually want to see how it plays out. That's pretty interesting and effective from the show as a whole. You don't really care about the bulk of the people ... but it's fun watching it all play out.

You can have likable antiheroes so long as there's something you can admire about the character.

For instance, Frank Gallagher from Shameless is a total piece of shit. The kind of person you would never want to know or come near. However, when you watch the show it's hard not to admire his charming smooth talking ways.

It's always Sunny in Philadelphia features five of the worst human beings ever put the paper. But there's a part of us that loves the idea of being able to day drink at Patty's pub.

Better call Saul is about a criminal who desperately tries to maintain a code of ethics despite the world he finds himself in. He's what you call a criminal butt. In other words, "he's a criminal, but look at how he take care of his friends". Or, "he's a criminal, but he never rips off his clients."

In real life, all of us have friends that are bad people. Yet we like them anyways in spite of their flaws, or maybe even because of them. A good antihero character is one that can tap into that sensibility.

That's not what the show is.
 

Helico-pterFunk

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@playahaitian


You know a villain's great (any TV series or movie) when they are constantly stealing scenes and you're happy to see them and have a smile on your face as you watch them operate.



- Ledger in The Dark Knight and the posthumous award accolades that followed

- Fring throughout Breaking Bad (so many great scenes)

- Lalo on Better Call Saul ... charming and NOT to be fucked with
 

playahaitian

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FmNGq6kXkAAnlpr
 

T_Holmes

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I still have not seen this for myself so I can't really comment

But could this ALL be the fault of Harley Quinn huge success?

They thought just added curses and nudity would make it hip and popular?
And this is a common mistake when something is successful. Writers and producers fail to understand what made them successful.

Harley Quinn is violent and edgy and sometimes makes fun of its cast members. But at its core, it still respects each character's roots and motivations. Even if they aren't exactly right, there's still the essence of it there, and you feel like the writer cared about it on some level.

Even a show like Pup Named Scooby-Doo which does muck around with the characters because they're kids still feels authentic Velma feels like the writer(s) really don't like or care about Scooby-Doo at all, and it shows. There are a few good jokes here and there, but the love is very absent.
 

Helico-pterFunk

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kidmegaii

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First half was so bad i thought it was a parody. Second half wasn't terrible but not good enough for me to shake this feeling this was to be a scooby doo focused version of the venture brother
 

Dannyblueyes

Aka Illegal Danny
BGOL Investor
Good point. And the best villains are the ones that are charismatic. The Joker, Gustavo Fring (especially in Breaking Bad), Lalo Salamanca (in BCS), and the list goes on.

I'm not so sure about that.

Darth Vader had zero charisma, but he was such a badass nobody cared.

Cruella DeVille was the opposite of charisma, but she had that pimptacular fur coat.

Tim Roth's Dutch Shultz in the movie Hoodlum was completely unlikable, but he helped make Anthony Garcia's Lucky Luciano seem suave by comparison.

Sometimes movie with a flawed protagonist will deliberately do something to make the villain unlikable. Like when Nino Brown used that little girl as a human shield. Without that he would have been at least somewhat charismatic.
 

blackbull1970

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Velma Season 2 Reportedly in the Works Despite Ongoing Backlash

According to new listings, Velma Season 2 is already in the works at HBO Max despite the series' reviews being almost unanimously negative.

 

playahaitian

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playahaitian

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Velma Season 2 Reportedly in the Works Despite Ongoing Backlash

According to new listings, Velma Season 2 is already in the works at HBO Max despite the series' reviews being almost unanimously negative.


Interesting...

The way they dumping properties and THIS they sticking with?
 
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dtownsfinest

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I'm not so sure about that.

Darth Vader had zero charisma, but he was such a badass nobody cared.

Cruella DeVille was the opposite of charisma, but she had that pimptacular fur coat.

Tim Roth's Dutch Shultz in the movie Hoodlum was completely unlikable, but he helped make Anthony Garcia's Lucky Luciano seem suave by comparison.

Sometimes movie with a flawed protagonist will deliberately do something to make the villain unlikable. Like when Nino Brown used that little girl as a human shield. Without that he would have been at least somewhat charismatic.
Hold on I do agree by Darth Vader but he’s probably the exception. Cruella was charismastic I feel.
 
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