The critics have weighed in, and most agree that "Velma," a new animated show on HBO Max, is terrible. But some internet personalities went even further, claiming that the show was so bad that it must be a "psy-op" intended to embarrass the woke left.
The highly anticipated show produced by "Office" star Mindy Kaling was panned by critics as "exhausting" and "horribly wrong." The audience was even harsher, giving the show just a 6 percent average score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Less than one week after "Velma" premiered, the show has become a lightning rod for conspiracy theories and arguments online.
Comedian Mark Meechan, also known as "Count Dankula," isolated one conspiracy theory gaining traction on the left. "Velma was so god awfully s--- that leftists are claiming it was a right wing psyop to make the left look bad."
Meechan was referring to a Forbes article headlined ‘"Velma Is So Bad It’s Spawned Psyop Conspiracy Theories."
"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," Forbes contributor Paul Tassi wrote.
"Velma is very, very bad," Tassi added, sharing a tweet from one user who theorized that Kaling "*deliberately* made "velma" suck so the culture war youtubers make a million videos about it to boost its SEO."
Popular Twitter account "Bad Writing Takes" went viral after it wrote that Velma "reads like a right-wing YouTuber's clumsy understanding of what a 'diverse' show is."
VELMA IS OFFICIALLY REVEALED TO BE A LESBIAN IN NEW 'SCOOBY-DOO' FILM
One YouTuber with over 600,000 subscribers agreed with that assessment, arguing that "Velma" was intentionally designed to anger "previous fans," "men," "white people," and "stoner culture" so that it would go viral.
YouTuber Upper Echelon called the phenomenon "hate-watching" in a Jan. 16 video.
Other headlines recorded the backlash that Velma received online. NextShark reported that "Mindy Kaling's Scooby-Doo spinoff 'Velma' premieres to mostly negative reviews." Parade came out with a similar headline: "HBO’s ‘Velma’ Series Slammed by Fans Following Season Premiere."
TheGamer asked "Scooby-Doo" fans to "Please Stop Hate Watching Velma."
MINDY KALING SAYS MOST OF THE CHARACTERS FROM 'THE OFFICE' WOULD BE 'CANCELED' TODAY
In December, Kaling took fire from liberals online after she said that most of the characters in the beloved sitcom "The Office" would be "canceled" today for offensive jokes.
"Tastes have changed, and honestly what offends people has changed so much now," Kaling said during an interview on "Good Morning America."
Fox News’ Scott Whitlock and Brie Stimson contributed to this report.
