Adult Swim's Venture Bros. Created a Better Scooby-Doo Parody Than Velma

By Evan Valentine

Velma has certainly been receiving a lot of discussion following its debut on HBO Max, reportedly becoming the biggest animated series on the streaming platform to date. Despite the success, a large swath of fans aren't thrilled with the new take on Mystery Incorporate, leading fans to scour the past of pop culture and come across what many belive is a Scooby-Doo parody done right in an episode of The Venture Bros. Much like the story of the Ventures, the Groovy Gang was a twisted facsimile of the Hanna Barbera property. 

To give you a bit of backstory when it came to The Venture Bros' version of Scooby-Doo and his fellow mystery solvers, the Adult Swim series unleashed this twisted take on the classic cartoon in its second season's eleventh episode titled "Viva los Muertos". In the episode, the Groovy Gang stumbles upon the Venture Compound, attempting to solve a mystery that doesn't exist while revealing their horrific characters based on real-life serial killers and other controversial figures. In order, the Groovy Gang's cast saw Fred replaced with Ted Bundy, Shaggy replaced with the "Son of Sam", Daphne replaced with Patty Hearts, Velma replaced with Valerie Solanas, and Scooby replaced with Groovy, a dog that only Sonny could hear. The episode itself was a dark and hilarious take on Mystery Incorporated and remains one of the best parodies of the Hanna Barbera creation. 

Take Notes Velma

Henry Gilbert, host of the Podcast "Talking Simpsons" helped to lead the charge in recalling The Venture Bros parody of Scooby Doo, while showing how it might have been far superior to what we are currently seeing in the Velma adult-animated series that, despite fan backlash, is a success for HBO Max:

The Venture Bros are set to return on HBO Max with an upcoming film that is slated to finally bring the story of Dean, Hank, Rusty, and Brock to a close, which will eventually hit following seven seasons and five specials that first began on Cartoon Network in 2003. 

What has been your favorite take on Scooby-Doo over the years? How have you felt about Velma so far since it debuted on HBO Max? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Mystery Incorporated. 

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