#fred grandy

[pretty-little-fools]

#the love boat #tom hanks #fred grandy #80's #television #vintage #cruise #early 80's #1980

[postmodern-blues]

your yeoman purser says “trans rights”! I watched “gopher’s roommate” last night and I have not recovered.

#the love boat #gopher #gopher smith #fred grandy #talking heads #70s #80s #edit #character edit

[70s80sandbeyond]

#the love boat #ted lange #fred grandy #bernie kopell #gavin macleod #80's #television #princess cruises #1981

[doppleganger-rental]

When I was a kid my friend Gene had tons of Playboy and Penthouse magazines that his dad owned and we would look through them. I specifically remember seeing Fred Grandy the actor who played gopher on love boat sitting in like a party or something where everybody was naked, including him. It was shocking to me at the time. I just didn’t comprehend that somebody on tv would get naked like that. Anyway, he went on to be a Republican representative (bummer) and I think still is. I just tried searching the Internet for the picture and I wonder if somehow he has had it scrubbed in some fashion because I know for a fact it was him and I can’t find it anywhere.

#me #weird memories #gopher #fred grandy

[citizenscreen]

Lillian Gish, Gavin MacLeod, and Fred Grandy in “The Love Boat” (1977).

#lillian gish #gavin macleod #fred grandy #the love boat

[travsd]

Of Fred Grandy and "Monster Squad"

No one would ask or expect you to love a world in which Fred Grandy (b. 1948) were a right-wing Congressman from Iowa (1987-1995), a pundit, and talk radio host. But it gets better when you factor in that previously he played Gopher on The Love Boat (1977-86). And it becomes downright irresistible when you include the fact that prior to that, he starred on the Saturday morning children’s series…

View On WordPress

#childrens #Fred Grandy #gopher #kids #MOnster Squad #monsters #Saturday morning #Show #Stanley Ralph Ross #Television

[celebclippinz]

#the love boat #gavin macleod #lauren tewes #ted lange #bernie kopell #jill whelan #fred grandy

[krystal280791]

Our Flag Means Crack - Italian Songs (Eng Sub)

My entry for the @ecclesiasticallatinfest: a crack video, with italian songs, of (almost) all OFMD characters! 😀 I added the english sub of the lyrics in the video so you can understand the scenes! 😉 List of the songs used under the cut!

Songs in order of appearance: Mina - Tintarella di Luna Massimo Ranieri - Perdere l'Amore Zero Assoluto - Per Dimenticare Julio Iglesias - Sono un Pirata, Sono un Signore Edoardo Bennato - Il Gatto e la Volpe Marco Masini - Vaffanculo Fred de Palma - Ti Raggiungerò Toto Cutugno - L'Italiano Lunapop - Vorrei Sfera Ebbasta, Mahmood, Fabri Fibra - Calipso Piccolo Coro dell'Antoniano - Il Cuoco Pasticcione Studio 3 - Forse un Angelo Irene Grandi - Per fare l'Amore Ricchi e Poveri - Sarà perchè ti Amo

#My Videos #Ecclesiastical Latin Fest #Our Flag Means Death #OFMD #OFMD Season 2 #Stede Bonnet #Edward Teach #Izzy Hands #Lucius Spriggs #Black Pete #Jim Jimenez #Oluwande Boodhari #OFMD Frenchie #OFMD Wee John #Mr Buttons #The Swede #OFMD Archie #Mary Reed #Anne Bonny #Mary Allamby Bonnet #OFMD Doug #Blackbonnet #Gentlebeard

[fashionbooksmilano]

The Perfect Gentleman

La ricerca dello stile e dell'eleganza senza tempo a Londra

James Sherwood

Prefazione di Terence Stamp

DeAgostini, Novara 2012, 224 pagine, 28x35cm, ISBN 9788841878965

euro 45,00

email if you want to buy [email protected]

La ricerca dell'eleganza perfetta nell'abbigliamento maschile inevitabilmente conduce nel West End, settore storico di Londra dove, dal 1666, i quartieri di Mayfair, Piccadilly e Saint James's sono stati scelti da sarti, produttori di scarpe, cappellai, gioiellieri e profumieri come sede dei loro atelier. Oggi questa enclave di eccellenza presenta la più alta concentrazione di marchi specializzati in beni di lusso per uomini dal gusto raffinato, e proprio in queste antiche strade i gentiluomini moderni che apprezzano la qualità, lo stile e la migliore esecuzione artigianale possono seguire le orme di grandi appassionati della cura sartoriale come lord Brummell, Edoardo VII, Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, il duca di Windsor, Cary Grant, Fred Astaire, il principe Carlo e, più recentemente, gli affascinanti duca di Cambridge e principe Harry. "The Perfect Gentleman" è dedicato ai protagonisti nel mondo degli accessori maschili di lusso: presenta non soltanto i complementi indispensabili per accompagnare un abito fatto su misura in Savile Row, ma anche gli articoli più esclusivi prodotti da enoteche, armerie, cartolerie e tabaccherie storiche. Attraverso secoli di vicissitudini economiche e politiche, questi marchi hanno resistito all'affermarsi della fabbricazione di massa e al declino della produzione industriale inglese per servire generazioni di clienti illustri che li hanno insigniti del prestigioso Royal Warrant. 

16/05/24

#perfect gentleman #stile eleganza Londra #Mayfair #Savile Row #Mick Jagger #Terence Stamp #fashion books #fashionbooksmilano

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia Di Musica #299 - Sonic Youth, Daydream Nation, 1988

Il mese delle scelte con doppia voce cantante maschile e femminile termina con un disco epocale. E poche volte l'aggettivo calza a pennello come questa volta, in un disco, doppio, che accumula tutte le idee di una generazione del rock alternativo americano, per un lavoro discografico seminale da cui fioriranno artisti e idee prorompenti degli anni a venire. La storia degli artefici di questo disco inizia qualche anno prima, nel 1981, a New York. Al Noise Festival organizzato dalla galleria d'arte White Columns, quando Thurston Moore sta suonando con la sua fidanzata, Kim Gordon, e vengono notati dal comnpositore e musicista d'avanguardia Glenn Branca. Tra loro nasce subito un'intesa, e uno dei collaboratori di Branca, un chitarrista dalle idee molto originali, Lee Ranaldo, si unisce al gruppo, che una volta trovato un batterista, Richard Edson (ma ne cambieranno decine nel corso degli anni) formano un gruppo a cui danno un nome composto dal nome di Fred "Sonic" Smith, membro degli MC5 e fondatore della Sonic's Rendezvous Band e futuro marito di Patti Smith, con quello del musicista reggae Big Youth, amato da Kim Gordon: nascono così i Sonic Youth. Dopo un primi ep, titolato Sonic Youth, nel 1983 pubblicano il primo disco, Confusion Is Sex, nel 1983: portano sul vinile il selvaggio modo di esibirsi nei locali, tra feedback come se non ci fosse altro effetto musicale, rumorismo preso dalla lezione di Branca, tessiture di chitarra stranianti frutto delle accordature del tutto personali degli strumenti, riff minimali e ripetitivi, in una congestione tra punk e avanguardia che li renderà unici, aggiungendo quel tocco rock decadente tra Velvet Underground, Stooges e MC5, tanto amati da Moore. Sono anche super combattivi e non la mandano a dire a nessuno, e il primo ad accorgersene fu il famoso critico Robert Christgau, che sul Village Voice definì il loro suono e quello di altre band emergenti Pigfuck, alchè la band dedicò la sanguinosa e niente affatto edulcorata una nuova versione di Kill Yr Idols in I Killed Christgau With My Big Fucking Dick, prima che i due si riappacificassero. Il primo grande disco è del 1985, Bad Moon Rising, che in alcune canzoni, come gli otto minuti fatali di I Love Her All The Time e soprattutto Death Valley '69, epocale, fanno capire che nessuno è uguale a loro. Moore ha l'abitudine di cambiare di continuo metodi di registrazioni, anche lo stile di produzione, e di cambiare con la stessa frequenza batteristi. Evol del 1986 li lega all'etichetta SST, e dopo un altro album grandioso, Sister, del 1987, si cimentano in un progetto alternativo, chiamato Ciccone Youth, dove rifanno pezzi storici di Madonna, Robert Palmer e parodiano l'hip hop, che in quegli anni stava salendo alla ribalta. E qui hanno un incontro particolare: Nick Sansano è un produttore hip hop, che li vede suonare. Non ha mai prodotto rock, ma si innamora così tanto del loro modo vivo e potente di esibirsi che accetta di produrre il loro lavoro, registrato ai Greene St. Recording, a SoHo, New York. Moore cambia stile di "progettazione" e con la band, che alla batteria stavolta ha Steve Shelley, inizia a suonare jam session improvvisando, carpendo di volta in volta le parti più interessanti. per la prima volta, hanno mezzi economici e tecnici per registrare più tempo, e nel mese che si prendono per farlo scrivono tantissime canzoni, che vanno a finire in un doppio album che, come accennato, è uno dei grandi dischi degli ultimi decenni: Daydream Nation (1988).

È un disco densissimo di stili, significati, idee, e basta la copertina, un rifacimento con una candela reale del famoso quadro Kerze di Gerhard Richter, per capire che è un disco di fattura ideologica potentissima. È un disco che sperimenta ogni cosa, dal pop di Kissability alla potenza dei brani iniziali, le ormi leggendarie Teenage Riot (It's time to go 'round\A one man showdown teach us how to fail\We're off the streets now\And back on the road on the riot trail) e Silver Rocket. Le voci di Moore e Gordon si alternano ai brani, Kim è fantastica e intensa in Cross The Breeze, ma alterna altri registri vocali ed interpretativi, per una prova super dove si pone persino ironica in The Sprawl. Lee Ranaldo e la sua chitarra non sono mai stati così visionari come in Eric’s Trip che prende ispirazione dal monologo di Eric Emerson nel film Chelsea Girls di Andy Warhol e Hey Joni, un omaggio alla loro maniera fantasiosa di Hey Joe di hendrixiana memoria ma dedicata a Joni Mitchell e che nel testo allude al leggendario Neuromancer di William Gibson, il libro cult del cyberpunk. Un messaggio vocale con voce stentorea di Mike Watt dei Minutemen compariva quasi dal nulla in Providence con in sottofondo il piano suonato da Thurston Moore, assolo di piano registrato a casa di sua madre usando un walkman, il suono di un amplificatore Peavey Roadmaster surriscaldato e un paio dei suddetti messaggi telefonici lasciati da Mike Watt, che chiamava Moore da un telefono pubblico di Providence, Rhode Island, doppiati l'uno sull'altro. The Wonder si ispira ad una lavoro dello scrittore James Ellroy, maestro della crime fiction. Sul disco, in omaggio (o sberleffo) ai Led Zeppelin del mitico IV, ogni componente della band ha un simbolo che lo contraddistingue. Il disco è un'ovazione di critica e pubblico sin dall'uscita, e campeggia nelle prime posizioni dei dischi migliori dell'anno 1988. A distanza di anni, è unanimemente considerato il punto più alto del rock indipendente americano. Subito dopo, firmano con la Geffen, e come succede sempre, vengono accusati di altro tradimento dai fan della prima ora. Ma questa è un'altra storia, che nulla toglie alla bellezza e all'importanza storica di questo album capolavoro.

#sonic youth #daydream nation #1988 #recensione

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

“Le donne sanno quando entrano in menopausa, gli uomini no,

lo capiscono col tempo.”

·92 anni fa nasceva OMAR SHARIF, (Alessandria, Egitto, 10 aprile 1932 - Il Cairo, Egitto, 10 luglio 2015).

L'attore nato ad Alessandia (ma giramondo per vocazione) incarna quella che nell'immaginario collettivo è la vita di un uomo ricco, bello, famoso, adorato dalle masse e conteso dalle donne più affascinanti del pianeta. Un mito alimentato dall'indolente Sharif, che negli anni '60, all'apice della carriera dichiarava ai giornalisti «Lavoro perché mi piace il lusso e quando finisco i soldi, sono costretto a tornare a recitare».

Seppure per necessità, ha lavorato con i più grandi registi - Fred Zinneman (...e venne il giorno della vendetta), Anthony Mann (La caduta dell'impero romano), William Wyler (Funny Girl), Sidney Lumet (La virtù sdraiata) - ed è stato l'incarnazione della bellezza esotica, della fierezza, del coraggio e del romanticismo nei due film che gli hanno regalato la consacrazione, entrambi di David Lean: Lawrence d'Arabia (un Golden Globe e una nomination all'Oscar) e Il Dottor Zivago (nomination al Golden Globe).

Al cinema era arrivato grazie alla madre, che lo mandò in un college inglese, dove Omar dimagrì («da ragazzo ero veramente grasso») e imparò la lingua, e a Youssef Chahine, che lo fece debuttare nel '53. Divo del cinema egiziano fin da subito, è poi diventato una star internazionale, con una propensione ai ruoli storici (è stato Che Guevara in Che!, Genghis Khan nell'omonimo film, l'arciduca Rodolfo in Mayerling, il principe Feodor in Pietro il Grande), romantici (Il seme del tamarindo, C'era una volta, Funny Girl) e d'avventura (L'ultima valle, Ghiaccio verde, Le meravigliose avventure di Marco Polo, Ashanti).

Nel 2003, Omar Sharif è tornato sulle scene, dopo un periodo di silenzio (aveva interpretato Il tredicesimo guerriero, decidendo di «non recitare più in simili sciocchezze»), con un ruolo importante, quello del negoziante arabo che fa amicizia con un bambino ebreo in Monsieur Ibrahim e i fiori del Corano. Una scelta forte, con cui lanciare un messaggio di pace tra ebrei e arabi in un momento storico-politico nerissimo, gratificata con un doppio riconoscimento al festival di Venezia: il premio del pubblico e il Leone d'oro alla carriera.

Sharif muore nel luglio del 2015 in un ospedale del Cairo, in Egitto, dove era stato ricoverato per un attacco di cuore. Aveva 83 anni.

ARACELI CINEMAdiCITTA'

#Omar Sharif

[pretty-little-fools]

#the love boat #bernie kopell #ted lange #fred grandy #80's #sydney #australia #early 80's #vintage #television #sydney harbour bridge #1981 #cruise

[70s80sandbeyond]

The Love Boat cast: Ted Lange, Bernie Kopell, Fred Grandy, Gavin MacLeod and Lauren Tewes

[geekcavepodcast]

Velma Trailer

Velma is an adult animated series origin story for Mystery Inc.’s Velma Dinkley.

Velma stars the voice talents of Mindy Kaling (Velma), Sam Richardson (Shaggy), Constance Wu (Daphne), and Glenn Howerton (Fred) as well as  Jane Lynch, Wanda Sykes, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Russell Peters, Melissa Fumero, Stephen Root, Gary Cole, Ming-Na Wen, Ken Leung, Cherry Jones, Frank Welker, Fortune Feimster, Yvonne Orji, Sarayu Blue, Nicole Byer, Shay Mitchell, Debby Ryan, Kulap Vilaysak, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Charlie Grandy serves as showrunner on the series. 

Velma hits HBO Max on January 12, 2023.

#velma #velma dinkley #mystery inc #hbo max #mindy kaling #sam richardson #constance wu #glenn howerton #TGCLiz

[historyhermann]

Velma Review

Velma is a mature animated series which mixes the genres of mystery, comedy horror, and thriller. It is based on characters from the Scooby-Doo franchise and is an origin story, of sorts, for Velma Dinkley, before the formation of Mystery Incorporated. The series was developed by Charles Grandy. He previously created Guys with Kids, produced episodes of The Office, and has been a creative collaborator with Mindy Kaling, the voice of Velma, since 2013. This review will have spoilers.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Maniacs and Wayback Machine. This was the twenty-fifth article I wrote for Pop Culture Maniacs. This post was originally published on February 17, 2023.

The plot of Velma primarily centers around the story of Velma Dinkley. She attempts to uncover the perpetrator who murdered two local teenage girls, Brenda and Krista, and circumstances behind the her mother's disappearance.

She is soon joined by school news reporter Norville Rogers (voiced by Sam Richardson). Her former best friend, and popular girl, Daphne Blake (voiced by Constance Wu) also helps her, since her quest to find her biological parents, draws her closer to Velma.

Unlike previous depictions, Velma is South Asian American, while Daphne is East Asian American, and Norville, often named "Shaggy" in previous Scooby-Doo iterations, is a Black man. This representation is reflected in the voice actors: Kaling is of Indian descent, Wu is of Taiwanese descent, and Richardson is a Black man of Ghanaian descent.

The only one of the original Mystery, Inc. crew who is portrayed as White is Fred Jones. He is a popular 16-year-old rich kid, heir of a fashion line for men, and said to be a "late bloomer". Despite these negatives, Velma still has a crush on him. Voiced by Glenn Howerton, known for his role as Charlie Day in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fred is accused as the murder suspect of Brenda and Krista, despite lack of evidence which ties him to the crime.

Velma is differs from previous Scooby-Doo series by not featuring Scooby-Doo as a character. Grandy, one of the show's executive producers, said that the show's staff struggled to find a take on this beloved dog. This coincided with Warner Bros. Animation telling them "Hey, you can’t use the dog", as Grandy recalled.

Apart from Kaling, Wu, and Richardson, the cast is relatively diverse, more than other Scooby-Doo series, including Black men, Black women, and actresses of Cuban, Chinese, Filipino, Malaysian, and Indian descent. This aligns with the focus of Kaling's small-but-powerful production company, Kaling International, which founded in 2012 and described by Time magazine as telling stories about "inner lives of women of color" and stories of underdogs.

While in previous iterations, Velma has been in romantic relationships with men, her romantic attraction to women was hinted in episodes of Mystery Incorporated and in 2022 animated film, Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo! In contrast, Velma depicts her as bisexual, as she has a crush on Fred, and accepts Daphne's feelings toward her. Like other versions, Norville has a crush on her, but it is not received by Velma, as it appears. This leads him, to later, date a cool girl named Gigi (voiced by Yvonne Orji).

Daphne has a crush on Velma, kissing her at the end of the second episode (as shown in the video above), causing her to go into a bit of a panic. She has crushes on men as well. Her actions are partially affected by her two incompetent police detective mothers: Donna and Linda. Both are voiced by lesbian actresses: Wanda Sykes and Jane Marie Lynch. Lynch previously voiced a lesbian character, Mrs. Roop, in The Ghost and Molly McGee, while Sykes voiced a lesbian character Deb, in Q-Force.

This representation is not limited to Daphne, Velma, Donna, and Linda. Cherry Jones, who voices the mother of Fred, Victoria, is a lesbian actress, as is Fortune Feminister, voice of popular girl Olive. Others are unambiguously queer, such as Nicole Byer, the voice of Crystal Cove High principal (and mother of Norville) Blythe Rogers, and Shay Mitchell, the voice of Brenda. This series appears to be the first voice acting role of Mitchell.

Despite this, the characters of Donna and Linda appear to reinforce the lesbian cop trope, which depicts adult lesbian characters as cops. This trope is said to make such characters more palatable to so-called "average people" in the U.S., if these women, mainly women of color, are "helping to uphold the systems that oppress them".

These characters seem to fall into the has two moms / two dads trope, although such a trope ignores "traditional" views of family life necessitating a mother and father. In this case, Donna and Linda are the same gender as their parents, just as Barry and Randall Leibowitz-Jenkins are in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder. In fact, Sykes had personally served as a former NSA contracting specialist for five years, something which could have influenced her role as a police detective in Velma.

This breaking of the nuclear family is present in Velma's family, as her original mother, Diya Dinkley (voiced by Sarayu Blue), left. As a result, her father, Aman (voiced by Russell Peters), a lawyer, re-marries to Sophie (voiced by Melissa Fumero), owner of a malt shop in town and a pregnant model. The latter is often belittled by Velma.

While the first season spotlights Velma's long, and strong, friendship with Daphne, with Velma even proposing they become girlfriends in episode 8, it ends with everything up in the air. As a result of the events in the show's season one finale, Velma's personal life is in shambles. This is unfortunate because the writers had a chance to make Velma/Daphne canon, but chose not to. Instead, they went the route of Never Have I Ever, Wednesday, and even Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl by setting the groundwork for a likely love triangle between Daphne, Velma, and Norville, but not Fred. Such a development shows the limitations of Velma.

Velma has been received by critics, and those on social media, with mixed reviews. Apart from the diverse cast and LGBTQ+ representation, I was drawn into the series as a new fan to the Scooby-Doo franchise. The dialogue can, sometimes, be snappy, funny, and witty, while the plot can move along smoothly. The characters, themselves, can be compelling enough to make viewers sympathize with them, but aren't always this way.

Even though Velma is snarky, one can root for her at times, but not at others. The former is the case when she has horrifying hallucinations as she feels guilt for her mother's disappearance. The only parallel that comes to mind is Julian Chase in gen:LOCK. Although he is only alive as a copy of himself, as his original body barely survived, he faces internal demons, which manifest in his memoryscape, while he faces external demons in the form of the Nemesi, who are "evil" copies of him.

While there is some similarity between both characters, Velma doesn't face trauma akin to the terror Chase experiences. However, she still faces the crushing burdens and oppression of being a person of color, and is in part of some dangerous situations.

Velma sometimes cheapens its own protagonists, even making them unrelatable, at times. For instance, late in the season, Daphne begins a fake relationship with Fred so that both of them can become popular, even if it enrages Velma. Daphne also wants to become part of Jones Gentlemen's Accessories, and is willing to put everything on the line.

On the other hand, Velma acts awful to everyone throughout the series, even acting like she is in a relationship with Norville to fool her mom, Diya, who is recovering her memory. She is probably even worse than the toxicity of Penny Proud's long-time friends in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder.

The series seemed to counter past claims about Norville's supposed drug use, as he says he hates drugs, and is only shown to be a nerd who likes Velma. While he might appear to be a stoner, he is annoyed, in the second episode, when stoners are listening to his online show. Funny enough, his father Lamont (voiced by Gary Cole), has a design similar to what Norville looked like in previous iterations. The season one finale hints that Norville may begin trying drugs, possibly marijuana, at the suggestion from his father.

In addition, there is a focus on beauty norms, shut-shaming, human experimentation, and the over-bearing power of the government (especially the police). In terms of the latter, the town's sheriff (voiced by Stephen Root), declares that they can't catch a serial killer because "it is a ghost", not because they are incompetent.

For example, in the fourth episode, it appears that Fred becomes a better person after reading The Feminine Mystique. Instead, Velma just sees him as problematic and gross, showing he hasn't changed. His character somewhat improves as the series move forward, as he becomes more sure of himself.

The voice actors of Velma are seasoned, making the series strong in that regard. Many have experience in TV, film, and even theatre roles, or previously played characters on other projects by Kaling, like The Mindy Project and Never Have I Ever.

Furthermore, some voiced characters in Amphibia, Kim Possible, Milo Murphy's Law, Phineas and Ferb, Glitch Techs, and Big City Greens, six all-ages series. Others provided voices in mature animations such as Close Enough, American Dad!, Family Guy, Bojack Horseman, Harley Quinn, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Pantheon, and Bob's Burgers.

I had hoped that characters like Dandruff Tuba, voiced by Weird Al Yankovic, would be more prominent. The name was familar because he voiced Milo Murphy in Milo Murphy's Law, a character with so much extreme misfortune and bad luck that he is prepared for any situation thanks to his handy backpack. Sadly, he was underutilized in the series.

The voice talent of Velma comes through with actors like Richardson, who is best known for voicing Richard Splett in Veep. Also, Wu voiced the Mom in Wish Dragon, Lynch voiced characters in Final Space, Fumero voiced others in Elena of Avalor and She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Peters is a Black comedian. The cast of Velma includes well-known talent like Stephen Root, Ming-Na Wen (voicing Carroll), Debby Ryan (as Krista), and Frank Welker (voicing Fred's father).

Welker has voiced Fred since the character began to be animated in 1969. He previously voiced characters in a variety of series, like Star Wars Resistance, 3Below, Totally Spies!, and Futurama. There is, additionally, Karl-Anthony Towns who voices Jacques Beau (Jock Boy). Towns is a professional basketball player of Dominican descent.

Although Velma is not my favorite series, I somewhat enjoyed watching the episodes. Others may have liked the series as much as I did, or perhaps even more, as Velma broke records for HBO Max in terms of the largest number of people watching an original animated series on its premiere day. In fact, at times, the comedy can be subtle and strong.

The series premiere is a miracle in and of itself, considering the HBO Max content purge championed by Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav last year. Two series (Summer Camp Island and Victor and Valentino) were removed from the streaming platform, while Craig of the Creek had its final season order cut in half, and Young Justice was effectively cancelled.

All five of these shows, regardless of other issues, had outward LGBTQ+ representation. Previously, the platform shuttered Final Space, which featured a lesbian protagonist, Ash Graven, voiced by pansexual actress Ashly Burch. The acclaimed Infinity Train, which featured Black and Asian protagonists in the third and fourth seasons.

The fact that the series survived this purge could be due to the fact that it was produced by Warner Bros. Animation, along with 3 Arts Entertainment, Charlie Grandy Productions, and Kaling International. Not only had Charlie Grandy Productions, the production company of executive producer Grandy, worked on previous projects with Kaling before, but an executive producer, Howard Klein, was one of the heads of 3 Arts Entertainment.

Another executive producer, Sam Register, headed Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios, and Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe. He had previously produced various Scooby-Doo and Tom & Jerry films, Teen Titans, Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Young Justice, Harley Quinn, and many others.

Charlie Grandy Productions was known for producing The Office, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Duncanville. The show's producer, Kandace Reuter, had worked on Scooby-Doo!: The Sword and the Scoob and Thundercats Roar, and the show's editors had worked on assorted series, such as Undone, Bojack Horseman, and Tuca & Bertie.

Despite all of these experienced people, in the entertainment industry, working on Velma, it does not take away from one major flaw: music. Apart from a scene in the show's season one finale, in which Velma listens to old voicemails of Norville, the music is altogether unmemorable, and the theme song is strangely alienating.

This is too bad because a Bronx-born Black man, Craig DeLeon, who composed the score of the series, worked with renowned directors in the past. Perhaps his talent was not used as well as it could have been. There were no amazing songs like those in D4DJ or banger songs like the theme song of recently premiered Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur.

This credibility of the show's producers may have been a reason that the series moved forward on HBO Max, just as Harley Quinn did. It could have been part of the rationale beyond the renewal of a Season 2 for Velma. Considering that the series became a "lightning rod for controversy" and garnered many hate-watchers, it may garner more of a cult following than anything else.

Although the series has incurred backlash, with Wikipedia claiming that audience response had been "overwhelmingly negative", it did not dissuade me from watching the series, nor even writing about it. Surely some of the criticisms, like the comedic lines which fall flat, or possible stereotypes have merit. But, the show is not the worst thing out there as those review-bombing the series on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, or others complaining about it on social media and YouTube, may lead to you to believe.

This season had Fred, and his family, as the manifestation of White privilege and wealth. It is on par, in some ways, with the snobbishness and narcissm exemplified by nouveau riche protagonist Kaz Khan in Neo Yokio.

At the same time, the series exemplifies the reality of how easy it easy for someone, especially people of color, to be swept up in the criminal system. After all, Velma herself is almost imprisoned by being at the wrong place at the wrong time, before she falsely implicates Fred in the murder.

Thee show's plot only hints at part of what the Marshall Project noted in their November 2020 post about trials in the U.S.: that many felony convictions on the state and federal levels are often results of plea bargains, and prosecutors are some of the most powerful players in this criminal system, relying on sheriffs and police as key witnesses. In many of the states, the Marshall Project noted, that judges can charge for use of a public defender.

In Velma, the arrest of Fred by Donna and Linda is not questioned, despite Velma's defense of Fred, before his outburst causes the judge to declare him guilty. Velma's father, Aman, takes Fred's case because he wants the money for his girlfriend, Sophie, not because he truly believes in the case.

The series highlights the inadequacy of mental health care in the U.S., therapy, and gender disparity. The latter is exemplified by the school Principal, Blythe, only having 50 dollars in the school budget to counter "centuries of toxic masculinity", which she uses to pay for an all-girls self-defense class, taught by Daphne's moms. The former is shown through Norville and his father.

I thought the story's focus, at first on experiments by Doctor Edna Purdue, the grandmother of Norville, a scientist who found a way to keep the human brain alive outside the body, was intriguing. I would say the same for the series plot about Velma's mom, Diya, her lost memory, and manipulation by a miscreant to commit the murders. However, it felt hollow in the end.

Velma reveals that Diya had been manipulated to recreate the lab of Dr. Purdue, recruited by Army General Henry Meeting to create the Special Covert Operations Brain Initiative (Scoobi), a reference to the original franchise. This manipulation happened through hypnosis by Fred's mother, Victoria (voiced by Cherry Jones). It is further noted that Velma herself was hypnotized as well.

Victoria states that she wanted to switch Fred's brain with someone more "ambitious", who she believed were "hot girls",  and keep the global brand of Jones Gentleman's Accessories afloat. This absurd plot cheapened the series. It was compounded by Velma's foolhardy attempt to get her mom to remember anything, involving massive lying, which blew up in her face, and her rupturing of friendship with Norville after falsely accusing his father as the serial killer.

While the social commentary on big companies which support politicians who "look the other way", as is the case for Jones Gentleman's Accessories, is apt, as much as the criticism of economic exploitation in My Dad the Bounty Hunter, it is muddled by the rest of the story.

For one, there are callbacks to the first episode of this series, when female characters were showering in the nude together, sexism by the police, and more. In the case of Velma, it is problematic that the villain is a woman in that it could send a bad message about women in positions of power.

Through all of that, the series seems to hint at a possible storyline for another season, as the police officer who received the file from Velma is killed while putting it in a "solved cases" box. Undoubtedly, in the next season, Velma will continue to use her "pretty good" detective skills, the relationship between Velma and Daphne may develop, and a new "conspiracy board"/"murder board" would come about. The series will likely have a love triangle between three of the protagonists: Daphne, Norville, and Velma.

This is because, in the season one finale, Velma inadvertently said she "loves" Norville, so he came to save her from the serial killer who is out to kill her, Daphne, and Fred. If this comes to pass, and the story straddles the home/school lives of the main characters, and doesn't come into more of its own, it will feel more like a stale CW drama. That would be a serious loss of potential in a story which could be stronger if it's plot had better execution.

In the end, I feel this series is not great but not terrible, as hate-watchers have declared. Instead, it is only in the middle. So, I can't fully, and confidently, recommend giving this series a watch.

The first season of Velma is currently streaming on HBO Max.

© 2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

#velma #hbo max #reviews #mindy kaling #lgbtq #bisexual #pop culture #scooby doo #norville shaggy rogers #sam richardson #constance wu #charlie grandy #romantic triangles #the proud family louder and prouder #stephen root #gen:lock #never have I ever #david zaslav #craig deleon #music #neo yokio #my dad the bounty hunter #Youtube

[canesenzafissadimora]

(...) nella vita di ognuno c'è un momento in cui prevalgono le scelte irrazionali. E può succedere tutto, se lo decidi. Molti si gettano sulla religione, sperando di trovare delle risposte positive alle grandi domande dell'esistenza. Ma non esistono. Checché ne dicano preti, psicoanalisti e filosofi, la realtà è molto triste.

Un giorno ci ritroveremo tutti nella stessa posizione scomoda, nella tomba. Il sole esploderà e la terrà verrà disintegrata. Spariranno i capolavori di Shakespeare e di Beethoven. Difficile aspettarsi qualcosa di buono.

Gli artisti hanno il compito, importantissimo, di distrarre l'umanità dal tragico destino che l'aspetta. A me basta vedere un film con Fred Astaire o una partita di football per dimenticare tutto per due ore. Poi esco dal cinema o dallo stadio e mi ritrovo a tu per tu con la realtà, pesantissima da sopportare.

Woody Allen