HBO Max announced some exciting news for animation fans today, including new shows featuring SNL’s Pete Davidson and Mindy Kaling and a double-season order for the reboot of Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Clone High, which MTV Studios announced was in the works in June 2020.
First up is the news that Kaling will voice the titular role in Velma, an animated series that tells the origin story of Velma Dinkley, “the unsung and underappreciated brains of the Scooby-Doo Mystery Inc. gang.†In addition to starring, Kaling will serve as an executive producer on the series alongside Charlie Grandy, Howard Klein, and Sam Register. HBO Max has handed out a ten-episode order to the show.
Next up is another animated series created by Nate Sherman and Nick Vokey titled Fired on Mars, which is described in HBO Max’s press release as an “existential workplace comedy set five minutes in the future†that’s set “on the Martian campus of a modern tech company.†SNL’s Pete Davidson will voice a character in the eight-episode series and serve as an executive producer alongside Dave Sirus (SNL, The King of Staten Island) and Carson Mell (Silicon Valley).
Last but not least is an official home — and two-season order — for the long-anticipated reboot of MTV’s Clone High. As previously announced, Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Bill Lawrence are all returning to executive produce the reboot, and original Clone High writer Erica Rivinoja, who was a writer on Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, will serve as showrunner. Not much else has been revealed about the reboot just yet — particularly which of the original voice cast members will return — but it’s described as a “modern refresh†of the cult-hit animated show and each season will be ten episodes. Congrats to voice actors everywhere.