The most talked about new show this week has been Velma on HBOMax, for good, though mostly for ill. A lot of people hate this show, at least on the corners of the internet I spend time on. They vehemently hate it. But I like it just fine. I love cartoons, and was going to give this one a watch regardless, and I liked the first two episodes. They’re fine.

There have been a couple dozen different Scooby Doo reboots over the decades. Velma is the ninth one since I’ve been alive, and I’m just counting cartoon shows. So if some creators want to go in a different direction with this one, I have zero problem with that. Yet people are up in arms at hating this show. Why? Personally, I think the fact that it’s produced by a noted woman of color, and changed the focus to be about a woman of color, are probably big factors in why it’s getting so much vitriol.

I’ve never been one to shy away from the zeitgeist! And I think Velma could be the start of a whole wave of new, female-led reboots of classic shows! So join me after the jump for six classic cartoons that could be rebooted with a new main character!

6. Daphne

Rather than save it for the top of the list, let’s get the joke one out of the way. Why not do another Scooby Doo reboot with a focus on Daphne next time? Velma is not the last Scooby Doo reboot. A look at Wikipedia shows me that another show is planned for 2024 called Scooby Doo and the Mystery Pups. So everybody can calm down because these will never end. So why not a show with Daphne as the lead? It can be completely separate from every other reboot, and tell a new Mystery Team origin story from Daphne’s perspective. Maybe they’re all college students this time, or maybe they all worked in an office together. Maybe Daphne knows kung-fu? That was a major thing at one point, right? In one of the previous reboots? Seems like that was a thing at one point. Anyway, this will be a surefire hit

5. Cheetara

For apparently a lot of young boys and girls in the 1980s, Cheetara of the Thundercats was a major sexual awakening. So why hasn’t there been a Thundercats reboot focused around her? There have been a couple of them over the years, from a super serious take to a super silly take. So why not a Cheetara take? Hot, young, cheetah-alien girl fights tooth and claw to make her name in the galaxy? And fight a mummy? Remember how the Thundercats’ villain is a mummy? That stuff was wild.

4. Judy Jetson

The Jetsons never got the overwhelming pop culture push as the Flintstones, despite the two families being crossover friends. I guess George Jetson just couldn’t sell cigarettes or fruity cereal all that well. Still, that means the Jetson family is ripe for reboot potential, especially if it stars teenage daughter Judy Jetson! I’m sure she could get up to all sorts of hijinks in some future high school or college. Probably send her to a future mall for shopping? Kids these futures, amiright?

3. Lady Jaye

G.I. Joe has also had a metric ton of various reboots over the decades. Have any of them focused on Lady Jaye as the main character? I know when it comes to lady Joes, the shows and movies like to focus on Scarlet, because she’s got a thing with Snake Eyes, the coolest of the Joes. But what about Lady Jaye? She’s cool! She’s got military prowess. She can be a badass. And I don’t think her origin story is anything set in stone, so a reboot could do whatever it wanted. I love Snake Eyes as much as the next ’80s kid, but he doesn’t need to be the only starring G.I. Joe.

2. Penny

Inspector Gadget hasn’t had all that many reboots, so that means we’re do for another one. And this one should definitely star his niece, Penny. She’s the brains behind the whole thing anyway, right? Isn’t she the protagonist anyway? A reboot could really put that focus on her as she stops terrorists with her computer book. Remember that thing? A computer in the form of a book? Who could possibly imagine? Anyway, the future aside, an Inspector Gadget reboot focused on Penny could be really fun. Maybe give her some gadgets too, this time around?

1. Bubbles

No, I don’t mean the Powerpuff Girls. The world is long overdue for a Jabberjaw reboot, especially one focused on Bubbles, the Velma-equivalent. Honestly, where is my modern day Jabberjaw? Why has Scooby Doo gotten a dozen different shows, but Jabberjaw only had the one? What is this crime against humanity! Was it Jaws? Did those movies ruin sharks for everyone? Jabberjaw isn’t scary! He’s big and funny, and he plays the drums! What’s not to love? And Bubbles is the ditzy and dimwitted keyboardist. She’s cute and fun and perfect for a starring role, especially over the likes of Biff, Shelly and…holy crap…the Shaggy equivalent was named Clamhead?! Are you kidding me? Why is this not a reboot yet!?

Would anybody freak out if Clamhead was black?

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