The Critic

There are a few animated series that I enjoy, such as The Simpsons, Futurama, South Park, Beavis and Butthead, Daria, Family Guy, etc. I discovered that the Tubi streaming service has a program I had not watched in years, but used to enjoy, The Critic. The main character is a New York City film critic (Jay Sherman) with his own cable TV show, voiced by Jon Lovitz of SNL fame. His catchphrase was “It stinks!” The show lampooned actors and the film industry. Jay Sherman is a loveable loser who has challenges with his personal life. He has a tyrannical media mogul boss who was based on Ted Turner. In 1994-95, the show aired on ABC, then Fox, then Comedy Central for a total of 23 episodes. The final 10 episodes were put on a website called atomfilms.com in 2000-01. The Critic spoofed films such as Howard’s End, Honey I Shrunk the Kids, Apocalypse Now, The Lion King, The Godfather, Arthur and more. This show would be enjoyed by film fans, and Siskel and Ebert guest starred in an episode. The duo gave the show a lukewarm review. Film critics Rex Reed and Gene Shalit also played themselves. The show was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were also the primary writers. These two have an impressive comedy resume. They wrote for Johnny Carson and The Simpsons. Like many successful comedy writers at the highest level, they went to Harvard. Some people from The Simpsons provided voices for The Critic (such as Nancy Cartwright, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Doris Grau etc). This show was the voice acting debut for Billy Crystal. Later, he did voice work for Pixar films Monsters Inc and Cars. Park Overall from the show Empty Nest provided the voice of Jay’s girlfriend Alice. The Critic was intended as a love letter to New York City. Ironically, it did better ratings-wise in the Midwest than New York or other major cities. The show was never a smash hit but achieved a cult status. *Some information from imdb and wikipedia.