The Critic is an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers and showrunners on seasons 3 and 4 of The Simpsons. The Critic had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994, and finishing its original run on Fox in 1995.
Episodes featured film parodies with notable examples including a musical version of Apocalypse Now; Howard Stern's End (Howards End); Honey, I Ate the Kids (Honey, I Shrunk the Kids/The Silence of the Lambs); The Cockroach King (The Lion King); Abe Lincoln: Pet Detective (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective); and Scent of a Jackass and Scent of a Wolfman (Scent of a Woman). The show often referenced popular films such as Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and The Godfather, and routinely lampooned actor Marlon Brando and actor/director Orson Welles. They also spoofed Dudley Moore, usually as his character Arthur Bach from the 1981 film Arthur.
Despite the ratings improving, The Critic was cancelled after two seasons. It continued to air through reruns on Comedy Central and then on Locomotion. From February 1, 2000 to 2001, ten webisodes were produced using Macromedia Shockwave, and were broadcast on AtomFilms.com and Shockwave.com.
In the late 2000s, reruns of the show aired again on ReelzChannel in the US and on Teletoon's programming block Teletoon at Night in Canada.
Premise
The show follows the life of a 36-year-old film critic from New York named Jay Sherman. His televised review show is called Coming Attractions, which airs on the Philips Broadcasting cable network. He is widely considered to be "cold, mean-spirited, and elitist". His signature line, upon seeing a terrible film, is "It stinks!" Each episode is full of film references and parodies. Some of the secondary characters that are a part of Jay's story include his nutty adoptive father, his well-meaning son Marty, the Australian film star Jeremy Hawke, Margo—the 17-year-old biological child of his adoptive parents, his snide make-up lady Doris, and his boss Duke Phillips. In the second season, Jay acquired a love interest: a Southern woman named Alice Tompkins, who later became his long-term girlfriend.
Cast and characters
Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman, various characters
Christine Cavanaugh as Marty Sherman
Nancy Cartwright as Margo Sherman, various characters
Gerrit Graham as Franklin Sherman
Judith Ivey as Eleanor (née Wigglesworth) Sherman
Doris Grau as Doris Grossman
Maurice LaMarche as Jeremy Hawke, Shackleford, Principal Mangosuthu, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Orson Welles, Howard Stern, various characters Nick Jameson as Vlada Veramirovich, various characters Brenda Vaccaro and Rhea Perlman as Ardeth Charles Napier as Duke Phillips Park Overall as Alice Tompkins Russi Taylor as Penny Tompkins Kath Soucie as various characters Tress MacNeille as Humphrey the Hippo, various characters Valerie Levitt as Jennifer (webisodes only)
Episodes
Production
The show was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who along with James L. Brooks served as executive producers. The Critic was produced by Gracie Films, the same company behind The Simpsons, in association with Columbia Pictures Television. The show's animation was done by Film Roman, who were also still working on The Simpsons at this time. It was co-produced by Patric Verrone.
Jean and Reiss were showrunners on The Simpsons and had been approached by series creator Matt Groening to design a spin-off centered on Krusty the Clown. Their pitch featured many similarities to The Critic – Krusty would be a single father in New York with a prickly make-up lady and an eccentric boss resembling Ted Turner. Groening turned down the idea, instead wanting the Krusty spin-off to be a live-action series led by the character's animated voice, Dan Castellaneta.
In 1993, Brooks approached Jean and Reiss with the idea of a sitcom based on a morning television program. The pair adapted their Krusty pitch to the new idea. Brooks recommended Jon Lovitz as the lead, based on his performance in A League of Their Own. He initially turned down the role due to his commitments with three upcoming films, so at the last moment, the series became an animation.
The show sometimes included appearances of real life critics, such as Gene Shallit, Rex Reed, Gene Siskel, and Roger Ebert, who provided their own voices. When choosing things to parody, Reiss and Jean made a conscious decision to find the right balance between current pop culture and references that would stand the test of time.