The Critic

This show is for the intelligent viewer. It not only went after Marlon Brando, but almost everybody in the business. It lampooned Bones from Star Trek, poked at Arnold, and really made fun at Ted Turner (Duke Phillips) It's a shame that Fox, then ABC didn't give it a chance.

WAtching this show in reruns,I was able to enjoy this offering from many of the creators of the Simpsons,but since the movie reviews were stuck in the period that spanned 1994-95 and before,the series will always retain a sense of being stuck in time and that never fails to make me a bit sad whenever I'd watch it.

Otherwise,this series,based around the eponymous Jay Sherman(voiced brilliantly by rumpled comic actor Jon Lovitz,whose talents endure) is a great nose-thumbing at Hollywood culture and the movies that sometimes get cranked out from it. His relationships with his boss,the megalomaniac Ted Turner clone Duke Phillips,his son JAy,his girlfriend(I forget her name) and her daughter, his rich,WASPy parents and his stepsister are the main focus of most of the shows. The send-ups,however,were the real stars to me. "Speed Reader","D.T.,the drunken terrestrial","Rabbi P.I."(starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,of course) and "Honey,I Ate the Kids" were a few of my faves.

I think I'd buy this on DVD,and since there are only two(barely)seasons and it retained cult status,I could PROBABLY buy this cheap. Probably. But no matter,it's still one of the cleverest shows to hit the boob tube of the last decade or so.

I love the Critc. This is a prime example of how unfairly show biz treats its good shows. The basic premise of the show is that a middle aged film critic by the name of Jay Sherman leads an miserable existence. We see him at the work place ripping bad movies a new one everytime he has to review one (plus for the people of the Crtic for having the guts to comment about this era of horrible movies made by Hollywood). We also see him in his private life as a man who's love life is in shambles, has a weird waspy (and adopted) family, and a man who just needs a break now and then. I very much enjoyed the critic, and shame on ABC and FOX executives for taking it down in its prime. And a half a shame to comedy central for not putting it on as often and at a better time. So in short, maybe ABC or Fox or some other network will wise up and bring back this cult classic from the dead.

I'm both disappointed and somewhat content with the fate of this ill-received TV show. On one hand, I feel the Critic far outclasses anything on television today and thus deserved more than it received; on the other hand, I'm glad it was concluded before it could suffer the fate of the Simpsons which has grasped at straws for years (and in my opinion just needs to be put out of its misery). I think the Critic could've gone strong for one more season before the ideas started thinning.

Anyway, due to its premature cancellation, the Critic has a concise feel and no degradation in quality. I feel the Critic was cancelled at the height of its potential when its comedic timing was dead on and the most of the jokes made me at least chuckle (well, other than the final episode . . . which was disappointing because it was a reprise of all the faux film clips and little original material.)

As for the Webisodes, I really didn't care much for them due to their lack of the rest of the cast - Alice, Dorris, Duke, Vlada, Jeremy, Martin, Penny, and Jay's family. Even though I like Jay Sherman, the Critic was never a solo act, and the webisodes brings to light how important the supporting cast are – who is Jay supposed to bounce jokes off of, and who's going to make fun of the poor guy? Without the rest of the gang, Jay is just a punch line with no build up.

I really liked this quirky cast of misfits, the individual roles they play, and how jokes gain momentum through their personalities and even their art styles. Too many comedies want to depend on quick punch lines and catch phrases. Sure, Coming Attractions was funny as part of a normal TV episode, but it alone was not the episode. No one character was the episode. I think that's why the Webisodes lack the edge its full episode brethren have.

The funniest aspect of the Critic, which is also noted on one of the DVD commentaries, is that not only does Jay wind up criticizing movie-parodies on Coming Attractions, but Jay's life is a series of movie parodies. Everywhere you look is a film reference in some shape or form. From plots that parody famous films of that era, to classics to little known trivia facts featuring Maurice LaMarche impersonating Orson Welles doing a commercial for peas and fish sticks. And of course, a show about a movie critic would eventually involve a plot around Siskel & Ebert, which is perhaps one of the more entertaining episodes.

So, as a fan of films, I found the Critic to be pretty sharp and a pretty fun ride. It was a nice comedic counterpoint to the serious films being released at the time, and some of the trends in filmmaker's art and even in their lives. Part of me is disappointed that it didn't last, but then again, part of me is also glad it stopped before it could go to hell like other shows out there.

23 episodes on DVD, plus the webisodes. The first 12 or so episodes are worth the price of admission. All of it is watchable, but the series did indeed start slipping. The remarkable excellence of the first half should not be missed - and you'll want to watch the rest, just because they do show glimmers of the early magic through the rest of it.

It really does help to be a film buff - they do bits from lots of different movies, and part of the fun is spotting the homage (and sniping) at a wide selection of movies. Some of them appear in the opening/closing credits, and change from episode to episode. The 'films' he reviews for his show are, thankfully, collected in the special features on the third DVD, and are well worth watching just by themselves.