The Critic
Jay Sherman is a pudgy, balding, middle aged New York movie critic who hosts the show 'Coming Attractions'. Jay despises blockbuster movies and can't help insulting everyone's favourite films. This makes him terribly unpopular with just about everybody, especially the owner of the TV station, who wants to dumb the show down, or preferably get rid of it. ("Your job is to rate movies on a scale from "good" to "excellent"). This rarely works though, and Jay will inevitably break out into his signature phrase, "It stinks!" Jay's adopted parents are rich socialites, his best friend is a Paul Hogan-ish Australian, he has a son, an estranged wife and faint hopes of a new romance.
| Jon Lovitz | ... Jay Sherman |
| Maurice LaMarche | ... Jeremy Hawke, and countless celebrity voices |
| Christine Cavanaugh | ... Marty Sherman |
| Gerrit Graham | ... Franklin Sherman |
| Judith Ivey | ... Eleanor Sherman |
| Nancy Cartwright | ... Margo |
| Charles Napier | ... Duke Phillips |
| Doris Grau | ... Doris Grossman |
| Nick Jameson | ... Vlada |
| Park Overall | ... Alice Tomkins (1995) |
| Valerie Levitt | ... Jennifer (2000) |
'The Critic' was axed by ABC after one season, taken up and axed by Fox after another season. After a 5 year gap it returned with a series of 10 four-minute internet-only flash animation episodes, which you can view at Atom Films (see below.) They're also on the DVD set.
The show was created by writers from 'The Simpsons', and there is a 'Critic'/'Simpsons' crossover episode of 'The Simpsons'. Matt Groening was so furious he had his name removed from the credits.
Famously, 'The Critic' is the only show on which Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel appeared, as well as the only TV show they ever reviewed.
Maurice LaMarche apparently set a record during one episode of 'The Critic', by voicing 29 individual characters.
In an Andy Kaufman-esque gag, Maurice LaMarche once phoned the series' producers, impersonating star Jon Lovitz, and demanding that LaMarche be fired.
According to jumptheshark.com, 'The Critic' is one of only 3 cartoons series never to have 'jumped the shark' (the other two are 'The Tick' and 'The Simpsons')
/ 10 ratings
