'' The Critic'' is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers and showrunners (seasons 3 and 4) for ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

''. ''The Critic'' had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

in 1994, and finishing its original run on

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

in 1995. A revival of webisodes was released online on AtomFilms and

Shockwave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

in 2000 and 2001.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1994)

The first season aired Wednesdays at 8:30-9:00 pm (EST) on

''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...
'' Crossover (1995)

Season 2 (1995)

The second season aired Sundays at 8:30-9:00 pm (EST) on

. It began following the ''Simpsons'' episode " A Star Is Burns", which featured Jay Sherman in what Bart would call a "cheap cartoon crossover."TV Listings for May 21, 1995
/ref>

Webisodes (2000–01)

In early 2000, show creators Al Jean and Mike Reiss wrote a series of ten 3-5 minute long internet webisodes of ''The Critic'', still with Jon Lovitz as the starring role. While still making fun of movies and Hollywood in general, its story focused on Jay lusting after the lovely Jennifer, his new makeup lady (voiced by Valerie Levitt).

Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...

does not appear in any of the episodes and is not mentioned by name, though Jay does briefly refer to a "second divorce" in the first episode—presumably from her or the Mexican woman he married in order to get to Cuba. Besides Jay,

Vlada Vlada is a Slavic given name, derived from the word ''vlada'' meaning "rule". It is a masculine name in Serbia and feminine name in Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria and Russia. It may refer to: *Vlada Avramov (born 1979), Serbian footballer * ...

(voiced by Nick Jameson) is the only other character from the show to make an appearance. Maurice LaMarche and

Tress MacNeille Teressa Claire MacNeille (née Payne; born June 20, 1951) is an American voice actress, whose credits include voicing Dot Warner on the animated television series ''Animaniacs'', Babs Bunny on ''Tiny Toon Adventures'', Chip and Gadget Hackwrench ...

are the only other cast members from the show to return alongside Lovitz and Jameson, voicing assorted background characters. MacNeille returned for webisode 10. The episodes were available on AtomFilms.com and Shockwave.com until 2001. All ten of the "webisodes" were included on the complete series DVD (but not

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

). Parodies include gaffs on '' The Patriot'', ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

'', '' Mission: Impossible 2'', ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...

,'' ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

'' and '' Cast Away''. Episodes 1 through 4 were animated by Jet City Studios; 5, 9, and 10 by Unbound Studios; and 6 through 8 by Flinch Studios.

References

Notes

{{Fox Animation

Critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...

The Critic