The Critic ''The Critic'' was 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 a ...

'' is an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor

Jon Lovitz Jonathan Michael Lovitz (; born July 21, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. He was a cast member of ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1990. Lovitz starred as Jay Sherman in '' The Critic'' and played a baseball scout in '' A League of ...

. It was created by writing partners

Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...

and

Mike Reiss Michael L. Reiss ( '; born ) is an American television comedy writer and author. He served as a show-runner, writer and producer for the animated series ''The Simpsons'' and co-created the animated series '' The Critic''. He created and wrote ...

, 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 Simpson, Homer, Marge ...

''. ''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 A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

was released online on

AtomFilms Atom.com (formerly AtomFilms) was a broadband entertainment network offering original short subject movies, animations, and series by independent creators. The company was founded in 1998 in Seattle by Mika Salmi. Sequoia Capital, led by Michael ...

and Shockwave 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 Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' 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

webisode A webisode (portmanteau of "web" and "episode") is an episode of a series that is distributed as part of a web series or on streaming television. It is available as either for download or in streaming, as opposed to first airing on broadcast or c ...

s 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 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 Nicholas Jameson (born December 5, 1950) is an American actor, musician and producer, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Russian president Yuri Suvarov over three seasons on the show '' 24''. He currently resides in Reykjavík doing live c ...

) is the only other character from the show to make an appearance.

Maurice LaMarche Maurice LaMarche (born March 30, 1958) is a Canadian voice actor, comedian, and impressionist. He has voiced the Brain in '' Animaniacs'' as well as its spin-off '' Pinky and the Brain'', Big Bob in ''Hey Arnold!'' (1996–2004), and a variety of ...

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 Hackwrenc ...

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). Parodies include gaffs on '' The Patriot'', '' Harry Potter'', '' Mission: Impossible 2'', ''

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in 1970 due to lo ...

,'' ''

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 R ...

'' and ''

Cast Away ''Cast Away'' is a 2000 American survival drama film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis and starring Tom Hanks, Helen Hunt, and Nick Searcy. Hanks plays a FedEx troubleshooter stranded on an uninhabited island after his plane crashes in ...

''. 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 Critic The Critic