GarnettTeenage The film was still a fun one that will make you laugh and have you leaving the theater feeling like you just stole something valuable and got away with it.

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Ogosmith Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Guy Lanoue This little gem was perhaps ahead of its time, or perhaps a bit too clever for a mass audience, lasting only a couple of seasons. Unfortunately, the premise – an eccentric but honest movie critic – doesn't age well, since the script is of course locked into the movies of the time. This little trick is what made The Critic so good, that it didn't depend on characterisation or weirdness, or weird characterisation (astronaut Homer, Peter Griffin versus a giant chicken, Roger the alien in the attic), though these aspects are of course not entirely absent – Jay has a son he worries about, a younger sister, weird WASP parents incapable of showing they love him, and so on. Its charm was more in the movies that were reviewed, usually formulaic Hollywood stinkers that allowed the writers to have a lot of fun sending up the idols du jour – Schwarzenegger, Willis, Godzilla, T-Rex. Jay's Ted Turneresque boss, who is supposed to be narcissistic, greedy and cynical, is a pussycat compared to today's more faceless moguls. The main thing is that The Critic played directly into one of pop-culture's most important traits that was still a hip novelty twenty years ago: auto-referencing, playing on meaning alternating between two levels, the overt and its subtle reference to another pop culture icon. People who are adept at the name game inevitably gain hipster status, since their ability to wink every time they drop a name means they are masters of two levels of meaning, the overt and the subtextual reference; or does it? That's the hook, one never knows what level on which pop cultural communication operates. But within the terms of this genre and this culture, The Critic stands out since it also worked within a more traditional and pre-pop culture, in its avoidance of profanity and of references to body parts and fluids that came to define "funny" 15 years later. Worth watching, especially since getting the dated movie references makes the show even more iconic for its cultish audience.

MartinHafer Wow, my summary is brutal. But it is the result of a lot of frustration on my part and that of many other fans of this great but very short-lived series. In so many ways it was superior to cartoon shows like KING OF THE HILL, but it somehow failed to make it. This show was a spin off from THE SIMPSONS and featured the adventures of a lovable loser, movie reviewer Jay Sherman (voiced very ably by Jon Lovitz). Week after week, the show featured many rapid-fire parodies and insights into the movie business and New York City and made me laugh even more than THE SIMPSONS--and that is no small feat. This was thanks to great writing and lots of originality. My advice is to see this show on DVD or video as soon as you can and also hang your head in shame for not watching and supporting this show when it was in its first-run!!

policy134 Bet that hasn't been quoted in a while. Anyway, the show we are talking about is The Critic. Let me first say that I am not a big Jon Lovitz fan. He strikes me as someone who is kind of the guy you met at a party and couldn't ignore even if you tried your damnedest. I know that a lot of people have wondered about Lovitz. Is he gay or isn't he and to tell you the truth, I don't give a rat's a**. That thing is milked for all of its worth by giving him a boss (brilliantly voiced by Charles Napier, you know the guy from Rambo II and a couple of Russ Meyer films) who thinks Jay Sherman (Lovitz' character) is gay.This show has not been shown in Denmark but I was so curious about it that I had to check it out because Al Jean and Mike Reiss of The Simpsons were involved. My doubts about Lovitz were put totally to shame. Sure, he is a little shrill but he manages to make a character that you actually care a little about. Then there is the brilliant portrayal of his stuffy parents, well mostly his mother. His father is pretty out of it most of the time. I have seen Judith Ivey in a couple of films but she was most enjoyable in the Steve Martin vehicle "The Lonely Guy". Here, she perfectly nails the Katharine Hepburn'esquire mother who is kind of ashamed of her son but loves him all the same. Gerrit Graham as the father is really one-dimensional, but what are you gonna do? Nancy Cartwright as the sister, Margo is of course brilliant but the real surprise is that she is stuck with a character that doesn't have any quirks. She is just too plain nice and Cartwright has an incredible range that is kind of left unused here. And finally we have Christine Cavanaugh as Sherman's son who is even more whitewashed. Soucie and Cartwright are both skilled voice-over artists so it's a shame to hear them as only these two and a couple of additional characters in this show.If you have compare this to another animated show (and I always do) let me say that I can understand why this didn't catch on. The characters are brilliant but the pace of the show gets a little slow and Lovitz is really not leading man material (in any form). He is best in supporting parts and if you have to base a show on a fat, bald guy you have to make him into something more than a Alan Alda or Woody Allen clone all the time. Not to dis any of those two but let me just say: "Been there, done that" and wrap it up.Oh, one more thing. This is an animated show so let me just point out that the animation is not that brilliant either. It is much too static but I guess that wasn't really a first priority to begin with. Sorry, but better luck next time.

General_G One of the greatest cartoons ever made! I love this show. Jay Sherman is one of the best cartoon characters ever. Even back in the 90s Fox was making stupid screw ups like with TV show, canceling good shows like this. This show was just so great and they canceled it. What was going through there minds when they made that decision? I loved Jay's crazy parents. I usually like crazy parents in shows. I liked mainly the father. He was the craziest. This show reminds me somewhat of Family Guy with the different scenes in between scenes where like they mention something and then they show a small scene of what that person was talking about and then go back to the original one. The Critic is shown on Comedy Central now.