"I'm thirty-six years old, I'm lonely, my hair comes out of a spray can." - Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman
The Critic: The Complete Series DVD Review
By Jonathan Boudreaux
In January of 1994, The Critic premiered on ABC. This animated series, created by The Simpsons producers Mike Reiss and Al Jean, follows the adventures of Jay Sherman (Jon Lovitz), a bald, pudgy film critic for a New York City UHF television station. Schlubby Jay hates almost every film he sees, loudly proclaiming "It Stinks!" for each film reviewed on his show, Coming Attractions. Jay's series is one of Phillips Broadcasting's (formerly "Duke Phillips' House of Chicken and Waffles") lowest rated shows, losing even to a talk show hosted by a man whose tongue is stuck to an ice cube tray. At one point, Jay struggles to gain higher test screening likeability results than old footage of Hitler. The station's Ted Turner-like owner, Duke Phillips (Charles Napier), wants Jay to lighten up, either by giving positive reviews to films that feature English-speaking casts or by having a live grizzly bear chase him around stage. Jay's emphysematic makeup lady, Doris (Doris Grau), just wants to chain smoke her cigarettes in peace without setting fire to Jay's spray-on hair.
Jay's home life is just as unsuccessful. His WASP-y adoptive parents are a tad strange. Mother Eleanor (Judith Ivey) is so cold and unsentimental that her idea of a compliment is "Oh, Jay - you look good enough to bury!" His father, Franklin (Gerrit Graham), is a daffy former New York governor who has lost touch with reality ("There's a reason there's a banana in my ear. I'm trying to lure the monkey out of my head"). Providing a touch of sanity is Jay's idealistic and loving younger sister, Margo (Nancy Cartwright).
Another bright spot in Jay's life is his equally rotund son Marty (Christine Cavanaugh), even if spending time with Marty means that Jay has to encounter his psychotic ex-wife. Marty has a sunnier outlook than his father does, not to mention more hair.
Rounding out the cast of characters is Jeremy Hawke (Maurice La Marche), a hunky Australian movie star and Jay's best friend. Jeremy, star of such blockbuster hits as Crocodile Gandhi, often offers Jay advice and support - unless, of course, there is a mirror nearby in which he can stare at his own handsome mug.
From the moment its wistfully urbane theme music (by Hans Zimmer) and main title sequence begins, it is obvious that The Critic is not a typical animated TV show. Not as frenetic as The Simpsons or as straightforward as King of the Hill, The Critic manages to be both an effective Valentine to New York City and a fun comedic romp. The characters relate to each other in funny yet realistic ways.
A perfect example is the episode "Every Doris Has Her Day." In it, Jay befriends makeup woman Doris. As they spend more and more time together, the line between friendship and dating begins to blur.until Jay comes to the realization that Doris might actually be his birth mother. The episode features excruciatingly funny homages to The Birds and Woody Allen's films, but it is also an extremely effective portrayal of friendship and love.
The relationship between Jay and Marty is also a rich one. Marty, who is in junior high at the United Nations Private School Teaching Brotherhood and Tolerance to Those Who Can Afford It, is less neurotic than his father, but is still a shy, unassuming kid. Standout episodes that expertly explore this father/son relationship include "A Day at the Races and a Night at the Opera" and "From Chunk to Hunk." The latter episode is especially poignant. In it, Marty is transformed into a hunky, popular guy after a visit to a weight loss camp, but soon learns that perhaps it would be better to be liked for who he is, not how much he weighs.
Of course, the series is also just plain funny in both its dialogue and its visual humor. One running gag centers on the movie-related swag that Jay receives from production companies, from his My Left Foot and Tootsie socks to his "Shaft: Coming Soon!" boxers. While waiting in line to see a movie, Jay bemoans the fact that so many films are based on TV shows. Behind him are posters for "Family Feud: The Movie" and "M*A*S*H - The Movie of the TV Show, Not the Original Movie."
Jay's profession allows the writers to parody both movies and movie stars. The Piano, Home Alone, The Lion King, Marlon Brando, and a certain present governor of California are just a few of the show's targets. Some of these jokes have not aged well, and a handful of gags are repeated much too often (really, how many Marlon Brando jokes do we need, especially when they are all essentially the same), but many are imaginative and funny.
On ABC, The Critic served as a lead-in to the network's mega-hit Home Improvement. The series did not do well, and it was cancelled after thirteen episodes. The Critic was then picked up by Fox. When it joined Fox's Sunday night schedule in March of 1995, several changes were made. Most notably, Empty Nest's Park Overall joined the cast as Alice Tompkins, a divorcee from Tennessee who served as Jay's love interest. This attempt to "fix" the show and make Jay more likeable does not quite work - he is much more interesting as a total loser - but even so, the series remains fun to watch. After ten episodes on Fox (one of which is a clip show), the series was again cancelled.
Famous guest voices on The Critic include Gene Shalit, Brenda Vaccaro, Geraldo Rivera, Bob Costas, Rod Steiger, Rod McKuen, Gene Siskel & Roger Ebert (in the stand out episode "Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice"), Rex Reed, Ricki Lake, Queen Latifah, June Lockhart (Lost in Space), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milton Berle, Adam West, Jimmy Breslin, and Steve Allen.
The twenty-three episodes that make up The Critic: The Complete Series are collected on three discs. The discs are housed in a colorful digipak decorated with images from the series. A booklet with an episode guide is housed in a pocket of the digipak. The digipak itself slides into a cardboard sleeve. The menus are simple yet fun, and viewers can choose to either play all of the episodes on a disc or watch an individual one.
