Jay Sherman is a New York film critic who has to review films he doesn't like for a living.Jay Sherman is a New York film critic who has to review films he doesn't like for a living.Jay Sherman is a New York film critic who has to review films he doesn't like for a living.
- Awards
- 2 nominations
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- TriviaThough it has a cult following, "The Critic" is most famous for flip-flopping networks. It started on ABC, where it stayed for less than a month then it was canceled and Fox picked it up where it stayed for an entire season, then Comedy Central had it for a few months as part of their Sunday night animation block, then UPN was slated to pick it up but dropped it. Then it got a good run as a series of shorts at Atomfilms.com. Even still, it has retained a cult status.
- Crazy creditsAt the beginning of each episode (just before the opening sequence) there is a scene of Jay in bed asleep. The phone rings or the alarm clock goes off and a different person is on the other end to say something that ruins Jay's morning. For example, in the first episode: "Jay this is your mother, your father and I are taking you out of our will. We feel you already have enough money. Oh yes, and happy birthday."
Featured review
Though it never really becomes more than the sum of its parts (hindered by quite a few rather generic plot lines and unimaginative film parodies) `The Critic' does contain more than its share of memorable laugh-out-loud moments, generally due to the brilliant voice acting of Maurice LaMarche, who performs most of the celebrity voice impersonations. His Orson Welles impression (`Rosebud... yes, Rosebud frozen peas'), one of the show's standout moments, has to be heard to be believed it's no wonder Tim Burton hired him to overdub D'Onofrio's voice in `Ed Wood'.
Other highlights include the many cameo appearances by film critics Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Gene Shalit and Rex Reed. Seeing Siskel and Jay re-enact the `wig' scene from Hitchcock's `Vertigo' is heartwarming, and though I could never stand Rex Reed's reviews, he is a fabulous voice actor. His delivery of the Savvy Indian Chewing Tobacco commercial jingle still makes me laugh out loud any time I hear it.
Not a knockout show, but definitely worth watching. It's a bloody shame this was cancelled.
Other highlights include the many cameo appearances by film critics Roger Ebert, Gene Siskel, Gene Shalit and Rex Reed. Seeing Siskel and Jay re-enact the `wig' scene from Hitchcock's `Vertigo' is heartwarming, and though I could never stand Rex Reed's reviews, he is a fabulous voice actor. His delivery of the Savvy Indian Chewing Tobacco commercial jingle still makes me laugh out loud any time I hear it.
Not a knockout show, but definitely worth watching. It's a bloody shame this was cancelled.
- PlutonicLove
- Aug 17, 2003
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