# The Critic (1994)

> A TV movie critic who rates the worst films 'It stinks' while juggling a tyrannical media boss, a love life, and a family.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/1735

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 23
- Episode runtime: 22 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: animation, comedy
- Created by: Mike Reiss, Al Jean
- Network: ABC, FOX
- Cast: Jon Lovitz, Christine Cavanaugh, Park Overall, Russi Taylor, Charles Napier, Judith Ivey, Gerrit Graham, Nancy Cartwright
- TMDB rating: 7.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108734/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: brisk
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: simple
- Violence: none
- Tone: sardonic, irreverent, deadpan, cynical, breezy

## What critics say

Viewers broadly enjoy the sharp, self-aware satire of film criticism and the irreverent animated take on a television movie critic's life.

## Synopsis

The Critic (1994-1995) is an American adult animated sitcom created by Mike Reiss and Al Jean and produced by Gracie Films, Film Roman, and Columbia Pictures Television for ABC and FOX. Jon Lovitz voices Jay Sherman, a snide television movie critic who is assigned the most pathetic films imaginable and dispatches nearly every one with his signature verdict, 'It stinks.' The engine of each twenty-two-minute episode is the collision between Jay's professional sneers and his messy private life: he answers to a tyrannical media mogul boss, Duke Phillips (Charles Napier), chases romance, and endures a sharp-tongued family that includes his father Franklin (Gerrit Graham) and his sister Marty (Christine Cavanaugh). Each installment stacks film parody segments on top of those domestic and workplace storylines. The show spans two seasons and twenty-three episodes, a short run that gives it the feel of a tightly packed satire. Its tone is sardonic, irreverent, and deadpan, with a cynical edge that never quite curdles into cruelty. Fans of The Simpsons and Mystery Science Theater 3000 will find resonance in its jabs at media culture and its affection for bad movies, delivered in the warm, mouthy spirit of 1990s prime-time animation.

## Shows like The Critic

- [Dan Vs. (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/31755)
- [Get a Life (1990)](https://ember.film/tv/4776)
- [NewsRadio (1995)](https://ember.film/tv/3775)
- [Daria (1997)](https://ember.film/tv/2020)
- [Mission Hill (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/1964)
- [Dilbert (1999)](https://ember.film/tv/4705)
- [Beavis and Butt-Head (1993)](https://ember.film/tv/12986)
- [Aaahh!!! Real Monsters (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/2305)
- [The Oblongs (2001)](https://ember.film/tv/2441)
- [Duckman (1994)](https://ember.film/tv/1181)

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