Being critical of things – movies, series, videogames, etc – generally doesn’t get you that many fans (admirers maybe, but not necessary fans), especially if the object/s of your more negative criticisms are beloved by them. The essence is that many of the things out there in the entertainment industry are not worth the money that was put into them in the first place. Yet many of them are decreed as the best thing ever, or some other claptrap overly positive cliché. It has been said that 90 percent of art is rubbish, yet these days more and more films have seemingly sunk into a trap of valuing computer and other explosive special effects over good story telling; which has resulted in creating the box-office blockbuster as it stands today (and back in the 90s).

Jay Sherman, the main character of The Critic series, is one critic to whom being critical of the work of others comes oh so naturally, and to whom these seemingly never ending blockbusters are detestable wastes of film. And he’s quite happy to tell the audience that these films stink. That is what audience he has, as Jay’s program, Coming Attractions (methinks a homage on Siskel and Ebert’s old show: Sneak Previews), isn’t a great ratings winning and - as one episode shows - screen test audiences rate him below Hitler in lovability.

And so his boss, Duke Phillips, a blowhard Southerner who built his media empire up from its humble beginnings of a chicken fast food takeaway, comes up with numerous ways to get Jay’s ratings up. None of these particularly come close to Jay liking them and often add to his frustration and annoyance. Not that they are many that are sympathetic with Jay’s plight, his divorced wife resolutely hates his guts and his adoptive mother, as well as his make-up lady generally show indifference. He does find some support in his son Marty and Aussie actor friend Jeremy Hawke, the later of which stars in a series of films that are a mixture of the Crocodile Dundee movies and James Bond. His father behaves a little bit, shall we say eccentrically, apparently due to a stroke, though this is denied by Jay’s mother and in flashbacks we see that he has somewhat always had this tendency, on and off.

For the record, Jay definitely doesn’t hate films, on one episode he goes on a tirade about the changes that his boss has done to several classic movies (Casablanca being the most predominate), when he gives them happier endings. In another he writes down a list of his favourite films to pitch for a positive segment for his show. After Duke asks that it “…ain’t full of foreign films…” that no-one’s heard off Jay cuts the shortlist down to one: Citizen Kane, which his boss has never heard off.

The series is a little slower paced than The Simpsons at its peak; but it is a more thoughtful and cerebral affair with its foot a bit more inside reality than Matt Groening’s little world. Comedy is provided with some of the sharpest satire and parodies of Hollywood’s 'finest', in particular Arnold Schwarzenegger and a stuck in advertising Orson Welles. The rest is in the sharp writing, strong characters who are either interesting or likeable, sometimes both, fantastic voice acting, interesting character designs that are as well animated as anything else in the animated sitcom genre.

The Critic was, and still is, a wonderful show that sadly got cancelled by virtually every network that aired it. Maybe it was perhaps too smart to survive the market, or maybe too cynical. In one way, it did return, as a miniseries of web shorts, which are themselves great pieces of entertainment, but this having to downsize when it could have been so much more is a forlorn end to what was otherwise one of the true greats of television.

This easliy the greatest adult cartoon sit-com of all time,Family Guy, South Park and The Simpsons ( the later, mediocre seasons) just cannot compare. It was so well timed and funny, it whould far outpace any show today or in the past, and its sad to say, smarter then a good amount of sit-coms of today, real or animated.

It was sad it could never find an audience, but thankfully, it has been realeased on DVD. Please, PICK THIS ONE UP!!!!!!!!

'The Critic', is a serious contender for funniest animated TV series ever made. But if you don't agree, just write me off as another critic.

Jay Sherman admits that people are good at different things, and that in his case it's "complaining about movies that bring happiness to idiots" (it's hard not to make this review a collection of quotes from the show.)

'The Critic' is a classic, and one of my favourite cartoons of all time. Considering it was written by principal writers from 'The Simpsons' at its peak, you should get some idea of the quality of the humour. The show also shares the often rapid-fire gags and delivery of 'Simpsons', though in most other respects it's quite different.

Jay Sherman, film critic, hosts the tremendously unpopular show 'Coming Attractions', where he lambastes new popular movies. That could make for a very simplistic show format, but 'The Critic' revolves mainly around Jay's 'off-screen' domestic life with his family and cast of hilarious supporting characters (his father is supposed to have had a stroke, but in one episode his mother insists that's just an excuse to explain his behaviour. For instance, he notes, "Birds seem to like flying into my mouth"). Jay's boss is a southern-bred tough, corporate type who once sold mustard gas to Colonel Gaddafi. He seems to keep Jay's show on air out of a desire to continually humilate its host by coming up with embarrassing ideas to make the program more 'likeable'.

At some point in every episode of 'The Critic', we get to see this week's episode of 'Coming Attractions'. Here, popular films are mercilessly lampooned, sometimes real films, sometimes parodies, like 'Beverly Hills Robo K9 Cop and a Half 2', or the crossover movie between 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Honey I shrunk the Kids'. Famous actors are prime targets. Arnold Schwarzenegger comes in for regular treatment, being made to star in the cop show 'Rabbi P.I.'. In one episode Arnold threatens Jay and refuses to leave 'until you say something nice about my movies'. Jay says "Well, they seem to come further apart these days."
My favourite though probably has to be the parody of 'Speed', titled 'Speed Reading', where Dennis Hopper forces Keanu Reeves to read a Dr Seuss book which is set to explode if his reading speed drops below 50 words per minute. It explodes when Keanu can't get through the first sentance.

The 2000 internet episodes, though frustratingly short, are great fun, and give you the chance to see Jay taking shots at more recent movies like 'Harry Potter' and 'The Patriot' (where the English are dressed as Nazis). It also features 'fun facts' while you're waiting for the episodes to load. My favourite is probably 'Sharon Stone has made more bombs than the I.R.A.'

It would be very easy for the references to contemporary movies to date this show badly, and though I suppose this is true to a limited extent, the majority of the show time, which concerns Jay's domestic life, makes 'The Critic' as timeless as any other great sitcom, and mean it's still a classic today, though perhaps it's not to everybody's tastes.

I'd like to add that Jay Sherman isn't the heartless meanie you might think him to be. Actually he's a sweet guy deep-down, someone who loves movies and is disgusted and jaded by the dross which Hollywood churns out. Sure it's turned him into a ascerbic cynic, but deep down you get the feeling that he's really a romantic, who probably sneaks into theatres that are playing 'Key Largo' and 'It's a Wonderful Life'. If there's any doubt of this, consider this line from Jay.

"I can't die like this! I have holes in my Little Mermaid underwear!"

I think this is my favourute animated TV series of all time. If someone had the guts to bring this show back, it would make my decade.