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.

S.R. Dipaling WAtching this show in reruns,I was able to enjoy this offering from many of the creators of the Simpsons,but since the movie reviews were stuck in the period that spanned 1994-95 and before,the series will always retain a sense of being stuck in time and that never fails to make me a bit sad whenever I'd watch it.Otherwise,this series,based around the eponymous Jay Sherman(voiced brilliantly by rumpled comic actor Jon Lovitz,whose talents endure) is a great nose-thumbing at Hollywood culture and the movies that sometimes get cranked out from it. His relationships with his boss,the megalomaniac Ted Turner clone Duke Phillips,his son JAy,his girlfriend(I forget her name) and her daughter, his rich,WASPy parents and his stepsister are the main focus of most of the shows. The send-ups,however,were the real stars to me. "Speed Reader","D.T.,the drunken terrestrial","Rabbi P.I."(starring Arnold Schwarzenegger,of course) and "Honey,I Ate the Kids" were a few of my faves.I think I'd buy this on DVD,and since there are only two(barely)seasons and it retained cult status,I could PROBABLY buy this cheap. Probably. But no matter,it's still one of the cleverest shows to hit the boob tube of the last decade or so.

Andy (film-critic) Like most Simpsons watching fanatics that are also latched tightly to the Family Guy, I couldn't help but walk (never run) to buy this series when it came out. Jay Sherman is my inspiration for my excessive amounts of film reviews. He was never afraid to speak his mind about the garbage distributed by Hollywood ever week. His classic line, 'It stinks' inspired me to find those horrible films and make sure I warned others before it was too late. He is a God among Gods in my book!Created by the same team that did The Simpsons, Sherman great to life through not only the witty banter that leapt from his mouth, but also his surrounding characters. Parodying some of cinema's finest, you cannot help but laugh at this obese critic that wants nothing more than to have respect and eat his Charleston Chew. Duke Phillips is one of the funniest characters created and provides some of the funniest social commentary on the extremely wealthy in our country. Sherman, in my eyes, represents the little man. While making $270,000 a year, he doesn't rise above anyone else. He reminds all of us of who we are, whether it would be running a marathon or trying to clean-up his hometown of New York, Sherman represents our desires and wants. One of our biggest desires is to see good cinema. We pay top dollar to see good movies, why does Hollywood continually fill our plate with all the bread we can eat before giving us the main course? Suddenly, we are too full to enjoy it.I would like to applaud Jay Sherman for his fight against a repetitive and uncreative Hollywood. As an avid film-goer it is nice to see the battle being fought in the animated world. Sadly, I only wish this series could have lasted long enough to endure some of the garbage released today. We need a new Jay Sherman to help us wade through and poke fun of today's Hollywood. I HIGHLY recommend this series to anyone that is as upset with Hollywood as I. This series will make you laugh at a large man that loves food and life.He is our, and especially my, hero!Grade: ***** out of *****

SonicStuart This is an updated version of The Critic where after a long absence Jay Sherman has his show come back on the internet after having his show being on ABC and then FOX, Comedy Central, then becoming Regis Philbin's sidekick and then being on the Discovery Channel and then he came back to his show Coming Attractions! We still have Jon Lovitz doing the voice of Jay Sherman and we still have Jay Sherman reviewing pathetic films and still says "It stinks". But also in this new series Jay has a new girlfriend named Jennifer and she is the make-up woman. In this series we also miss the absence of Jay's family, Marty Sherman, Duke Phillips and Jeremy Hawk. But we get to see Vlada in one of the episodes at least! These episodes didn't air on TV, they only aired on the internet and if you have The Critic on DVD these internet episodes are on the DVD. Also we still have Nick Jameson and Maurice LaMarche still doing the additional voices to this show as well as the 1994 series. Good but liked the original.