The Critic turns 30

[madhair60]

Al Jean and Mike Reiss' confused, multi-failed animated sitcom turns 30 today. Do you like The Critic, or do you believe it to be derivative and lacking in likeable characters, despite having some very funny jokes?

[ASFTSN]

I have watched the whole thing (as a result of the Simpsons crossover ep OBVIOUSLY) and cannot remember a single thing about it.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

oh there's some bangers, but what a slog to get through

[madhair60]

it's an incredibly cynical show with hindsight, with the forced catchphrases and the retooling.

[GoblinAhFuckScary]

i liked the weird dad. even if it was peak lolsorandom humour at times

[Thursday]

Long time since I watched, but I think it has that "funny but soulless" feel of Season 9 and 10 of the Simpsons.

[Petey Pate]

Honestly felt more sympathetic towards Matt Groening demanding that his name be taken off the The Simpsons crossover episode after I watched a few episodes of The Critic.

Structurally it's more similar to Family Guy than The Simpsons, though Family Guy generally has a higher batting average when it comes to jokes.

Interesting the character designs were originally influenced by Ronald Searle and UPA (former Simpsons director and now Disney bigwig Rich Moore was the main art director), but Gracie Films preferred the somewhat ugly style that was eventually chosen.

Jon Lovitz can be hilarious in supporting roles (in otherwise pretty rotten comedy films like Rat Race or The Stepford Wives remake his appearances are easily among the highlights) but I don't think he's well suited to play the lead character in anything.

[curiousoranges]

When guy from The Critic appeared on The Simpsons, I assumed he was a real man. Like when they have a celeb guest who's famous in America but not the UK. It was a minor fuck-my-hat moment when I learned the truth.

[idunnosomename]

it stinks!

[neveragain]

it stinks!

I was going to say this too, although I seem to be the only person here who actually likes it. It's incredibly funny, even if it "lacks heart". It probably has more heart than Family Guy.

[madhair60]

what doesn't

[Old Nehamkin]

Never really found it funny. Like others have said it does feel like a precursor to Family Guy with that same sort of preoccupation with making loads of very specific, meticulous pop-culture references without there necessarily being any especially good or interesting joke underneath. Although as also said above, Family Guy probably did always have a higher hit-rate, definitely so in its first few seasons.

I always thought Matt Groening got a bit of a hard time over that Simpsons episode. His stated concern about the precedent being set by Fox pushing a crossover on them to promote another show is something that doesn't really seem that unreasonable to me, even if Brooks, Jean and Reiss were on-board with the idea and even if Groening has obviously since signed off on an enormous amount of crap Simpsons things.

[ProvanFan]

I vaguely remember a Lorenzo's Oil parody.

Therefore, I love it.

[checkoutgirl]

It's not too hard being a film cricket.

[Oh, Nobody]

It's a great watch with the dvd commentaries on.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I didn't even know it was a crossover until the dvds came out, I am very smart.

[Mister Six]

i liked the weird dad. even if it was peak lolsorandom humour at times

The lolrandom dad had one really funny joke in the pilot, about peanuts, and after that was just a bit tedious.

Everything else I remember about The Critic comes from that one Simpsons episode.

[Catalogue Trousers]

Oh, I dunno. I find the central character himself surprisingly sympathetic. There's an oddly touching quality to him. He's flawed, but not irredeemable.

Also, for giving us Schwarzenegger as Rabbi P.I. and 'And nothing of value was lost!', I find it hard to dislike this show completely. It gave me a few good belly-laughs at least.

[darby o chill]

Do you like The Critic, or do you believe it to be derivative and lacking in likeable characters, despite having some very funny jokes?

Love The Critic! Lovitz is perfect. Derivative of what?

Also:

[madhair60]

Love The Critic! Lovitz is perfect. Derivative of what?

well, The Simpsons

[darby o chill]

How is it similar to The Simpsons? They have nothing in common.
Here's what I think of your stupid opinion:

Spoiler alert

[close]

[madhair60]

it is very clearly reminiscent of The Simpsons in joke structure, timing etc, specifically of seasons 3 and 4 which were run by the same creators. perhaps derivative is the wrong word. it's certainly familiar.

[neveragain]

It's the forgotten bridge between Simpsons and Family Guy. They took the cut-away aspect already present unobtrusively in Simps and ramped it up, without being as reckless or scattershot as FG.

[darby o chill]

it is very clearly reminiscent of The Simpsons in joke structure, timing etc

Nonsense.

perhaps derivative is the wrong word.

Spoiler alert

[close]

[Thursday]

It's very obviously very similar to the Simpsons.

[madhair60]

it very obviously isn't nonsense

[Video Game Fan 2000]

looking back it feels like a dry run for Futurama and as such its got a lot of the meanness/chauvinism/pettiness that dogged Futurama until the second season

its OK but my verdict is: look how much less funny the Orson Welles ad parodies are to the one from Pinky and the Brain

[darby o chill]

It's very obviously very similar to the Simpsons.

No it isn't

it very obviously isn't nonsense

Yes it is

looking back it feels like a dry run for Futurama and as such its got a lot of the meanness/chauvinism/pettiness that dogged Futurama until the second season

Nonsense

Spoiler alert

[close]

[Thursday]

Yes it is times infinity +1!

[Old Nehamkin]

The critic is roughly equal in quality with the dilbert cartoon. Make of that what you will.