THE CRITIC

''For the play by Sheridan, see The Critic (play).''
'''The Critic''' is an American animated series that was originally broadcast on ABC in 1994 (later on FOX in 1995). The show was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were the show runners on ''The Simpsons'' for two years. The show was produced by Gracie Films in association with Columbia Pictures Television, and was animated by Film Roman. The series revolves around the life of movie critic Jay Sherman. Each episode featured at least one or two short movie parodies based on current or recent films. Many of these parodies were featured on Jay's show ''Coming Attractions''. Notable examples include ''Howard Stern's End'' (''Howard's End''), ''Honey, I Ate the Kids'' (''Honey, I Shrunk the Kids/The Silence of the Lambs''), ''The Cockroach King'' (''The Lion King''), ''Abe Lincoln: Pet Detective'' (''), and ''Scent of a Jackass'' (''Scent of a Woman''). It also made parodies of old but well known movies such as ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' and ''The Godfather''.
Many of the show's episodes had controversial content, such as the one showing apparent S&M content, in which Jay was tied up and about to be killed by an obsessive, psychotic woman (a spoof of ''Misery'' by Stephen King). It was cancelled after two years, though nine scripts were written for the would be new network UPN and ten brief Internet only "webisodes" were produced later on and were included as a bonus on the DVD box set.

Contents

Characters

Jay Sherman

Marty Sherman

Ardeth

Margot Sherman

Franklin Sherman

Eleanor Sherman (née Wigglesworth)

Duke Phillips

Jeremy Hawke

Doris

Alice Tompkins

Vlada Veramirovich

Shackleford

Webisodes

External links

Characters

★ Jon Lovitz - Jay Sherman

★ Nancy Cartwright - Marty Sherman

★ Christine Cavanaugh - Margot Sherman

★ Gerrit Graham - Franklin Sherman

★ Judith Ivey - Eleanor Sherman

★ Doris Grau - Doris

★ Maurice LaMarche - Jeremy Hawke, Various

★ Nick Jameson - Vlada Veramirovich, Various

★ Brenda Vaccaro - Ardeth (was played by Rhea Perlman in two episodes)

★ Valerie Levitt - Jennifer (make-up girl) (internet shorts only)

★ Charles Napier - Duke Phillips

★ Park Overall - Alice Tompkins

★ Russi Taylor - Penny Tompkins

★ Kath Soucie - Various

Jay Sherman

"New York's third most popular early-morning cable-TV film critic," Jay Sherman is the host of Phillips Broadcasting's "Coming Attractions." His catch phrases include his exclamation of surprise ("Hachi machi!"), his common putdown of sub-par films ("It stinks!") and his distinctive cough ("ach-um!"). He is known for his surly and sarcastic putdowns of the majority of films he reviewed - which is the majority of films he sees, as his favorite films are foreign films, such as "The Red Balloon" - with the exception of Citizen Kane. He often uses the "Shermometer" to measure the films he reviews, or a list of diseases he'd rather have than see a movie. Most of his dislike for films comes from a love for cinema that has been disillusioned by seeing the commercial processes involved in the film industry.
Jay is the adopted son of wealthy couple Franklin and Eleanor Sherman, who originally thought he was a monkey. He was given Acid-laced Kool-Aid in Pre-School by guest speaker Timothy Leary. He has a teenage sister named Margot. He has a young son, Marty, who visits often when not staying with Jay's ex-wife, Ardeth and her "personal trainer," Alberto. He is 37 years old.
Jay appeared in a guest role on the episode of ''The Simpsons'', "A Star Is Burns", in which he presided over a local film festival, much to Homer's envy. ''Simpsons'' creator Matt Groening, for his part, detested the act of a current Fox show (which ''The Critic'' was at the time) crossing over with another current Fox show, and refused to allow his name to be shown in the credits, or discuss the episode on the later DVD commentary. When Jay enters the Simpson household, Bart is watching a Flintstones-Jetsons crossover show, which he criticizes; he then praises Jay and "Coming Attractions"/''The Critic'', before shuddering and saying to himself "I feel so ''dirty''." At the end of the episode, as he is leaving for New York, Jay offers the Simpsons to appear on "Coming Attractions"/''The Critic'', but Bart declines, saying, "Nah, we're not going to be doing that." Oddly, ''The Simpsons'' also appears on television as a cartoon in ''The Critic'', causing some bizarre continuity questions. Jay Sherman also has yellow skin when he appears on ''The Simpsons'' but pink skin on ''The Critic''.
Since then, Jay appeared briefly on ''The Simpsons'' a few more times. In the episode "Hurricane Neddy", he was in an insane asylum apparently unable to say anything more than his catchphrase (Doctor: "Yes, Mr. Sherman. ''Everything'' stinks.") In another episode, we find him at Moe's Tavern with all the other characters on the show that Lovitz voices.
Jay has also held several other jobs in his time, including a truck driver, speech writer for his boss's presidential campaign and a writer for the film ''Ghostchasers III'' (renamed ''Ghostbusters III'' during the final episode clip show.) He has won a string of prestigious awards for his career. He has won two Pulitzer Prizes for criticism, in addition to a People's Choice Award, five Golden Globes, an Emmy Award and a B'nai B'rith Award. Duke frequently makes patronizing comments to suggest that Jay is gay; Jay maintains that he is straight.
Jay blames his weight problem on the fictional disorder vitilardo, a word-play on the skin pigmentation disorder vitiligo. His weight is suggested to be greater than a tank, as a helicopter that was originally designed to lift tanks was unable to even get him off the ground. When he exercises, Duke often uses Jay in place of a set of dumbbells when lifting weights. Jay's stomach seems to have a mind of its own, often giving him commands that he obeys out of fear, going so far as to call it "Master".
He also has an alter-ego in "Ethel". His Ethel persona is an elderly woman, whom he often pretends is his assistant, and therefore assumes her persona when answering the phone. Faintly disturbing to all concerned, "Ethel" only appeared in the first season, and is phased out in the second to make Jay seem less crazy and more likable. Fans of the series were curious as to whether or not Jay really did have multiple personality disorder.

Marty Sherman

Jay's 13-year-old son, Marty, usually stays with his mother, but visits Jay often. Like Jay, he is overweight, which causes him problems at United Nations International School. He was elected eighth-grade president thanks to a speech written by his father, dated Fidel Castro's granddaughter and discovered he has a gift for belly-dancing (he has great muscle control in his belly). In one episode, he lost a lot of weight, but found his new thin body to be more trouble than it was worth and gained it all back before the end of the episode.

Ardeth

Jay's ex-wife, who fell in love with Jay as his nurse, during a period in which he was completely bandaged and gagged. She instantly regretted marrying Jay, admitting so during the wedding ceremony. They spent their wedding night playing ''The Newlywed Game'', which they won (Jay correctly guessed Ardeth compared his sex appeal to a dead mackerel). Ardeth spends most of the series insulting Jay or demanding more alimony. However, she shares Jay's affection for their only son Marty, once admitting "We raised a great son." She is voiced by Brenda Vaccaro, but in one episode, she was guest-voiced by Rhea Perlman.

Margot Sherman

The youngest child of the Sherman family, and the only biological child of Franklin and Eleanor. She is 16 years old and is a junior at a finishing school for "untouched girls." Margot is an activist who often protests her mother's socialite lifestyle. She also cares greatly for Jay, making sure his girlfriends aren't just dating him to get good reviews and having him escort her to the debutante ball. Briefly dated grunge rock singer Johnny Wrath (real name: Jonathan Rathberg), after he moved next door to the Shermans.

Franklin Sherman

Jay's adoptive father and Eleanor's husband, Franklin always carries a drink in his hand and wears slippers. He is completely insane, and often acts quite erratically. His family claims that he had a stroke (to which Eleanor adds "He didn't really. We just say that to explain his personality").
He is a former governor of New York State, as well as a former ambassador, Cabinet member, a Rhodes scholar and a heavy contributor to the Republican Party. He was also U.S. Secretary of Balloon Doggies, claiming, "I didn't ''ask'' to be Secretary of Balloon Doggies, the balloon doggies ''demanded'' it." He was Duke Phillips' running mate when he ran for president, though Duke tried to remove him when he claimed to be the first black female head of the Ku Klux Klan. He and Eleanor's names are likely namesakes to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.
His fondness of alcohol may come from a flashback scene where Ted Kennedy spiked the punch.
The new senator, who claimed never to have consumed alcohol until now, begins acting like Curly from The Three Stooges. Ted then slaps him like Moe would have slapped Curly.

Eleanor Sherman (née Wigglesworth)

Jay's adoptive mother and Franklin's wife, Eleanor is very prim and proper. She can be very nasty and underhanded when it suits her purposes, willing to shoot her daughter's horse to force her to go to a debutante ball. She is often embarrassed by her family and its eccentricities. She seeks to have all poor people shot into space, and when she wrote a children's book about Jay called "The Fat Little Pig", she promised to put all the profits toward that goal. She is a little too concerned with her outward appearance, despite her lack of tear ducts. This is brought to light when she is asked how her skin is so smooth, and she replied that she scrubs her face rigorously with steel wool, and then soaks her face in boiling hot water for two minutes exactly. Eleanor's voice, and many of her mannerisms, were inspired by Katharine Hepburn.

Duke Phillips

Duke is Jay's boss, and head of Philips Broadcasting (formerly Duke Phillips' House of Chicken and Waffles). He somewhat resembles Ted Turner. He runs the network that shows ''Coming Attractions'', and is always trying to change things to increase ratings and maximize profits. He owns an amusement park called Phillips Land, dubbed "The Happiest Place In Jersey", founded his own preschool ("Built on a dare"), runs PNN (Philips News Network), and also tried to run for president with Franklin Sherman as his running mate. He possesses a hypnotic power called the "Evil eye" which he used to avoid reporters questions during that campaign. Contracted a fatal disease, later dubbed "Duke Phillips" disease; the treatment for which includes an 8 ounce injection of a medication discovered by Jay entitled "Jay Sherman's Oil" (a parody of ''Lorenzo's Oil'') into his eyeball every 4 hours. He believes Jay is gay and in love with him, and wastes no opportunity to belittle him in public about this. Towards the end of the series, he marries Alice Thompkins' sister, Miranda Tompkins. When asked about religion, Duke commented that he, along with the rest of America's cultural elite, worships Pan, the goat god. Also, pigeons love the sound of his voice. He has a secret love of cats, and in the episode "All the Duke's Men" a videotape of him tearfully singing to his cat is used by Bob Dole to discourage Duke from running as a Republican.

Jeremy Hawke

Jeremy is an Australian actor, and is one of Jay's best friends since Jay gave his first film its only positive review. Best known as the star of the "illogical, blasphemous, and ultra-violent ''Crocodile Gandhi'' series, he has starred in multiple action movies and played former president James Monroe (as a spoof of James Bond eg. "Monroe, James Monroe"). He has a twin sister, Olivia, who tries to win Jay's affection. He is a combination spoof of Australians Paul Hogan in terms of the exaggerated accent, and Mel Gibson with his luck with the ladies as well as his action film roles. His hidden shames: he's 43, uses elevator shoes to give the illusion of height, had allegedly fired a caterer for bringing the wrong kind of biscuit and has had extensive plastic surgery.

Doris

Doris is Jay's make-up artist, a chain smoker and possibly Jay's biological mother (tests were negative but there are many similarities between his circumstances and her own son whom she gave up for adoption). She also tries to be attractive to Duke, by purring and sending him nude photos of herself. She only has one lung and anytime a cigarette is removed from her mouth a new one appears. Doris lives in a very spacious and luxurious apartment, affordable to her since it has been "rent controlled since 1946." She says that one of her talents is making shapes out of cigarette smoke, but when she tried to make a bunny she created one with a demonic face which told her "Doris... tick! Tock!" Her rent is $120 per month. She was once a Commercial actress for Phleghm Fatale Cigarettes, but her career in acting ended after she "got knocked up by the Fruit of the Loom banana". Voiced by Doris Grau who also played a character named Doris in ''The Simpsons''.

Alice Tompkins

Introduced in the second season, Alice becomes Jay's girlfriend. She moved to New York from Knoxville, Tennessee, to show her daughter Penny that a woman can make it without a man. She was named for Alice Kramden on ''The Honeymooners''. She was once married to a country singer, Cyrus Tompkins, but she left when she began to suspect he was cheating on her. She reached this conclusion after seeing Cyrus' album, entitled "I'm being unfaithful to my wife, Alice Tompkins. You heard me, Alice Tompkins." Originally an artist (and capable of replicating art masterworks on the walls of her apartment), she now works as Jay's personal assistant. She has an older sister, Miranda, who has usurped her popularity many times over the years, and a younger brother named Bisquick.

Vlada Veramirovich

Vlada runs a restaurant called ''L'ane Riche'' (French for "The Wealthy Jackass"), which Jay and Jeremy both frequent. He hates Jay, but loves his money, frequently belittling him quietly or in a foreign language to the staff. Best known for his greeting to Jay, "Meeester Sherman", he has a keen understanding of who is hot and who is not in New York and a pose built for schmoozing. Has an equally effeminate and disturbing son, Zoltan, who attends the same UN School as Jay's son Marty and sings unintentionally hilarious songs about his homeland. The headmaster of the UN School once described Zoltan as "The boy who used to be a girl. Oops, that ''used'' to be a secret!..." On a side note the restaurant is also a parody of Sardi's of New York, which is frequented by Broadway stars and New York socialites alike.

Shackleford

The Shermans' butler, Shackleford is an older Englishman with a dour, sarcastic attitude. He is not particularly loyal to the family, but he stays with them for the money and fringe benefits. Shackleford is particularly contemptuous toward Jay, referring to him as ''Adopted'' Master Jay, with a tone that suggest that he does not consider Jay to be a true member of the family. He is also a fan of grunge rock.

Webisodes

In the early 00's, show creators Al Jean and Mike Reiss ran a series of ten internet episodes of ''The Critic'', still with Jon Lovitz as the starring role. While still making fun of movies and Hollywood in general, its story focused on Jay lusting after the lovely Jennifer, his new makeup lady. Alice does not appear in any of the episodes and is not mentioned by name, though Jay does briefly refer to a "second divorce" in the first episode--presumably from her. Besides Jay, Vlada is the only other character from the show to make an appearance. All ten of the "webisodes" were included on the complete series DVD. Parodies include gaffs on ''The Patriot'', ''Harry Potter'', '', ''X-Men,'' ''Pearl Harbor'' and ''Cast Away''.

External links

★ Critic'' at Keyframe - the Animation Resource

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★ http://www.freewebs.com/criticjay fan site