The Smiley Smile Message Board

Does anybody on here remember the animated comedy from 1994-95 called The Critic.  I used to love it, and was sad to see it fail on two networks.

I got the complete series for Christmas, and forgot how much I enjoyed it. 

The show was really ahead of its time, with the random pop culture cutaway gags years before Family Guy. 

There's also an episode where Jay Sherman goes on a rant about the state of movies where he urges audiences "If the movie stinks, just don't go.  If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic.  If it goes past the number 2, skip it."  How prophetic. 

What means "If it goes past the number 2, skip it"?

Meaning, if a movie franchise goes past a second one, skip it.  Personally, I think 3 tends to be the magic number, but I agree with the overall point of franchises being run into the ground.  Perfect example is Saw.  I thought the first one was great, and 2 and 3 made for really good sequels, but 4-7 were kinda just paint-by-numbers. 

Sequel can be better (Police Academy, Back to the Future, The Mighty Ducks).

It's family show? Any popular voice names?

I'll respectfully disagree about Police Academy and Back to the Future.  I think the originals were the best in both franchises.  But, you're right, sequels can be good.  But more times than not, especially in recent years, they're unnecessary retreads. 

It was a prime time show, but suitable for families.  There was a little adult humor.  Kind of in the Simpsons / King of the Hill range. Most notable vocal talent was Jon Lovitz, who voiced the titular character.

Never seen your King of the Hill. Here it's game about 2 kid teams competing with roller skates, riding the toy car etc.

The Jon Lovitz scenes in "Rat Race" were my favorites. Funny chap. Starred with James Belushi & Linda Hamilton (who didn't look masculine as in "Terminator") in comedy "Mr. Destiny".

Speaking of voices, is there bad example in animated shows you think it doesn't fit to the heroes? Smb. else could add funny/ interesting twist to the hero?
Best voicing?

If you like Lovitz, you might like The Critic. 

Bad fit for voices?  I'd go with pretty much everybody on Bob's Burgers.  The lead character is alright, but I find the voices of just about every character to be very annoying.  I really tried to give that show a chance because I'd heard good things about it, but the annoying voices, and the fact that I just don't think it's that funny lead me to give up after 4 shows. 

Thanks for this thread, as I had relatively recently heard someone on some or other podcast bring up Lovitz and The Critic, which I didn't really watch at the time, as being great. I'm going to see if it's on Netflix or Hulu to give it another try.

Funny about Bob's Burgers: I've been mostly ignoring that for however long it's been on until my brother insisted over xmas that it's funny. So I started watching it on Netflix and it's been cracking me up. I agree the voices are annoying, but I think that's part of the schtick. I can see why someone wouldn't like it, but for me it mixes really lowbrow jokes with pretty clever stuff, both of which I like from time to time.

This is one of my personal favorites!

I really think if The Critic were put on TV today, it would be very successful.  Other than The Simpsons, primetime animated shows weren't really en vogue at the time.

If it werent for a Simpsons crossover that airs pretty often on FXX, the show would've probably completely disappeared.

Bob's Burgers is awesome..love that show to pieces. First season though was comparitively weak.

Haven't enjoyed the Simpsons in about a decade now.

I kind of equate The Simpsons over the last decade with post Holland Beach Boys albums.  I still enjoy it, but not nearly as much as the glory days.