Back in late 1994, when everyone was losing over The Simpsons, the more distinguished cartoon fan, like my then-quite-pretentious self, would have been talking about The Critic.
The short-lived but much-loved animated series ran for two seasons and starred Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman, a grumpy movie critic (based on reviewers such as Siskel & Ebert and Barry Norman) whose catchphrase was “It stinks!”
The show was co-created by The Simpsons’ Al Jean, who is teasing his and Lovitz’s return for a new season, some 30 years later. This news does not suck.
Tidbit:
Sherman appeared in The Simpsons in the 1995 episode A Star Is Burns, meaning it technically exists in the same universe as The Simpsons, Futurama, and Family Guy (and that show’s spin-offs).
Famously, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening tried to get the episode pulled because he didn’t want to be associated with The Critic, and it’s the only episode of The Simpsons that doesn’t have Groening’s name in the opening credits.
Worth noting too is that, unlike the Family Guy crossovers with The Simpsons, Sherman’s skin was changed from pink to yellow and he makes a joke about it in the episode.
“The hurdles are passed with me making my deal. [Jon Lovitz] definitely wants to do it, but his deal isn’t closed,” Jean says in a new interview.
“That’s the honest, very up-to-the-minute fact. I’m sure he’ll do it, although I can’t say I’m absolutely 100% sure, but I’m confident that his deal will close. It’s never been closer to actually happening.”
This is pretty exciting news, and I can’t help but feel that the new series, if it happens (and I pray it does), will have Jay reviewing on YouTube or something similar.
There are no details on where the show might appear or who is developing it, but given that it was originally a Fox series, it’s a decent bet that it will appear on Disney+.
I loved The Critic back in the day and still have the DVD boxset I picked up on Honeymoon in New York (it wasn’t then acailable in the UK), so I would really love to see Sherman (can only be voiced by Jon Lovetz!) return and give us his cantankerous view on the world of today, a world of streaming and massive IPs dominating the cinemas. I think he would have a lot of fun things to say.
Thoughts? I know you have them, and I wanna hear ’em all.
Source: Polygon
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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