History WesternAnimation / TheCritic

* {{Sequelphobic}}: A lot of the movies bad enough for Jay to bash are sequels.[invoked]

* ItIsPronouncedTroPAY: In "Uneasy Rider", Jay addresses a pizzeria employee as Mr. Pizzaface. The employee's name is actually announced "pizza-fah-chay".

** Can be partially explained by her self esteem issues surrounding her sister, and her abusive unfaithful ex-husband. Jay being a sweetheart helps too. Explaining the girl from the Webisodes, however, is just way off.

* PeripheryHatedom: While the ''real'' Barney exists in-universe, Humphrey the Hippo serves as this universe's usual analogue to him. Jay's hatred of Humphrey figures into the B-plot of "A Little Deb Will Do Ya".

** Dudley Moore as [[Film/{{Arthur}} Arthur Bach]] making a terrible joke while intoxicated.

** In one webisode, Jay went out to a stage production of ''Film/TheGraduate'' on Broadway, which featured a much talked about nude scene with Creator/KathleenTurner as Mrs. Robinson. Unfortunately, she wasn't available, and [[TakeThatMe Jon Lovitz served as her understudy, much to the disgust of the audience]]. [[CelebrityParadox Jay is pleased.]]

** The opening credits also shows Jay on ''Coming Attractions'' showing a movie clip/parody (such as parodies of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' with the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] being knocked down like bowling pins by the boulder that Franchise/IndianaJones is running from, ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' where Creator/JulieAndrews is bumped into the camera and falls down a hill, a Creator/FredAstaire and Creator/GingerRogers film where said actors are eaten by a colorized T-Rex, etc), to which Jay responds "It stinks!"
** The post-credits scene where an usher walks up to Jay and says, "Excuse me sir, the show's over." Jay's replies have been: (1) "Is the snack bar still open?" (2) "I'm stuck in the chair!" (3) "But I have nowhere to go." (4) "Get away, zitface!" (only used when the usher sounds like Jeremy (aka the Squeaky-Voiced Teen) from ''TheSimpsons'', such as in the pilot.) There's also an end credits sequence in the FOX episodes that shows Jay and Alice kissing during the credits. When the usher (a different one this time) tells the couple "Excuse me, the show's over," Alice retorts "Get away, pipsqueak!" and Jay tells the audience "That's why I love her!"

* CoverVersion: In ''Franchise/StarTrek: Generation X'', Captain Kirk sings "[[Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head]]" in Shatner fashion.

** With ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns that show's season six episode "A Star Is Burns"]], the only episode not to have Creator/MattGroening's name in the opening or closing credits (as Groening -- and a lot of ''Simpsons'' fans -- felt the crossover was an excuse to have the episode be little more than a 22-minute advertisement for a {{dueling show|s}}). This is lampshaded -- just before Jay walks into the Simpsons' living room, Bart is watching ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsonsMeetTheFlintstones'', and says he "smells another cheap cartoon cross-over". He then says that all kids should watch Jay's show, before shuddering and saying, "I feel so ''dirty''!"

'''Bart:''' Nah, we won't be doing that. ''(Technically true in that the Simpsons never appear in-universe, although Bart and Homer do turn up on a TV screen in one episode.)''
** Jay also had a short cameo in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS8E8HurricaneNeddy season eight's "Hurricane Neddy"]] where he is a patient at a mental hospital, as his psychological state seems to have deteriorated to a point where he responds to everything with his CatchPhrase, and he is also in [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E14TheZiffWhoCameToDinner season fifteen's "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner"]] as one of four characters at Moe's Tavern who have been voiced by Lovitz.

'''Jay:''' Uh... I said, "How useful is the spork?"

->''"It stinks!"''

The DVD box set was released in 2004, which includes all the TV episodes and has the webisodes as extras. During the late 2000s, the show has aired in syndication. In September, 2006, IGN ranked the show 9th in their list of the ''Top 25 UsefulNotes/PrimeTime Animated Series of All Time''. In January 2009, they also ranked the show 26th in their other list of the ''Top 100 Best Animated TV Series''. In December 2011, Complex ranked the show 6th in their own list of ''The 25 Most Underrated Animated TV Shows of All Time''.

Jay is the adopted son of former New York governor [[CloudCuckoolander Franklin Sherman]] and his wife [[{{Socialite}} Eleanor]]. Their butler Shackleford (not pictured) has a tendency to greet Jay as "Adopted Master Jay" whenever he sees him. Jay also does have a few friends: His best friend Jeremy Hawke (a combination of Creator/PaulHogan and Creator/MelGibson); restaurant owner Vlada Veramirovich (well, he's nice to Jay's ''face'', anyway); his teenage sister Margo; and his and Ardeth's son Marty, who attends United Nations High School (where one of his classmates is a [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Klingon]], and another one from [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Easter Island]] has a head made of stone).

The show was resurrected one last time as an Internet Flash series. The supporting characters from the TV series are gone (except for an appearance by Vlada), and Jay keeps hitting on his new and younger make-up girl Jennifer (not pictured). [[FanonDiscontinuity Most fans don't really count this one as canon.]]

Now has its own [[Characters/TheCritic Characters page]] and a [[Recap/TheCritic Recap page]].

* ActorAllusion: Quite a few in regards to Jon Lovitz.
--> '''Marty:''' Look! It's ''Yesterday Night Live'' alumnus Creator/JonLovitz! \\

-->'''Jay''': Don't worry son, if you think that only handsome musicians can get beautiful women, I have two words for you: Lyle Lovett.\\
'''Marty''': I thought that he was handsome.\\
'''Jay''': You're thinking of Jon Lovitz. With his good looks, he takes the cake.
** Later, in the ninth webisode, Jay attends a Broadway rendition of ''Film/TheGraduate'', where the lead actress has been replaced by Lovitz.

* AlliterativeTitle: A headline made by Jimmy Breslin while being the headmaster at Duke's preschool: "Bunnies Bite Breslin, Breslin Bleeds Badly."
* AloneAmongTheCouples: The episode "Miserable" focuses entirely on this during Jay's lonely season one.

'''Vlada:''' ''(Picks up the phone)'' Tell Vlada Junior no Harvard.\\

* BigNo: Jay does this twice in "Miserable" [[spoiler:when his "#1 fan" cuts off all his hair and looks as if she was about to break both his feet with a sledgehammer]].

** In "Sherman, Woman, and Child":

'''Jay:''' Well, they're all pretty crummy. ''(Turns to the camera when the FOX logo appears)'' Except for FOX. The last bastion of quality programming. ''(Does a salute)'' God bless you, little logo.

** In one of the webisodes, Jay went out to a stage production of ''Film/TheGraduate'' on Broadway, which featured a much talked about nude scene with Creator/KathleenTurner as Mrs. Robinson. Unfortunately, she wasn't available, and [[TakeThatMe Jon Lovitz served as her understudy, much to the disgust of the audience]]. [[CelebrityParadox Jay is pleased.]]

* BurpingContest: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2J60QsaV1s Between Jay and Homer Simpson]] [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns on Homer's show]].

* CallBack: In episode 19, the Presidential robot that's supposed to be Bill Clinton is pointed out by Jay to actually be one of Duke's hillbilly bears. We first saw the bears in episode 14.

** Creator/BillyCrystal supplied the voice of Gary Grossman in "L.A. Jay".

* CantYouReadTheSign: On the first episode, Jay tells the taxi driver his dilemma about dating Valerie Fox. The driver points to a sign that reads, "Driver Only Knows Three Words of English." Those three words: "Look at sign!"

* ChainedToABed: In "Miserable", a female projectionist (a.k.a. Jay's #1 fan) drugs Jay's glass of wine and ties him to her bed with strips of movie film.

* ChekhovsGun: In "Miserable", Jay’s #1 Fan shows Jay a cardboard cutout of himself holding a book he wrote. She tells him she hooked it up to her Clapper, and demonstrates by clapping to it, which results in the cutout waving the book up and down and saying [[Advertising/HeadOn "Buy my book!"]] multiple times. At the episode’s climax, when she madly lunges at and attempts to kill Jeremy, Jay claps his hands and triggers the cutout, hitting her on the head and knocking her unconscious.

* CirclingVultures: In "Every Doris Has Its Day", these show up after Doris claims she's very old.

* CloudCuckooLander: Franklin Sherman is too ''rich'' to be "crazy", so let's just call him 'eccentric'.

-->'''[[{{Yandere}} Jay's #1 Fan:]]''' Whenever I get into a relationship with a man, they tend to get dominating and overcritical.\\

* {{Transgender}}: In "Miserable", when Jay bumps into what appears to be a woman on the subway:
--> '''Jay:''' ''(thinking)'' I wonder if this is it: The chance encounter I've been waiting for.\\
'''Man:''' ''(thinking)'' I wonder if he knows that I'm really a ''man''.

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In one of the opening gags, Jay's boss Duke calls him, inviting Jay to his ranch upon the news that Duke has received a license to hunt man for sport. Jay is advised to bring his jogging shoes.

** In "Uneasy Rider", Jay quits ''Coming Attractions'' and becomes a truck driver.

* EpicFail: Michael Dukakis ran for School President on the basis of an easy win. He is [[ZeroPercentApprovalRating imediately booed by the class]] and loses to Marty.

** Jay's RousingSpeech is a scathing attack on Hollywood and the like that cares more about money than quality, as well as the frequent {{Sequelitis}}, all that lead to low quality movies. He also takes a jab at the viewers, in ''and'' out universe, who should take their own responsibility of judging a movie, rather than relying soley on critics like him. In his words, if people stop going to bad movies, than studios will soon learn to stop ''making'' bad movies. In more simpler terms, "If a movie stinks, '''just don't go'''''".

** Jay's RousingSpeech is a scathing attack on Hollywood and the like that cares about money than quality, as well as the frequent {{Sequelitis}}, all that lead to low quality movies. He also takes a jab at the viewers, in and out universe, who should take their own responsibility of judging a movie, rather than relying soley on critics like him. In short, if people stop going to bad movies, than studios will soon learn to stop making bad movies.

** Jay's RousingSpeech is a scathing attack on Hollywood and the like, as well as the frequent {{Sequelitis}} that leads to low quality movies. He also takes a jab at the viewers, in and out universe, who should take responsibility of judging a movie, rather than relying on critics like him.

-->"I am a movie critic by trade, and until recently, I got paid to tell you people which movies merely stink and which ones you shouldn't screen near an open flame. Well, I'm putting the burden of lousy movies back on you. It's very simple: If you stop going to bad movies, they'll stop making bad movies. If the movie used to be a TV show, just don't go. After Roman numeral II, give it a rest. If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic! Tell them you want stories about people, not a hundred million dollars of stunts and explosives. People, it's up to you. [[OneLinerEcho If the movie stinks, just don't go.]]"

** Parodied in-universe in the promo clip from ''Film/{{Arthur}} 3: Revenge of the Liver'', which is set in a doctor's office...that has a grand piano in it for the title character to notice and play. Creator/DudleyMoore was an excellent pianist as well as actor and many of his film and TV appearances, including ''Arthur'', found ways to invoke this trope.

''The Critic'' was a short-lived prime time animated series that featured Creator/JonLovitz as the voice of the titular critic. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were also writers for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. It was launched on Creator/{{ABC}} in 1994, where it was cancelled after a month, but brought back in the summer to air the rest of its 13 episodes. It was picked up by {{Creator/FOX}} the following year, where it ran for a 10-episode second season. {{Creator/UPN}} expressed an interest in picking up the series, but negotiations eventually broke down and a third season never materialized even though scripts had already been written for it. Ten short Flash cartoons ([[{{Webisode}} webisodes]]) appeared on the internet over 2000-01, and reruns of the series aired on Creator/ComedyCentral for a time. In Latin America, this show was aired on Locomotion before turning into Creator/{{Animax}}.

The DVD box set was released in 2004, which includes all the TV episodes and has the webisodes as extras. During the late 2000s, the show has aired in syndication. In September, 2006, IGN ranked the show 9th in their list of the ''Top 25 UsefulNotes/PrimeTime Animated Series of All Time''. In January 2009, they also ranked the show 26th in their other list of the ''Top 100 Best Animated TV Series''. In December, 2011, Complex ranked the show 6th in their own list of ''The 25 Most Underrated Animated TV Shows Of All Time''.

Jay Sherman is New York's #3 film critic, with a cable television film review show called ''Coming Attractions''. He delivers scathing reviews of nearly every movie featured on the show, which does nothing to boost his ratings or popularity. It also doesn't help that he's overweight, balding, cynical, and incredibly unlucky with the ladies. His ex-wife Ardeth (not pictured) keeps demanding more alimony from him, and while he does score a few dates, the women he chooses are either insane or [[CastingCouch trying to get a positive review]]. His boss Duke Phillips thinks he's gay and keeps mistaking his statements for come-ons, and his elderly chain-smoking make-up lady Doris loves to inflict verbal abuse on him.

Jay is the adopted son of former New York governor [[CloudCuckoolander Franklin Sherman]] and his wife Eleanor. Their butler Shackleford (not pictured) has a tendency to greet Jay as "Adopted Master Jay" whenever he sees him. Jay also does have a few friends: His best friend Jeremy Hawke (a combination of Paul Hogan and Creator/MelGibson); restaurant owner Vlada Veramirovich (well, he's nice to Jay's ''face'', anyway); his teenage sister Margo; and his and Ardeth's son Marty, who attends United Nations High School (where one of his classmates is a [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Klingon]], and another one from [[EenieMeenieMinyMoai Easter Island]] has a head made of stone).

In the second season, after FOX picked up the show, the character of Jay was [[ReTool retooled]]. He was given a rounder face, bigger eyes, a warmer personality, and a long-term girlfriend in personal assistant Alice Tompkins. Like Jay, Alice has a child from her own failed marriage, her young daughter Penny.

Not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/TheCritic1963 Mel Brooks' first film]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critic_(play) R.B. Sheridan's play]]. Or WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic.

'''Jon Lovitz:''' Make way, make way, you comedy peons. Famous movie star coming through, and I'm carrying something you've never seen before: It's called "talent"! \\

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In case you want to know, In "Marty's First Date", the name of the Mexico City Airport in RealLife is ''Benito Juarez'', not '''Music/LindaRonstadt'''. Very likely to be chalked up to the RuleOfFunny.

** In the second webisode, a clip from ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is shown, where Ethan Hunt (Creator/TomCruise) escapes various villains and gunfire, and then does his trademark toothy smile to the camera.

** BigRottenApple: Its not a flattering portrayal. [[note]]Oddly enough, the producers intended the show to be a "love letter" to New York City--where, ironically, the show got its lowest ratings from New York.[[/note]]

* BigNo: Jay does this twice in "Miserable" [[spoiler:when his "#1 fan" cuts off all his hair and looks as if she was about to break both his feet with a sledgehammer.]]

* BlindWithoutEm: Carmen from "Marty's First Date". After losing her glasses during the international food fight, she sees Marty in front of her as a handsome guy holding a rose. Once he gives the glasses back, her vision comes into focus on a pudgy kid holding a fork with a meatball on it. She still agrees to go on a date with him, though.

** Billy Crystal supplied the voice of Gary Grossman in "L.A. Jay".

* ClusterFBomb / SoundEffectBleep: Cher does this to Jay during his interview with her on ''Coming Attractions''.

''(WhipPan to a field in daylight, with the words "[[Creator/SylvesterStallone Stallone]]", "[[Creator/RobertDeNiro DeNiro]]", "[[Creator/MerylStreep Streep]]", and "[[Creator/CheechAndChong Chong]]" laying around as birds chirp.)''

** The opening credits also shows Jay on ''Coming Attractions'' showing a movie clip/parody (such as parodies of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' with the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] being knocked down like bowling pins by the boulder that Franchise/IndianaJones is running from, ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' where Creator/JulieAndrews is bumped into the camera and falls down a hill, a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film where said actors are eaten by a colorized T-Rex, etc), to which Jay responds "It stinks!"

* CoverVersion: In ''Star Trek: Generation X'', Captain Kirk sings "[[Film/ButchCassidyAndTheSundanceKid Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head]]" in Shatner fashion.

** With ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on [[Recap/TheSimpsonsS6E18AStarIsBurns that show's season six episode "A Star Is Burns"]], the only episode not to have Matt Groening's name in the opening or closing credits (as Groening -- and a lot of ''Simpsons'' fans -- felt the crossover was an excuse to have the episode be little more than a 22-minute advertisement for a {{dueling show|s}}). This is lampshaded -- just before Jay walks into the Simpsons' living room, Bart is watching ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsonsMeetTheFlintstones'', and says he "smells another cheap cartoon cross-over". He then says that all kids should watch Jay's show, before shuddering and saying, "I feel so ''dirty''!"

* DisproportionateRetribution: In "Dial 'M' For Mother", Jay's life is ruined after he tells his adopted mother Eleanor to shut up live on ''Geraldo''. This includes being picketed, vilified on television, and generally being shunned by the entire population of New York City. What really drives this home was that Jay only told Eleanor to shut up after she told embarrassing and inappropriate stories about him live on ''Geraldo''.

-->'''Dan''': I'm Dan Quayle. I gotta go boom-boom.

** Alice and Penny aren't introduce until the first episode of the second season, when the show had moved to Fox. However, since this proved to be the last season, there are actually more episodes without them than with.

** Jeremy Hawke is a mix of Paul Hogan, Russel Crowe and (pre-meltdown) Creator/MelGibson.
*** His twin sister Olivia Newton Hawke is, of course, Olivia Newton John.

* FixFic: In the episode "Dr. Jay", Duke creates "[=PhillipsVision=]", which changes films to have happy endings (such as [[Film/GoneWithTheWind Rhett returning to Scarlett]]) and script changes (such as changing [[Film/CitizenKane Charles Foster Kane's]] last word from "Rosebud" to [[Film/WaynesWorld "Schwing"]]).

* FoodFight: An "international food fight" occurs at Marty's school cafeteria in the episode "Marty's First Date". (Which leads to [[CheeseEatingSurrenderMonkeys the aforementioned French students' reaction]]).

* FullyAutomaticClipShow: The final episode, aptly titled "I Can't Believe It's A Clip Show!"

* {{GASP}}: Jay does this in the pilot episode. After giving actress Valerie Fox (who was also his girlfriend at the time) a negative performance review on ''Coming Attractions'', he returns home hoping that she will still be there. It turns out she is -- only for her to slap him multiple times, telling him "You're short, you're fat, and, even for a ''film critic'', you're ugly" before leaving him. Jay lets out a long shocked gasp after this.
* GeneHunting: Jay and Doris discover that Doris may be Jay's biological mother, [[spoiler:only to find out that she isn't from a DNA test.]]

* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Jay has pairs of underwear that include titles of (mostly) bad movies printed on the backside (they're studio promotional items he's been sent over the years). The best of these is ''Film/{{Backdraft}}'', but there's also ''Film/RearWindow'' and ''For The Boys''.

--> '''Anchor''': You must be very appreciative of this woman [Doris]. She's like the mother that lifted the Volkswagen off her child, except you are the Volkswagen, and the child is the child in all of us.\\
'''Jay''': What are you talking about?\\
'''Anchor''': I don't know. I was hired for my looks. ''(smirks)''

* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In one of the opening gags during the main credits, Jay's boss Duke calls him, inviting Jay to his ranch upon the news that Duke has received a license to hunt man for sport. Jay is advised to bring his jogging shoes.

--> '''Anchor''': At last someone's had the gumption to roll up his sleeves and clean up the litter in this town. If you ask me, Jay Sherman's a hero. Good night. ''(the cameras stop rolling, and the anchor litters)'' ...That's right, I'm a hypocrite! Who wants a piece of me? ''(brandishes switchblade)'' Come on!

** In "From Chunk to Hunk," Marty's gym class is preparing to take the Presidential Fitness Test, so Principal Mangosuthu shows a brief film of Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. As Clinton reminds the children about the importance of diet and exercise, an aide brings in lunch--which turns out to be a fast food order. Clinton finishes his speech while jamming french fries in his mouth.
* IAteWhat: After Jay reviews ''The Cockroach King'', he remarks that the best thing about the film was the free roach-shaped chocolates they handed out at the theater. He takes a bite out of one...and the other (decidedly real) roaches swarm off the plate. Later in the same episode, he reminisces about a movie William Shatner made about giant spiders, which also provided free candy arachnids...no points for guessing what happens.

* IWantSong: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0IX0srz0w8 "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now"]] sung by Jay in the episode "Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice."
** And a parody of "Don't Rain On My Parade" from ''Theatre/FunnyGirl''.

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar:
** In the episode "A Little Deb Will Do Ya", when Margo is getting fitted for her dress for the debutante ball, the dressmaker asks her what shade of white she wants:
--->'''Dressmaker:''' Here's the skinny. We dressmakers have a very strict code, so I need to know, do you deserve to wear virginal white? Because if you don't, you'll have to wear an off-white, what we call a hussy white. So which will it be? White-white?\\
'''Margo:''' Yes ... um, except for the gloves.
** The infamous Orson Welles frozen peas commercial, where he says "Full of country goodness and [[FunWithHomophones green pea-ness]]." Try saying that last part out loud if you don't get it.
---> '''Orson:''' [[WhoWritesThisCrap Wait, that's terrible! I quit!]]
*** [[CountryMatters There's also a particular accent on "country goodness". Particularly, the first syllable.]]

'''Jay:''' [[BreakingTheFourthWall That's why I love her!]]

* YourCheatingHeart: In her first appearance, Alice notes how when her ex-husband, Cyrus, was trying to make it as a country singer, she began to suspect he was cheating on her. Mostly due to his songs he wrote like "My Lyin' Heart", "Daddy's Steppin' Out", and then his album, "I'm Being Unfaithful to my Wife, Alice Tompkins. You heard me. Alice Tompkins."

Jay Sherman is New York's #3 film critic, with a cable television film review show called ''Coming Attractions''. He delivers scathing reviews of nearly every movie featured on the show, which does nothing to boost his ratings or popularity. It also doesn't help that he's overweight, balding, cynical, and incredibly unlucky with the ladies. His ex-wife Ardeth (not pictured) keeps demanding more alimony from him, and while he does score a few dates, the women he chooses are either insane or [[CastingCouch trying to get a positive film review]]. His boss Duke Phillips thinks he's gay and keeps mistaking his statements for come-ons, and his elderly chain-smoking make-up lady Doris loves to inflict verbal abuse on him.

The show was resurrected one last time on the Internet as a Flash series. The supporting characters from the TV series are gone (except for an appearance by Vlada), and Jay keeps hitting on his new and younger make-up girl Jennifer (not pictured). [[FanonDiscontinuity Most fans don't really count this one among the main series.]]

Not to be confused with [[WesternAnimation/TheCritic1963 Mel Brooks' first film]] or [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Critic_(play) R.B. Sheridan's play.]] Or WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic.

-->'''Jay''': Don't worry son, if you think that only handsome musicians can get beautiful women, I have two words for you: Music/LyleLovett.\\

'''Jay''': You're thinking of Creator/JonLovitz. With his good looks, he takes the cake.
** Later, in the ninth webisode, Jay attends a Broadway rendition of ''Film/TheGraduate'', where the lead actress has been replaced by Jon Lovitz.

** There's also Jay's singing, alluding to Creator/JonLovitz's operatic abilities.

** The man himself appeared in "Eyes on the Prize" for a brief cameo. Emphasis on "brief", due to Jay's particular film and television preferences.

* AlwaysALiveTransmission: ''Coming Attraction'' broadcasts live, allowing all kinds of antics (like the whole set catching on fire or Jay being attacked by a bear) to be seen all over the country.

* ArtisticLicenseGeography: In case you want to know, In the episode "Marty's First Date", the name of the Mexico City Airport in RealLife is ''Benito Juarez'', not '''Music/LindaRonstadt'''. Very likely to be chalked up to the RuleOfFunny.

** "Siskel And Ebert And Jay And Alice" was noteworthy as one of the few examples of Creator/RogerEbert and Creator/GeneSiskel appearing in a work of fiction, alongside other real critics like Rex Reed and Gene Shalit.
** Basketball legend Kareem Abdul Jabbar appears in one episode, lessening Jay's role to a [[{{Ventriloquism}} ventriloquist's dummy]].
** Another episode had Music/QueenLatifah for no adequately explained reason. Even the characters were confused as to why she was there!
*** Ricki Lake guest stars as herself in the same episode, but that goes back to an earlier gag of Penny watching daytime trash TV.
** Don't forget the time when Creator/JonLovitz shows up.
** Geraldo Rivera to the list interviewed Jay and Eleanor. It ended with [[CloudCuckoolander Franklin dancing in a diaper]].

** In the second webisode, a clip from ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is shown, where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) escapes various villains and gunfire, and then does his trademark toothy smile to the camera.

* AudienceParticipationFailure: In "A Song For Margo":

* BadBadActing: Valerie Fox in her film ''Kiss Of Death''. Ardeth also has a small part in Jay's terrible student film, which she doesn't get right:

* BasicInstinctLegsCrossingParody: In the pilot episode, film critic Jay Sherman interviews an up and coming actress whose debut role is a FemmeFatale similar to Creator/SharonStone's Catherine Tramell. When the comparison to Stone is brought up, she re-enacts the scene, leading to Jay glancing between her legs before turning to a cameraman and asking "Can we get a shot of that?".
* BeachBury: Marlon Brando during Jay's trip to the Cannes Film Festival.

** Jay's apparent dispute with the Three Bears from ''Literature/{{Goldilocks}}'' in "Dukarella":

'''Vlada:''' ''(Sadly)'' Pull the plug on Mama.

** In the episode "Sherman, Woman, and Child":

** Facetiously inverted in the episode "A Song For Margo":

** In the episode "All The Duke's Men":

** From the episode "From Chunk To Hunk":

** In the first webisode, Jay recounts how he was cancelled at ABC, Fox, and Comedy Central. Fox's building is portrayed as a very scuzzy, shoddy, run-down building in the slums - and Comedy Central's HQ is a ''circus tent''.
* BlindWithoutEm: Carmen from "Martys First Date". After losing her glasses during the international food fight, she sees Marty in front of her as a handsome guy holding a rose. Once he gives the glasses back, her vision comes into focus on a pudgy kid holding a fork with a meatball on it. She still agrees to go on a date with him, though.

* BrainBleach: In Season Two, Doris starts revealing an attraction for Duke, and this often resulted in Duke having this kind of reaction.

** In one of the webisodes, Jay went out to a stage production of ''Film/TheGraduate'' on Broadway, which featured a much talked about nude scene with Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Robinson. Unfortunately, she wasn't available, and [[TakeThatMe Jon Lovitz served as her understudy, much to the disgust of the audience.]] [[CelebrityParadox Jay is pleased.]]

** And Eudora Welty.

** Creator/PhilHartman provided THREE of the voices in "Eyes on the Prize" (respectively, Adolph Hitmaker, Bernie, and Professor Blowhard).

* CareerResurrection: InUniverse example. During his 1,000th show, Jay discusses this trope in regards to Creator/SylvesterStallone.

* TheCastShowOff: The random bits of Jay singing are just an excuse to hear Creator/JonLovitz's (admittedly amazing) operatic singing voice.

* CatapultNightmare: In "A Pig Boy And His Dog", Jay has this over dreams that his rapidly growing dog might eat him.

* CelebrityParadox: Avoided with regard to Creator/JonLovitz, who exists in this show's universe -- but he came to prominence on ''[[Series/SaturdayNightLive Yesterday Night Live]]''. Jay's a big fan, but when he suggests by phone to a movie studio that in the wake of the remake ''Rebel Without a [Bill] Cosby'' they should make ''[[Film/DrStrangelove Dr. Strangelovitz]]'', he has to explain who Lovitz is: "He's a character actor! No, I don't 'think he died!'"
* ChainedToABed: In the episode "Miserable", a female projectionist (a.k.a. Jay's #1 fan) drugs Jay's glass of wine and ties him to her bed with strips of movie film.

* ChekhovsGun: In the episode "Miserable", Jay’s #1 Fan shows Jay a cardboard cutout of himself holding a book he wrote. She tells him she hooked it up to her Clapper, and demonstrates by clapping to it, which results in the cutout waving the book up and down and saying [[Advertising/HeadOn "Buy my book!"]] multiple times. At the episode’s climax, when she madly lunges at and attempts to kill Jeremy, Jay claps his hands and triggers the cutout, hitting her on the head and knocking her unconscious.

** The ENTIRE CAST (aside from Jay and briefly Vlada) vanishes without a trace in the webisodes. This was probably a necessity of budget, as the webisodes were done on a shoestring and they couldn't afford to bring back the old voice cast.

* CirclingVultures: In the episode "Every Doris Has It's Day", these show up after Doris claims she's very old.
** These also show up twice in "Sherman Of Arabia".
* CitizenshipMarriage: At least that's how the Mexican airport employee sees it when she agrees to marry Jay (so he can travel to Cuba to save Marty) in the Season 1 episode "Marty's First Date":

'''Jay:''' ''(Starts crying)'' This is the most honest, caring relationship I've ever been in.

* ClipShow: The final episode of the second season, titled "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show".

** The opening credits also shows Jay on ''Coming Attractions'' showing a movie clip/parody (such as parodies of ''Raiders of the Lost Ark'' with the [[ThoseWackyNazis Nazis]] being knocked down like bowling pins by the boulder that Franchise/IndianaJones is running from, ''Film/TheSoundOfMusic'' where Creator/JulieAndrews is bumped into the camera and falls down a hill, a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie where said actors are eaten by a colorized T-Rex, etc), to which Jay says "It stinks!"
** The post-credits scene where an usher walks up to Jay and says, "Excuse me sir, the show's over." Jay's replies have been: (1) "Is the snack bar still open?" (2) "I'm stuck in the chair!" (3) "But I have nowhere to go." (4) "Get away, zitface!" (only used when the usher sounds like the Squeaky-Voiced Teen from ''TheSimpsons'', such as in the pilot.) There's also an end credits sequence in the FOX episodes that shows Jay and Alice kissing during the credits. When the usher (a different one this time) tells the couple "Excuse me, the show's over," Alice retorts "Get away, pipsqueak!" and Jay tells the audience "That's why I love her!"

'''Kid:''' ''(now with a normal voice)'' Hey, that speech impediment shtick is copyrighted. You'll be hearing from my lawyers! I mean, ''wawyers''.
* CoverVersion: In ''Star Trek: Generation X'', Captain Kirk sings "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" in Shatner fashion.

** With ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', on that show's season six episode "A Star is Burns", the only episode not to have Matt Groening's name in the opening or closing credits (as Groening -- and a lot of ''Simpsons'' fans -- felt the crossover was an excuse to have the episode be little more than a 22-minute advertisement for a {{dueling show|s}}). This is lampshaded -- just before Jay walks into the Simpsons' living room, Bart is watching ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsonsMeetTheFlintstones'', and says he "smells another cheap cartoon cross-over". He then says that all kids should watch his show, before shuddering and saying, "I feel so ''dirty''!"

** Jay also had a short cameo in season eight's "Hurricane Neddy" where he is a patient at a mental hospital, as his psychological state seems to have deteriorated to a point where he responds to everything with his CatchPhrase, and he is also in season fifteen's "The Ziff Who Came to Dinner" as one of four characters at Moe's Tavern who have been voiced by Creator/JonLovitz.

* CurtainClothing: In the episode "Dukerella", Miranda's costume ball dress was made out of curtains. She even had the venetian blinds as the back of the dress.

* DietEpisode: "From Chunk To Hunk". Marty becomes slim and toned. Jay loses two pounds, which is apparently his college weight.
* DisproportionateRetribution: In the episode "Dial 'M' For Mother", Jay's life is ruined after he tells his adopted mother Eleanor to shut up live on ''Geraldo''. This includes being picketed, vilified on television, and generally being shunned by the entire population of New York City. What really drives this home was that Jay only told Eleanor to shut up after she told some embarrassing and inappropriate stories about him live on ''Geraldo''.

* ActorAllusion:

'''Marty:''' [[MythologyGag Well, you kinda sound like him.]] \\

* AdamWesting: "Series/SiskelAndEbert and Jay and Alice", in a ''big'' way.

* AlcoholHic: From the animatronic hillbilly bears Duke keeps in his office. One is an animatronic of UsefulNotes/BillClinton; according to Duke, no one notices:

* AnimatedShows

* AsHimself: One episode was noteworthy as one of the few examples of Creator/RogerEbert and Creator/GeneSiskel appearing in a work of fiction, alongside other real critics like Rex Reed and Gene Shalit.

* AsideGlance: In the second webisode, a clip from ''Film/MissionImpossibleII'' is shown, where Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) escapes various villains and gunfire, and then does his trademark toothy smile to the camera.

* BitingTheHandHumor:

* TheCameo: Billy Crystal supplied the voice of Gary Grossman in one episode.

* CatchPhrase:
-->'''Jay:''' It stinks!\\
'''Jay:''' Hotchie motchie!

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: The ENTIRE CAST (aside from Jay and briefly Vlada) vanishes without a trace in the webisodes. This was probably a necessity of budget, as the webisodes were done on a shoestring and they couldn't afford to bring back the old voice cast.

* {{Crunchtastic}}

* TheDitz: "I'm [[OneSceneWonder Dan Quayle]]. I gotta go boom-boom."

* EveryEpisodeEnding

** Duke tries to retool ''Coming Attractions'' on more than one occasion, and in "Dr. Jay" he invents "PhillipsVision", which alters classic movies [[SurprisinglyHappyEnding to give them all happier endings]]. Jay also faces this in "L.A. Jay", in which he is hired to write the screenplay for ''Ghostchasers 3'' after getting his original script rejected.

* FanArt: There isn't a lot of art out there, but they are absolutely worthy of taking a look at, such as the following: [[http://princendymion.deviantart.com/art/Jay-Sherman-150869685 This portrait of Jay]], [[http://trey-vore.deviantart.com/art/Cute-Couples-Jay-Alice-106141482 Jay/Alice]], [[http://callmepo.deviantart.com/art/Jay-and-Alice-final-189538074 Jay/Alice again]], [[http://theuniblog.evilspacerobot.com/?p=4722 and some of the characters cosplaying as "Dragonball Z" characters (scroll down to see)]]. There is also [[http://tobypoole.tumblr.com/post/36842276610 this piece]] where you can build your own Jay Sherman.

* "[[https://youtu.be/w80jZ0iru1k Just LOOK]] who got eight million dollars to be a FishOutOfTemporalWater!"
* FixFic: In the episode "Dr. Jay", Duke creates "PhillipsVision", which changes films to have happy endings (such as [[Film/GoneWithTheWind Rhett returning to Scarlett]]) and script changes (such as changing [[Film/CitizenKane Charles Foster Kane's]] last word from "Rosebud" to [[Film/WaynesWorld "Schwing"]]) with a mix of ExecutiveMeddling, ViewersAreMorons, and LowestCommonDenominator in-show.

* GoofyPrintUnderwear: Jay has pairs of underwear that include titles of (mostly) bad movies printed on the backside (they're studio promotional items he's been sent over the years). The best of these is ''Film/{{Backdraft}}'', but there's also ''Film/RearWindow'' and ''[[HoYay For The Boys]]''.

* JawDrop

* LoserProtagonist
* LoveAtFirstPunch: Or in this case, pepper spray. Alice pepper sprays Jay in his face when they first meet on the street, but he was not harmed by the act. In fact, he rather liked it ("Mmm, jalapeño!"). However, in this case, no StrangledByTheRedString is involved as their relationship has chemistry and flourishes more naturally. Jay is tempted by Jeremy Hawke's sister at one point, but only because he and Alice's relationship had not been resolved yet.

-->"I am a movie critic by trade, and until recently, I got paid to tell you people which movies merely stink and which ones you shouldn't screen near an open flame. Well, I'm putting the burden of lousy movies back on you. It's very simple: If you stop going to bad movies, they'll stop making bad movies. If the movie used to be a TV show, just don't go. [[{{Sequelphobic}} After Roman numeral II, give it a rest.]] If it's a remake of a classic, rent the classic! Tell them you want stories about people, not a hundred million dollars of stunts and explosives. People, it's up to you. [[OneLinerEcho If the movie stinks, just don't go.]]"

*** This can be seen as a hilarious TakeThat at the ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars trope.

--> '''Jay:''' Well, what a year it's been, full of imagination and variety. We've seen [[Film/BigMommasHouse Martin Lawrence as a horny old woman]], [[Film/TheNuttyProfessor1996 Eddie Murphy as a horny old woman]], and Madonna as a horny old woman.

-->'''Jay''': Don't worry son, if you think that only handsome musicians can get beautiful women, I have two words for you: Music/LyleLovett.
-->'''Marty''': I thought that he was handsome.
-->'''Jay''': You're thinking of Creator/JonLovitz. With his good looks, he takes the cake.

--> '''Lovitz:''' Benjamin, don't go! I know you want me.
--> '''Jay:''' Wow! Everything's big on him, except his ''ego''!

-->'''Jay:''' Who can forget movies like ''Film/RagingBull'', ''[[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial E.T.]]'', and ''Film/CitizenKane''? [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward The Oscars]], that's who! '''The all lost!'''

* BarbieDollAnatomy: {{Lampshaded}} when Franklin offers Jay a Barbie doll to date.

** Jay's apparent dispute with the Three Bears from Goldilocks in "Dukarella":

-->'''Mexican woman:''' Stop! You promised to marry me!
-->'''Jay:''' All right, but I've got to tell you, I'm only marrying you to get to Cuba.
-->'''Mexican woman:''' Well I am only marrying you for citizenship!
-->'''Jay:''' ''(Starts crying)'' This is the most honest, caring relationship I've ever been in.

-->'''[[{{Yandere}} Jay's #1 Fan:]]''' Whenever I get into a relationship with a man, they tend to get dominating and overcritical.
-->'''Jay:''' I can see your point. Although, I wouldn't have used "overcritical", and I think your delivery was wooden and unconvincing.

-->'''Jay:''' Well, I find you "wee-pulsive" and "wee-pugnant"!
-->'''Kid:''' ''(now with a normal voice)'' Hey, that speech impediment shtick is copyrighted. You'll be hearing from my lawyers! I mean, ''wawyers''.

-->'''Agent:''' Jay, ever since we at Preferred International Talent Brokers merged with United Labor Leading Specialists...
-->'''Jay:''' Pitbulls?
-->'''Agent:''' (turns around and looks at the giant P.I.T.B.U.L.L.S. sign) Hey look, that does spell pitbulls.
-->'''Agent 2:''' Well what do you know? Well, we are aggressive.
-->(Agents all laugh which quickly turn into dog-like growls.)

* InstrumentalThemeTune: Played for the opening and closing credits. The theme is by Hans Zimmer.

--->'''Hollywood Executive:''' Uh oh, the jig is up! [[DrivenToSuicide *dives out office window*]]

-->'''Jay:''' ''(says one of the following four responses)''
-->* Is the snack bar still open?
-->* But I have nowhere to go.
-->* I'm stuck in the chair!
-->* Get away, zit-face! (Only in closing credits where the usher sounds like the pimple-faced teen from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.)

** [[Series/BarneyAndFriends Humphrey the Hippo]].