The Critic was a short-lived prime time animated series that featured Jon Lovitz as the voice of the titular critic. It was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were also writers for The Simpsons. The show is notable for being picked up by four different networks. It was launched on ABC in 1994, where it was cancelled after a month, but brought back in the summer to air the remaining season. It was picked up by FOX the following year and ran it for a full second season before dropping it. After this it was aired on Comedy Central. It was later picked up by UPN, who never actually aired episodes of the show. In Latin America, this show was aired on Locomotion before turning into Animax. Ten short flash cartoons (webisodes) based on the series appeared on the internet over 2000-01.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 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, and it's his job to review some pretty horrible movies. However, it is because he heavily pans every film he reviews that he is very unpopular with the public. It also doesn't help that he's rather unsuccessful at life, overweight, and not really successful with the ladies. His ex-wife Ardeth (not pictured) despises him and keeps demanding more alimony from him, and while he does have a few dates, the women are usually either crazy or just dating him to get a positive film review. His boss Duke Phillips frequently mistakes his statements for come-ons, and his elderly chain-smoking make-up lady Doris frequently verbally abuses him.Jay is the adopted son of former New York governor Franklin Sherman and his wife Elenor Sherman. 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 Mel Gibson), restaurant owner Vlada (well, he's nice to Jay's face, anyway), his teenage sister Margo, and his son Marty who attends United Nations High School (where one of his classmates is a Klingon, and another from Easter Island who has a head made of stone).In the second season, after FOX picked up the show, the character of Jay was 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.The show was resurrected one last time on the Internet as a flash series. The characters from the TV series are gone (except for Vlada who makes an appearance), and Jay keeps hitting on his new and younger make-up girl Jennifer (not pictured). Most fans don't really count this one among the main series.Not to be confused with Mel Brooks' first film or R.B. Sheridan's play.Now has its own Characters page.
Marty: Look! It's Yesterday Night Live alumnus Jon Lovitz! 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"! Jay: I wish I had half his looks. Marty: Well, you kinda sound like him. Jay: You think?
Later, in the ninth webisode, Jay attends a Broadway rendition of The Graduate, where the lead actress has been replaced by Jon Lovitz.
Lovitz: Benjamin, don't go! I know you want me.
Jay: Wow! Everything's big on him, except his ego!
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.
Ad Bumpers: The original broadcast featured a shot of Jay in both the ABC ("Stay tuned after the commercials you beer swilling couch monkeys") and FOX ("You're watching FOX, where we can say the word 'boobies'!") runs.
Adolf Hitler: Slackers not only gave footage of him a better rating than that of Jay, they think he's a "cool dude" and played by the guy who played the mailman on Cheers. He apparently frolicked on the beach of Cannes, France with Eva, too. And in the third webisode, he was part of the British army in the parody of The Patriot.
Alan Smithee: "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show" was directed by someone named "D.R.L. MacMoortler". It's pretty safe to assume that this is a pseudonym for David Cutler, Rich Moore, and Lauren MacMullan, all of whom worked on the show.
Alliterative Title: A headline made by Jimmy Breslin while being the headmaster at Duke's preschool: "Bunnies Bite Breslin, Breslin Bleeds Badly."
Always Someone Better: Jay was this in his cameo on The Simpsons; reportedly, this is what annoyed Matt Groening enough to have his name taken off the credits for that one episode.
Art Evolution: Most of the characters were given some slight updates to their character designs. Jay's changes are described above, while Margo went from realistically proportioned to completely stylized.
Artistic License - Geography: In case you want to know, In the episode "Marty's First Date", the name of the Mexico City Airport in Real Life is Benito Juarez, not Linda Ronstadt!
As Himself: One episode was noteworthy as one of the few examples of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel appearing in a work of fiction, alongside other real critics like Rex Reed and Gene Shalit.
Another episode had Queen Latifah 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.
To put this in perspective - while training for a marathon, he tells Vlada that he's on a diet.
Vlada:(Picks up the phone) Tell Vlada Junior no Harvard.
Jay: In fact, I may just have coffee!
Vlada:(Sadly) Pull the plug on Mama.
Big Fancy House: The Sherman family's mansion. Ditto for Duke's mansion.
Big "NO!": Jay does this twice in "Miserable" when his "#1 fan" cuts off all his hair and looks as if she was about to break both his feet with a sledgehammer.
Bilingual Bonus: Vlada's restaurant L'ane Riche is French for "The Wealthy Jackass."
"I'm Jay Sherman, the famous film critic. I used to have a big show on ABC ... for about a week."
One of Jay's voiceovers during the show's Eye Catch:
"You're watching FOX. Shame on you!"
In the episode "A Song For Margo":
Margo: Johnny is just like you, Jay. He's not afraid of anything. Not even the TV networks.
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 the episode "All The Duke's Men":
"It's a giant horse's ass! (Turns to the camera) You're watching FOX. Give us 10 minutes, we'll give you an ass."
And from another bumper:
"You're watching FOX, where we can say the word 'boobies'!"
From the episode "From Chunk To Hunk":
"Ah yes. Sweet, non-judgmental FOX Network, where coming in third is a triumph!"
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.
Blind Without 'Em: 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.
Brain Bleach: In Season Two, Doris starts revealing an attraction for Duke, and this often resulted in Duke having this kind of reaction.
Doris: Duke, I've loved you for years. In fact, every thirty seconds I have a hot, steamy fantasy about the two of us.
Duke: Ooh, uh, I got to take this elevator.
Doris: It's just an open shaft!
Duke: It's quicker! (steps in and plummets)
Later, Doris sends him a graphic nude photo of herself, which the audience sees (with Duke's fingers as the censor strip). Duke has a heart attack and cries for his pills.
Brand X: "Hair in a Can" and "Phlegm Fatale Cigarettes."
Broken Heel: This affects Jeremy upon meeting Margo in "Miserable."
Can't Hold His Liquor: Both Jay and his son get wasted after sharing one glass of wine, and only make the glass half empty.
Can't You Read The Sign?: 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!"
Celebrity Paradox: Avoided with regard to Jon Lovitz, who exists in this show's universe — but he came to prominence on 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 Dr. Strangelovitz, he has to explain who Lovitz is: "He's a character actor! ...No, I don't think he died!"
Chained to a Bed: 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.
Cheese Eating Surrender Monkeys: When a food fight occurs in Marty's school cafeteria, the French students immediately put their hands up and surrender, even though they did not participate.
Chekhov's Gun: 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 "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.
Chekhov's Skill: In "A Day at the Races and a Night at the Opera," while Jay and Marty try on clothes at a department store, Marty discovers he is able to move his stomach up and down. He opens the door from the changing room to show his father, only to be told by a little girl that what he was doing was "gross." Feeling bad, he stops. Later, during a school talent show he attends, he attempts to play "Yankee Doodle" on his electric guitar, only for a string to break off just as he starts playing. Unfazed, he tells the audience "This is the only other thing I know how to do": he moves his vest out of the way and moves his stomach up and down again. The audience and Principal Mangosuthu become impressed. Marty performs more creative belly-dancing routines, and the audience gives him a standing ovation.
Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: 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.
The "second divorce" Jay mentioned in the first webisode could have been with the Mexican woman he married in "Marty's First Date". Also the fact Alice was never mentioned by name. The web series seem to be pretty heavily noncanon.
Citizenship Marriage: 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":
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.
For the record, that part of the episode is pretty inaccurate: in Real Life, Mexican airliners doesn't give a damn if an American citizen travel to Cuba via Mexico, as long they can pay the ticket.
Clip Show: Final episode of the second season, titled "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show".
The beginning of the opening credits where Jay wakes up to a phone call from someone with bad or weird news. In the FOX episodes, they also added in Jay waking up to an announcement on his clock radio.
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 Nazis being knocked down like bowling pins by the boulder that Indiana Jones is running from, The Sound of Music where Julie Andrews is bumped into the camera and falls down a hill, a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movie where said actors are eaten by a 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 The Simpsons.) 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!"
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.
Crossover: With The Simpsons, 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).
This is lampshaded — just before Jay walks into the Simpsons' living room, Bart is watching The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones, and says he "smells another cheap cartoon cross-over." Lampshaded again in this exchange towards the end:
Jay: And if you ever want to appear on my show-
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 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 Catch Phrase, 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 Jon Lovitz.
Keep in mind, it's established that The Simpsons is a cartoon show in Jay's world. So, Jay visited a fictional television show? The Simpsons family exist in a world where there's a cartoon based on them? Jay crossed over into a cartoon universe where both he and The Simpsons exist? KABOOM!
Perhaps in-universe, Jay simply guest starred as himself on a well-known TV series? That explains the lack of the other characters.
Crying Indian: Duke wants "Savvy Indian Chewing Tobacco" to be a sponsor for Coming Attractions. He even has an Indian on the set holding a sign with said name on it. Refusing to take part in it, Jay rips up his contract and throws the pieces at the Indian's feet, making him shed a tear.
Curtain Clothing: 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.
Cute Kitten: In "Frankie and Ellie Get Lost," during Coming Attractions, Duke tells Jay that the audience only tunes in for the funny clips, and then shows a black and white clip of two kittens playing Ping Pong with their paws. Jay is at first offended, but then he sees one of the kittens frisking with the ball.
Jay: Haha, they are cute.
Darker and Edgier: Parodied in the first webisode. Jay ends the episode with, "Oh Jay, you bitch! It's the internet. I can say, "bitch"!
Jay:(after Jeremy's sister Olivia introduces herself) I wonder what she looks like naked?
Jay's brain: You idiot, you said that out loud. Better cover.
Jay: I mean uh, I wonder what she cooks like ... naked?
Jay's brain:(sarcastically) Oh, nice going.
Olivia doesn't mind. She asks if he'd like her to cook naked for him. Jay's stomach just wants the cookin'.
Diet Episode: "From Chunk To Hunk." Marty becomes slim and toned. Jay loses two pounds, which is apparently his college weight.
Disproportionate Retribution: 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.
Is this possibly a reference to A Wish for Wings that Work? A similar scene happens where Opus is piloting an airplane in a dream sequence...
Evil Eye: During his Presidential campaign, Duke uses this on a reporter to avoid answering a question. After doing so, Duke asks the reporter if he has a follow-up question, to which he replies in a low monotone voice "How may I serve you, Evil One?" Also could count as Hypnotic Eyes.
Floating Advice Reminder: Played with in "Marty's First Date", in which the balloon containing Jay's head gets popped by a skier's poles — and goes flying around afterward.
Later, in the same episode, Jay starts complaining about being in the bubble and then being ignored. He then notices a fried banana stand. "Oooh! Fried bananas!" He starts floating toward the cart and opening and closing his mouth while the intermission theme to Ms. Pac-Man plays. The Ms. Pac-Man song is omitted in the DVD release.
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," and leaving him. Jay lets out a long shocked gasp after this.
Gene Hunting: Jay and Doris discover that Doris may be Jay's biological mother, only to find out that she is not so from a DNA test.
Getting Crap Past the Radar: 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 green pea-ness!". Try saying that last part out loud if you don't get it.
There's also a particular accent on "country goodness". Particularly, the first syllable.
Goofy Print Underwear: 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 "Backdraft", but there's also "Rear Window" and "For The Boys".
Hair Today Gone Tomorrow: Technically a subversion: Miranda reminds Jay of when he first started losing his hair. Flashback to Jay wearing a white judge's wig, and speaking with a horrendous English accent.
Also, when Duke comes in and grabs the wig off his head, there's a Little Orphan Annie wig underneath, with Jay exclaiming "Leaping Lizards!"
Helium Speech: He speaks in a helium voice in "From Chunk to Hunk" due to a helium leak in the school.
Mangosuthu: (Over intercom) Attention, students: Auditions for Peter Pan are being (Voice gets higher) held in the auditorium! (Voice back to normal) Stupid helium.
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: 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."
Hypocritical Humor: "Talk about overusing a catch phrase! Hachi-machi, it stinks!"
Ink Suit Actor: One could argue this with regards to Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman. Parodied twice in-show with Howard Stern as The Cockroach King and a remake of Pinocchio featuring Jeremy as Bogart the Roach, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Geppetto, Robin Williams as the Beige Fairy, and Bob Dylan as the title character.
Instrumental Theme Tune: Played for the opening and closing credits. The theme is by Hans Zimmer.
Like Father, Like Son: Hinted at in the episode where Jay goes on a date with Doris and it's implied she may be his birth mother. Doris recounts to Jay about how she used to date a short, balding fat guy who would always take her to movies and then complain about them.
Long List: Deciding to wipe her slate clean, Olivia tells Jay a list of all the men she had been with. The list is so long that Jay ends up growing stubble on his face and shaving. Conversely, his takes all of 1 second.
Make a Wish: In the episode "Uneasy Rider", Marty points to a shooting star and asks Jay to make a wish. The scene then cuts to said star hitting and destroying a billboard advertising Ace Ventura with Jay exclaiming "Thank you, God" while driving past the scene.
Marlon Brando: Gets lampooned in the show frequently.
Meet Cute: 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 Strangled by the Red String 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. As for Ardeth, well, Jay once paid her $200 just to tell her, "Get bent!"
Technically, he paid her $100 for that. She informs him (after he had already greeted her) that her lawyer says Jay owes her $100 every time he speaks to her.
The Merch: In "Miserable", Jay's #1 fan has a lot of these.
The Missus and the Ex: When Jay's girlfriend Alice and his ex-wife Ardeth meet for the first time, Ardeth tells Alice a spooky warning to "beware" and attempts to place a voodoo hex on her. Jay then has to remind Ardeth that the divorce judge has forbidden her to commit such conduct, but that doesn't stop her from trying to ruin things between them, in her continuous attempt to make him miserable for making her miserable.
Jay:(sadly sighing) Oh, I'm sneaking a peek at your maguppies. It's my stumbling attempt at intimacy.
Valerie: If that's what you want, look in my eyes.
(Valerie looks lovingly at him.)
Jay:(shocked)OH YE GODS!!!
My Life Flashed Before My Eyes: When Jay is about to be shot, his life flashes before his eyes. We then flash back to a teenage Jay on the couch, in a suit, eating chips. Jay fondly remarks, "Ah, prom night."
In "Eyes on the Prize," Jay is fired from Coming Attractions due to low ratings and gets a job teaching English on the 6:00 AM TV program English For Cab Drivers.
In "Uneasy Rider", Jay quits Coming Attractions and becomes a truck driver.
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Played for laughs in "Dr. Jay." Jay manages to find a cure for Duke Phillips' terminal illness, saving his life. The end of the episode then plays a montage of other people who were saved by Jay's cure; they include a Klansmen, a Nazi, a baby seal clubber, a drunken tanker captain who causes an oil spill, a military dictator who declares "Your streets will run red with blood thanks to Jay's oil," and three prisoners.
The Nineties: The show aired from 1994 to 1995. These were also the years the show took place.
Nose Tapping: When Vlada is speaking in a foreign language to his elderly waiter employee,note usually speaking in Russian to hide his real intentions from his English-speaking customers, especially Jay the waiter will tap his nose back at him in reply.
Of Corset Hurts: Lampshaded by a maid pulling on corset strings, yelling, "Suck it in! Suck it in!", and it's revealed to be Jay Sherman. The corset, however, is put on more like a straitjacket than a corset, with Jay's arms bound as well. He mutters, "I don't think this is right." The maid scoffs at this, puts a top hat on him, and boots him out of the room.
Official Couple: Jay and Alice, Franklin and Elenor, Duke and Miranda.
Overly Long Gag: Franklin thinks an owl is Wilson: "Whooo." "My wife, Eleanor." "Whooo." "My wife, Eleanor." "Whooo." "My wife, Eleanor."
It lasted 15 seconds. If it had been Family Guy, it would've gone on for 5 whole minutes.
And the Director's Cut of JFK, with 2 hours of new footage:
"Back... and to the left...Back... and to the left...Back... and to the left...Back... and to the left...Back... and to the left........Back... and to the left..."
Interestingly, the inflection is actually different on each "Back... and to the left" statement, which makes it even funnier.
Perfectly Cromulent Word: Duke Phillips pays Noah Webster to put the words "Quzybuk" (meaning "a big problem"), "Dukelicious", and "Duketastrophe" in the dictionary. Ignore the fact that Noah Webster has been dead for 150 years.
Also notable in that a seemingly random character uses the recently-invented "Quzybuk" when talking to Jay later in that same episode.
Describing Lorenzo's Oil.
Duke: Isn't that the film you described as a combination of fantasy and crap?
Jay: Yes! I called it "fantacrap"!
Pet the Dog: Despite the fact that Ardeth was sleeping with the divorce court judge, he still forbade her from bothering any of Jay's girlfriends with spooky warnings or hexes. Not that it stops her.
Also, even if Ardeth is genuinely disgusted by her time married to Jay, she admits that the two of them have done a good job raising their son.
Political Correctness Gone Mad: Savvy Indian Chewing Tobacco was going to be called Savage Indian, but was changed due to concerns over political correctness.
Romantic False Lead: Alice's adulterous ex-husband Cyrus who travels to New York to win her back. He sings to her in order to do so, which is Alice's weakness. ("Alice, you make any home a palace. Even Brooklyn would be Dallas, if I could be with you.") It almost works until Jay arrives playing an accordion and singing an obnoxious yet funny song of his own, snapping her out of it. It was a Crowning Moment of Awesome for Jay. And ditto for the song Jay sings:
Cyrus is just a virus.
He wants to tie you down while you’re still young.
Your potential is what’s essential.
You could someday be another Connie Chung!
Jay finally breaks the spell with this exchange
Cyrus:(Singing) Lover, without you there's no other...
Jay:(Interrupting, singing) Give him a chance, he'll do your mother!
Alice:(Singing) Jay, I'm glad that you're not gay. I may show you why someday. (Kisses Jay on the cheek)
Jay:(Smiling at her) Yay!
Rousing Speech: In "Eyes on the Prize", Jay aims to win another Pulitzer Prize so he could get back his respectability. He writes an essay entitled "The Sorry State of Films Today" and presents it on the TV program English For Cab Drivers, which ends up being a parody of the climax to Mr. Smith Goes To Washington.
"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. If the movie stinks, just don't go."
Jay:(section 1, from 1988)Rain Man(section 2, from 1992)A Few Good Men(section 3, from 1993)The Firm(all together) is the latest stinker from Tom Cruise. He doesn't act anymore, he's on ... Cruise Control! AAAAAAHAHAHA! AAAAAAHA! I JUST ... I JUST! MADE THAT! UP!
Duke does admit that he knows Jay isn't gay, and just does it to tweak him. Unfortunately, when he and Jay have a Group Hug, Jay's content Squee disturbs him.
Jay's stomach having a mind of its own.
Dumb college students who watch Coming Attractions, only to mock Jay.
Jay sounding like an elderly British woman named "Ethel" and pretending to be his secretary, even having conversations with "her." This gag only appears in the first season.
The Paparazzo who always appears to take a picture just at the most embarrassing time.
He takes credit for Marisa Tomei winning the Oscar, for one.
Satan: (phoning Jay in the opening credits) Hello Jay, this is the Devil. Despite what you think, I am not the reason Cher won an Oscar. I am the reason Marisa Tomei won an Oscar. (Growls evilly and hangs up.)
He also is shown to be responsible for influencing the creation of really awful Hollywood screenplays, but admits that it's beyond even his power to give the cast of Wings another season.
Also appears in an interview with Gene Siskel, disguised as a reviewer.
Reviewer: Tim Allen gives that same likeable performance we always love, once again proving Disney Pictures have the magic touch that may not win awards, but keep America smiling. How was that?
Gene Siskel: You're Satan, aren't you?
(Reviewer transforms into his real form: Satan)
Satan: You win another round, Siskel, but we shall meet again! (growls angrily and disappears)
Sealed with a Kiss: Jay and Alice at the end of the episode "Lady Hawke."
Seinfeldian Conversation: At the end of the pilot episode, this literally happens during a scene from Seinfeld that Jay and Marty watch.
George: I thought you were taking Cathy out tonight.
Jerry: Why do they call it "taking out?" I took her to a restaurant. It wasn't out, it was in. I would say I'm taking her in, but then she sounds like a pair of pants.
Marty claims that is what "real people" sound like. (Do they?)
Shameless Self Promoter: "VOTE FOR DUKE!" messages appearing during "Coming Attractions" in the episode "All The Duke's Men" where Duke ran for president.
In "A Song For Margo," Jay remarks that all the networks are pretty crummy, except for FOX, "the last bastion of quality programming." Then he salutes the logo in the bottom right of the screen. (See also Biting-the-Hand Humor above.)
In the pilot, they reference Beauty and the Beast with "Beauty and King Dork" - complete with CGI ballroom.
Turns out Vlada and his son are from Pottsylvania.
From "Frankie and Ellie Get Lost," Franklin acting like Curly after first drinking alcohol which made him into his present stupid state, with Albert Einstein and Ted Kennedy acting like Larry and Moe respectively.
Prince Charles sounds like one of the Gumbies, while Queen Elizabeth sounds like the troupe's usual Cross-Dressing Voices, particularly the "women" in the Spam sketch.
The Crying Game: In the season 1 episode "A Little Deb Will Do Ya", Jay meets the girl of his dreams, but she has a secret - down there. Turns out she's wearing the bottom half of the Humphrey the Hippo costume, his chief rival.
A reviewer's face melting off and reducing him to a skeleton (after Roger Ebert shows him a clip of a bad movie) is a reference to Raiders of the Lost Ark.
The episode "Miserable" is an obvious parody of Misery. The female projectionist even resembles Kathy Bates.
Elenor saying "No more wire hangers!" is a direct reference to the film Mommie Dearest.
Alice's Take That to Tim Allen is funnier when you consider The Critic had preceded his show before ABC dumped it.
Alice: Listen, honey, I've known men like Duke all my life. There was this one boy back in college – dealt drugs, went to jail – yet today he's the star of Home Improvement.
In the episode "Marty's First Date", the intermission music from Ms. Pac-Man plays after Jay gets a whiff of some fried bananas. The song is omitted in the DVD release.
In "Dukerella", Jay and Alice dress up as Homer and Marge Simpson, respectively. The same episode has Franklin dressing up as The Mask.
Sleeping Single: In Franklin and Elenor's bedroom, it is shown that they sleep in seperate beds.
Slow Loading Internet Image: In the first webisode, Jay brags about "coming at you at the speed of light!" Pull back to show his legs still downloading.
Smoking Hot Sex: In one episode, Humphrey the Hippo is used by a cigarette corporation to advertise smoking cigarettes to young children. When Jay complains, the corporation's CEO asks Jay what kids will do after they have sex if they can't smoke.
Sound Effect Bleep: Utilized when Jay interviewed Cher, who incessantly swore at him.
Star Trek: Two of Marty's classmates are Klingons.
Status Quo Is God: Marty regains all the weight he lost in "From Chunk to Hunk," contriving his despair because he has become too popular. He promptly eats all of the ice cream in an ice cream parlor to restore his weight.
Doris:(singing) Smoke in the bathroom, smoke after school, don't listen to your parents, 'cause smoking's really cool.
Stealth Pun: The E.T. parody, D.T. stands for drunken terrestrial. D.T. also stands for delirium tremens, alcohol withdrawals severe alcoholics go through.
Strange Minds Think Alike: In one episode, a research scientist uses the previously mentioned "Quzybuk" word Duke invented.
Suckiness Is Painful: Several times with films, but most notable is when Roger Ebert tries to find a replacement for Gene Siskel, and tests one candidate by showing him some of the films he'd have to review. A remake of Mrs. Doubtfire starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is sufficient to reduce the candidate to a skeleton (a la Toht's death inRaiders of the Lost Ark), and Sylvester Stallone in a Waiting For Godot rehash (Yo! Godot, I'm Waitin' Heeya!) makes the skull fall off.
Jay: Well, that's our show. All the movies stink, particularly the three by John Hughes.
There's a literal example in one episode. Elenor has finally managed to buy Pablo Picasso's Guernica, and the moment its taken out of the truck, Franklin drives through it in a monster truck (with Penny in the passenger seat) and exclaims, "Take THAT, Guernica!"
Every U.S. President from Nixon to Clinton was the target of a "Take That" at least once during the show's run.
One of the biggest was in "Vote For Duke", where Duke states that he'll run the country like he runs his company - namely, raiding the pension fund, dump chemicals in the ocean, and sell off their best assets to the Japanese. This is followed by Ronald Reagan watching the TV and saying "Ooh, looks like Reaganomics is making a comeback!"
The show takes plenty of shots at Home Improvement, which it preceded during its time on ABC. "A Pig-Boy and His Dog" has Franklin talking with his neighbor Wilson, eg. a scarecrow with a frog and later an owl, segments which end with Home Improvement-style animations. Jay even mentions the show by name at the end.
The Taxi: Jay is seen traveling by taxi a few times.
Aide: Sir, are you sure it's wise to be photographed with a film critic? It's the most despised profession there is ... Except for pre-op groin shaver.
(After the photo is taken, it appears on the front page of The New York Chronicle with the headline "BUSH LOSES! — Fat, Lecherous Hillbilly Elected.")
That Came Out Wrong: While Jay didn't realize it, his statement of "Hey, you don't understand! We Americans aren't like you Australians. It's not just about sex! We want to make love our mothers!" had Jeremy understandably put off.
There Is a God: When Jay Sherman became a trucker and took his son on a trip, Marty pointed out a shooting star, insisting his father make a wish. Jay thinks a moment, and said shooting star annihilates a billboard advertising Ace Ventura. Quote the critic, "Thank you, God!"
Ugly Guy Hot Girlfriend: Jay and Alice were an established couple during the second season. Jay being a short funny fat guy, with the beautiful southern belle Alice.
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.
Despite being deemed as incredibly ugly and obese in the show, Jay's attracted several other women who clearly are out of his league, including his #1 fan and Olivia.
Uncanny Valley: invoked Invoked when a robotic Rosie Perez approached Roger Ebert and Jay about It Could Happen To You. When the Perez-bot shorts out from a Logic Bomb (Jay: "Ben Turpin is dead!"), she crashes through the wall and sucks on a live wire. Then enters William Shatner.
William Shatner:(like a robot) Great-party-wouldn't-you-say? Read-my-book-read-my-book-read-my-book...
Jay: Hey! There's the William Shatner robot!
Roger Ebert: No, that's really him.
William Shatner:(rushing over to Perez) Don't bogart that juice, Rosie!(starts sucking down electricity from the live wire like alcohol.)
Unintentional Period Piece: Besides the fact that the Twin Towers are in the intro sequence, some of the (then) fake movies reviewed actually got made later ("Jurassic Park 2"). And Cats has been closed since 2000.
Then there's the "topical" political references. Jokes about Malcolm Forbes and Admiral James Stockdale do not age well.
Unwanted Harem: To his chagrin, Marty becomes a Chick Magnet at his school after he loses weight in "From Chunk to Hunk."
Unwanted Spouse: Jay is a victim of this. His ex-wife Ardeth admitted to his face of regretting marrying him, during the wedding ceremony.
Also Alice's husband Cyrus. A country singer who titled his first album "I'm being unfaithful to my wife, Alice Tompkins. You heard me, Alice Tompkins."
Video Wills: Franklin and Elenor prepared their own video will, which was presented to Jay and Margo after their possible death from a plane crash. Orson Welles also took part in it (and made sure to also include his "declaration of love" to Mrs. Pell's Fishsticks at the end).
Virgin In A White Dress: Jay's sister, Margo, was forced to attend a debutante ball, and the dressmaker asked if she wanted to wear white, or an off-white he called "Hussy White". Margo said she wanted plain white... except for the gloves.
Vitriolic Best Buds: She becomes this with Jay in "Every Doris Has Her Day."
Webisode: Ten of these were made throughout 2000-2001, but YMMV on them.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The webisodes, of course, had to drop the other main characters due to lack of time and the original voice actors. One curious ommission, however, was Jeremy - whose voice actor was working on the webisodes.
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant: Jay's adoptive parents embody this trope, except for the incest. They do, however, try to arrange a date between Margo (their biological teen daughter) and a teenage boy who really bleedsBlue Blood for the debutante ball.
Woody Allen: Gets lampooned in the show a few times (often in reference to dating his adopted stepdaughter Soon-Yi [or an Asian girl who looks like her]).
Woody: Soon-Yi, I-I’m sorry. I just can’t get past this problem with your age. You know, 22 is just too old for me.
or R.B. Sheridan's play.
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