The Critic  The Critic was an American prime time animated series revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers and showrunners (seasons 3 and 4) on "The Simpsons". "The Critic" had 23 episodes produced, first broadcast on ABC in 1994, and finishing its original run on Fox in 1995. According to PopMatters, "the creators [said] they intended the series as their 'love letter to New York.'" Episodes featured movie parodies with notable examples including a musical version of "Apocalypse Now"; "Howard Stern's End" ("Howards 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" and "Scent of a Wolfman" ("Scent of a Woman"). The show often referenced popular movies such as "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" and "The Godfather", and routinely lampooned actor Marlon Brando and actor/director Orson Welles. They also spoofed Dudley Moore, usually as his character Arthur Bach from the 1981 film "Arthur". Despite the ratings improving, "The Critic" was cancelled after two seasons. It continued to air through reruns on Comedy Central and then on Locomotion. From February 1, 2000, to 2001, ten webisodes were later produced using Adobe Shockwave, and were broadcast on AtomFilms.com and Shockwave.com. In the late 2000s, reruns of the show aired again on ReelzChannel in the US and on Teletoon's programming block Teletoon at Night in Canada. As of 2016, the series can be viewed for free on Crackle. The show follows the life of 37-year-old film critic from New York named Jay Prescott Sherman. His televised review show is called "Coming Attractions", which airs on the Philips Broadcasting cable network. He is often viewed in-universe as "cold, mean-spirited, and elitist". His signature line, upon seeing a terrible movie, is "It stinks!" Each episode is full of film references and parodies. Some of the secondary characters that are a part of Jay's story include his nutty adoptive father, his well-meaning son Marty, the Australian movie star Jeremy Hawke, Margo—the biological child of his adoptive parents, his snide make-up lady Doris, and his boss Duke Phillips.