Due to Youtube regulations, we can only show a 5 second clip of each show before those PINHEADS shut us down. Thankfully, our video team has picked some of the most meaningful 5 second moments in each show's history.

Mark Riddles (Ranked it 27)

For me, The Critic seemed like the first real "adult cartoon". And I don't mean that it was dirty like Duckman, but it seemed like it was made specifically for adults. There is really very little appeal for kids to watch a fat balding divorced guy. It's like it was first developed for a three-camera sitcom, but Jon Lovitz had a bad case of hives in 1993 so they decided to animate it.

It worked, though. The show had a nice blend of goofy animation gags and just smart dialogue. One moment I remember specifically is when they spoofed Home Improvement. Home Improvement had these weird special effect transitions all the time. Like Tim would mention a washing machine and then you would see the screen spin and fill with water. Sure enough, at the end of the Home Improvement gag (which featured an owl) the screen turned into an owl and flew away. I still think that is brilliant attention to detail.

The web cartoons really stink though. I remember still having dial-up and trying to load one of those cartoons. I would try all day and then when it finally loaded it was embarrassing. Jay Sherman was getting laid and it was just movie parodies (which were probably the weakest gags of the actual show). Fucking boo.

Jixby Phillips (ranked it 32):

Dear god this show made me laugh so fucking hard when it was on ABC/Fox. I actually thought it was just as good as the Simpsons was at the time. When kids on the playground were quoting the Simpsons, I was quoting the Critic. I guess I always rooted for the underdog. I wish I knew where it was, because if I did I’d totally digitize it and upload it to this blog, but there exists an audio cassette of me and my friend goofing off and I was constantly repeating lines from Jay’s dad. It’s adorable, this little weenie voice repeating non-sequiturs from the mind of a fictional drunk.

The show only sorta holds up for me personally. I could never recapture those laughs when I first saw this show. And since there were so few episodes, I devoured them over the years in reruns and stuff. I think the only way my experience has improved is now I actually GET the movie parodies. I think when I was a kid I knew they were parodies, but I probably understood only a handful of them.

I hate internetty things like this, but one of the funniest things I ever saw was that flash animation of Jon Lovitz (drawn as the critic) smashing Andy Dick’s face into a bar with the line “Buy my BOOK” looped over and over. “Buy my BOOK” is a line that has lingered in my head for ages. That line will be buried in my subconscious until I’m dead. It’d like it if my tombstone said “BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK! BUY MY BOOK!” on it.

London Arbuckle (ranked it 32)

This is one of those shows that never occurs to me as being a 'favorite' even though it probably is one of my favorite shows, I underrate it in my brain all the time. A few years ago a couple of my friends got me a used DVD of the critic for my birthday (what couple of good dudes!) and I thought I was at a point where I could never watch the show again due to having seen all 26 episodes multiple times on Comedy Central, but I ended up thoroughly enjoying it and laughing a bunch. I guess I just like to think I don't like it.

The webisodes stink real bad, i h8 them.

COMMENTS FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY

	Buster Simmons: I gotta admit, as soon as I saw this show was from New York City I reacted like it was a Pace Picante Salsa commercial! Heh heh, just teasin,’ But I guess I couldn’t get into this. The Simpsons only went to New York once and thankfully 9/11 took care of that episode for good. Wait, I take that back. 9/11 was a terrible thing. Please don’t print this one either.
	Chad Newmarket: oh great another movie about gays making fun of old movies. yea we can all be funny and try to be like dissaster movie making stuff that only a asian african would think is funny but it just doest cut it with me
	Frances Mildred Gertrude “Frandma” Prescott: What a stupid show! I guess it’s all just silliness, and I guess you can get away with that on TV. We didn’t have stupidity like THIS when I was a kid! I’m so old I can remember before TV even and when I was a kid movies didn’t have sounds on them!

SAFE FOR WORK DRAWING:

NOT SAFE FOR WORK DRAWING (click to view)

IMDB TRIVIA (found by Mr. Adventure!)

The Critic's Jay Sherman was originally meant to be played by Eddie Murphy, a decision that had to be reversed after it was determined Eddie's risk factors for diabetes were too numerous. Fortunately, with the cooperation of Jim Henson's Studios, leftover prop foods from unshot Cookie Monster skits were used in place of real foods. Unfortunately, the foods were never actually intended to be consumed, resulting in Eddie's eventual hospitalization.

WHERE TO WATCH THE CRITIC

The whole series is on DVD with a few commentaries and good extras. The downside? The web cartoons are on it. Sorry.

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