Hello and welcome back to picsandportraits.
We are once again going to escape our current time and retreat back to the warmth that was 90s’
primetime animation.
This video has been a long time coming.
We are going to be looking at Al Jean and Mike Reiss’ The Critic.
This followed TV film critic Jay Sherman as he navigated his struggles with work, relationships
and his role as a father.
Today the most popular critics are right here on YouTube.
The internet has allowed every person with an opinion a platform to dissect and debate
film, for better or worse.
But there was a time where only a select few were heard and one person’s opinion could
make or break a movie.
Critics have been instrumental in contextualizing and helping to foster the culture and understanding
around film throughout its short life.
Even today, compared to literature, music and theatre, film is a young medium.
It’s roots have been well documented on this channel but the first known criticism
came from The Optical Lantern and Cinematograph Journal.
This began publication in 1889.
The issue I read spans 1904 and 1905.
Fascinating reading.
It’s basically a hobbyist magazine that covers topics like the best illuminants for
optical lanterns and stereoscopic vision.
There was also information on pending patents as well as a Q&A section, where amateur cinematographers
could share tips on developing solutions as well as trivia.
News obviously.
The film reviews are very interesting.
Film at this time was a lot less defined, more experimental, so what they are critiquing
is often footage or early documentaries.
One discusses a film which is just an elephant bathing and how enthralling that is.
The Optical Lantern was hugely important as it not only informed readers on what was happening
within the medium, or how it worked, but taught early enthusiaists how to consume and appreciate
film.
Still, movies were largely a novelty.
The first person who would contextualize film as art was Ricciotto Canudo.
He deemed it the Sixth Art, after architecture, sculpture, painting, music and poetry.
He would eventually add dance, bumping film to Seventh.
Throughout the 1930s, an industry grew around film, at least in America, Hollywood,
and movies became a more mainstream form of entertainment.
Tons were being released and their varying quality created the need for critics to inform
the public which were worth watching.
Now there are two schools of film criticism.
The most popular is journalistic criticism, reviews, which examine film in terms of enjoyment
and quality.
Traditionally, these appeared in newspapers and magazines and later on TV.
The other is academic criticism which dissects an aspect of a film through the lens of film
theory.
This could come in the form of an essay and evaluates a film based on its technical or
artistic merit or its importance or place within the medium.
Notable film critics include:
Time Magazine’s James Agee, who may be better remembered for his other non-fiction, but
his literary voice would help further legitimize film as a serious art form.
The New Yorker’s Pauline Kael, whose personal relationship with a film was integral to her
reviews.
She would often celebrate films panned by other critics as well as pan the films many
celebrated.
And Kristin Thompson, who popularized the idea of quality television, that TV could
actually present content with artistic merit.
Speaking of television, film criticism is a fixture of news and entertainment programs.
Many prominent critics appeared on TV including the Today Show’s Judith Crist and Gene Shalit,
Rex Reed, who even by critic standards is a bit of asshole, and perhaps most famous
of all, Siskel and Ebert.
These two are synonymous with film criticism.
Gene Siskel reviewed films for the Chicago Tribune, and Roger Ebert for the Chicago Sun-Times.
In 1975 they joined forces to discuss and debate film on Chicago’s PBS affiliate with
the show Sneak Previews.
This pairing produced interesting chemistry as the two were rivals.
Their disagreements are something to behold but it was Siskel and Ebert’s system for
rating films that is their legacy.
If they agreed and both favoured a film, it was given Two Thumbs Up, a phrase that entered
the pop culture lexicon and was used as a mark of quality for many years.
Sneak Previews was so well received, it went national in 1977 but in 1982 the duo left
PBS to produce the syndicated show, At the Movies.
Following a contract dispute, they signed with Disney’s TV division, Buena Vista Entertainment,
and produced their most popular series Siskel and Ebert and the Movies.
And it’s from here that The Critic really draws its inspiration.
Now we’ve talked before about how the Simpsons spawned several adult animated sitcoms but
none are more associated with it than The Critic.
This is not only for the crossover episode we will get to in a bit but also because they
share a ton of talent.
The Critic was created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were The Simpsons show runners
for seasons 3 and 4 and was co-produced by James L. Brooks and his production company Gracie Films.
Animation was done by Film Roman and the show’s score was composed by Alf Clausen, so yeah
quite a few similarities.
The main character, Jay Sherman, is voiced by Jon Lovitz, which given how many times
he had guest starred on The Simpsons, you could also probably include him on that list as well.
The cast is actually filled with Simpsons alumni, including Tress MacNeille, Doris Grau,
Russi Taylor and even Bart Simpson herself Nancy Cartwright.
The premise revolves around Jay, a New York film critic, who is often forced to review
movies he hates.
He ended his unfavourable reviews with his catchphrase, It Stinks.
At work we see him interact with his make up person, Doris and his boss, Duke Philips,
a Southern media mogul modelled after Ted Turner.
We are also invited into his personal life, where, despite winning numerous literary awards,
he is portrayed as a pathetic loser.
He was adopted into a wealthy but eccentric family and his ex-wife, Ardeth, is a perpetual
thorn in his side.
Many episode plots revolve around Jay dating but no relationship seems to stick until Alice
in the second season.
According to its creators, The Critic was intended to be a love letter to New York but
I think its more of a love letter to loving movies.
While it featured cameos from a few of the critics already mentioned, what was most impressive
was the breadth of film references and parodies.
The internet has democratized many things and it has given people the ability to become
armchair experts, self included.
Facts and references are easy to understand or figure out if you don’t know.
There’s entire websites dedicated to breaking down and connecting movie references and media
is so accessible but in the mid-90s that wasn’t the case.
For one, you had to leave your house to see a movie and unless you lived in a major city,
you wouldn’t have the chance to see some of the films being parodied.
The amount of allusions to both Hollywood and international film is impressive but despite
the creators efforts to make it timeless, it still very much feels like a mid-90s time
capsule.
Some of the films they reference, both contemporary and classic, have fallen into obscurity and
its humour has aged like much from that time; jokes made around his weight and sexuality
that wouldn’t fly today.
Its intro parodies Woody Allen’s Manhattan.
Even the theme sounds similar to Rhapsody in Blue.
At times, the show’s tone can be similar to Allen’s films and I find its a great
replacement for them, if, like me, you can no longer stomach anything to do with him.
I’d also recommend the novels of Saul Bellow.
The show takes frequent shots at Allen.
This was produced just a couple years after his high profile scandal.
There’s also references to Ingmar Bergman and Bernardo Bertolucci, himself now a controversial
figure.
The Critic was full of deep cuts for film fans that would go largely unknown or unappreciated
by casual viewers.
It not only talked over many viewers heads it actively talked down to some.
It appealed to a certain audience and was not afraid to straight up insult fans of other,
ultimately more popular, shows.
This probably contributed to both its cancellations.
It originally aired on ABC alongside Roseanne, Coach and the network’s most popular show
Home Improvement.
There, it only lasted half a season before it was cancelled.
Likely due to its Simpsons connections, The Critic was picked by FOX the following year.
The network attempted to promote it by having Jay crossover with its most popular series,
The Simpsons, much to ire of Simpson’s creator Matt Groening.
Because of the amount of shared talent, Groening feared people would associate him with The
Critic and actively tried to distance himself the series.
He reportedly was so unhappy with the crossover, he had his name removed from the credits and
trashed the episode publicly.
Personally, its one of my favourites.
The Critic lasted just 10 episodes on FOX, but it would live on through Simpsons cameos
and even briefly returned in 2000 as an Adobe Shockwave series.
Though never a ratings success, the show was critically praised and has since gone on to
develop on cult following.
So let me know who your favourite critic is in the comments down below.
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