The Simpsons and Family Guy might stand at the top of the hill when it comes to Fox’s animation slate, but Springfield and Quahog’s finest are far from the only characters that became popular on the network. Jay Sherman, aka The Critic, first debuted on Fox in 1994, garnering two seasons and many moments that have since become memes online. While nothing has been officially confirmed, one of the creators responsible for the original animated series is hinting at a revival that might see Jon Lovitz returning to the role of the titular character.
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The Critic was originally created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, telling the story of a television film critic whose surreal journey often lampooned popular films and explored Jay Sherman’s Z-list celebrity lifestyle. Jean and Reiss initially worked on The Simpsons, as the pair were the Springfield showrunners for both seasons three and four. With these two seasons often referred to as part of The Simpsons’ “Golden Era,” it makes sense that The Critic is still touted as one of the funniest animated series to this day. In a surprise social media post, Al Jean laid the groundwork for a possible return of Jay Sherman stating, “Just curious … how many would like to see the Critic, with @realjonlovitz return.”
[RELATED: The Critic Co-Creator Addresses Possibility of a Season 3]
The Critic Season 3 Plans
In 2021, we here at ComicBook.com had the chance to speak with Al Jean about the possibility of The Critic making a comeback. As Jean lays out, the rights to the series remained at Sony so bringing it to Disney+ seemed impossible. Here’s what the former The Simpsons showrunner had to say, “I would like to. The only difficulty, which is of interest to no one except people who work on it, is The Critic is owned by Sony. It was done under Sony, so Disney+ definitely doesn’t own the character. If it did, I think we would definitely have pitched it already to them. And [star] Jon [Lovitz] would be interested and he’s hilarious, as always, but it’s a hang-up on that account.”
That Time The Critic Came Back
Following the first two seasons of The Critic, Jay Sherman made a surprising comeback thanks to a web series that would continue his story. Released on AtomFilms.com, the webisodes aired from 2000 to 2001, with each of them being written by series creators’ Al Jean and Mike Reiss. Not making its way to television, the series nixed most of Jay’s supporting cast but saw Lovitz return to the role for ten additional episodes.
Of course, it’s hard not to talk about The Critic without mentioning the crossover episode of The Simpsons. “A Star Is Burns” was the eighteenth episode of The Simpsons’ sixth season and saw Jay come to Springfield to assist in judging a film festival. Hilariously, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie never made their way to The Critic’s show as this fact was even referenced in said episode.
Want to stay updated on Jay Sherman’s possible future? Follow along with Team Anime on ComicBook.com for the latest updates on The Critic and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
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