The Critic has a chance at coming back with a new revival 30 years after the animated series originally came to an end, but the creator behind it all revealed there’s a catch at making it happen. Al Jean, long running showrunner with The Simpsons, had announced that he was leaving the role with the series after many years with the release of Season 37’s latest episode. It kicks off a whole new era of The Simpsons with Matt Selman fully taking over, but Jean himself is moving onto some other new projects that could include a long requested revival for The Critic.
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Speaking with Cracked about stepping down for his showrunner role on The Simpsons, Al Jean explained that The Critic‘s revival is something that has been discussed. But ultimately also reveals that there’s still “one hurdle” that he’s working on overcoming. And with how many adult animated series that have come back for new revival seasons in the last few years (and shows like King of the Hill resulting in huge success for platforms like Hulu), The Critic returning would likely be welcome.
The Critic Revival Gets Promising Update From Creator
“There’s other stuff I have in the works, non-Simpsons, including something with Jon Lovitz,” Jean stated when asked about why he was stepping down from The Simpsons now. When asked to clarify whether or not he was referring to The Critic, Jean gave the promising answer of “It’s definitely been discussed. I’ll just say there’s really only one hurdle. Jon is up for it. Maurice LaMarche is up for it. Mike Reiss is too. I can’t really say what the one hurdle is, but there’s one thing standing in the way.” But while there is a hurdle, Jean is trying his best to work through it.
“I’ve done everything I can on my end to make it work,” Jean states. This seems to imply that whatever the hurdle actually is, it’s largely out of his hands. There could be any number of reasons why The Critic is having trouble with its revival, and the largest part might be the central rights of it all. It originally began life airing with ABC for a season before ending its two season run with FOX, and that might be trouble all these years later when it comes to trying to bring it back for new episodes.
Will The Critic Ever Return?
Both Al Jean and main star Jon Lovitz took to social media earlier this Spring to spark talks of a potential revival for The Critic. Jean first posed the question, “Just curious … how many would like to see the Critic, with @realjonlovitz return.” Lovitz then took things further with a full message of how fans can help, “Critic Fans!!!! You keep telling me you want it back. I’ve been trying for years! Well, now, creator Al Jean is on board!!! If you want it back, we need your help! Please like this post and spread the word! So we can show the studio, how many people want it!”
With adult animated series from the 1990s seemingly all coming back to screens with new eras after all this time, and finding success with fans, The Critic is perfectly poised to do the same. The series focused on its titular critic, Jay Sherman, pointing out Hollywood’s flaws while dealing with his own hardships, and that would be perfect in an era where streaming has changed so much about how movies are made.
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Image courtesy of Lucasfilm
