The Critic (animation)/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Al Jean: Ironically, this is the episode where we got cancelled by ABC, and it's about Jay getting cancelled.

  • Genius Bonus:
    • In the Philadelphia parody Schenectady, the judge is voiced by Charles Napier, Duke's voice actor. This is fitting, as Napier played the judge in the original film.
    • When Jay took in a homeless puppy, he gave it the full name "Un Chien Andalou," after Luis Bunuel's famous short film; the title translates to English as "An Andalusian Dog."
  • Harsher in Hindsight: The entire episode "Siskel and Ebert and Jay and Alice" is poignant after Gene Siskel's death, but the shot of Roger alone on a see-saw is especially downbeat.
  • He Really Can Act: Siskel and Ebert did marvelous voice-acting for Siskel & Ebert & Jay & Alice, even taking potshots at each other physical deficiencies; Siskel calls Ebert "porky" while Ebert calls Siskel "cueball".
  • Hilarious in Hindsight: The Broadway musical Hunch appeared in the Season One episode "Every Doris Has Her Day" as a parody of Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals -- two years later, Disney released their own musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. For that matter, it isn't even the only Real Life musical version!
    • This was Lampshaded years later in the DVD commentaries by Mike Reiss, who recollected they all thought it was a dumb idea at the time, "but not too dumb for Disney."
    • In the pilot, Vlada gets orgasmic at Conan O'Brien entering his restaurant. At the time, O'Brien was considered a flop. (It was likely a friendly Shout-Out, as O'Brien is a friend of creators Jean and Reiss.)
    • Jurassic Park II: Revenge of the Raptors and the Barney movie.
    • Several jokes involved explicit product advertisements within the movies Jay watched, much to his disgust. During the early 90's, product placement in films was indeed fairly uncommon, making the writers seems almost clairvoyant for predicting how much the practice would come to dominate cinema.
    • ABC objected to "Miserable" on the grounds of sexual content. As pointed out in the commentaries, this from the same network that later aired The Bachelor.
    • Phillipsvision, which adds new endings to movies, as well as rewriting scenes for product placement, came true (in a way) when DirecTV started airing ads made from scenes of famous movies re-edited to talk about DirecTV.
    • Early in the show's run, Siskel and Ebert reviewed the first three episodes, and gave it quite a bit of criticism such as more parodies, make it more about the movie industry, give us some TV parodies, and make it less about sitcom staples. As the show went on the parodies improved and were more numerous, some episodes focused on the film industry, more fun was poked at Hollywood, and Siskel and Ebert eventually guest starred as themselves.
  • Ho Yay: See Mistaken for Gay example on the main page; Jay also had a "date" with a fellow prisoner in one episode (which he refers to as the best one he's ever had up to that point).
    • Siskel and Ebert have some Ho Yay (possibly No Yay) in the episode where they remake Sleepless in Seattle, which they of course Lampshade Hanging.

Ebert: This is just a rip-off of Sleepless in Seattle.
Siskel: Which was in itself a rip-off of An Affair to Remember.
Both: Which wasn't that good of a movie to start with.

Duke: All right Sherman, you’ve been here long enough. I'll give you the dental plan you want, with a $50 deductible.
Jay: $25 deductible.
Duke: (diabolically) See you in 5 years. (slams door)

Some in-show examples include:

  • Caustic Critic: Jay is practically the Trope Namer.
    • It is to be noted that Jay does not feel this way toward all films. His favourite types of films are classic films (such as Citizen Kane) and foreign films (such as The Red Balloon). Also, his heavy criticism somewhat wanes in the second season (coincidentally, if there is food being served at the premieres).
  • Germans Love David Hasselhoff: An In-Universe example occurs in that Jay is generally loathed in America, but is very popular in France.
  • He Panned It, Now He Sucks: This is what the in-show public thinks about Jay.
  • Misaimed Marketing: Spoofed -- in this show's universe, Siskel and Ebert tie-in merchandise includes such oddities as a Whack-A-Mole game.
  • Never Live It Down: It was Jay's 8th birthday. That clown was so scary, that he wet his pants. As a result, everybody laughed at him, and they keep calling him "Weewee."
  • Periphery Hatedom: While the real Barney exists in-universe (see Money, Dear Boy below), Humphrey the Hippo serves as this universe's usual analogue to him. Jay's hatred of Humphrey figures into the B-plot of "A Little Deb Will Do Ya".

Humphrey: Please, kids, my philosophy is "love and dance", not "hate and not dance."

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