The Critic: The Complete Series: Here is another release which for reasons unknown to me, I never picked up. Luckily for my birthday my parents bought me this set and I watched it within a week.

The show centers around film critic Jay Sherman and his life on and off camera. Since his job is that of a film critic the show features many film parodies of both (then) current films as well as a few classics thrown in as well. Jay also has exploits in his love life as well as his professional life. This makes for some very funny TV in a very well done DVD box set.

The Critic was one of those shows which network execs and a lot of the public never really grasped onto and at the same time garnered critical acclaim and a sort of cult following. It went one season at ABC before being canceled and then moved to FOX before getting canned for good. There was an attempt to revive the show on 2000 via the internet but sadly, these episodes are but a mere shadow of the great show that once was.

I was one of those devoted few who was glued to the TV each week to see what Jay was going to make fun of next. It is somewhat ironic that The Critic routinely had the theme that quality was something that people in Hollywood were no longer interested in and yet the show proved that by being canceled. It boggles the mind to see shows like the Critic getting canned after two years when crap like the Simpsons won't die.

On a side note, while I doubt the Critic had much of an effect on my childhood outside of remembering various catchphrases to the show. I can say that as someone who is something of an amateur film critic I have a great admiration for those who can stomach to see just about every film released each year. Since I have no where near the strength to sit through one Keanu Reeves film I limit this blog only to films that I watch by choice. I have debated over the years of including DVDs that I do not own as well as films I catch on TCM but as of now, I think I will stick to this format.

Labels: TV Shows