The Critic Closer Than Ever to Revival After King of the Hill Success

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Many animated series from the 1990s have been successfully brought back recently, particularly on . Following the popular revivals of shows like Futurama and King of the Hill on the streaming service, another deserving classic from that time period might be getting a comeback.

Created by Al Jean and Mike Reiss, both writers for The Simpsons, The Critic ran for two seasons on ABC and Fox between 1994 and 1995. The show starred Jon Lovitz as Jay Sherman, a film critic, and quickly developed a dedicated fan base despite being cancelled after only two seasons. Al Jean recently mentioned on the Four Finger Discount podcast—a show about The Simpsons—that there are current discussions about bringing The Critic back to television.

The Critic Is More Likely Than Not to Be Revived

Jean says they’re making good progress with Jon Lovitz and Mike Reiss on a project. For the first time, she feels confident it will actually happen. Lovitz is enthusiastic, and they’ve even started discussing potential actors for the roles.

He explained that while others might have commitments, a key moment for them came when Jon Lovitz was at the SNL 50 party. Jesse Eisenberg approached him and enthusiastically declared The Critic to be the greatest show ever, sharing that he grew up watching it. This realization – that a new generation felt as strongly about the show as he had about Bullwinkle as a child – was encouraging. Given the successful reboots of shows like Futurama, he believes a reboot of The Critic has a good chance of succeeding.

The Time Is Now for Jay Sherman to Return

The original show featured Jay Sherman as the host of Coming Attractions, where he reviewed movies, often giving harsh criticism. He was famous for declaring bad films “It stinks!” The show also included funny parodies and references that movie fans enjoyed. Since that show is no longer on TV, the plan for the revival is to have Jay host a podcast instead.

Look, let’s be real – the days of the powerful film critic are pretty much gone. These days, you’re just one voice among hundreds on sites like Rotten Tomatoes. It feels like a lot of critics are just shouting into the void, especially those doing podcasts with small audiences. But I think there’s room for a comeback. We need critics to call out truly awful movies – and frankly, awful things happening in the world – now more than ever. If I were telling this story, I’d probably age the main character up a bit and have his son all grown up. But honestly, it’s way too early to say where this will go.

I’m really hoping The Critic makes a comeback – it would be amazing to see more episodes! Luckily, if you’re a fan like me, you can currently watch all the old ones for free on Tubi, which is fantastic!

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2026-04-29 05:17