Beginning on ABC during the 1994 season and moving to FOX for its second and final clutch of episodes, it would seem that The Critic just didn’t get a fair shake. Of course, station executives would probably tell us all that the show just wasn’t performing well. And that’s probably true if not for the obtuse film references then for the rather caustic lead character, Jay Sherman, who was voiced by the always enjoyable Jon Lovitz.

Even the popularity that Lovitz once toted around couldn’t save the show from doom. The randomly inserted slights directed at whatever network the show happened to be on didn’t do any good. But considering the fact that there were a slew of refugees from The Simpsons as well as an as of yet known Judd Apatow working on the show, it should have been a success.

When taking a look at the twenty three shows that comprise the entirety of its run, viewers pretty quickly discover that, not unlike Seinfeld, there’s not really a point to it all. Each individual episode sports some loose narrative involving Jay, his son or his southern girlfriend, Alice. But it seems to all serve the proper end of making fun of popular culture. In two seasons, for example, Arnold Schwarzenegger crops up at least ten times to be mocked and ridiculed. That’s not to say that it didn’t work – it did. But that doesn’t mean that such a limited bag of jokes was going to endear The Critic to the widest of viewerships.

As a result of this entire production being a vehicle for more New York styled humor, The Critic eventually becomes a series of character studies. The fact that the cast ballooned to some unruly number is rather remarkable, although it doesn’t exactly approach the Simpson’s universe.

Regardless of that, delving into the daily life of a single father, who happens to be a famous film critic, grants viewers an interesting look at all of the neurotic possibilities. Jay’s constantly ill at ease with whatever surrounds him. Part of that’s due to the fact that his life’s work is to pick apart something that an artist has poured his or her soul into. That, though, is why the show’s funny.

Eventually logging as much screen time as the title character, Jay’s love interest, Alice, becomes something of a central figure, at times even upstaging the children involved. The fact that she’s come from the South, with her daughter, to show everyone that a single mother’s able to get by on her own seems like a lofty back story. It is. But it seems to disappear towards the latter portions of the show’s run.

Including another Southerner as Jay’s boss, Duke Phillips gives the show a comic foil – and a powerful one. So when the main character isn’t able to crack enough jokes, the task falls on Duke’s shoulders, ample as they are.

The Critic should have lasted a bit longer than it did. And despite its second life on DVD, it remains an underrated American classic.