TV flick trasher Jay Sherman (the voice of Jon Lovitz) is balder than Siskel and chubbier than Ebert, and his off-camera life would make even Woody Allen wince. Kids scrawl KING DORK on his car and old ladies accost him in restaurants to inquire: “Can I rub your hump for luck?” That’s what makes him lovable. As for the funny stuff, check out the half-dozen or so mini-parodies that come with each episode. The opener lampoons Sharon Stone, Jerry Seinfeld and Marlon Brando, while showcasing clips from “Rabbi P.I.,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cop who goes undercover as a Hasidic Jew. After blowing away a punk, Arnie sneers: “Havah Nagilah, baybee.”
Inevitably, “The Critic” will suffer comparisons to “The Simpsons.” As both cartoons and people, its characters seem curiously underdrawn and some of the writing may be too infra dig Hollywood for average viewers. What’s for sure is that this concept is rich with satiric potential. Coming attractions: “Arthur 3: Revenge of the Liver,” a sequel to “Silence of the Lambs” called “Honey, I Ate the Kids,” and guest-voice gigs by Rod Steiger, Brenda Vaccaro, Jimmy Breslin and Rod McKuen. It’s almost enough to make a critic’s thumb twitch.
