Jay Sherman (The Critic)

Jay Prescott Sherman is a fictional character and the protagonist of the animated sitcom The Critic. He was created by series creators Al Jean and Mike Reiss, two former Simpsons writers, and is voiced by actor Jon Lovitz. He has had guest appearances on The Simpsons.

Character biography

Jay is the adopted son of wealthy New England socialites Franklin and Eleanor Sherman, who originally thought he was a monkey. He is ethnically Jewish, but experienced a WASP upbringing. His date of birth is shown on his driver's license as January 26, 1958. In preschool, he was given LSD-laced Kool-Aid by guest speaker Timothy Leary (he claimed afterwards, he "was down at the hungry i, jamming with Dylan"), and was mistakenly sent to Attica Prison instead of summer camp as a child in the summer of 1972. He has a teenage sister named Margo and a 13-year-old son named Marty who visits often when not staying with Jay's ex-wife Ardeth.

Personality and abilities

"New York's third most popular early-morning cable-TV film critic", 36-year-old Jay Prescott Sherman is the host of Phillips Broadcasting's Coming Attractions. His catchphrases include his exclamation of surprise ("Hotchie motchie!"), his common putdown of sub-par films ("It stinks!") and his distinctive cough/sneeze ("Achem!"). He is known for his surly and sarcastic putdowns of nearly every film he sees (an act that has earned him disdain from the public and rather low ratings). His favorite films are usually Golden-Age classics (Citizen Kane and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington) and foreign films such as The Red Balloon. He often uses the "Shermometer" to measure the films he reviews, or a list of diseases he would rather have than see a movie. He has been known to rate films on a numerical scale, in which his highest score is seven out of ten. Most of his dislike for films comes from a love for cinema that has been disillusioned by seeing the commercialism that has overtaken the film industry.

References