r/videos • u/Light_Beard • Apr 04 '23
The Critic - Penguin Pilot (1995)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ENLigFHadY20
u/ass_unicron Apr 04 '23
12
11
6
16
u/WillArrr Apr 04 '23
It's been almost 30 years, and "Oh my god, the pilot is a penguin! And he's been drinking!" still pops into my head occasionally.
12
18
Apr 04 '23
11
Apr 04 '23
[deleted]
5
3
u/Professional-Top-882 Apr 05 '23
"El Kabong!" has lived rent free in my head for decades and no one has any idea what I'm talking about when i reference it
3
u/ninjas_in_my_pants Apr 05 '23
Should have run for 10 years.
5
Apr 05 '23
what I miss most about it was that they took shots at everyone. Democrats and Republicans. Plus none of it seemed mean-spirited, they were more concerned with the jokes being funny.
1
u/Light_Beard Apr 05 '23
I feel like Dan Quayle got kind of unfairly stupid-ified. Especially when compared to some of the Presidents we have had since...
But that was not original to The Critic. They even did it in Tiny Toons.
2
8
6
5
u/waxonwaxoff87 Apr 04 '23
“Well he won’t get the silverware. I glued it to the ceiling.”
5
4
u/NeuHundred Apr 04 '23
That guilty look on the penguin's face kills me every time. That combined with his cute outfit makes me wonder if he's an influence on Perry the Platypus.
4
u/Gandalfuckyourself Apr 04 '23
This is a reference to A Wish for Wings that Work [1991], which was referencing an older movie but I can’t remember it’s name.
3
u/Light_Beard Apr 04 '23
Lost Horizon [1937] apparently.
Usually there is a lot of crossover in 1990s animation but I did not see any shared credits. (Unless you count Frank Welker, but I am not even sure if he did The Critic. I just assume he did everything)
4
u/itwasquiteawhileago Apr 04 '23
I absolutely loved this show. I really think it could have gone on much longer because you can keep lampooning new movies. How it died so relatively quickly when things like The Simpsons just. keep. going. is beyond me. Jon Lovitz is awesome and should have been in a lot more stuff. Maybe he didn't want to be? I dunno. Regardless, The Critic is awesome and deserved a longer run.
6
u/Light_Beard Apr 04 '23 edited Apr 04 '23
tlwr: Money. But also Dumb Execs
~~
The main reason it died as I understand it was because it was produced by Columbia Pictures Television.
It started on ABC, but ABC didn't get behind it very well. Then cancelled it after not even the full first season had aired (See Also: Clerks: The Animated Series about a decade later).
So Al Jean, Mike Reiss, and James L Brooks shopped it to Fox. Fox got behind it but asked for a few things. "Jay should be cuter" so they made his model more cartoony. And he should have a girlfriend. Hence Alice gets added in season 2.
Fox and Brooks even decided to have Jay Sherman be in the Simpsons for an episode. This royally pissed off Matt Groening and he made a big deal about it to the press. It is all water under the bridge now, but I think it hurt some of the people involved's feelings. Hence why that crossover episode of the Simpsons is the only one Matt doesn't have a Producer credit on at the beginning of the show.
But. Fox produced the Simpsons. It did not produce The Critic ( aforementioned Columbia). So with some executive changeover and ratings that weren't "simpsons" good it was canned like every Cartoon fox bought up until Family Guy in 1999. (Which it then canned before changing its mind years later)
Simpson was kind of an aberration because it was a Cultural Milestone (and its ratings in the 1990s were ABSURD. Like never going to happen again absurd). Animation is really expensive and it takes something like Adult Swim beating Fox in their own preferred demo to realize "Oh Shit! Maybe we should spend more time and money on these shows we own the IP to!" Unfortunately, The Critic was on Comedy Central after it died and never got the love of shows like Family Guy and Futurama to be brought back.
Edit:
Also, some of the people that worked on The Critic went over to the Simpsons and other shows. Al Jean was the showrunner on Simpsons for like 20 years or something close to that. He only recently stepped back IIRC.
And some went off and had successful movie careers. (Judd Apatow wrote for The Critic for instance)
3
u/itwasquiteawhileago Apr 04 '23
Nice background, I never looked into it and appreciate the knowledge drop. That said, none of this is surprising to me in the least, unfortunately. I forgot that it was originally on ABC, too. I hate that such amazing things can so easily get ruined by dumb shit. I know they brought it back for some webisodes at one point. I guess maybe those didn't have the ROI they wanted either, and so back into the dark corners of time it went again. I watched it a few years ago and it still really held up. Oh, but to have a few more seasons.
2
u/Light_Beard Apr 04 '23 edited Apr 04 '23
Yeah. They were on the DVDs. IIRC they were for AOL.com or something.
Each webisode was 10 minutes or less. They had NO budget. So just Jon Lovitz was back. No other characters except a random new love interest with little/no explanation. And it was EARLY internet so it was
FlashShockwave animated and of (relative to today or the original show) poor quality. I am certain it is all on youtube somewhere.
Edit: Yup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3pXjS7cYiU&list=PLLfs-MvRh-8SbNa9ljnAMwqfSigpT3Kho
2
u/itwasquiteawhileago Apr 04 '23
Yeah, the web stuff was definitely not the same quality. And the new love interest also made me question if I missed something. So although the latest stuff wasn't great, I still think more full episodes with proper budget and production would be. But at this point, whatever. I just hate when people bring it up because it just opens an old wound (though it's nice to see I'm not the only one that still remembers and appreciates it). There's a handful of shows I was pissed that got cancelled too soon, and this is right up near the top for me.
2
u/ass_unicron Apr 05 '23
I remember when they moved it to Fox, who had looser rules about language. The bumper said "Welcome to Fox, where I can say 'boobies!'"
5
u/Frencil Apr 05 '23
I didn't ask to be Secretary of Balloon Doggies. The balloon doggies demanded it!
3
3
u/AdonisJones Apr 05 '23
Franklin Sherman is my all time favorite TV show character 😃
"There's a reason there is a banana in my ear. I'm trying to lure the monkey out of my head."
2
2
u/Periljoe Apr 05 '23
I didn't ask to be secretary of balloon doggies the balloon doggies demanded it. Isn't that right balloon doggie?
1
2
2
u/palinsafterbirth Apr 05 '23
Between this and Duckman, Saturday mornings were great and at 9 years old I had no idea what I was laughing at
37
u/[deleted] Apr 04 '23
It STINKS!