I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show

"I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show"
The Critic episode
Episode no. Season 2
Series 210
Episode 10
Directed by D.R.L. MacMoortler
Written by Tom Brady, Richard Doctorow, Al Jean, Ken Keeler, Mike Reiss, Joshua Sternin, Steve Tompkins, Jeffrey Ventimilia, Patric Verrone, Jon Vitti[1]
Produced by Rich Moore & Richard Raynis
Featured music Alf Clausen (Theme by Hans Zimmer)
Original air date May 21, 1995 (1995-05-21)[2]
Running time 22 minutes
Guest appearance(s)

Milton Berle (Himself)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Himself)

Episode chronology

I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show is the 10th episode and series finale of the second season of the US animated sitcom The Critic. While the show did have a third season in webisode form 5 years later, this episode is also widely considered the series finale.

Background

The AV Club explains: "The animated sitcom The Critic survived its first cancellation by ABC when Fox picked it up for a second season, but the show wasn’t so lucky the second time around. Though there were rumors of a third pick-up—by UPN this time—the original adventures of film critic Jay Sherman did come to an end on Fox".[3]

On April 21, 1995, The New York Daily News reported on an incident revolving around the episode's airing: "In response to Wednesday's terrorist bombing in Oklahoma City, Fox has pulled the episode of The Critic that had been scheduled to air this Sunday night. Fox and the show's production company, Columbia Tri-Star Television, decided that it would be insensitive to try to get laughs from such an image right now, notwithstanding its comedic context. Instead, an episode titled "All the Duke's Men," which is heavy on political satire, will run at 8:30 Sunday night".[4]

Plot

ShareTV describes its plot thus: " Jay hosts his tenth anniversary show live from Carnegie Hall, where he shows movie clips from past episodes like Rabbi P.I., and many others. Jay's anniversary show at the Carnegie Hall gets held hostage by terrorists, who threaten to blow up the place with a bomb tied to Jay's waist."[5]

Characters

Critical reception

AnimatedViwes said, "Unfortunately, this turned out to be the final show, but remains a fitting tribute, and closes on one of the best public digs between a series producer and a network that I've ever come across – classic!"[6]

TheDigitalFix said this "final episode (sadly the worst of them all) [is] utterly pointless and sadly a bad end to the series".[7]

SlantMagazine said,

Fox cancelled The Critic, forcing it to end on the intentionally shoddy 23rd installment "I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show." Here The Critic achieves a postmodern sophistication alien to most series television. While hosting his 10th Anniversary special (we fans can only wish) at Carnegie Hall, Jay and his family are taken hostage by a deranged group of terrorists. Jean and Reiss call attention to the show's very mechanisms, leaving in obvious mistakes like mismatched lip movements and repetitive animations. As the terrorists' bomb counts down, clips from the entire series play as both counterpoint and summation, all leading up to an explosive finale instigated by the legendary Milton Berle, clad in ninja garb. A climactic, sincere spoof of West Side Story leaves us with a full-on view of all the characters we've grown to love over two networks and too short a time. And upon the final fade-out it is near impossible to hold back a protest at the unfairness of it all. So we answer back to the darkness with our own bitter and ironic reading of Jay Sherman's signature catchphrase: "It stinks!".[8]

The AV Club said:

There's barely any plot to "I Can't Believe It's A Clip Show." The episode is more a clearinghouse for every movie parody idea that The Critic's writers had been unable to squeeze into the previous 22 episodes. As such, it's a fitting send-off for the series, leaving nothing on the shelf.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Critic, The (1994) S2 - Garn's Guides". garnsguides.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  2. ↑ "Christine Cavanaugh Tribute — The Critic — Episode Guide". tripod.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Don't slam the door on your way out: 24 accidental TV finales that worked as series-enders". avclub.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. ↑ "'Current Affair' Reformatted: Nothing But O.j. Simpson Case". New York Daily News. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "The Critic 2x10 I Can't Believe It's a Clip Show — ShareTV". sharetv.org. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "The Critic: The Complete Series • Animated Views". animatedviews.com. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  7. ↑ "Film @ The Digital Fix — The Critic: The Complete Series". Film @ The Digital Fix. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Keith Uhlich (3 February 2004). "The Critic: The Complete Series — DVD Review — Slant Magazine". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
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