# Why did "The Critic" fail on ABC? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064 "2003-02-14T14:59:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/21 "2003-02-15T02:26:52Z")
_The Critic_ was on ABC? I only remember ever seeing it on Fox. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/22 "2003-02-15T02:39:07Z")
[The Critic episode guide](http://epguides.com/Critic/) ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/23 "2003-02-15T02:55:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DKW \* > \*\*Lord, I sincerely hoped it wasn’t that “cartoons are for kids!” tripe…sheesh, we STILL haven’t gotten rid of that ridiculous, horribly outdated hang-up? \*\* Well this was 9 years ago. If ABC were to try an animated show starring Will Farrell now it would probably do fairly well if ABC gave it adequate support. So thankfully we have come a long way since then but still are not at the level of Japan but the more adults there are who grew up in the 90s there are the closer we get. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/24 "2003-02-15T03:01:26Z")
I think the reason the show failed was not only that it was aimed at adults, but it also had a high-brow quality that limited its appeal. I loved the show and so did my roommate, but our friends (who, to be brutally honest, tended towards the trailer-trash variety) didn’t enjoy it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/25 "2003-02-15T04:07:48Z")
I think KGS nailed it. I adored THE CRITIC, but then again I was NYC born and raised and loved the theater. I was living in Boston and, while a couple of my friends liked it OK, I could see that some of the jokes simply didn’t translate north of Yonkers. Problems–hmmm. Ardith (sp?) was way overdone. I loved Eleanor and Franklin but if you were under 30 and didn’t watch old movies, would you get how damn satirical they were? If your dining experiences were limited to Big Boy’s and your friendly neighborhood diner, could you get how screamingly funny the snobbish Vlada was, and the whole Manhattan social mileau? Did you see Doris as an exotic weird old lady or as the ladies you saw sitting on park benches across from your apartment building? Jay could be irritating as hell–there were too many stomach jokes, and his senior prom got more and more traumatic every time they showed it–but the underlying insecurity and sweetness really got to me. I wouldn’t have wanted to date him, but I wouldn’t have minded having lunch with him. And oh yeah–the parody of ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ musical was the most brilliant parody I’ve ever seen outside Forbidden Broadway. The slickness, the roller skates, the sappy lyrics, the unneeded soaring ballads, the notes held too long, the corporate sponsorship–it was dead on. ---
**Author:** ![Gerome](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Gerome](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerome)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/26 "2003-02-15T05:46:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DKW \* > \*\*Lord, I sincerely hoped it wasn’t that “cartoons are for kids!” tripe…sheesh, we STILL haven’t gotten rid of that ridiculous, horribly outdated hang-up? \*\* Hi, I’m a network executive. What’s that? You’ve made a cartoon? Well it’s for kids then. I don’t care how clever or satirical it is. It’s pictures. Kids like pictures. Get outta my office! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2003, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/27 "2003-02-15T17:10:39Z")
It didn’t make it because it was an awful, awful show. Just a few very lame jokes that they repeated over and over and over … I was surprised it lasted more than 2 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/28 "2003-02-16T06:46:15Z")
Utterly hilarious show! Love it, and watched it whenever it came on! I loved the one episode where you had “Rosebud… Rosebud Peas” LOL! ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/29 "2003-02-16T08:00:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ISiddiqui \* > \*\*Utterly hilarious show! > > Love it, and watched it whenever it came on! I loved the one episode where you had “Rosebud… Rosebud Peas” LOL! \*\* Orson Welles:“Rosebud…Yes, Rosebud Frozen Peas. Full of country goodness and Green Peaness. Oh, that’s not right! I quit(walks off, then comes back) Well, maybe just a few for the road. (take a handful, walks offstage again.) Oh, there’s a french fry stuck in my beard”. Orson Welles: " Mrs. Phil’s fish sticks…They’re even better Frozen!" Ghost of Orson Wells: “Mrs. Phil’s fish sticks…Yes! They’re even better when you’re dead!” Sorry, I’m a big Orson Welles fan. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 8:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/30 "2003-02-16T08:44:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Osiris \* > \*\*Well this was 9 years ago. If ABC were to try an animated show starring Will Farrell now it would probably do fairly well if ABC gave it adequate support. So thankfully we have come a long way since then but still are not at the level of Japan but the more adults there are who grew up in the 90s there are the closer we get. \*\* An animated show starring Will Farrell? You mean like _The Oblongs_ ([http://oblongs.com](http://oblongs.com))? Okay, so it’s WB, not ABC. And there’s nothing at that url anymore. But still. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/31 "2003-02-16T09:11:01Z")
So many good shows like _The Critic_ are never given a chance. _Still weeping for Invader Zim_ ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2003, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064/32 "2003-02-16T09:25:08Z")
Oblongs, oh yeah. Well at least I also qualified it like so “adequate support” which Oblongs didn’t. I caught it a couple of times on WB at 11:30pm. Hard to ratings at that time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-the-critic-fail-on-abc/155064.md?page=1)