Three decades ago—on January 26, 1994, to be precise—two glorious words graced the ears of 26 million ABC viewers for the first time: “It stinks.” Cartoon film critic Jay Sherman (voiced by Jon Lovitz) had a massive audience but would be gone a year and a half later. The brainchild of early Springfield residents James L.
Brooks, Al Jean, and Mike Reiss, may have had a short life, but its legacy lives on. Personally, I can’t untangle myself from Jay Sherman. But as lovely as it has been to be compared to a guy who takes literal orders from his stomach and whose ex-wife regards him with the warmth of a guard at Abu Ghraib, I can’t deny the show’s impact on my life.
It was my first exposure to a broader film culture. has been with me my entire adult life and most of my childhood; the jokes from its 23-episode original run are never far from lips. I remain one of the few, the proud, still using the word “Duke-a-licious,” a situation that can only be described as a “Duke-tastrophe.
” When I sat down to rewatch the show this year, I faced another Duke-tastrophe: I am now the same age as Jay Sherman, work in his field, and share similar opinions about the sequels and reboots that get made over actual movies. It stinks. It all stinks.
I was already obsessed with movies and TV when came to town. Nursing between six and 11 Coca-Colas a day, I’d bounce on my couch in a caffeine-induced bender and pray aloud to the gods of HBO to play , , or next. Stuck in my Tim B.
