Simpsons scribe Mike Reiss' Queer Duck recently got the DVD treatment as a straight-to-video movie. Reiss told a crowd at NewFest, an LGBT Film Festival, that Paramount ordered his writers not to make fun of Tom Cruise and his perceived sexual orientation, taking objection to one line in a song about Gay Day that went, "'Let's call Tom Cruise. What can we lose?" Reiss, trying to be diplomatic, had the line changed to "'Don't call Tom Cruise. He's straight and he sues," but that line wasn't acceptable either. So, if you're thinking of creating a cartoon that gently mocks Tom Cruise, you should know that you're not allowed to call him gay, or straight. I think that's only fair, since everyone knows he reproduces by exploding a cloud of spores from the top of his head.

[via Best Week Ever]

The Critic, while it was on television, aired on ABC, FOX, and Comedy Central, though not at the same time. The show, created by Simpsons vets Mike Reiss and Al Jean, started off on ABC where it wallowed in obscurity, and then moved to FOX for its second season. Actually, it didn't fare much better on FOX, either, and after two seasons the plug was pulled. It did, however, manage to find an audience when Comedy Central began airing reruns. Also, a "third" season of shorts was created for Shockwave.com. Not counting the Shockwave mini-episodes, the series only ran for a total of 23 episodes.

The titular character, voiced by Jon Lovitz, was a critic living in New York City who essentially hated every movie he saw. Of course, every movie he saw was incredibly bad, so you couldn't really blame him. The series premiered in 1994, and as anyone who has tried to get an animated show on primetime in the wake of The Simpsons knows, it can be an uphill battle, even if you happened to work on The Simpsons yourself. In fact, a crossover episode of The Simpsons featuring Jay Sherman (the Critic) was made ("A Star is Burns"). That episode, however, perhaps inadvertently zeroed in on why The Critic didn't last. While it was a great show, it seemed to wither under the shadow of a much bigger and much more popular series. Even I never gave it much of a chance when it first aired, seeing it as a lesser version of what The Simpsons was offering. It wasn't until I watched it on its own merit that I realized it was actually very unique, very well-written, and had carved out its own little universe separate from The Simpsons. The lesson, I suppose, is never jump to conclusions.

Man, not having Showtime really sucks sometimes. It means I can never watch Penn and Teller: Bullshit!, one of my favorite shows, nor was I ever able to catch Queer Duck, the animated series about a gay fowl and his fellow gay animals. It was written and created by The Simpson's Mike Reiss and began as a Web series. The show only lasted one year, and was gone shortly before gay-themed programs became more prevalent and accepted. There's been talk for awhile now about a Queer Duck movie, and AnimatedBliss is reporting that the 75-minute made-for-DVD movie will be out on July 18. The movie was written by Reiss. Despite this movie being made, the actual series is still not available on DVD. Did anyone out there actually watch Queer Duck? Was it any good?