admin
22 December 2023
Once in a while, in the vast, lowbrow, skanky wasteland of network TV, a show that is different, exciting, and unique pops up,.. and is swiftly cancelled. One such show is The Tick, now available on DVD.
The Tick is the story of a big, nigh invulnerable blue guy, his sidekick Arthur, and their superhero life in The City. It started as a comic book by Ben Edlund, who shepherded The Tick from the funny books to a hilarious Saturday morning cartoon to this equally funny live action TV show.
Budget limitations prevented the creators from really focusing on the action side of things. Gone are the giant dinosaur man-- angry, perhaps, because he didn’t have giant pants-- and the mammoth Man-Eating Cow-- though she does appear off-screen in the pilot episode, under the funnier name of “Apocalypse Cow”. In their place is a bigger emphasis on character interaction and snappy dialogue.
Producer Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Men In Black and Wicky-Wah-Wah West) says in his commentary track that they were basically trying to do a superhero Seinfeld.
Oddly enough, Seinfeld’s “Puddy” (Patrick Warburton) stars as The Tick. When I first heard of this, I was concerned, thinking he’d do the same deadpan schtick he did as Puddy, which I didn’t think would fit The Tick. Turns out ol’ Patrick has a few more tricks up his sleeve.
His Tick doesn’t have quite the heroic voice of the cartoon version, but he plays the big blue guy like an enthusiastic cross between Adam West’s Batman, and a sweetly retarded six-year-old boy. The results are perfect, and always funny to watch.
Warburton is joined by David Burke as The Tick’s sidekick and the show’s “sanest” character, Arthur. The fact that the least crazy person on the show dresses up like a moth (often mistaken for a rabbit) says a lot. The main cast is rounded out by my new imaginary girlfriend Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (“American Maid” in the comics and cartoon) and Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel (originally “Die Fledermaus”-- humorous to opera fans). They’re the hotties of the group, but they’re also both very funny. That’s unfair when pretty people are funny. Whatever.
In the nine episodes on this DVD set, you get a glimpse at what could’ve been. The show was finding its footing, setting a tone. Every episode has at least a few belly laughs and some chuckles, but if The Tick had been given the time to grow, who knows how hilarious it could’ve become. My favorite episodes include “Couples”-- an exploration of the hero/sidekick relationship, guest-starring Ron Perlman-- and “Arthur, Interrupted”-- Arthur has to come out as being “super” to his family, guest-starring Dave Foley from The Kids In The Hall.
Extras on the set are pretty light-- mainly a commentary by Sonnenfeld, a couple by Edlund, and some trailers, but the actual show is what matters. The Tick was one of those series too weird and wacky to survive on mainstream television. Thank goodness for DVDs.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
The Tick is the story of a big, nigh invulnerable blue guy, his sidekick Arthur, and their superhero life in The City. It started as a comic book by Ben Edlund, who shepherded The Tick from the funny books to a hilarious Saturday morning cartoon to this equally funny live action TV show.
Budget limitations prevented the creators from really focusing on the action side of things. Gone are the giant dinosaur man-- angry, perhaps, because he didn’t have giant pants-- and the mammoth Man-Eating Cow-- though she does appear off-screen in the pilot episode, under the funnier name of “Apocalypse Cow”. In their place is a bigger emphasis on character interaction and snappy dialogue.
Producer Barry Sonnenfeld (director of Men In Black and Wicky-Wah-Wah West) says in his commentary track that they were basically trying to do a superhero Seinfeld.
Oddly enough, Seinfeld’s “Puddy” (Patrick Warburton) stars as The Tick. When I first heard of this, I was concerned, thinking he’d do the same deadpan schtick he did as Puddy, which I didn’t think would fit The Tick. Turns out ol’ Patrick has a few more tricks up his sleeve.
His Tick doesn’t have quite the heroic voice of the cartoon version, but he plays the big blue guy like an enthusiastic cross between Adam West’s Batman, and a sweetly retarded six-year-old boy. The results are perfect, and always funny to watch.
Warburton is joined by David Burke as The Tick’s sidekick and the show’s “sanest” character, Arthur. The fact that the least crazy person on the show dresses up like a moth (often mistaken for a rabbit) says a lot. The main cast is rounded out by my new imaginary girlfriend Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty (“American Maid” in the comics and cartoon) and Nestor Carbonell as Batmanuel (originally “Die Fledermaus”-- humorous to opera fans). They’re the hotties of the group, but they’re also both very funny. That’s unfair when pretty people are funny. Whatever.
In the nine episodes on this DVD set, you get a glimpse at what could’ve been. The show was finding its footing, setting a tone. Every episode has at least a few belly laughs and some chuckles, but if The Tick had been given the time to grow, who knows how hilarious it could’ve become. My favorite episodes include “Couples”-- an exploration of the hero/sidekick relationship, guest-starring Ron Perlman-- and “Arthur, Interrupted”-- Arthur has to come out as being “super” to his family, guest-starring Dave Foley from The Kids In The Hall.
Extras on the set are pretty light-- mainly a commentary by Sonnenfeld, a couple by Edlund, and some trailers, but the actual show is what matters. The Tick was one of those series too weird and wacky to survive on mainstream television. Thank goodness for DVDs.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
artid
1824
Old Image
6_4_tick.jpg
issue
vol 6 - issue 04 (dec 2003)
section
entertainmental