The Tick - The Entire Series

Rating:
Summary: Please release the animated series on DVD
Review: Seriously, why would they release the live action show but not the animated series. The live action series pales in comparison the animated series.

Fox executives, listen up, release the animated DVD if you want to see signficant sales. I would also recommend running re-runs of the old series on prime time to advertise the animated series. It was probabaly one of the funniest cartoons of all time. However this was more of an adult cartoon and would have done better in prime time than Saturday morning.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the Animated Tick?
Review: Why did they release the live action show, which was killed after 8 episodes, but not the cartoon which did well for 3 seasons? Why do people feel that live action is better than animated? The cartoon trumps the live action show easily. Put the animated show on DVD, and start making new episodes...or somebody is going to get hurt!

Rating:
Summary: Cancelled prematurely
Review: This show got cancelled prematurely. I tried to watch it when it was on the air, but it kept getting preempted by some baseball game or another. It was almost as if the network didn't want it to succeed.
The show is funny and zany. If you aren't familiar with the Tick, he's a giant blue tick. He's very strong and seeminly indestructible. His weakness is that he's a little crazy. Luckily, his sidekick Arthur (the moth man) anchors him in reality. I all sounds silly because it is all pretty silly, but also very funny. If you like zany, crazy humor, you'll like this series.

Rating:
Summary: Animation People!!!
Review: Am I alone in saying, "Who cares about the live-action series?" I mean, it's an ok series, but it pales in comparison to the cartoon version. So while I might buy this simply to fill in my need for some sort of Tick related show, it's just a inferior product. Why won't FOX release the animated show? I mean, really, does anyone think that Firefly was a better show than The Tick?!

Rating:
Summary: Where's the ANIMATED SERIES on DVD????
Review: This is silly, fun stuff but if you want to really laugh you need to see the original Saturday morning cartoon. That means they need to RELEASE the animated series on DVD for you to do that so I'm lobbying now here for the ANIMATED SERIES! It was definately funnier and more twisted. LET'S GET ON IT GUYS! HOW ABOUT THE ANIMATED TICK PLEASE???! Thanx!

Rating:
Summary: Better than average, not as good as I'd hoped
Review: I've been looking forward to seeing The Tick for some time. I unfortunately never got around to seeing it when it originally aired in 2001/02, but thankfully it's now available on DVD.

I almost bought it quite a few times at Best Buy. Indeed I made a few trips out to my local store in hopes of purchasing it only to find their website's in-store availability accuracy sorely lacking. Now that I've seen it though, I think I owe the site's glitch a thank you.

Not that The Tick isn't a lot of fun, it certainly has its share of very funny moments. But in the end something is missing. The problem is I can't tell you what exactly it is.

Seinfeld's "Puddy", Patrick Warburton, pulls off a nicely thick Tick (and the costume is actually quite good), but he can't seem to find the right balance between the boxer-who's-been-hit-in-the-head-too-much mentality and his Shatner-tinged superhero speak.

The supporting cast is better with David Burke as a pitch perfect Arthur, Nestor Carbonell as the swarthy Batmanuel, and the absolutely lovely Liz Vassey as Captain Liberty. All put in better than supporting role performances with Vassey's Liberty being my favorite (although that may be due to her Statue of Liberty inspired costume's flaunting her huddled masses).

My favorite episode is probably "The Funeral" in which Captain Liberty accidentally kills legendary superhero The Immortal during a tryst. There's some good slapstick as they try to place the body back in his hotel room to make it look like an accident, and some great eulogizing by the Tick. (The best line of the episode is a military general remarking of the Tick's tribute "I like the cut of this man's gibberish.")

I couldn't help wanting The Tick to have a stereo's equivalent of an equalizer. With a little tweaking of the right comedy frequencies the show might have been something extraordinary. Instead it's just a fairly funny record that skips occasionally.

Although The Tick is definitely worth a rental, save your hard earned cash in case they ever release the animated version I loved in college.

Rating:
Summary: I am the wild blue yonder
Review: Shame on Fox for canceling "The Tick" a few years back after only nine episodes. Compliments to any and all responsible for bringing the entire series to dvd.
"The Tick" was so absurd and off the wall it's not hard to see why it made the suits nervous. It's hard to market test something this unique, and safer to pull the plug on it before giving it a chance to find its audience.
The Tick, of course, is the "big blue jug of justice" played PERFECTLY by Patrick Warburton (Elaine's boyfriend Putty on "Seinfeld"). Decked out in a loud blue outfit with interactive antennae Warburton IS the Tick, a super hero dedicated to crime fighting. His sidekick is Arthur (David Burke), a super-hero wannabe - he wears a white jumpsuit thing with pop-out wings and slick antenna thingies on the top of his head. Most of the time he looks like a rabbit. Rounding out the erstwhile group is Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey) and Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell).
The cast is simply first rate and very funny, although poor sidekick Arthur has to play the straight man (which he does extremely well) most of the time. The writing is strong throughout the short series, as well. How can you not fall for a series when a four-hundred-pound blue Tick opens a program with these eulogizing words? "Let's look at the word `funeral'. Starts with the word `fun,' doesn't it?" Add Warburton's pitch-perfect line reading and the hook is set deep.
What about this typical non-sequitur throwaway - "Look at me. Babbling like the brook that knew too much." Or this little exchange between Arthur and the Tick - "Why is that man wearing a dress?" "Because he's a judge." "Well, I judge the judge funny."
Four or five of the episodes come with commentary tracks. All by Tick creator Ben Edlund save for the first, the pilot episode directed by Hollywood veteran Barry Sonnenfeld. Besides giving us behind-the-scene info on the series, Sonnenfeld also discusses his frustrations with network executives and the chance that if they sell enough dvds they might, just might, create enough of an underswell to allow them to make a feature length movie with this cast.


Rating:
Summary: Don't look for a "Spoooon!"
Review: The short-lived live action series captures the spirit of the comic and cartoon Tick series. In this incarnation, still written by creator Ben E. has more adult material than its brothers. Old fans may miss the infamous battle cry of "Spoon!" the casting couldn't be more perfect. And many of the character reinventions and subtile changes really work better than the originals, Bat-manuel and Capt. Liberty. The only let down is the lack of extras. There are too few creator commentaries. Overall an cool 2 disc complete collection.