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The Tick - The Entire Series

The Tick - The Entire Series

List Price: $29.95
Your Price: $26.96
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Don't listen to Cobalt - You get what the box says
Review: This show is great, as others have eloquated well enough already. I'm writing this review to tell people not to listen to an earlier reviewer, Cobalt.

First, when you start an episode with a commentary track (from the menu) a prompt comes up for whether or not you want to listen to the commentary.

Second, the ROM-Link that Cobalt said didn't exist DOES exist. There's a program that opens a browser to a web-site with an interview between Barry Josephson and Patrick Warburton. I wish the interview had been on the DVD -- there was plenty of room. I also wish that every episode had had a commentary track, but about 4 or 5 out of 9 episodes isn't too bad.

I don't know where Cobalt got his pirate DVDs, but when you BUY the product, you get what's advertised. More bonus materials would have been great, but that's almost always the case.

Buy this DVD. Barry Josephson and Barry Sonnenfeld have both stated that if sales are sufficient they'll try to get a Tick movie made, and with the success of the MIB films and several other projects, Barry Sonnenfeld is enough of a Hollywood power-house to keep his word.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Wild Blue Yonder
Review: He has melted viewers' hearts, and from this day forth, he will spread his buttery justice over their DVD players' every nook and cranny. He is the Tick, the mysterious and insane crime fighter who will teach the forces of evil the Lesson... of Metcalfe. (Don't ask, it's a series in-joke)

Mild-mannered accountant Arthur (David Burke) quits his job in order to don a spandex moth suit and fight crime. When he's attacked by inept Communist agents, he's suddenly rescued by... the Tick (Patrick Warburton), a dimwitted innocent who lives in a world of his own. Reluctantly recruited by the Tick as a sidekick, Arthur accompanies his bizarre, superhuman friend through a strange array of crime-fighting scenarios

With the wannabe Latin lover Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell) and patriotic amazon Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey), the Tick attacks the eccentric evil of the world: fire-spewing Apocalypse Cow, 112-year-old supervillain The Terror, formerly pudgy ballerina Destroyo, Arthur's relatives, and robots who are trying to kill Jimmy Carter. In the meantime, Our Heroes have to deal with dogs, mixed dating (superhero/ordinary person), porn shoots, Captain Liberty accidently killing the poorly-named celebrity-superhero Immortal (in the sack, no less!), the snobby League of Heroes, and the Tick's search for his true identity.

It doesn't get much goofier than "Tick," which spoofs the sort of comic book heroes like Superman and Batman. The villains are over-the-top (check out Destroyo's tanklike exoskeleton), the heroes are more often insane than not, and sidekicks form little clubs to complain about how their heroes treat them. The writing is full of tortured metaphors and strange scenarios (the scene where Captain Liberty and Batmanuel try to explain the Facts of Life to the Tick is priceless -- "blah blah blah").

He's the tiny diamond in a sea of rhinestones, a peach in a barrel of bad apples; Patrick Warburton is outrageously funny as he rolls off the corniest and dumbest dialogue imaginable ("A secret message... from my teeth!") without cracking the tiniest smile. Burke serves as the hapless brain Arthur; Carbonell is quite entertaining as the womanizing Batmanuel, who only fights crime once in the whole series. And Vassey is fantastic as a frustrated 21st-century Wonder Woman who sometimes seems to be the only really sane one there.

All too short and all too sweet, "The Tick" wasn't given the long life on television that it deserved. However, fans can now enjoy the nine hysterical episodes of madness, mayhem, Metcalfe, and steaming hot cups of justice. Long live the Big Blue Lug.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Definitely NOT the cartoon version...
Review: I don't know why, but the cartoon version was just about the funniest show I had ever seen, but for some reason it didn't transfer well into live-action. The comedy was flat and the Tick mostly came across silly. Bat-Manuel sp? was the only character that seemed to elicit a chuckle. I was suprised at how unfunny this series was considering Patrick Warburton was tailor made for the Tick. I loved him as Cronk in "The Emperor's Groove" which was essentially the same dumb loveable character. If you haven't bought this DVD yet, I'd hold out for the cartoon release.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Classic dry witted The Tick will get stuck on you
Review: With wit as dry as the desert, The Tick premiered in 2001 to an audience of millions and became a huge hit. No, not really. That's the sad part of this story. It's almost as if Fox, uncertain of what it had, aired the series as an after thought. This short lived (9 episodes only 8 of which were every aired)series managed to spoof comics, superheroes and just about everything else inbetween during its brief lifespan. AND YOU LUCKY VIEWER MAY SEE THE LUMINOUS POWER, THE HEROISM AND GREAT DEEDS OF THE TICK.

On these two all too brief DVDs we get the entire run of the series (it was greenlit for only 8 additional episodes beyond the pilot. That demonstrates uncertainty)plus witty commentary by producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld. The extras are pretty meager but I'm actually happy to have the series available on DVD at all. Now if only Fox would get around to putting the witty cartoon series on DVD as well, I'd be a happy fan.

For what it's worth the picture quality is pristine, the sound exceptional and the performances a combination of witty, clueless and over-the-top. Those are all good things. Patrick Warburton is the embodiment of The Tick; he reels off the corny, warmed over dialogue as if it was second nature to him. The suit and his hyperactive antennae help bring his performance to life but it's all in the performance. Warburton is perfection. The rest of the cast is magnificient as well. All perfectly capture Ben Edlund's creation. The primary color, surreal and minimalist sets all add to the comic book illusion.

If you appreciate dry humor with a bit of stupidity and an edge, then you'll definitely enjoy The Tick.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Terrific Tick
Review: I never watched the series when it was on the air, or watched the cartoon, comic book...but I was always told they were funny and be something that I would enjoy. I have to admit that I thouroughly enjoyed this series. The episodes got better as the season went on. My favorites are "Arthur, Interrupted", "The Funeral", "The Big Leagues", & "The Tick vs. Justice", although they were all pretty good! Patrick Warburton did an incredible job as the Tick. Many actors who portray comic heroes fall flat but Patrick was utterly convincing as the Wild Blue Yonder. David Burke, Nestor Carbonell, & Liz Vassey were all hillarious in their portrayals. It is sad that this series did not continue, one could only imagine what heights of levity could have been wrought if only this brilliant show was not terminated!
I wished this DVD could have had more extras...I couldn't find the DVD rom link either, but maybe I'm looking in the wrong places...and deleted scenes or TV spots would have been nice!
It would be great if a MOVIE gets produced...I would definitely Watch it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: "A secret message from my teeth!"
Review: Ben Edlund's oft-licensed, off-beat creation was never in finer form than Patrick Warburton's jut-jawed portrayal of The Wild Blue Yonder himself. Matching the goofy heights reached by the excellent cartoon in a measly nine half-hour episodes, there's no telling what Sonnenfeld and company could have done with this series. Unfortunately, it looks like there never will be any telling, as the show was unceremoniously canned before the last episode even aired. Still, there's mirth aplenty in this strangely sparse 2-DVD set; Christopher Lloyd guest stars in an episode, as do Ron Perlman (Hellboy) and John de Lancie (Star Trek: TNG's Q). Warburton's Tick seems right at home alongside David Burke's Arthur, as well as new Edlund creations Batmanuel and Captain Liberty (ably acted by the hilariously oversexed Nestor Carbonell and the ever-serious Liz Vassey, respectively). Commentary tracks with Barry Sonnenfeld (who produced the series and directed the first episode) and Ben Edlund (who wrote the comic book back when it was an underground sensation) are available for nearly every episode, and a few poorly-selected trailers are on the second disc. Buy it for the show, chum.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: I'm TICKED OFF that they canceled this show
Review: Probably the most hysterically funny TV show ever! Beats Seinfeld! (by a narrow margin). Would've loved to see their take on the comic "Night of a million zillion ninjas", and they dumbed down the Red Scare to robot status, but hey, whatareyagonnado? Patrick Warburton is wonderful in the role, and the cast is exceptional. Nestor Campbell is wonderful as BatManuel, and his delivery is excellent! Fans of this show should file a class-action suit to put it back on the air.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I want to sick The Tick on all those evil doing TV execs
Review: I have argued to friends that TV is a medium with vaster potential than cinema. TV has an extraordinary advantage: more time, time to develop characters, story lines, long story arcs (a 500 minute story will beat a 100 minute story if you have a good script writer involved), and anything else you care to produce. But unfortunately TV as we have known it is largely a dismal affair: television executives. Show me a new show with creative brilliance, great writing, wonderful characters, and intelligence, and I will show you a series that is probably not going to be long in this world. TV execs want series that you can grasp and completely understand while eating a sandwich and drinking a beer, chatting the whole time with friends on the phone.

THE TICK is one of these unfortunate shows that made the mistake of trying to do something original and different, and to do this with tremendous wit and intelligence. I have to be honest: THE TICK never became a great show, but it is obvious that it had the potential for greatness. Shows always take some time to find their feet. BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER didn't become truly great until the second season, and most series follow this pattern. They get better as they go along, and unfortunately THE TICK didn't get to fulfill its potential.

The genius behind THE TICK is Ben Edlund, who followed the cancellation of THE TICK with some utterly brilliant scripts for FIREFLY and ANGEL. Edlund breaks many standard conventions with THE TICK. For one thing, we never really learn all that much about The Tick. Most super hero shows deal at length with back story, but despite having appeared in comics, in an animated series, and a live action series, we know little more about The Tick at end than we did at the beginning. We know that he is a bit of a well meaning dimwit, given to extravagantly complex and high flown sentences, good hearted, virtually indestructible, and apparently about as strong as Superman. He might, in fact, be less vulnerable than Superman, since he apparently doesn't have his own version of Kryptonite. Apart from vulnerability and super strength, however, it isn't clear that he has any other powers. He lives in a city filled with super heroes, but amazingly few if any of them possess their own super abilities. Most achieve their trademarks stunts through gimmicks, like The Tick's sidekick Arthur, who can only fly when opening his moth wings out of a backpack. But The Tick truly is blessed with almost godlike abilities.

Although we only had the show for nine episodes, it was clear that it was going to be a superbly written, well-conceived series. The four performers making up the heart of the show were all great, especially Patrick Warburton in the title role. David Burke was great as Arthur, a nebbish accountant who had Walter Mitty fantasies of becoming a crime fighting super hero, which he largely fulfills by becoming The Tick's sidekick. Liz Vassey plays Janet aka Captain Liberty, who although a very effective hero (in fact, after The Tick, she seems to be the only one of the four who actually does any crime fighting), is beset by a host of personal problems, mostly having to do with men and her willingness to giver herself to them. Nestor Carbonell often steals the show as the would be Romeo and super hero chick magnet Batmanuel. Although apparently bereft of any crime fighting abilities, Batmanuel seems to have become a superhero for the same reason that some guys join bands: the chicks. The quality of the guest stars was consistently superb, with name performers like Ron Perlman (almost unrecognizable under the worst hair do one could ever hope to see on a super hero), Christopher Lloyd as Arthur's boss in the pilot, and Armin Shimerman (who is best known in make up as Quark from DEEP SPACE NINE and out of make up as Principal Snyder from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), who is truly unrecognizable as the elderly super villain Destroyo.

The DVD set isn't great, I'll admit, but I think many reviewers exaggerate how bad they are. As far as special features go, I find that I rarely access them. I'll listen to a commentary once, but the actual film or series several times. I do wish they had included more information, and I also agree with some reviewers who wish they would bring out the cartoon series. Nonetheless, I'm grateful that we have the nine existing episodes of what might have become a classic television show.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Oops - it's not the cartoon
Review: I bought this from a GoldBox offer and then realized it was not the cartoon! I haven't received it yet, and already I hate it! Please put out the cartoon series on DVD!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spooooon! Naughty Spawn, you face THE TICK!!!
Review: It's hard to classify "The Tick" live action series. It was really like nothing else on TV and truly original for a live action series (original in the live action sense... after all this series was based on the classic comic book and cartoon series).

I think the live action series was more a Tick cartoon series' adult-tongue-in-cheek MEETS Men-in-Black's style MEETS Family Guy's mile-a-minute sight gags. If you at all like superhero movies, but kind of think that superhero's are cheesy at the same time, then the Tick might be for you. It's really a superhero series for people that do not like superhero series. Warburton is perfect as the big blue invincible Tick. Other characther names are changed from the original cartoon.... for example American Maid becomes Captian Liberty and Die Fledermaus becomes Batmanuel. But certain things remains constant: the comedy and the genius that are Ben Edlund's creation: The Tick!

This DVD kind of surprised me. I didn't even know it was out. Fox did a horrible job promoting this series and the DVD for that matter. It was advertised for months before actually airing, and then half the time they aired it opposite Friends on Thursdays. They wanted this to fail... much like they wanted Family Guy to fail (another show that bounced time slots and is now a DVD hit). Well, let the DVD sales show Fox just how dumb their execs are.... This series is spot on hilarious. Give it a try and if you think it's silly or ridiculous, that was the whole point!


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