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Free "The Tick" (live action) on Hulu - some thoughts/reviews

Gaith

Gaith

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To complement my Weird Science (TV) post...


This show can be a lot of fun. And it's free on Hulu! Anyone have any thoughts on any of its eps? Here're mine:


Keepers
1. Pilot: very funny, and a Christopher Lloyd cameo to boot.
2. The Terror: wonderful follow-up to the pilot; inventive and laugh-out-loud funny.
7. The Funeral: Risque and engaging, though the b-plot isn't quite as strong as the a-.


No, Thanks
6. Couples: That was Ron Perlman? Snore.


Which only leaves...
3. Arthur, Interrupted
4. The License
5. Arthur Needs Space
8. The Tick Vs. Justice
9. The Big Leagues
 
"The Tick" live-action series is what they duped people who categorically don't like cartoons into watching.

"The Tick" cartoon series was a long-lived and critically acclaimed series which is a modern classic. Seriously, don't waste hours of your life watching the live-action version; watch the cartoon series off YouTube or whatever.
 
The only live-action episodes I liked were the ones by Ben Edlund himself, specifically the pilot and "The Tick vs. Justice." Those were the only ones that actually qualified as superhero comedy -- stories where the humor arose specifically from the situations and problems faced by superheroes. (Well, the one with Arthur and his family sort of qualified, and was okay.) The rest of the episodes were by more conventional sitcom writers, and they were just Seinfeld in tights, the standard late-'90s sitcom formula of a bunch of loser friends sitting around talking about sex all the time, except, oh, wait, they're dressed up in funny costumes! I guess it would've appealed to people who thought Seinfeld was somehow amusing, but I'm not one of those people.

I gather that "The Terror," which was never shown on broadcast TV, was also by Edlund and had Armin Shimerman as the titular villain, so I'm hoping it's good. I'll have to check it out when I have the time.
 
Yeah, "The Terror" is definitely about super-heroism, and from your post I think you'd enjoy it. "The Funeral" too, even. Even with "Couples", there was a decent attempt at making a superhero story.

Oh, and V: per my OP, I really enjoyed the "keeper" eps. If you don't like the show, fine, but it's not necessary to call those who do dupes or dummies.
 
Went from the Tick "Spoon!" to today's meaning of "spoon!", which is kind of a let down.

I've not seen the live action series, but I might give the Edlund episodes a whirl.

I remember thinking at the time when I saw promos for it that it was going to get canned fast. Lasted just a bit longer than I thought it would, be it got canned nonetheless.
 
The show has its moments...I bought it. It falls short of the cartoon, but if you want to harken back to the original material, then THAT would NEVER have made it to mainstream media, being the acid-toothed satire that it was.

Still the ultimate Tick and Arthur remain Townsend Coleman and Mickey Dolenz in my mind's ear.

I'm disappointed in reviewing iMDB that Chairface Chippendale's voiceman Tony Jay passed away 2 1/2 years ago...I must have missed that.

He'll also be recalled by many as Paracelsus on "Beauty and the Beast" and as Megabyte on "ReBoot". :(
 
Patrick Warburton was a good The Tick, although his performance seemed a bit too influenced by the great Adam West.
 
gaith1 said:
Yeah, "The Terror" is definitely about super-heroism, and from your post I think you'd enjoy it. "The Funeral" too, even. Even with "Couples", there was a decent attempt at making a superhero story.
Click to expand...

I saw every episode but "The Terror," and the ones I mentioned were the only ones that didn't bore me. I like Ben Edlund's writing and humor; the other writers' voices just didn't do anything for me.


I just watched the pilot. Wow, Liz Vassey is pretty...


EDIT: Well, I've finally seen "The Terror," and it was kind of a letdown after all these years. It was okay, but it didn't wow me the way Edlund's best work does. And too much of it was conventional sitcom stuff, right down to the corny "friends sitting around reminiscing" frame for a flashback story.

Even in the best episodes, the fundamental limitation of this show was that it couldn't show the heroes actually doing much of anything other than sitting around in Arthur's apartment or the diner or the rooftop and talking about stuff. Now, normally I'm not averse to scenes of dialogue and character exploration, but these folks are superheroes, so action is a major part of their lives, and so it's inhibiting when that can't be shown. Compared to the animated show, it's like getting less than half the story. And when there is action, it becomes painfully evident that Warburton could barely move in that rigid blue suit.
 
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^ Ain't she. :-p

Ah, well, here's hoping I like the rest of the series more than you did. ;) I look forward to the "Justice" one.
 
"Fight fire...with Arthur!"

"It's a secret message from my teeth!"

"Who puts gum on a roof!?!"

:lol:
 
I'm starting to see what Christopher means... I just watched two eps, and while I don't regret having done so, I won't be revisiting them anytime:

No Thanks
3. Arthur, Interrupted: worth a watch, but only one. Promising premise, uneven results.
4. The License: fun non-origin story, but ultimately too light on plot.
 
I enjoyed this show, but I can see why it might not appeal to a large audience.

I thought the casting and costuming were perfect.
 
Yeah, the casting was pretty good. Patrick Warburton was pretty much the ideal choice for a live-action Tick (though Matt Keeslar would've been good at it, I bet). David Burke was a good, sympathetic Arthur, though less chubby than the cartoon version (he kind of reminds me of a young Mark Hamill). And Liz Vassey as a superheroine is a no-brainer.
 
It cracks me up that they were forbidden from using the American Maid and Die Fledermoüs characters from the cartoon so they had to recreate them. How much closer to copyright infringement could you get than "Batmañuel"? :lol:
 
I LOVED this show! warburton was PERFECT AS THE TICK! MY favorite episode had to be the one with the IMMORTAL! I wont spoil anything for those who havent seen it, But I will say the ONE line from that ep that made me BUST a got had to be NO MOLESTA! NO MOLESTA! ( it will make sense when you see it)
 
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gaith1 said:
You mean "Batmañuel", surely. ;) I assume it's a Fawlty Towers reference, too.

And how funny is this - that actor played the mayor in The Dark Knight! :rommie:
Click to expand...

Nestor Carbonell was also the voice of El Diablo in Justice League Unlimited's "Weird Western Tales," where he fought alongside Batman (and Green Lantern and Wonder Woman -- not to mention Ben Browder as Bat Lash and Adam Baldwin as Jonah Hex).
 
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