The Tick is being revived

[Kelthaz]

The live action version of the Tick, starring Patrick Warburton, will return on Amazon. I never actually watched the show or the cartoon, so I have nothing more to add. But I imagine quite a few others will be excited by this.

The Tick Is Being Revived, With Patrick Warburton To Star

 

[Guy Gardener]

Fiiiiiiiiiiii-nally.

Of course, this is going to totally disqualify my theory that Fury Leika (From the Evil League of Evil.) is Captain Liberty gone bad.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

SPOON!!!!

 

[Mister Fandango]

Yay!

I thought I was one of the only fans of the original show. Liz Vassey was so purdy.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

I'd like to see the animated version come back.

 

[bbjeg]

I liked the animated version better but I enjoyed the live action version too.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

He weeps for he has but one small tongue with which to taste an entire world.

 

[Christopher]

As long as it's actually Ben Edlund setting the course, and as long as they have the budget to feature a decent amount of superheroics. The problem with the previous series is that it was produced by Seinfeld veterans, and except for the 2-3 episodes Edlund personally wrote, the whole series was just Seinfeld in superhero costumes, which was a total waste of the premise. Give me episodes like the series premiere and "The Tick vs. Justice" where the humor actually comes from the exploration of superheroes and their ramifications. Don't give me 20 minutes of losers sitting around talking about sex and dealing with cookie-cutter sitcom plots while incidentally wearing colorful outfits.

 

[Kelthaz]

As long as it's actually Ben Edlund setting the course

It is.

Don't give me 20 minutes of losers sitting around talking about sex and dealing with cookie-cutter sitcom plots while incidentally wearing colorful outfits.

That should be less of a problem today. Back when the Tick was originally released in 2001, audiences hadn't even seen the Spider-man films yet. The first X-Men was all we had. I can understand why network executives were afraid of scaring off general audiences with superhero stories.

 

[Christopher]

I hope you're right. But I think part of the problem was that they gave the show to conventional sitcom writers who didn't know how to do superhero humor. Maybe that's because they were catering to the general audience, as you say, but whatever the reason, it made the show quite boring except in the episodes Edlund wrote. Hopefully this time he can put together a more qualified staff.

Or, if it's a series for Amazon rather than a network, maybe the seasons could be short enough that he could write or co-write every episode.

 

[Forbin]

Well, I hope they release it to DVD after it runs on that thing I don't have and couldn't watch on my TV even if I did.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Like to see a live action Thrakkorzog.

 

[Gaith]

Well, according to IMDB, Edlund wrote three of the nine eps: the pilot, its follow-up, and "The Tick vs. Justice". For anyone interested, my complete review of the series, available on Netflix Instant, follows:

Spoiler: reviews

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-.
5. Arthur Needs Space: The send-off gag falls flat, but the rest is very funny indeed.

No, Thanks
3. Arthur, Interrupted: worth a watch, but only one. Promising premise, uneven results.
4. The License: intermittently fun non-origin story, but ultimately too light on plot.
6. Couples: That was Ron Perlman? Snore. Skip entirely.
8. The Tick Vs. Justice: intriguingly dark, but too many loose ends, and nary a joke.
9. The Big Leagues: some great elements and funny Superman jokes, but too predictable.

Ultimately, only “Couples” isn't worth a single viewing.​

Now, those ratings are from '09, so I might be kinder to some of the "no, thanks" five if I watched them again, but that's what I thought at the time - at its height, the series was hilarious, but many eps - just over half, to be precise - were just plain short on laughs.

Anyhow, I am definitely intrigued by the notion of a revival. Wonder if any of the others will return...

 

[Morpheus 02]

i'd rather see the animated (I haven't seen the live action, so can't say for sure about that)

The animated show was truly a FAMILY show -- safe enough for kids, but adults could still have a great time.

If it's written like the animated show, it'd be great...but i think more possibilities with the animation. heck, it'd be a great replacement for the Fox Animation Domination Sunday, or even a feature movie!

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I hope you're right. But I think part of the problem was that they gave the show to conventional sitcom writers who didn't know how to do superhero humor.

Tick is neither a conventional sitcom nor a conventional superhero show. That requires nuance to pull off. I feel like it needs someone like Adam Reed to do it correctly.

 

[Caretaker]

Weren't there certain rights issues with the live action series, hence some of the changed characters (notable, Batmanuel/Die Fledermaus and American Maid/Captain Liberty)? I wonder if such issues will still be in effect for a revived series.

 

[Christopher]

I wonder what the prospects are for bringing back the rest of the cast from the live-action series. It's been 13 years since that series, and all four leads are in their 40s, ranging from 42 for Liz Vassey to 49 for Patrick Warburton. That's not a dealbreaker, since three Avengers (Downey, Ruffalo, Renner) are in the same age range. But Hollywood's standards for actresses are narrower (Scarlett Johansson is the youngest Avenger at 29), so I fear Vassey might be considered too old to reprise her role. And Nestor Carbonell's currently a regular in Bates Motel, and seems to be pretty busy overall, so he might not be available.

Actually that might be an interesting dimension for the new series -- to focus on the issues superheroes face as they get older and start to slow down or get overshadowed by the young upstarts. Sort of a Justice Society angle.

 

[Marsden]

I hope they do something with his eyes, it just doesn't look like The Tick with his eyes like that.

 

[Christopher]

I hope they do something with his eyes, it just doesn't look like The Tick with his eyes like that.

Apparently they tried a version of the costume with the white eyes, but it obscured Warburton's features and expressions too much. That kind of mask works better in cartoons because you can distort the eye holes to show expression.

 

[Forbin]

I can't imagine Liz Vassey NOT still being hot.