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The Tick
Created by	Ben Edlund
Starring	Patrick Warburton David Burke Nestor Carbonell Liz Vassey
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	8 (1 unaired)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	November 8, 2001 – January 24, 2002

The Tick is an American sitcom based on the comic book character of the same name. It aired on FOX in late 2001 and was produced by Columbia-TriStar Television. With a pilot airing on November 8, the series only lasted nine episodes.

This series was the first and only attempt at a live action incarnation of The Tick five years after a successful, 3-season animated series. It features a parody style similar to the animated series and the bulky Patrick Warburton. Guest appearances include Ron Perlman, Christopher Lloyd, and Dave Foley. However, obvious changes had to be made for such a diverse format.

The Walt Disney Company inherited Fox's previous children's programming lineup, and therefore owned the rights to many of the show's names and trademarks. For instance, American Maid and Die Fledermaus, two major characters in the animated series, were unable to be written into the sitcom. The characters were replaced by Captain Liberty and Batmanuel. The back story of the sitcom has The Tick being tricked into moving to (and protecting) The City after irritating employees of a remote bus station he had sworn to protect. The sitcom was also more adult oriented, including more sexual innuendo and more adult situations. The sitcom also had a significantly reduced emphasis on action scenes and extravagant supervillains, both of which were often featured in the animated series.

FOX had a considerable investment in the series, with N2Toys even producing a line of action figures based on it. The live action Tick ultimately failed to recapture the success of its animated predecessor; however, its popularity was strong enough that the series would be released on DVD. Christopher McCulloch, who wrote for the Tick comic book, animated series, and live action series, met Patrick Warburton during filming. Shortly after, he would cast Warburton as the voice of Brock Samson for his Adult Swim series, The Venture Bros. Tick creator Ben Edlund would also write for The Venture Bros. on occasion.

Main cast

List of episodes

The episodes are listed here in their intended order (according to the DVD release). When they were originally aired on FOX in the United States, they were aired out of order.

• 1 "Pilot" (originally aired 8 November 2001)
• 2 "The Terror" (unaired but included on the DVD)
• 3 "Arthur, Interrupted" (originally aired 24 January 2002)
• 4 "The License" (originally aired 6 December 2001)
• 5 "Arthur Needs Space" (originally aired 13 December 2001)
• 6 "Couples" (originally aired 5 December 2001)
• 7 "The Funeral" (originally aired 15 November 2001)
• 8 "The Tick Vs. Justice" (originally aired 17 January 2002)
• 9 "The Big Leagues" (originally aired 21 December 2001)

DVD release

The complete series was released on DVD through Sony Pictures Entertainment in September 30, 2003. Tick creator Ben Edlund states on one of the DVD commentary tracks that he hopes the sales of the DVD might spur development of either a revived series or a movie, similar to the fates of other cult TV series such as Firefly (for which he was a writer and producer).

The "Big Blue Bug" in The Tick's speech bubble on the DVD cover is a reference to New England Pest Control, a Providence, Rhode Island based extermination business which is locally famous for its large blue termite statue.

External links

• The Tick (2001 – 2002) at IMDb
• The Tick (2001 – 2002) at TV.com

References

1. Naugle, Patrick The Tick: The Entire Series DVDVerdict.com (October 31, 2003). Retrieved January 5, 2008.

• The Tick
• Superhero television programs
• Fox network shows
• 2001 television series debuts
• 2002 television series endings
• 2000s American television series
• American television sitcoms
• Satirical television programmes