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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 was 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 eight episodes. Due to its cult popularity and critical praise, however, the series was released to DVD in 2003.

History

The 2001 sitcom was the first and only attempt at a live action incarnation of The Tick and debuted five years after a successful, 3-season animated series. It features a parody style similar to the animated series and the bulky Patrick Warburton in the title role. 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 new show; they were replaced by Captain Liberty and Batmanuel. Disregarding the back stories given in both the comic books and animated series, 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. It is also more adult oriented, including more sexual innuendo and adult situations. As such, the series 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 in 2003. The series was also responsible for Christopher McCulloch, who wrote for the Tick comic book, animated series, and sitcom, meeting 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.

Cancellation

According to Patrick Warburton, The Tick performed poorly because FOX did not own the series as they did The Bernie Mac Show and 24. Therefore the network rarely promoted it in the face of popular shows like Survivor: Africa. Warburton added that despite fan and critical praise, the high production costs further discouraged FOX from giving The Tick a chance. The costs were increased by overtime pay due to a shortened filming schedule. This compromised a six or seven day shooting of each episode down to five days.

Reception

Entertainment Weekly's Dalton Ross gave the series' DVD release an A- rating and commented, "It was too smart. Too funny. Too weird. So, of course, it failed." It also received praise from Digitally Obsessed and Genre Online. Marginally positive reviews came from TV DVD Reviews and DVD Verdict. Based on 930 votes, The Tick holds a 7.8/10 rating on IMDb as of 2009. It also holds a "Great" 8.2/10 based on TV.com's 351 votes.

In 2002, the series' Victoria J. Auth was nominated for a Costume Designers Guild Award for Excellence in Costume Design for Television - Period/Fantasy. The award went to Jane Anderson for American Dreams.

Reflecting on his time on the series, Patrick Warburton commented, "That, to me, was an honor: To get into the blue suit and get to be The Tick. I loved that. I just wish that our beloved Fox network had actually given us a shot instead of killing off the show as they did."

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.

Syndication

As of February 2009, the show can be downloaded on iTunes, or streamed for free in the US on YouTube, IMDB, Joost, Hulu, and Crackle.

External links

• The Tick (2001 – 2002) at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com

References

1. Jones, Seth Warburton Looks Back on "The Tick" ComicBookResources.com (January 29, 2009). Retrieved on 5-13-09.
2. Naugle, Patrick The Tick: The Entire Series DVDVerdict.com (October 31, 2003). Retrieved on 1-05-08.
3. Thomas, David The Hardest Working Vocal Cords in Show Business: An Interview with Patrick Warburton FilmCritic.com (2004). Retrieved on 5-13-09
4. Leung, Kevin How The Tick Was Offed Mania.com (July 8, 2002). Retrieved on 5-13-09.
5. Ross, Dalton The Tick: The Entire Series! Entertainment Weekly (September 30, 2003). Retrieved on 5-13-09.
6. Cunningham, Joel DOc DVD Review: The Tick: The Entire Series (2001-2002) DigitallyObsessed.com (November 12, 2003). Retrieved on 5-13-09.
7. Rivera, Mark A. The Tick: The Entire Series on DVD Review GenreOnline.com (2003). Retrieved on 5-13-09.
8. Boudreaux, Jonathan The Tick: The Entire Series DVD Review TVDVDReviews.com (2003). Retrieved on 5-13-09.

• 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