The Big Blue Bug of Justice - The Tick on DVD

Alas, one more ill-fated TV series that was killed at birth.

I have to be honest here: I was a big fan of the Tick cartoon series and when I found out they were making a live-action show, I was thrilled. I watched the first episode when it first aired, grinning widely the whole time. It was great – the pilot was a lot like the first episode of the cartoon. We were in for some good times, I figured.

But it was not to be. After the first episode, I didn't see it again for a couple of months. First it was on Thursday night. Then it was Tuesday, which I found out from my friends on Wednesday. It seemed like every single time I tried to watch it, the network changed the day and time it aired. Now it seems obvious to me that the surest way to eliminate a viewer base is to prevent them from viewing. And what better way (other than outright cancellation) than by making sure they never know it's on?

I don't understand why the networks do this, but as a viewer I have to say that irritating is a wholly inadequate adjective. Worst is that this isn't the only show it's happened to – I'm thinking Futurama and the Family Guy in particular, but they had a bigger following and managed to stick around longer.

So by the time I managed to catch my second glimpse it was episode seven, and they canceled it after number nine. Well as soon as I found out it was coming out on DVD I thought “Great, I'll finally get to see what I missed!”

The series didn't quite pan out as I'd expected (I'm talking thematically now, not lifespan), but I wasn't disappointed. I never read the original Tick comics, but the humor that was so enjoyable in the cartoon was definitely present.

The thing that one realizes by about half-way through the series is that there isn't a lot of action. This is a bit strange considering the Tick's only real powers are his super strength and the fact that he's “nigh invulnerable.”

This series concentrates more on the fact that while the Tick is physically impressive he's rather lacking, intellectually speaking. Okay, fine, I've known moss with more mental prowess. Like the time Arthur gets put in a mental hospital for his super-hero delusions and the Tick ends up arguing (verbally, not metaphorically) with the backed up toilet, all alone in Arthur's apartment.

And the toilet is outsmarting him...

There are commentaries from Ben Edlund and Barry Sonnenfeld for some of the episodes. One gets the sense that they were really enjoying themselves and were just getting started when the series was canceled.

Ben for instance mentions how there were very few instances where the Tick showed off his strength, and that he would have liked to have had more of them. He also gushes about how well the cast portrayed the characters. Patrick Warburton, he says, plays the perfect Tick, while David Burke's Arthur manages equally well to balance out the Tick's innocence with his own insecurity.

He also talks a bit about how Nestor Carbonell manages to deliver his lines in such a way that almost everything Batmanuel says is funny, even though there weren't that many funny lines written for him.

All in all, the Tick was a great series. If you liked the cartoon (or I can only imagine the comics as well) for its humor (as opposed to the Saturday-morning mindless cartoon action we grew up with) then you'll enjoy this DVD. It's only nine episodes long, but definitely belongs on your shelf.

The picture quality (which, I'm pleased to say, is anamorphic widescreen video, 16x9 TV compatible) is quite good, as is the Dolby Digital stereo surround audio.

The only special features are the aforementioned commentaries and some miscellaneous trailers. The commentaries are insightful and entertaining, but the trailers seem tacked on as space filler. Why would I want to watch trailers for Men in Black I and II and “King of Queens”?

But hey, it's all about enjoying the fruits of Ben Edlund's imagination. Everything else is secondary.

The Tick, the Entire Series, from Columbia Tristar Home Video
anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1, 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital suround)
Starring Patrick Warburton, David Burke, Liz Vassey 

Tell us at TechnoFile what YOU think