Scarecrow-88 "Gravity is a harsh mistress"Short-lived comic book satire series maybe was ten years too early. I particularly liked the Tick's moving antennae. Patrick Warburton is perfectly cast as dark-voiced, dim-witted, strong-chinned, muscled superhero (with quite the profile) of the show's title. Seemingly superhero 24-7, Warburton's Tick stays dutifully "in character", always in a rather flatteringly Gold's Gym physique blue costume. He is manipulated by a bus stop employee (annoyed at the Tick's constant presence) to leave his post for the nearest city, befriending a recently unemployed accountant named Arthur (David Burke). Arthur wanted to work at his office (ran by a gruff and forcefully uptight Christopher Lloyd!) in his costume which is some sort of moth/bunny hybrid. Lloyd's boss would have none of that. Anyway, the two eventually meet while encountering a group of Commie terrorists (who are so dangerous they'd have a hard time harming a fly) Tick dubs "the Red Scare". Also introduced are two crime-fighters, The Bat-Manuel (Nestor Carbonell) and Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey) who have had a fling, at odds intellectually and philosophically but sexually drawn to each other just the same. Bat-Manuel is known for his womanizing exploits, often receiving calls while in the middle of superhero activity. Liberty is gung-ho and a speed-talker, emerging as if she had one too many lattes. The show is quite fast-paced, edited so rapid-fire that it barely takes a breath. The show is concerned primarily with poking fun at superhero comics, characters, and plots. The show is so quick-draw in how the four deliver their lines and the way the plot moves along so locomotive I imagine multiple viewings would probably be expected just to see what you might have missed. I think this was the kind of comedy that hits and misses but when it does hit, the show can be quite funny. The cast, especially a game Warburton (so dead pan and using a serious toned voice, but adding a winking "I'm in on the fun" nod from the actor a lot of the time), are a lot of fun. Surprisingly, this show didn't make it past 9 episodes!The inclusion of Jimmy Carter as the former President to be abducted and harmed by The Red Scare is so randomly odd, it works! The Tick and Arthur team could have been the Scully and Mulder of comic book comedies had Fox given a chance.

Mr-Fusion They really hit it out of the park when they cast Patrick Warburton as The Tick. Dude was born to play the socially inept title role. It's thanks to great writing and Warburton's winning delivery that this show is as (highly) quotable as it is. And it's not just him, it's the whole cast: Liz Vassey, David Burke, and I couldn't see Nestor Carbonell in "The Dark Knight" without thinking of Batmanuel (love that guy!).The whole thing's a winner; good production values, great bizarre sense of humor, and Captain Liberty makes for some major eye candy. "The Tick" deserved a much longer life than it received. 8/10

Ben Jensen I vaguely remembered this show from it's first airing. I was the right age for the cartoon when it aired, and I remember liking that a lot, but I'd just started college when this hit the air and didn't watch much TV. This show was ahead of it's time, especially considering the recent slate of "vigilante superhero" films. Great over the top single cam comedy. Great Cast, great direction, and an excellent script. Standout episode 8 is hilarious, all of them are very funny. Aspiring writers should take notice of the the easily discerned A plot, B plot, C plot structure. The cast grew together and they really put the chemistry on screen after the first couple episodes.Do yourself a favor and watch all 9 on netflix. We rarely get anything out of the ordinary on TV and this is a perfect example of something that suffered from poor placement(direct competitor to survivor-which was new at the time) and lack of support from network.

bensonmum2 Somehow, I missed The Tick during its run on television. Thank goodness for DVD! The Tick has to be one of the funniest, most original shows I've seen. It's a riot! I can't believe there are only eight episodes.I can pinpoint two things that make The Tick so good to me. First, the writing. Some of the dialogue in The Tick is laugh out loud funny. In the pilot episode, the first time we see the Tick, he's guarding a bus stop. His main enemy appears to be the coffee machine that has a habit of taking money from customers. I'll never forget the sight of the Tick shaking the coffee machine while saying "Armless bandit... Empty your bladder of that bitter black urine men call coffee! It has its price and its price has been payed! Java devil, you are now my bitch." Hysterical! The second area where the show excels is in the casting. Going back to his days on the television show Dave's World, I've always thought that Patrick Warburton was one the funniest people I've ever seen. He's a big, tough, good-looking guy who can be as goofy as they come. He is simply perfect in the title role of this series. His delivery, mannerism, attitude, and look are dead on. I can't imagine anyone else playing the Tick. As for the rest of the cast, they're wonderful. As much as I can't imagine anyone else playing the Tick, I feel even stronger about David Burke in the role of Arthur. He IS Arthur. Liz Vassey and Nestor Carbonell are the two other regulars rounding out this superb cast.It's a shame The Tick didn't last longer. Eight episodes hardly seems like enough.