Hey gang. Back again. Miss me? Well
after that audio review I wasn't sure. Today I wanted to talk about
the phenomenon that swept Netflix reaprising The Tick. Now the buzz
is impressive on the progression of the show and they are allowed a
bit more leniency that the cartoon on Fox those many years ago.
With the sheer oddity and dark humor of this bizarre yet highly
entertaining comic book series, to see it reemerge after its last
attempt is almost heartwarming. There were problems with the
previous live-action series. One, it was nine episodes in total.
Two, it was shot like a sitcom and three they didn't really know what
to do with it. Produced for TV by Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry
Jospehson, this series came and went with no real follow up.
This is The Tick.
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| Spicy bean burrito, you've met your match with my bowels. |
Released in 2001, our big blue defender
of the helpless and the hopeless secures a position at a rundown bus
stop, monologue and giving all those in ear shot the lowdown. The
Tick (Patrick Warburton of Seinfeld, NewsRadio, Scream 3, The
Emperor's New Groove, Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, Men in Black
II, Metal Arms: Glitch in the System, Family Guy, The Venture Bros
and Rules of Engagement) is told his work is done here, given
a bus ticket to "The City" and is sent onto his next round
of adventures.
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| Sorry Arthur, you still look like a bunny. |
Meanwhile a mild-mannered accountant,
Arthur (David Burke of The Invisible Man, The Tick, Leo,
Crossing Jordan, Joan of Arcadia, Chuck, NCIS: New Orleans, Nashville
and Jumping the Gun) has been informed that wearing his "body
stocking" at Worldwide Fishlatter and Sons accounting spells
disaster. Character actor Christopher Lloyd tells Arthur
that he can be an accountant or an idiot in a body stocking but he
can be both. Arthur makes the bold choice to be a hero, gets a bit
bombed at his local take-out/bar and saunters out into the night. He
encounters former Soviet hardasses now mailmen prepping a surprise
for the Postmaster General until Arthur pukes one of them.
Hearing a girlish scream of terror, The
Tick springs into action, trounces our baddies and partners up with
Arthur. One of the thugs informs them that the Red Scare, a powerful
killer robot was designed to attack Jimmy Carter is still unaccounted
for and defaults to its original programming. Let us pause and
applaud the efficiency of Soviet Science for a minute. Okay that
being said, Jimmy Carter happens to be in town at the precise time
the bot is on the rampage. What are the odds indeed you ask
yourself.
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| Lock up your daughters and your soccer moms. |
Up to the rooftops to discuss their
plan of attack as they encounter two more heroes, the charming and
flamboyant BatManuel (Nestor Carbonell of Suddenly Susan,
Resurrection Blvd, Jack the Dog, Agua Dulce, Manhood, Justice League
Unlimited, Killer Movie, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises)
and the patriotic powerhouse herself, Captain Liberty (Liz
Vassey of Murder, She Wrote, Push, Nevada, The Adventures of Captain
Zoom in Outer Space, Pursuit of Happiness, Nikki and Nora, Man of the
House, Tru Calling, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Sexting in
Suburbia and Riley Parra)
Naturally more heroes and villains
appear as the series continues. Hell, we get to enjoy Ron Perlman
as Fiery Blaze before he became everyone's monster hunter Hellboy.
Kids in the Hall and NewsRadio own Dave Foley as
a shrink/closet superhero fanboy and Missi Pyle
of Two and a Half Men, Cleaners and Warehouse 13 as the girl that got
away from Arthur.
My
personal favorite was a Nazi war criminal/slayer of superheroes, The
Terror. A geriactric genocidal madman played by Armin
Shimerman of Star Trek: The
Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer. Who knew evil could stand at what? 5'5"? 5'6"?
Somebody IMDB that
for me. Must I do everything??!!!
Now there were a
fair number of complaints about the show. Mostly why the hell was
it ended so abruptly. American Maid and De Fledermaus were two
separate characters Fox didn't have rights to , so Captain Liberty
and BatManuel were born. Some call it the Puddy Curse that Warburton
has hanging over his head. My thoughts were they were too bizarre
and camp for the viewers to wrap their heads around at Fox studios.
Budgetary concerns were there and frankly Fox just didn't have any
faith in it, leaving you wonder why gamble on it at all?
With that in mind,
the series would have done better on a less mainstream channel or
expanded cable in the day. Now an internet series would have picked
this up and these folks would still be in outrageous costumes,
biffing bad guys and channeling some 1960s Batman camp to the
enjoyment of all. With that in mind, I promised myself to check
into the new series and see if it cuts the mustard. I relish its
response. I hope it isn't complete and utter horseradish. Okay I
am running out of condiment puns.
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| Her hips are chafing. Listen. |
