Four Key Episodes – “The Tick”

 

Four Key Episodes – “The Tick”

 By Robert R. Garver

 In my last column, I took a look at a “classic” from the 60s in “The Addams Family”.  This week I set the clock back a mere ten years and look at the live action version of “The Tick”.

 What I know going in:  Not much.  I know “The Tick” starred Patrick Warburton as a superhero who wears a blue bodysuit.  I know that despite the kid-friendly appearance of the superhero characters, the show was really a comedy geared toward adults.  And I know that the show has a reputation as one of those “cancelled too early” cult classics, having lasted only nine episodes on Fox in 2001. 

 Should “The Tick” have been given more of a chance?  Let’s find out. 

 

First Episode – “Pilot”

 Plot:  We meet overly-dramatic superhero The Tick, as well as his wimpy sidekick Arthur (David Burke).  Arthur quits his accounting job to become a superhero, a choice he spends to whole episode questioning.  He’s ready to give up when The Tick enlists his help to take down an evil Soviet robot.  

 Thoughts:  Clearly the key to this show is Patrick Warburton’s performance.  Not once does he fail to make me laugh as he bellows clichéd superhero dialogue.  Warburton is already kind of a ham, the character is definitely a ham, so the episode’s best scenes (I’m especially fond of him beating up a band of Soviets and convincing Arthur to realize his destiny as a superhero) are sort of a double ham or even ham squared. 

 With The Tick chewing scenery the way I’d like to chew some ham (because I’ve made myself hungry), why does the episode need to focus so much on Arthur?  This “nerdy doormat who aspires to be something better” character has been done to death.  As have the jokes about questionable superhero sexuality.  Arthur is basically a costumed version of Jon Cryer’s character on “Two and a Half Men”.  Speaking of Two and a Half…

 Rating:  Two and a Half Stars out of Five.

 

 Second Episode – “Funeral”

 Plot:  Legendary superhero The Immortal comes to town only to die during sex with Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey), the female in The Tick’s circle of friends.  It’s up to Batmanuel (Nestor Carbonell) to impersonate the dead superhero while The Tick and Arthur try to move the body to make it look like The Immortal died with dignity.

 Thoughts:  Squabbling former lovers Batmanuel and Captain Liberty are fun characters who appear to have been upgraded to full-blown players after a brief appearance in the first episode.  It’s a good choice.  Arthur is still annoying, but at least in this episode he usually has The Tick around to carry him through the scene. 

 The Tick is still pretty funny with his cheesy wisdom and his naiveté about death.  However, a bit about his poor understanding of military time feels forced.  I seriously wonder how much longer the show can sustain jokes about The Tick’s stupidity and self-importance.  His act isn’t old yet, but I have a feeling it’s about to be. 

 Rating:  Three Stars out of Five.

 

 Middle Episode – “Arthur, Interrupted”

 Plot:  Arthur “comes out” as a superhero to his mother and sister.  They feel he needs to have his mind changed and have him committed to a mental institution run by closeted superhero Dr. Peacock (Dave Foley).  Meanwhile, The Tick fights with a stopped-up toilet. 

 Thoughts:  The character of The Tick, so funny early on in the series, has been reduced to arguing with a toilet for the better part of the episode.  Worse yet, the toilet is getting the cleverer lines by default.  As for Batmanuel, he’s stuck rhyming a string of words with “fondue”. 

 The “superheroes are homosexuals” jokes are beaten so far into the ground they made me yearn for the subtlety of the “mutants are homosexuals” scenes in “X-Men 2”.  For those who don’t remember the film or aren’t familiar with it, the comparisons were not subtle at all. 

 Rating:  One Star out of Five.

 

 Final Episode – “The Terror”

 Plot:  On the one year anniversary of the day they first met, The Tick and Arthur reminisce about how they defeated geriatric supervillain The Terror and how Arthur finally decided to become a permanent superhero. 

 Thoughts:  Going back in the series chronologically takes The Tick back to his earlier, funnier dialogue.  He’s at his best as a character when he’s trying to be inspiring, and Arthur could do with some inspiration.  But as welcome as it is to see The Tick back to his old self, it’s still a brand of humor that we’ve seen done before and done better.  Also, Warburton has developed a bad habit of mugging for the camera as if even The Tick knows he’s a joke at this point. 

 Some of the unfunny “new” humor is retained.  We’re still supposed to laugh at how dumb the Tick is (which was sort of funny early on, but is now stale) and how he’s befuddled by all manner of technology (which was never funny). 

 The episode is almost all about Arthur making his decision, which means that he’s the only character that goes through any development in this episode.  I keep saying it and the show never listens; focusing on Arthur is never a good thing. 

 Rating:  Two Stars out of Five.

 

 Final Thoughts:  Aside from the smart second episode, “The Tick” had little to offer other than the game performance of Patrick Warburton.  The real main character was Arthur, a decision that brought the whole show down.  As for The Tick himself, the character ran out of steam early on and by the end of the series his act was completely tired.  There was no reason for the show to go on any longer.  Fox was right to cancel it when they did. 

 

Robert Garver is a graduate of the Cinema Studies program at New York University.  Check out his movie review blog at www.bobatthemovies.com.  He welcomes feedback, criticisms, and suggestions for future columns at rrg251@nyu.edu.