The Tick

I thought it was impossible to find cartoons that parents can enjoy as much as (if not more than) the kids. The Tick proved me wrong. I laughed until I cried. Highly literate, The Tick is set in The City, a metropolis overrun with superheroes and villains. See Die Fledermaus, The Civic-Minded Five (yes, they drive a Civic), and American Maid as they battle evil with The Tick and his sidekick Arthur ("I'm not a bunny! I'm a moth!)

The Tick ran on Saturday mornings for kids, but I knew of numerous adults that watched this show and loved it. The show is not for everyone, mind you. You will either understand the humor and love it, or not get it and quickly turn the channel. I was hooked on it from day one. The show had memorable characters, villains and very witty dialogue. It often left me thinking to myself that many kids were not going to get the humor because the show came off as more of a comic book satire than a kiddie show. The show did offer enough action and colorful characters to appeal to the Saturday morning crowd, though.

The writers of the show, which included Tick creator Ben Edlund, really hit a bull's-eye by creating such memorable heroes like Sewer Urchin (sounded very much like Dustin Hoffman in Rainman) and Die Fledermaus and great villains like The Terror and the unforgettable Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight. I also felt that Townsend Coleman did a wonderful job in bringing The Tick to life. He gave The Tick some real heart and soul. This show will always be one of my all-time favorites because of its satirical humor and memorable characters. I never get tired of it. I have as much fun watching The Tick now as I did when I first saw the show in the mid 1990's.

This was just a perfect show. It's too bad it appealed almost exclusively to a more mature audience. That is why it was cancelled. To stay on the air on Saturday morning you have to be able to sell toys to kids. If only FOX could have realized that this show could have been a huge success if they placed it in a timeslot that the more mature audience could be the target audience for the commercials.

Justice comes in many forms, and in The Tick it comes in at about 400 pounds in blue tights and wrapped in mixed metaphors.

The Tick is that rare beast -- a cartoon the adults will enjoy as much as the kids. In the tradition of Bullwinkle and the Alf cartoons, The Tick is sophisticated if silly, intellectual if infantile, a one-liner of truth in the hyperinflated monologue of network television. It's... oh, never mind. Watch it and see.

This show was great. It was very funny. All the characters were (obviously) reminiscent of the famous DC and Marvel comics characters. Probably what made it so funny. This show was way to short lived and deserved longer time on the air. I look forward to the new live action show that is coming and hope is equals, if not surpasses, this show in quality.