La Garrapata

I don't think any other actor than the towering, deadpan Patrick Warburton could pull of the role of the blue-clad buffoon The Tick. The Tick may be dim-witted, prone to making long-winded, nonsensical soliloquies and may be the most unintentionally destructive hero since Sledge Hammer, but he also has a heart of gold and is willing to stand up to any challenge. Whether it's stopping petty crooks or throttling an uncooperative coffee machine, the Tick is just the hero The City needs... whether they like it or not! Joining the Tick in his quest for justice are loyal but nebbish moth man Arthur (David Burke), tough cookie Captain Liberty (Liz Vassey), and blasé ladies' man Bat Manuel.

Like many TV shows, the live action version of "The Tick" suffered an early death on the Fox network, but it has thankfully become a cult classic. I actually found this one to be funnier than the animated series. Not that I'm diminishing the legacy of the great cartoon, but to see flesh-and-blood adult actors dressed in these ridiculous costumes, uttering ludicrous lines ("Abso-doodle!") and fighting comical villains (Apocolypse Cow, Destroyo), makes "The Tick" so literal and so rewardingly hilarious.

Every aspect of this show shines - The writing, casting, directing and comic timing raise this series to a level of quality that few other TV shows have been able to achieve in recent years. Especially Patrick Warburton as the Tick is perfectly cast.

Unfortunately, it only ran for one season - A reflection of the dismal state of TV programming these days. Fortunately, all episodes have been released on a 2-DVD set!

Do not let this gem pass you by...

Unquestionably one of the funniest and most original comedies to come down the pike in years, this show was nevertheless canceled by Fox after airing only a relative handful of episodes. Why? According to the producers, Fox execs were caught up in the minutiae of the character: Who is The Tick really? Where did he get his superpowers? One of the most important answers that eluded Fox was that THE VIEWERS DON'T CARE!! The show is funny! If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Beyond clever writing, the characterizations were spot on. The choice of Patrick Warburton as The Tick was little short of inspired. In fact, all of the characters were perfectly cast even though, when approached to do the character of Batmanuel, Nestor Carbonell initially turned it down, claiming that he was tired of doing Hispanic parts. The producers said nonsense; you'll do it, and you'll be brilliant. They were right. Time was when a network announced it's fall lineup, you could pretty much count on any given show hanging around for at least a season (although, to be fair, "Batman" was a mid-season replacement on ABC), but not any more. With "The Tick", Fox had a winner and didn't see it, which is our loss. Happily, "The Tick" is available in it's, er, "entirety", on DVD. We heartily recommend this one.

It's been announced recently that this show is being canceled and I couldn't be more disappointed. Wonderfully-clever, it's probably just too smart for network TV. But then again, many shows that are canceled seem to be -- a darn shame when good TV is so good that it doesn't stand a chance of succeeding.

I'm really enjoying this show. Seeing how it is live-action though, it can't go all out in the bizarre the way the animated series easily could. So they seem to be concentrating on more down-to-earth storylines, if that's possible in a show like this, making it a kind of "Seinfeld" with superheros. So far it has been keeping me laughing with its stories of hero-sidekick relations and more adult humor. Patrick Warburton is excellent in the title role. He's bound to shout out "SPOON!" sooner or later, so don't worry about that. The show is very funny and clever, and I'm really hoping it doesn't get abused like the cartoon did, or worse, get axed too early.