Slashdot Mirror
The Tick Premieres Tonight on FOX
abde writes "The Tick finally premieres this Thursday on FOX at 7:30 PM CST. Looks like Patrick Warburton finally gets to spread some creamy Justice on our toast!" Here's hoping that this show comes close to it's source materials. It's in a tough time slot, so I really hope it sticks around long
enough to find a footing. Good luck to you Ben (I know you're reading!) In other TV news, Salon reviewed
The buffy musical which aired on tuesday. Since my local basic cable doesn't provide UPN, I haven't seen it. I've been loving FX syndicating what is easily among my favorite shows: hot chicks, sharp humor, and monster killing. It may be the perfect show. I just wish TV was available via FTP.
Family Guy is back on the air as well and airs right before The Tick
Taco you post a story about Morpheus and then bitch about not being able to get the Buffy Musical. Let's think about that huh?
I downloaded the entire episode less than an hour after it had aired.
Not to mention that all of the songs have been mp3ed are on Morpheus too.
Happy hunting
The sole purpose of the Internet is to get porn and bomb making plans into the hands of children.
Tick won't be able to say "Spoooooon!".
None of the old villians will be present.
All because of some fucked up copyright stuff.
oh, and Speak won't be there, either.
More information can be found here. (http://slate.msn.com/?id=2058205) for the goat paranoid)
Even without those things, I'm still excited about dorking out, and I think that putty is an excellent choice for the Tick.
Brant
Argle. Bargle.
The Buffy musical was good because it was different than the rest of the bleak, TV wasteland. I'm sure that brief spark of originality will go completely unnoticed, however, so don't worry.
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
Unfortunately the ratings will be decimated by Survivor tonight. Fortunately for Fox, there are a lot of hardcore fans and the creator of the show needs a thing or two about sci-fi comedy.
Here is the main cast list if you're interested...
David Burke is Arthur
Liz Vassey is Captain Liberty
Nestor Carbonell is Batmanuel
and of course the Tick is played by Warburton (as mentioned in the post).
the byproduct of years of oppression by the white man
The president is speaking tonight. 25 minute speech followed by the standard 5 minute talking head wrap up. Don't know if Fox carries national news in your area but they do in mine (Chicago).
Now my VCR and Tivo settings are all fucked up.
Poo.
Pete
The sole purpose of the Internet is to get porn and bomb making plans into the hands of children.
Looks like Patrick Warburton finally gets to spread some creamy Justice on our toast!"
I'm not sure I want any of Patrick Warburton's "creamy" stuff on my toast...
Every once in a while I like to masturbate a new word into my vocabulary, even if I don't know what it means.
I can't say I agree with the thought that the new show should be only as good as its original material-- has anybody ever actually read the comics? They just didn't have the spark that the cartoon did.
Of course, the cartoon was probably what Taco meant, in which case-- oh hell yeah. In no particular order, the new show is going to need a few things to match up with Fox's Saturday-morning masterpiece:
1. A running gag along the lines of the "CHA" written on the moon, popping up in episodes that have nothing to do with it anyways.
2. A rehash of "The Tick vs. The Tick" episode-- in which the Tick goes to a superhero bar (complete with Sidekicks' Lounge) and finds that there's another, more psychotic hero that already uses his name.
3. The Human Bullet: whenever things went wrong in The City, he'd be fired from a cannon in his backyard, only to somehow spend so much time in the air as to always show up late. ("Fire me, boy!"
It's nice to know that the legal problems aren't completely robbing the show of its charm-- I remember reading something about problems with Die Fledermaus, for example, so it looks like they've replaced him with "Batmanuel." And I think we can all agree that Patrick Warburton is the best choice for the job, judging from his "Seinfeld" work.
When the show aired, I was young enough to enjoy the cartoon show for what it was, and old enough to still get most of the grown-up jokes. Let's hope the live-action version maintains that delicate balance between smarmy irony and childish charm.
There is a great musical episode of LEXX titled "Brigadoom." The songs are so...elegaic.
Get the mp3s of the songs here:
http://lexx.warpedsystems.sk.ca/mp3page.php3
Mine would have to be...
Interviewer: "Can you blow up the Earth?"
The Tick: "EEGAD! I hope not, that's where I keep all my stuff!"
Re TV musicals: I get all the Buffy exposure I can handle from AtAT and don't bother watching, myself. And Salon's TV critic (last I saw which admittedly was over a year ago) is obsessed with the show in a way that's almost creepy. But the show that has done the most recently with musical numbers and other ideas is Drew Carey. I'm not a huge fan of that either but the musical gimmicks tend to be really good, as are the other stunts. For instance, it's the only TV show to do something interesting with a live broadcast (having improv done during it) instead of it just being an ego thing for the cast.
Of all the post-Seinfeld comics to drop their act directly into a sitcom, he's the only one to do anything interesting and novel.
The official TV Show website is here.
It's got some video clips of the show, stills from the set, and a little background on the characters.
It looks like the TV show will be borrowing heavily from the cartoon show. I hope that there is some new material besides the cartoon gags. I wouldn't mind seeing some new story lines.
None of the villains from the cartoon series will be there. But Ben Edlund has full rights to the comic book villains, and one of them--The Red Scare--is in tonight's episode! Edlund has also made noises about trying to cast someone for Paul the Samurai. (No word on any ninjas, though. They're my favorites! "We're a hedge. Move along. Nothing to see here.")
I dunno about the "Spooooon!" battle cry; it just doesn't seem to me that something like that should be copyrightable.
As a long time Tick fan I have been eagerly awaiting this show. You can view a few 45 second clips of the show at http://www.spe.sony.com/tv/shows/tick/video.phtml.
The Tick is played by Patrick Warburton, who was "Puddy" (Elaine's Boyfriend) in Seinfeld and Johnny James (Jimmy James's VP) in Newsradio. He also was the voice of Kronk in Emperor's New Groove. An excellent casting choice for what is obviously a hard role to cast.
Also of note, in addition to The Tick and Arthur are "Captain Liberty" and "Batmanuel". When you see these characters you will probably notice that they greatly resemble American Maid and Die Fledermaus. This is actually due to copyright negotiations (which actually held up the show for some time). The original comic book characters belong to Ben Edlund, but all of the characters that were created for the cartoon are jointly owned by all the groups that produced the cartoon (Fox Children's Network, Saban, Graz and Sunbow). Since Sony (who owns Columbia Tri-Star) could not reach an agreement on who received what proceeds among all the companies they simply replaced the characters.
Got canned after 3 (3? 4? I think 3) seasons. And some of the same writers from the cartoon show are doing the FOX (live-action) version. From what I've heard, lots of what made the cartoon rock are missing in the live-action version.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
I just watched the musical Buffy episode - it was okay - and I have to say the salon reviewer's take on Buffy is just bizarre. She seems to be saying Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a masterpiece - it isn't. It's a show that once was semi-decent spoof-action and now is a soap opera with vampires. But even if you disagree with me there, surely you have to concede that the reviewer raving about what a great metaphor willow and what's-her-face's song and dance number was was a bit over the top.
I dunno, maybe it's me, but I think this lady spent far too long in a visual literacy class. Even a single lecture can scar one for life, believe me.
"Disinfectant Gel" Note: In the last 15 minutes or so of the buffy musical, Buffy sorta-kinda-almost strips. It's not much, but since I suspect the main demographic of the series is "Teenage girls and horney guys" I thought it was worth pointing out.
This post IS pointlessly offensive; please downmod it accordingly.
I'm the stranger...posting to
I have a friend with "connections" who was kind enough to bring his copy of the pilot to a party of mine a few months back.
I will tell you all now, that it _is_ different from both the comicbook original and the animated series. Both were fun in their day, and both stand on their own merits.
However this new series is off to a very amusing start. I got quite a few deep laughs out of the humour, and Patrick Warburton's (SP?) delivery of the patented Tick Monologues(Tm) are nothing short of sterling!
The plot was nothing spectacular, but was very enjoyable. Indeed, if the writers manage to keep this level of quality, it will be a series to watch faithfully!
On the subject of the new characters: They're different. Get over it. They work in their own way, and can hold their own as supporting characters. (Why does this bring to mind visions of sidekicks like Brazier Boy and Leather Lass?)
I seem to remember hearing rumours (From my friend with "connections"? I can't remember) that Ben Eglund is part of the creative team on this series. If this is true, it should put to rest any complaints of deviating from the source material.
I can only hope that this show doesn't get buried in the typical FOX time-slot shuffle.
Establishing shot of AMERICAN FLAG, waving in the breeze.
Cut to GEORGE W. BUSH, at podium.
"My fellow Americans,
I speak to you tonight as the President of the United States. Let me assure you that justice is on our side, and we will prevail. I'm sure millions of viewers out there are just wondering what it's like to wear the tights of justice. Well it's tingly and it's uncomfortable, but it gets the job done and oh, the job of it.
Over the past several weeks our military forces, along with the military forces of Great Britain and our other allies have been striking Taliban targets inside Afganistan. We have achieved air superiority, and our special forces are moving with impunity in the countryside. I warn you Mr. Bin Laden: don't make us bite you in hard-to-reach places.
The bravery of our soldiers, sailors and airmen is without question. In addition, American ingenuity, dedication and scientific might have armed our troops with the most technically advanced equipment the world has ever known. We should be proud of our soldiers, and of the job they're doing. We should also be proud of the technicians, engineers and scientists who have provided them with their equipment. However, with that pride comes the realization that not all science is used for good. As we cope with the recent anthrax outbreaks, we find that science is a two-headed beast. One head is nice, it gives us aspirin and other modern conveniences... But the other head of science is bad! Oh, beware the other head of science! It bites!
I want to assure you, my countrymen, and the citizens of the rest of the world, that we, the American people will not rest until we have found the source of this anthrax, we will not relent until the Taliban have been destroyed, and we will not slumber until Osama Bin Laden has been brought to justice. Our cause is right, and we will prevail.
And so let me conclude my remarks tonight with this thought: may Evil beware and may Good dress warmly and eat lots of fresh vegetables. Thank you and good night."
Fade out over footage of USMC BAND playing The Star Spangled Banner.
.siggy
I would love a /. inerview of Ben edlund(?).
He has had a much bigger impact a geek culter then Will Wheaton, boy genius.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
It definetly wasn't as bad as I thought it could be! The intro was slightly lame, as were the intros of "Bat-Manuel" (Die Fleidermaus and "Captain Somethingorother" (American Maid). But the combination of very well implimented special effects and actors who delivered lines in ways that ADDED to the effect the story was trying to tell gave me great hope for this series.
Oh, and of course the tick isn't saying SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON(!) yet, they haven't gotten to that part - should be fun! It has about the equivalent 'kick' of the original show, with the same number of awkward not-so-funny parts. I'll be watching it whenever it's convenient to catch a show.
I just hope it can pay for it's budget!
:^)
Ryan Fenton
Grade: B-. It actually sucked less than I expected it to, though it wasn't in the same league as, say, Mystery Men. It's definitely not like anything else on TV. I give it six episodes before Fox pulls the plug. Catch it while you can.
Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)
http://www.lawrenceperson.com/
Patrick Warburton doesn't have the ability to convey the childlike innocence of The Tick. He's just muscle and bravado. The guy who did the voice of the animated Tick had it all totally down. The Tick is Forrest Gump with superpowers.
There has NEVER been a decent live-action remake of a cartoon. Never. I think that a live-action Cowboy Bebop could work if someone like Quentin Tarantino directed and he infused it with the same kind of berserk energy he gave "Pulp Fiction." But that's about it. Think about the march of iniquity that has resulted from live-action remakes of cartoons. Rocky And Bullwinkle. The Flintstones. The Flinststones in Viva Rock Vegas. Dudley Do-Right. The list goes on, and on, and on.
If Fox had any decency they'd buy the original characters from the animated series like American Maid and Sewer Urchin from Haim Saban, and revive the show as it should be...ANIMATED.
The original animated Tick never had a chance. It was a show for Fox Primetime, not a show to ghettoize on Fox Kids' Network. Ben, if you are reading this, please stop the charade and give this hideous excuse for a show the early death it deserves.
"This is bad...duh duh definitely bad." -- Sewer Urchin
Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
I just wish TV was available via FTP.
:)
Well CmdrTaco, as a famous sycophant once said 'your wish is my command'
This system (for which I'm the Software Architect) offers interactive digital TV via IP, this case study
reveals all the gory technical details of the disruptive technology that is going to bring Microsoft down, by bringing IP to every home in the developed world in the next five years.