The Tick (2001 TV Series) - History

History

In the early 1990s, Fox picked up an animated series based on The Tick which had a successful run from 1994 to '96. This gained the character mainstream popularity and a cult following throughout the decade. In May 2000, Tick creator Ben Edlund completed the pilot episode for a Tick live-action series in hopes that Fox would include it in their fall schedule. The project involved director Barry Sonnenfeld, production designer Bo Welch, and the four main Tick animated series writers, Randolph Heard, Richard Liebmann-Smith, Chris McCulloch, and Edlund himself. Due to budget constraints, additional episodes were shot with several months gap in between filming. Fox had initially wanted to premiere the series in early 2001 as a mid-season replacement but opted for their prime time schedule both due to its ratings success and the network's fear of a strike that could have delayed the fall season.

Over a year and a half after its development, The Tick was finally picked up by the network for an 8:30 p.m. prime time slot on Thursday nights. Cast, crew, and journalists expressed early concern over the high stakes slot, with Fox's Sunday night comedy schedule looking more favorable. Nevertheless, Fox Television Entertainment Group president Sandy Grushow assured that promoting The Tick during the World Series would work and that "Baseball is a terrific promotional platform for a show like The Tick." Grushow also noted that if the series were to perform well, the network would have until December 2001 to order new episodes, though they would not likely be ready until late spring or summer at the earliest.

Executive producer Larry Charles sought to create a character camaraderie similar to that of Seinfeld. He discussed this approach at a July 2000 press conference:

If the show is perceived as merely a superhero show or merely a superhero parody show, I don't think it's going to work on a weekly basis. What's great about the comic book and what was great about the cartoon also has to be great about the live-action show, which is the characters and the interaction of the characters and creating a world that you believe is real. It's a world in which the characters being superheroes is almost a secondary consideration, so that the characters are more important than their costumes.

The 2001 sitcom was the first and only attempt at a live action incarnation of The Tick and debuted five years after a successful, 3-season animated series. While working on the pilot episode, Ben Edlund described the series as "closer in tone to the comic book, favoring character over action, painting a superheroic portrait of genuine human lameness." It features a parody style similar to the animated series and the bulky Patrick Warburton in the title role. Guest appearances include Ron Perlman, Christopher Lloyd, Kurt Fuller, Armin Shimerman, and Dave Foley. The series also featured appearances by then unknowns T.J. Thyne and Missi Pyle. However, obvious changes had to be made for such a diverse format.

The Walt Disney Company inherited Fox's previous children's programming lineup and therefore owned the rights to many of the show's names and trademarks. For this reason, American Maid and Die Fledermaus, two major characters in the animated series, were unable to be written into the new show; they were replaced by Captain Liberty and Batmanuel. Disregarding the back stories given in both the comic books and animated series, the sitcom has The Tick being tricked into moving to (and protecting) The City after irritating employees of a remote bus station he had sworn to protect. It is also more adult oriented, including more sexual innuendo and adult situations. As such, the series virtually eliminated action scenes and significantly reduced emphasis on extravagant supervillains, both of which were often featured in the animated series. Regarding the mature tone, Edlund expressed his desire for less vulgarity, particularly in a moment of the pilot where The Tick said "Java devil.You are now my bitch." However, Edlund lacked the authority to remove such phrasing.

The Tick's costume, designed by Colleen Atwood, bore a notable difference from previous incarnations in that the Tick's face would be entirely exposed. This eliminated the large pupil-less eyes seen in previous incarnations and allowed Warburton to utilize his expressive face; according to Edlund, "There was no way to cover his eyes and get the same range, intensity, and specificity of emotion. With face unfettered, Patrick has created a three-dimensional, hilarious, totally convincing Tick." The antennae of Tick's mask were also remote-controlled by puppeteer Mark Setrakian for comedic effect. The production design is by Emmy-nominated Michael Wylie.

While Fox has been criticized for its lack of investment in the series, N2Toys produced a line of action figures based on it. The live action Tick ultimately failed to recapture the success of its animated predecessor; however, its popularity was strong enough that the series would be released on DVD in 2003. The series was also responsible for Christopher McCulloch, who wrote for the Tick comic book, animated series, and sitcom, meeting Patrick Warburton during filming. Shortly after, he would cast Warburton as the voice of Brock Samson for his Adult Swim series, The Venture Bros. Tick creator Ben Edlund would also write for The Venture Bros. on occasion.