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Amazon to resurrect The Tick


Corvinus85

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Watched it.  Not sure how I feel about it yet.  It needs more episodes surely.  

The Tick himself was strange in this form.  Couldn't quite a handle on his playing the character for part of it.  His face is so round instead of angled.  He was channeling Adam West a bit though.    

I burst out laughing during the meeting between "The Terror" and "Arthur".  I thought that scene was hilarious.  The fight was pretty hilarious to me too.  

They are selling a "Mr.Robot" or "Wilfred" vibe here, but The Tick has to be real, right?   All the bad guys see him.  

I'm not sure if the superhero lair/hideout bit works nowadays for younger viewers.  20 years ago, yeah.  Now, nobody uses that secret lair thing.  I still found it funny, though.  They left off the best line from the cartoon, though.  "What does your couch turn into?"  "It turns into a bed".  

The guy who plays Arthur was great.  
 

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On 8/23/2016 at 3:27 AM, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

Why would you make The Tick gritty and grounded though?! Its the exact opposite of what it should be. 

Well, The Tick is a deconstruction of the superhero genre in many ways. So "gritty and grounded" is where the past decade or so of superhero films and TV has been. Seems natural the new Tick show would reflect that tone in its aesthetic.

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4 hours ago, PetyrPunkinhead said:

Well, The Tick is a deconstruction of the superhero genre in many ways. So "gritty and grounded" is where the past decade or so of superhero films and TV has been. Seems natural the new Tick show would reflect that tone in its aesthetic.

I can see that as a justification, but unfortunately it simply doesn't fit with The Tick. 

The problem is that most superhero movies and tv shows are relatively self aware now. We have Ant Man which doesn't take itself hugely seriously because its a movie called Ant Man! Deadpool is a piss take on Superhero movies. 

Tick shouldn't be trying to fit into that because the genre is already crowded. First of all it should be a comedy show. 

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On 8/26/2016 at 3:44 AM, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

I can see that as a justification, but unfortunately it simply doesn't fit with The Tick. 

The problem is that most superhero movies and tv shows are relatively self aware now. We have Ant Man which doesn't take itself hugely seriously because its a movie called Ant Man! Deadpool is a piss take on Superhero movies. 

Tick shouldn't be trying to fit into that because the genre is already crowded. First of all it should be a comedy show. 

Well, two films total doesn't exactly seem like a "crowded" market to me, but at least you'll always have the comics and animated series to revisit. Personally, I hope the Amazon series, which had its fair share of absurd and comical moments in the pilot, carries ahead as is. I like the idea of Arthur and Tick in a story that has a longer arc and actually goes somewhere over the course of a season.

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I watched it. I did find it funny at times and I like Peter Serafinowicz but it is messy and didn't seem to handle tonal shifts very well.

I think it would be ambitious to work in the trademark comedy of The Tick, the psychological ideas of Mr Robot and also work well as a superhero series in its own right.

I would be interested in seeing how they would take it forward but I am concerned it will eventually come across as too messy because it cannot choose what it wants to be.

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Watched the first episode... It was ok, but I was never sold on the actor playing The Tick.  I thought the other casting was done well, but for reasons I can't put my finger on, the Tick just seemed off to me the entire episode.  Maybe it's because I'm primarily a fan of the animated series? :dunno:

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17 minutes ago, Ded As Ned said:

Watched the first episode... It was ok, but I was never sold on the actor playing The Tick.  I thought the other casting was done well, but for reasons I can't put my finger on, the Tick just seemed off to me the entire episode.  Maybe it's because I'm primarily a fan of the animated series? :dunno:

Thats the problem for me, this feels totally disconnected to that animated series. Plus its tonally all over the place.
 

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Excellent review of the pilot on Tor.com, and some surprisingly good comments as well.

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Every incarnation of THE TICK has been in conversation with, and a parody of, whatever the dominant version of superheroes is at that moment,  And right now, it’s in conversation with Netflix’s DAREDEVIL, JESSICA JONES, and probably their upcoming LUKE CAGE, THE PUNISHER, and I’ll be shocked if there’s not an ELEKTRA, too.  This is coming off of, and parodying, those.

This version of THE TICK is as different from the earlier versions as the Netflix superheroes are from BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, or the Schumacher Batman movies, and are more similar to the original comics, because the original comics were reflecting the Daredevil and Punisher comics of the time, which the Netflix series also is reflecting.

THE TICK has always been a parody of the superheroes right then.  And yet, it’s still recognizably the Tick.  As such, this seems entirely appropriate to me.

 

Excellent points as well about the fact that the original comic run could be pretty dark, as it was nodding at Punisher and Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns, whilst all of those elements were stripped down or removed completely for the cartoon run because of the kids.

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 Ben Edlund will always get a pass from me as he always came up with the funniest superhero names of all time. Who can possibly top Mighty Agrippa, God of Roman Aqueducts (complete with a section of aqueduct on his helmet) and The New Jersey Garden Weasel? Fucking classic. Honorable mention to The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight.

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On August 28, 2016 at 3:04 PM, Manhole Eunuchsbane said:

 Ben Edlund will always get a pass from me as he always came up with the funniest superhero names of all time. Who can possibly top Mighty Agrippa, God of Roman Aqueducts (complete with a section of aqueduct on his helmet) and The New Jersey Garden Weasel? Fucking classic. Honorable mention to The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight.

The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs at Midnight was always my favorite.  Followed closely by The Civic Minded Five.

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  • 1 year later...

Just finished watching Season 1. It was magnificent. They seemed to listen to criticism of the first episode and made it less grimdark and more like a live-action cartoon, which was definitely the best path to take.

Overkill was the Punisher/Batman satirical character we've always needed ("We'll work...near each other." "Do you mean together?" "DID I SAY TOGETHER? I WORK ALONE!"). Serafinowicz nailed every scene he was in. Jackie Earle Haley was superb as the villain. The situations they got into were more and more absurd and also funnier and funnier (the robot detective in a fedora was the biggest WTF moment in the whole show, which is really saying something). Dangerboat is also great, since it is vital that Alan Tudyk continues to get gainful employment.

Midnight also had one of the greatest lines of dialogue ever:

Quote

"I'm just a simple plain-talking German Shepherd who can start fires with his mind, but it humbles me to know that so many good people, like yourself, find meaning in my secular journey."

Season 2 in 2019. Can't wait.

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8 hours ago, Ded As Ned said:

I may have to give this a second try... I gave up in disappointment after the first episode.

The first episode is very different to the rest (Episode 2 kinds of bridges the two styles). There's some good moments in the first 2 episodes but for me it comes to life when Overkill shows up in the third episode and then in the massive (and over the top) battle scenes in Episode 4.

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Yeah, i finished this last night and it is worth a second look. Some sharp writing, surprisingly meaningful moments, strong performances and a lot of fun. I can't think of a weak performance in the show. Obviously Peter Serafinowicz is great as The Tick and Jackie Earl Haley is having a ball as The Terror (and how great is it that The Tick refers to him with the definite article - 'it's over, The Terror!') but moving to supporting cast, Francois Chau is hilarious as Walter and Yara Martinez and Valorie Curry are brilliant too. It's emotional at times without being sappy or sentimental, the jokes almost all land, and it looks like it was terrific fun to make - though The Tick's costume must have been a trial. 

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