Spoon!
July 27, 2024 7:01 AM Subscribe
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posted by humbug at 7:26 AM on July 27 [30 favorites]
posted by humbug at 7:26 AM on July 27 [30 favorites]
This was the one show that my housemates and I would all gather round the common TV to watch when I was in college. I went as The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight to our Halloween house party. Such a great show. And though a bit different, the Amazon live action series was done dirty just when it was starting to open its universe.
posted by snwod at 7:28 AM on July 27 [15 favorites]
posted by snwod at 7:28 AM on July 27 [15 favorites]
The episode with Dr. Mung Mung and his minion Tongue Tongue was referenced a lot by me and a college buddy. Particularly when Arthur’s mind is transferred into Tongue Tongue, and Arthur exclaims, “I CAN TASTE EVERYTHING!”
I also loved the episodes with SPEAK the capybara.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:35 AM on July 27 [11 favorites]
I also loved the episodes with SPEAK the capybara.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:35 AM on July 27 [11 favorites]
“Weep for gentle Tongue-Tongue, for he has but one tongue with which to taste an entire world.”
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:49 AM on July 27 [15 favorites]
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:49 AM on July 27 [15 favorites]
This remains my favorite show of all time. I also enjoyed the Amazon show, and was saddened that got canceled just as it was figuring itself out.
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:50 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
posted by UltraMorgnus at 7:50 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
The Dr Mung Mung episode also had the great line of "Mad Scientists do now wear the 'hello my name is badge'! You are all a bunch of hippies!"
posted by snwod at 8:04 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]
posted by snwod at 8:04 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]
I was reading the comics before the 90s cartoon hit, and when it did, Tick's voice was pretty much exactly as I'd pictured it in my head.
posted by xedrik at 8:07 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 8:07 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
I was also so exhausted. I hadn’t created a system by which The Tick could be made without me contributing bone marrow to it. The Tick was entirely a labor of love, and I couldn’t let go of each precious thing, which is why it is what it is, but also why it didn’t run for eight seasons.
This explains so much about the show. So much.
posted by egypturnash at 8:18 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
This explains so much about the show. So much.
posted by egypturnash at 8:18 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
From the article:
I had these weird meetings with all these big toy executives, and I would bring my bike seat into these meetings so it wouldn’t get stolen. I remember pitching toys like a camouflage Tick where you’d dip him in water and he’d go paisley for no reason.
I have only one response:
"Cant......do......PAISLEY!" [Thud]
...This was must-see viewing with my roommate and I at the time. And it coined more than a few in-house catchphrases; several from the show itself, but one was more meta. We were watching The Tick vs. The Breadmaster, and were at the scene when one of The Breadmaster's "bread bombs" goes off in a supermarket and creates a huge blob of dough that traps The Tick inside. Arthur is nervously watching, but The Tick manages to fight his way to the surface. "Arthur!" he shouts. "PUPPY!" And then he pulls a puppy out from inside the blob and tosses it to Arthur, who brings it out to safety while the Tick pulls himself out.
When that happened my roommate frowned, puzzled, and asked - "wait- where did the puppy come from?"
"Dude," I said, "you're watching a cartoon about a guy who dresses up as a giant blue tick whose buddy dresses as a moth and they're fighting a giant loaf of bread, and THE PUPPY is the part you're not buying?"
The resultant silly conversation spawned the term "Puppy Point" to describe "that one tiny random detail that you just can't buy for some reason".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:23 AM on July 27 [14 favorites]
I had these weird meetings with all these big toy executives, and I would bring my bike seat into these meetings so it wouldn’t get stolen. I remember pitching toys like a camouflage Tick where you’d dip him in water and he’d go paisley for no reason.
I have only one response:
"Cant......do......PAISLEY!" [Thud]
...This was must-see viewing with my roommate and I at the time. And it coined more than a few in-house catchphrases; several from the show itself, but one was more meta. We were watching The Tick vs. The Breadmaster, and were at the scene when one of The Breadmaster's "bread bombs" goes off in a supermarket and creates a huge blob of dough that traps The Tick inside. Arthur is nervously watching, but The Tick manages to fight his way to the surface. "Arthur!" he shouts. "PUPPY!" And then he pulls a puppy out from inside the blob and tosses it to Arthur, who brings it out to safety while the Tick pulls himself out.
When that happened my roommate frowned, puzzled, and asked - "wait- where did the puppy come from?"
"Dude," I said, "you're watching a cartoon about a guy who dresses up as a giant blue tick whose buddy dresses as a moth and they're fighting a giant loaf of bread, and THE PUPPY is the part you're not buying?"
The resultant silly conversation spawned the term "Puppy Point" to describe "that one tiny random detail that you just can't buy for some reason".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:23 AM on July 27 [14 favorites]
So I says to him, I says "I'm cleaning my oven without the spray." YEAH BABY, I'M ABUSING THE EDIT WINDOW! SUCK IT MODS! I'M THE EVIL MEFI POSTER WHO POSTS AT 3:26 PM UTC!!!
posted by zaixfeep at 8:25 AM on July 27 [22 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 8:25 AM on July 27 [22 favorites]
In 1988, friends of mine worked at the New England Comics warehouse in Brockton, and they brought me by one night to give me a tour. I walked around the building and saw some comics pages on a table. "What are these?" I said. "Oh, some new comic they're putting out," Dan said. "It's called The Flea or something. One of the guys in our gaming group is doing it." It is amazing to me how far it's grown. (And it was a genius concept, so it deserved to!)
If I can be a nitpicky New Englander for a moment, while Edlund may say that TMNT was being done "a few towns away," they were in Northampton and NEC was in Brockton, which is more like 120 miles apart.
posted by rednikki at 8:27 AM on July 27 [10 favorites]
If I can be a nitpicky New Englander for a moment, while Edlund may say that TMNT was being done "a few towns away," they were in Northampton and NEC was in Brockton, which is more like 120 miles apart.
posted by rednikki at 8:27 AM on July 27 [10 favorites]
"An object at rest ... cannot be stopped!"
Greatest quote ever.
I love Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight.
posted by aramaic at 8:38 AM on July 27 [9 favorites]
Greatest quote ever.
I love Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight.
posted by aramaic at 8:38 AM on July 27 [9 favorites]
when does he bomb?
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:02 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 9:02 AM on July 27 [1 favorite]
I'm glad that Little Wooden Boy got a shout out in the article. That and the line, "Gravity is a harsh mistress" were two of my favorite things from that show.
The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight alone belongs in various TV Halls of Fame.
Mefi's own
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:17 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight alone belongs in various TV Halls of Fame.
Mefi's own
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:17 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
Somehow I don't think I ever saw all of the cartoon versions, I need to fix that. But I did enjoy the 2001 live action version (co-produced by Barry Sonnenfeld) with Patrick Warburton as the big blue guy...I wish it had gotten more than two seasons. For some reason I never really got into the 2016 version with Peter Serafinowicz.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:20 AM on July 27 [6 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:20 AM on July 27 [6 favorites]
Oh man, I saw this at the exact right time to rewire my brain when it came to comedy. So much of it still lives rent-free in my head--Dr. Mung Mung and The Evil Midnight Bomber What Bombs At Midnight, yes, and Speak the capybara--but nothing sends me into fits of giggles like the Tick seeing a wave of duplicated criminal Santas flooding towards him and Arthur and shouting, "It's a yule tide!!!"
posted by sgranade at 11:10 AM on July 27 [10 favorites]
posted by sgranade at 11:10 AM on July 27 [10 favorites]
For YEARS "Gravity is a Harsh Mistress" was my email sig/footer
Made many a friend from those who recognized where the quote came from!
posted by Faintdreams at 11:10 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]
Made many a friend from those who recognized where the quote came from!
posted by Faintdreams at 11:10 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]
"This looks like a job for... The Human Bullet! Fire Me, Boy!"
"He's at camp."
"Then you'll have to Fire Me Boy!"
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:24 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
"He's at camp."
"Then you'll have to Fire Me Boy!"
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 11:24 AM on July 27 [3 favorites]
"What kind of Corn Soldiers are you?"
"Uh.. Um.. Uh..."
"We're colonels."
"There you go."
posted by BrashTech at 11:31 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
"Uh.. Um.. Uh..."
"We're colonels."
"There you go."
posted by BrashTech at 11:31 AM on July 27 [7 favorites]
Whenever Ms. Hobnail hears techno music, she starts saying "D-d-d-d Danger Boat" and we both die laughing.
Oh, yeah: I like squirrels.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 12:35 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
Oh, yeah: I like squirrels.
posted by outgrown_hobnail at 12:35 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
I don't want your crummy food or your freaky love!
posted by indexy at 12:45 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]
posted by indexy at 12:45 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]
"I definitely found this beautiful pie."
posted by tommasz at 12:47 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]
posted by tommasz at 12:47 PM on July 27 [1 favorite]
Our car is named Dangerboat and our beloved late chihuahua was named Tongue Tongue. Perhaps you understand how we feel about The Tick in our household (first reboot, not so much, alas).
posted by argybarg at 12:59 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
posted by argybarg at 12:59 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
There are so many great Tick moments, but I think my favorite is That Mustache Feeling, which has one of my favorite lines right at the beginning with "Morality's lease has run out, and science has been given the keys to the apartment." Also, the Tick saying, "I can't read your crazy moon language!" in response to a note written in Spanish. So suavy. So smoothy.
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 3:11 PM on July 27 [5 favorites]
posted by Jonathan Livengood at 3:11 PM on July 27 [5 favorites]
I'm still amazed how they took a hilariously sarcastic, non-reverential, non-mainstream comic and spin it into a palatable show with an almost entirely different approach, and it still ends up hilarious. Great article with lots of insight into the process.
Still waiting for Night of the Million Zillion Ninja.
posted by Sphinx at 4:43 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
Still waiting for Night of the Million Zillion Ninja.
posted by Sphinx at 4:43 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
My partner and I rewatch The Tick every few years. Last year she made a painting of The Tick's mind as portrayed in the episode "The Tick vs. Mr. Mental" (also shown in that link is her impression of The Tick and Arthur in Don Hertzfeldt's style). She'd had the idea in her head for some time.
I was thinking the other day about how much I appreciate that every iteration of The Tick has the scene in which The Tick is breaking things in Arthur's apartment trying to find the (nonexistent) hidden switch that reveals the secret superhero lair equipment.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:47 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
I was thinking the other day about how much I appreciate that every iteration of The Tick has the scene in which The Tick is breaking things in Arthur's apartment trying to find the (nonexistent) hidden switch that reveals the secret superhero lair equipment.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:47 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
"You know gang, when you're a super hero, you never know where the day will take you. You may find yourself halfway around the world in the shark-infested waters of true-to-life living. Or you may find yourself going down tothe store for a lozenge. You can't know, can you? No! You gotta ride that wave, You gotta suck that lozenge! 'Cause if you don't, who will?"
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:30 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:30 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
I too adore The Tick, and while the live action versions have their charms, the cartoon version got so many things right it's amazing. It's one of a set of three amazing superhero parodies from that time, the other two being Freakazoid and Earthworm Jim. All three have their strong points, and Freakazoid had a lot of internet cred, but I still think The Tick is the best of them.
Notes:
1. On my phone, the article is nearly unreadable, with the site jerking around by whole page lengths as various elements load. Cracked is broken, essentially.
2. Think of it: The Venture Bros would never had happened if it hadn't been for The Tick. Of course something else would have filled that spot, and it could have been great too, but the odds are greatly against it.
3. I heard somewhere that at least one of the creators of The Tick, The Venture Bros. and Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog considers all of those properties to take place in the same universe. Ben Edlund has written a couple of Venture Bros. episodes, BTW.
4. (delivered from the driver's seat of a Volkswagon Beetle with flame shooting out the exhaust pipes) so he sez to me you wanna be a BAD MAN? and i sez YEAH BABY I WANNA BE BAD! i sez SURFS UP SPACE PONIES, IM MAKING GRAVY WITHOUT THE LUMPS! HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
posted by JHarris at 5:32 PM on July 27 [6 favorites]
Notes:
1. On my phone, the article is nearly unreadable, with the site jerking around by whole page lengths as various elements load. Cracked is broken, essentially.
2. Think of it: The Venture Bros would never had happened if it hadn't been for The Tick. Of course something else would have filled that spot, and it could have been great too, but the odds are greatly against it.
3. I heard somewhere that at least one of the creators of The Tick, The Venture Bros. and Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog considers all of those properties to take place in the same universe. Ben Edlund has written a couple of Venture Bros. episodes, BTW.
4. (delivered from the driver's seat of a Volkswagon Beetle with flame shooting out the exhaust pipes) so he sez to me you wanna be a BAD MAN? and i sez YEAH BABY I WANNA BE BAD! i sez SURFS UP SPACE PONIES, IM MAKING GRAVY WITHOUT THE LUMPS! HAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
posted by JHarris at 5:32 PM on July 27 [6 favorites]
The newest live action Tick series was interesting, but it was at its best when it abandoned its ostensible mission of taking the piss out of grim and gritty superhero comics and just leaned into its own essential silliness. I think that was the thing: the new Tick was kind of parodying the Snyderverse but the animated Tick wasn't parodying anything at all, it was just using the tropes of a superhero universe to tell absurdist tales.
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:38 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
posted by kittens for breakfast at 6:38 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
MetaFilter: Now you're doing it on purpose. How juvenile.
posted by zaixfeep at 7:23 PM on July 27 [5 favorites]
posted by zaixfeep at 7:23 PM on July 27 [5 favorites]
but nothing sends me into fits of giggles like the Tick seeing a wave of duplicated criminal Santas flooding towards him and Arthur and shouting, "It's a yule tide!!!"
O.M.G. SAME! I don't know why, it doesn't make a lot of sense but I'm sitting here giggling about it as I type this. For reasons I don't understand, this is the single funniest thing I have ever seen on TV.
"IT'S A YULE TIDE!"
I need to find a way to rewatch the show now.
There's an episode where an interdimensional alien named "Thrackazog" (IIRC) that's moved in with a roommate in the same building as The Tick and Author. It's a running gag that The Tick can't same the same right and at one point says five different, increasingly wrong variations and then pauses a beats before saying, smoothly, "Susan."
"Oh, now you're doing it on purpose." -Thrackazog.
Oh man, and also the old-timey super-villain team. What is it "The Mask", some guy that looks like Stalin, a man-eating cow, the human ton (and the puppet on his hand), and couple others I don't remember. They show up in a handful of episodes and are great.
Oh yeah, back in the day they fought against a super hero team that included the Russian Nesting Doll. "I'm FULL of tinier men!"
posted by VTX at 9:14 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
O.M.G. SAME! I don't know why, it doesn't make a lot of sense but I'm sitting here giggling about it as I type this. For reasons I don't understand, this is the single funniest thing I have ever seen on TV.
"IT'S A YULE TIDE!"
I need to find a way to rewatch the show now.
There's an episode where an interdimensional alien named "Thrackazog" (IIRC) that's moved in with a roommate in the same building as The Tick and Author. It's a running gag that The Tick can't same the same right and at one point says five different, increasingly wrong variations and then pauses a beats before saying, smoothly, "Susan."
"Oh, now you're doing it on purpose." -Thrackazog.
Oh man, and also the old-timey super-villain team. What is it "The Mask", some guy that looks like Stalin, a man-eating cow, the human ton (and the puppet on his hand), and couple others I don't remember. They show up in a handful of episodes and are great.
Oh yeah, back in the day they fought against a super hero team that included the Russian Nesting Doll. "I'm FULL of tinier men!"
posted by VTX at 9:14 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
I'M FULL OF TINIER MEN!
posted by vrakatar at 9:21 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
posted by vrakatar at 9:21 PM on July 27 [4 favorites]
VTX, that's The Terror, who is probably the closest The Tick has to an official antagonist, considering that he shows up as a major villain in the Amazon Prime The Tick.
Then there was, memorable as a bizarre character in a show overloaded with weirdness, Eastern Bloc Robot Cowboy, Russian scientist who transplanted his own brain into "a walking talking vending machine." The Tick defeated him by accurately throwing a coin into its slot from a distance, causing (after a few seconds of whirs and clunks), causing that organ to be deposited on the ground. The Tick: "I bought his brain!" The brain, via some kind of speaking device (in Russian, evidently the machine had translated for it as well as giving it laser guns and bulk): "Now I hate you!"
And Mr Exciting, a student in The Tick's adult education night school course, who's hero method consisted of running at people screaming. His battle cry was "It's GREAT TO BE ALIVE!", but had a tendency to just run off of the roofs of buildings and tackling people. Sadly, "The Tick vs Education" was the final episode made.
posted by JHarris at 9:39 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
Then there was, memorable as a bizarre character in a show overloaded with weirdness, Eastern Bloc Robot Cowboy, Russian scientist who transplanted his own brain into "a walking talking vending machine." The Tick defeated him by accurately throwing a coin into its slot from a distance, causing (after a few seconds of whirs and clunks), causing that organ to be deposited on the ground. The Tick: "I bought his brain!" The brain, via some kind of speaking device (in Russian, evidently the machine had translated for it as well as giving it laser guns and bulk): "Now I hate you!"
And Mr Exciting, a student in The Tick's adult education night school course, who's hero method consisted of running at people screaming. His battle cry was "It's GREAT TO BE ALIVE!", but had a tendency to just run off of the roofs of buildings and tackling people. Sadly, "The Tick vs Education" was the final episode made.
posted by JHarris at 9:39 PM on July 27 [3 favorites]
Who can forget the Civic-Minded Five?
posted by Fleebnork at 10:24 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
posted by Fleebnork at 10:24 PM on July 27 [7 favorites]
The Tongue-Tongue episode was fantastic, though the line that stuck in my circle of friends was Arthur-Tongue-Tongue riding on Zebra-Tick’s back, quietly, almost sobbing, replying to the Tick’s encouragement and chin-up speech with his distressed whisper:
”I can taste your back.”
posted by Ghidorah at 3:14 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
”I can taste your back.”
posted by Ghidorah at 3:14 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
We're just not gonna mention the two-headed bluebird that only speaks high school French, huh? Okay.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:03 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 5:03 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
Who can forget the Civic-Minded Five?
"Let's make a difference!"
...There was a line inThe Tick vs. Brainchild that we quoted a lot - Brainchild (an evil genius 9-year-old) has a robot dog for a henchman, and I think Tick does battle with it - but when Brainchild is finally thwarted the dog comes in, recovered, and Brainchild happily cuddles with it. Arthur says: "Tick, is this a warm moment, or should I be concerned?"
Right, I have a question - my nephew turned 13 yesterday, and he is kind of One Of Us (he's a big comics/manga/gaming nerd at least). I had the thought that I should introduce this kid to The Tick. What's the best gateway episode?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:11 AM on July 28 [2 favorites]
"Let's make a difference!"
...There was a line inThe Tick vs. Brainchild that we quoted a lot - Brainchild (an evil genius 9-year-old) has a robot dog for a henchman, and I think Tick does battle with it - but when Brainchild is finally thwarted the dog comes in, recovered, and Brainchild happily cuddles with it. Arthur says: "Tick, is this a warm moment, or should I be concerned?"
Right, I have a question - my nephew turned 13 yesterday, and he is kind of One Of Us (he's a big comics/manga/gaming nerd at least). I had the thought that I should introduce this kid to The Tick. What's the best gateway episode?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:11 AM on July 28 [2 favorites]
The Tick vs. The Tick is always a good starting point.
posted by argybarg at 5:57 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
posted by argybarg at 5:57 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
My favorite scene from the 2001 reboot:
(Phone rings, superhero answers)
"Batmanuel."
(pauses to listen, then speaks, exasperated)
"On the roof!"
Die Fledermaus was a great prototype of that character, but Nestor Carbonell's Batmanuel never failed me. He really saved the show... if you know what I mean and I think you do. ;-)
posted by zaixfeep at 7:15 AM on July 28 [13 favorites]
(Phone rings, superhero answers)
"Batmanuel."
(pauses to listen, then speaks, exasperated)
"On the roof!"
Die Fledermaus was a great prototype of that character, but Nestor Carbonell's Batmanuel never failed me. He really saved the show... if you know what I mean and I think you do. ;-)
posted by zaixfeep at 7:15 AM on July 28 [13 favorites]
I can't be the only one who giggled when Nestor Carbonell showed up in The Dark Knight.
posted by MrBadExample at 9:12 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
posted by MrBadExample at 9:12 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
Batmanuel is a terrible thing to waste.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:36 AM on July 28 [6 favorites]
posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:36 AM on July 28 [6 favorites]
... if you know what I mean and I think you do. ;-)
Nope! 😇
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:47 AM on July 28 [5 favorites]
Nope! 😇
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:47 AM on July 28 [5 favorites]
They didn't mention this: at some point (1996 according to what I can find on the interwebs) Taco Bell did a promotional thing where they were giving away Tick mini action figures. I got an Arthur (it had detachable wings) and a Sewer Urchin (which would bob up and down in water), but my favorite and the one I kept was the Tick (pics can be seen here). It was really clever and well-made, and I kept him on my office desk for decades, until COVID force me to clear off my personal items (b/c we weren't going into the office anymore).
posted by Pedantzilla at 10:02 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
posted by Pedantzilla at 10:02 AM on July 28 [4 favorites]
Sewer Urchin! He's a bit like Jerry from Parks and Rec. Gets ragged on constantly but once in his element is an absolute boss. There's an episode where they go down into the sewers with him that's fantastic.
posted by VTX at 11:58 AM on July 28 [8 favorites]
posted by VTX at 11:58 AM on July 28 [8 favorites]
Season 3, Episode 6, "The Tick vs. Filth".
"Down here I'm considered the apotheosis of cool."
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 3:16 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
"Down here I'm considered the apotheosis of cool."
posted by Strutter Cane - United Planets Stilt Patrol at 3:16 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
Honestly, I think the first episode is the place to start. The Idea Men? Awesome. "hmm. Ran out of buildings." My son was a toddler when The Tick was on, and we'd do a family watch. It's really one of my most precious memories of early fatherhood. Nothing like a little kid totally cracking up. Another strange thing, in the second season, the twin towers get knocked down. That one lives a little strangely now.
I have the series on DVD, I think it's time for a rewatch!
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:39 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
I have the series on DVD, I think it's time for a rewatch!
posted by Carmody'sPrize at 3:39 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
"Who puts gum on a roof?"
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:27 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:27 PM on July 28 [3 favorites]
Monkey out of nowhere!
posted by terrapin at 6:51 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]
posted by terrapin at 6:51 AM on July 29 [1 favorite]
Surrender? We don't know the meaning of the word 'surrender'! I mean, we do, we're not dumb....
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:28 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 10:28 AM on July 29 [2 favorites]
ARTHUR: No offense meant.
TICK: None comprehended! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:09 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
TICK: None comprehended! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:09 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
There was the episode of the cartoon where Arthur got the power belt that gave you super strength and big muscles, but also an uncaring meathead's intelligence and personality, and he and The Tick got into a fight, and he said "I'm sick of being your pudgy comic relief!" And The Tick responded, "Arthur! You know I'm my own comic relief!"
The cartoon loved playing around with just how self-aware The Tick was. At one point Carmelita's father the genius inventor said, after one of Tick's more inspired end-of-episode rants, "You know, he's actually kind of brilliant!"
For three seasons, we didn't know it yet, it was the best show on TV, other than perhaps Mystery Science Theater 3000. Sadly, Leggman's the long-standing Tick fansite went dark last year, and it never did update to account for the Amazon Prime series.
posted by JHarris at 12:24 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
The cartoon loved playing around with just how self-aware The Tick was. At one point Carmelita's father the genius inventor said, after one of Tick's more inspired end-of-episode rants, "You know, he's actually kind of brilliant!"
For three seasons, we didn't know it yet, it was the best show on TV, other than perhaps Mystery Science Theater 3000. Sadly, Leggman's the long-standing Tick fansite went dark last year, and it never did update to account for the Amazon Prime series.
posted by JHarris at 12:24 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
"Read a book!"
posted by subocoyne at 12:36 PM on July 29 [6 favorites]
posted by subocoyne at 12:36 PM on July 29 [6 favorites]
“i believe in you, arthur. i always have” is a go to quote, although people don’t like it when i grab their head to deliver it.
posted by ovenmitt at 4:35 PM on July 29 [3 favorites]
posted by ovenmitt at 4:35 PM on July 29 [3 favorites]
"Fight fire with Arthur!"
posted by Marticus at 10:22 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
posted by Marticus at 10:22 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
Mod note: Excellent work citizen! This fantastically fabulous post as been righteously added to the sidebar and Best Of blog!
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:01 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 7:01 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
> I need to find a way to rewatch the show now.
The cartoon's on Hulu!
I think I still have some of the Taco Bell toys somewhere.
The names of villains are great as personal project names. "Proto-Clown" is my next personal cloud.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:16 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
The cartoon's on Hulu!
I think I still have some of the Taco Bell toys somewhere.
The names of villains are great as personal project names. "Proto-Clown" is my next personal cloud.
posted by Pronoiac at 11:16 AM on July 31 [2 favorites]
And Mr Exciting, a student in The Tick's adult education night school course, who's hero method consisted of running at people screaming. His battle cry was "It's GREAT TO BE ALIVE!", but had a tendency to just run off of the roofs of buildings and tackling people. Sadly, "The Tick vs Education" was the final episode made.I've never felt so seen. Pretty sure I still have Mr. Exciting as my avatar on one or two platforms.
–posted by JHarris
posted by Eideteker at 2:21 PM on August 1 [3 favorites]
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