Having been a huge fan of the animated series and the tragically short-lived live-action one, I was excited to see that Ben Edlund was returning to The Tick well for another drink. Alas, this series shows little of what made the previous two series so enthralling.
This version of The Tick has a lot less Tick in it. This time, the series follows his sidekick Arthur, who has been given mental problems and a traumatic backstory.
This helps tone down the humor, for those who want a less funny The Tick. The show seems to want to be more of a superhero show with some humor rather than a comedy series with a superhero theme.
The Tick himself is still funny, spouting off a continuous series of nutty lines like "evil wears every mitten." He's responsible for most of the laughs, but here he is very much a secondary character.
He's also not very impressive. Patrick Warburton was a perfect Tick, big, macho, and dumb, but Peter Serafinowicz comes across as a rather ordinary oddball in a cheap suit that looks like something from a 1950s sci-fi movie (basically a leotard with a little muscling and antennas added). The effect is wildly unimpressive.
Now, the bad costumes (there's also a jumpsuit with feathers on it) may be the result of a low budget, and there aren't that many Patrick Warburton's out there, but that still doesn't explain the change of focus from hilarious superhero parody to angsty superhero series with a little comedy.
This is a pilot for a series I certainly hope won't occur. I suggest Edlund rethink things and make a different pilot with a different cast. I know it's annoying to be expected to do the same thing you did before, but when what you did before was great and your attempt to change things up falls flat, you should consider just doing the same old thing.
This version of The Tick has a lot less Tick in it. This time, the series follows his sidekick Arthur, who has been given mental problems and a traumatic backstory.
This helps tone down the humor, for those who want a less funny The Tick. The show seems to want to be more of a superhero show with some humor rather than a comedy series with a superhero theme.
The Tick himself is still funny, spouting off a continuous series of nutty lines like "evil wears every mitten." He's responsible for most of the laughs, but here he is very much a secondary character.
He's also not very impressive. Patrick Warburton was a perfect Tick, big, macho, and dumb, but Peter Serafinowicz comes across as a rather ordinary oddball in a cheap suit that looks like something from a 1950s sci-fi movie (basically a leotard with a little muscling and antennas added). The effect is wildly unimpressive.
Now, the bad costumes (there's also a jumpsuit with feathers on it) may be the result of a low budget, and there aren't that many Patrick Warburton's out there, but that still doesn't explain the change of focus from hilarious superhero parody to angsty superhero series with a little comedy.
This is a pilot for a series I certainly hope won't occur. I suggest Edlund rethink things and make a different pilot with a different cast. I know it's annoying to be expected to do the same thing you did before, but when what you did before was great and your attempt to change things up falls flat, you should consider just doing the same old thing.