'Bred Crumbs
This is now the past. Go to the new 'Bred Crumbs.
11.08.01
10:48 PM
Fox has premiered its live-action rendition of The Tick, and unfortunately the question remains: why did someone think this was a good idea?
The wit and hilarity that followed our mighty blue nigh-invulnerable friend from comic book to animated series has not made the building-to-building leap to live action, at least not in the pilot. Tick creator Ben Edlund's writing is as delightfully twisted as ever; David Burke is a casting find as timid sidekick Arthur; and even though he's not hitting the loud note of proud dimness that Townsend Coleman nailed as the Tick's voice in the animated series, it's hard to imagine anyone but Patrick Warburton trying to wear the Blue Suit of Justice.
Still, much that should have been funny was not. A big hindrance was Barry Sonnenfeld's clunky, muddled, unfittingly vaudevillian direction. (Speaking of muddled, the strange little dialect Warburton's throwing in isn't helping.) It all smacked of trying too hard (maybe to please nervous network suits), which drained the fine writing and concept of most of its comedic effect.
Maybe it just needs a few episodes to jell. And if it does last that long, we Ticksters will have a nice set of discordant epics worthy of Douglas Adams, who took pride that the radio, book, and TV versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "flatly contradicted" each other. To get a running start on the geekiness, here is a handy-dandy comparison chart of The Tick's tellings.
For further Tick edification, here's a nice cross-platform character guide (whose color key I have followed in my chart).
And here's an old essay that insists, inevitably, that The Tick and Arthur are a gay couple.
The wit and hilarity that followed our mighty blue nigh-invulnerable friend from comic book to animated series has not made the building-to-building leap to live action, at least not in the pilot. Tick creator Ben Edlund's writing is as delightfully twisted as ever; David Burke is a casting find as timid sidekick Arthur; and even though he's not hitting the loud note of proud dimness that Townsend Coleman nailed as the Tick's voice in the animated series, it's hard to imagine anyone but Patrick Warburton trying to wear the Blue Suit of Justice.
Still, much that should have been funny was not. A big hindrance was Barry Sonnenfeld's clunky, muddled, unfittingly vaudevillian direction. (Speaking of muddled, the strange little dialect Warburton's throwing in isn't helping.) It all smacked of trying too hard (maybe to please nervous network suits), which drained the fine writing and concept of most of its comedic effect.
Maybe it just needs a few episodes to jell. And if it does last that long, we Ticksters will have a nice set of discordant epics worthy of Douglas Adams, who took pride that the radio, book, and TV versions of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "flatly contradicted" each other. To get a running start on the geekiness, here is a handy-dandy comparison chart of The Tick's tellings.
| 'BRED CRUMBS presents CHARTING THE TICK (Part 1) | |||
| Comic book (New England Comics Press, 1988-) |
Animated series (Fox, 1994-96) |
Live-action series (Fox, 2001) |
|
| Tick's location before he came to The City | Insane asylum (as a patient) | Reno (at the National Super Institute "to compete for the best cities to protect from crime") | A bus station (defending it) |
| When Tick meets sidekick Arthur | Issue 4 | Episode 1 | Episode 1 |
| First bovine threat | Issue 7: Man-Eating Cow | Episode 13: Man-Eating Cow | Episode 1: Apocalypse Cow |
| Superhero cohort that might draw comparisons to Batman | none | Die Fledermaus | Batmanuel |
| Patriotically themed female superhero cohort | none | American Maid | Lady Liberty |
| Did The Tick fight The Red Scare? | yep | nope | yep |
| Does a very familiar mild-mannered reporter with unusual powers and/or origins wind up vexed? | extremely (Issues 1-2) | a little (Episode 1) | not so far |
For further Tick edification, here's a nice cross-platform character guide (whose color key I have followed in my chart).
And here's an old essay that insists, inevitably, that The Tick and Arthur are a gay couple.
11.07.01
11:52 AM
"I was hoping that everyone who had a flag out would come and vote. That didn't happen." -- a San Francisco election worker yesterday
So much for patriotism.
I'm talking, of course, about the first new episode in ages of The Simpsons.
"Mmm ... unexplained bacon."
So much for patriotism.
· · ·
I find it oddly reassuring that the name of the California Highway Patrol commissioner is Dwight "Spike" Helmick. A nice combo of credibility and toughness.· · ·
Finally last night, network television gave us something worth watching.I'm talking, of course, about the first new episode in ages of The Simpsons.
"Mmm ... unexplained bacon."
11.04.01
10:41 PM
OK, OK, I've finally made an Amazon wish list. Let the economic stimulation begin!
[Previously]
Week of 10.28.01
Features
Now at the new 'Bred Crumbs:
Still here:
Hidden Deadly Productions makes short films, including CrossWalk (2003) and The Point of Boxes (coming in 2006?).
Pictured: Rubble from the destruction of the Central Freeway, San Francisco, April 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Views from San Francisco Bay, July 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Videogames projected onto a wall from an Atari 2600, July 2003. Photos by the author.
Pictured: Ranch near Hollister, New Year's Day 2003. Photos by the author.
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(cc)1996-2005 Tim Bland. This work licensed under a Creative Commons License.