Great TV While High: The Tick: The Animated Series

The Tick: The Animated Series will always have a special place in my (high TV) heart. Originally airing from 1994-1997, these were the days of that first post-college apartment with a couple of college buddies in Mayor Giuliani New York City.

Every Saturday morning would begin with a wake and bake followed by the latest episode of The Tick (and if we woke up too late, there was this ‘fancy’ device called a VCR to record the show, assuming you dealt with the grief of getting it to record at the proper time!).

The Tick is a fictional character created by cartoonist Ben Edlund in 1986 as a newsletter mascot for the New England Comics chain of Boston area comic stores. He is “nigh-invulnerable”, wise beyond his years (and limited IQ) and downright lovable…

But here’s the The Tick in a hard-hitting interview, along with his accountant turned sidekick, Arthur:

Every might superhero needs a battle cry, SPOON!:

The Tick and his ensemble of fantastic allies, regularly go to battle against the craziest villians out of left field. His child-like wonder, that somehow still provide witty and deep insights, was always good for non-stop wake and bake laughs. One of my favorite scenes was when the Tick woke up all of a sudden with a full mustache and he’s just like a kid in a candy store:

That Mustache Feeling:

You can find many of the old full episodes online or pick up The Tick vs. Season One on DVD as a great primer, where he goes to battle against evil foes such as Chairface Chippendale, Dinosaur Neil and El Seed. One of my favorite Season 1 scenes is when The Tick serves “humble pie” to the evil Thrakkorzog below:

The Tick vs. the Uncommon Cold:

There are so many fantastic quotes that have come out of The Tick: The Animated Series that we still love tossing around almost 20 years later (geez). Here’s just a parting few Tick quotes to whet your appetite!

• Tick: “And that’s just it, Doc – my mind has always been my Achilles’ heel!”
• Arthur: “Not in the face! Not in the face!”
• Tick: “There you go! One of the side-kicks most important jobs is to keep the super hero in touch with reality. Because in this business reality can be *pretty* hard to come by.”
• Tick: “And, isn’t sanity really just a one-trick pony anyway? I mean all you get is one trick, rational thinking, but when you’re good and crazy, oooh, oooh, oooh, the sky is the limit.

Spooooooooooon!

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great TV While High series!