The Tick

The Tick vs. the Idea Men

Season 1, Episode 1, Aired 9/10/94

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Episode Summary

The super-strong but slow-witted superhero called "The Tick" is assigned to defend "The City". Arriving there, he meets Arthur, a bank accountant who was fired for wearing his moth suit (that everyone mistakes for a bunny costume). The Tick asks Arthur to become his sidekick and reside in their headquarters: Arthur's apartment. Some criminals calling themselves "The Idea Men", guys who don't want to work anymore and are impossible to understand because of their full-face masks, rob a bank. They fail, thanks to the Tick, but manage to escape. They proceed to threaten to blow up the City's dam and flood the City if they don't get a million bucks, so the Tick and Arthur go out once more to stop their evil ways.moreless

9.2

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Cast & Crew

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Cam Clarke

Die Fledermaus
Jess Harnell

Sewer Urchin
Kay Lenz

American Maid

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

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Move aside Superman and Spiderman, because The Tick is in town!

7.5

"Good"

By ZaleIsBackAgain, Feb 05, 2007 Report Abuse

A new superhero is in town assigned within the city of "The City", and his name is The Tick. It wasn't long until he ran into his soon to be sidekick Arthur, an accountant who refuses to take off his moth costume. It also wasn't long until their first assignment arises in the form of Idea Man robbing a bank. Unfortunately for Arthur and The Tick, they got away.

Idea Man wouldn't let up, threatening to blow up the dam unless given a ransom, but despite that, they decide to blow it up anyways. The Tick however, easily defeated Idea Man and his goonies, and tries defusing the bomb. Instead, it blows up on him, but thanks to his powers, he survives.

It's like Family Guy picking on politics, except The Tick pokes fun at superheroes and spandex wearing super humans. The Tick is still essentially a superhero cartoon itself as many of the superheroes including the hulking Tick himself possess super natural powers, however, the approach to every small situation just makes you giggle.

One example is when a superhero tried heading into the bathroom in order to change into his alter ego, but it wasn't vacant and was unable to save the bank from Idea Man. Plus, the blunt ideas of "Idea Man", who created the ingenious plan of stealing money in order to not work for the rest of their lives, and the blunt title for the city, "The City", did a good job of adding to the overall effect.moreless

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A great start to a great show.

9.0

"Superb"

By danideathstrike, Oct 20, 2006 Report Abuse

The Tick VS The Idea Man is the first episode of the great show that is the tick. The episode introduces us to our main characters- The Tick and Arther, and then carries on to show us their first of many adventures. Some masked goons calling them selves the idea men are showing up in town and stealing everything- and it is up to the tick to stop them. This is a great introduction to a great series that shows us originallity and spoof at the same time. The episode was entertaining and funny and shows us the tick universe. 9 out of 10 = a must seemoreless

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So far, So good

9.0

"Superb"

By Monkey-kid, Jul 24, 2005 Report Abuse

The Tick is assigned to the city to protect it form crime and meets his sidekick Arthur, and other heros, and stops his first crime, The idea men from blowing up the dam. This was a good start, with many good quotes, and although the idea men weren't the best villians, they still were pretty entertaning. This episode introuduce most of the main heros except for the Sewer Urchin(Which is one of my favortie heros). Don't worry this isn't one of those episodes where you have to see the first episode to understand the rest of the series.moreless

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Gets the series off to a great start.

9.2

"Superb"

By Wolverine_Matt, Jul 19, 2005 Report Abuse

The first episode sets the scene, (a city called, actually, 'The City') and introduces us to our hero: a muscular 'heroic blue stranger' who's 'always been a super hero' - and no, it isn't a costume. His name- The Tick. Also to his sidekick Authur, an accountant who quits his job to fulfil his 'strange new needs' and follow the less travelled road; 'the moth-suit & wings road' no less.

After a chance meeting they team up to form probably the best and possibly the oddest looking crime fighting team in The City.
Their first encounter with 'the ravages of evil and super villainy' comes when a band of suited and stupid mask wearing men armed with guns (and equipped with a cool blimp) known as The Idea Men continue their crime spree by attempting to hold up a bank.
After foiling the robbery our daring duo are unable to prevent the villains' escape. The Idea Men come up with a new idea of holding the city dam to ransom!
Needless to say, Authur and The Tick spring back into action to 'right wrongs and pound two-fisted justice into the hearts of evil-doers'!

I remember watching this first episode many years ago, and still recall some of the classics lines such as 'Er... yeah, I suck blood all the time!'. Had me cracking up then and still does now. This episode is crammed with very funny and quote worthy lines.

When I watched this episode recently I couldn't help thinking how many ideas from it were borrowed by whoever wrote The Incredibles. The opening section with The Tick being interviewed is extremley similar in look, sound and humour to the opening of the Disney pixar film. The whole idea of a city protected by various humourous super heroes is also obviously very similar.

Overall a great start to the series.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- The 3 judges/moderators of the Superhero Placement Expo (whose names aren't spoken in the episode) are Rubber Justice (skinny guy in purple suit), Earth Quaker (Quaker with a light orange brick-like body) and the Fiery Flame (guy with red hair which resembles flame). These are sort of parodies of the 3 male members of the Fantastic Four: Mr. Fantastic, The Thing and The Human Torch. Edit
- The color of Tick's outfit changes throughout the show. Sometimes it's the normal blue color we see in the rest of the series, and sometimes it's more of a sea green color. Edit
Notes
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- First appearance of The Human Bullet and Fire-Me-Boy, his son/sidekick. The Human Bullet's wife (who doesn't appear to be all too thrilled with her husband's career choice) won't be seen until "The Tick vs. Dinosaur Neil". Edit
- When aired on Toon Disney, or ABC Family, the short scene with Bipolar Bear is cut. Edit
Quotes
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- Bigshot: Why didn't you love me, Mom? Edit
- Tick: (to Bigshot) Guns and superheroes don't mix! Edit
- Bipolar Bear: This looks like a job for Bipolar Bear!... But I just can't get out of bed this month. Edit
Allusions
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- Big Shot Clearly a parody/allusion to the Marvel comic hero Punisher. Edit