Discover Cancelled Television Series with Netflix: The Tick

One of the things I love most about Netflix is being able to discover terrific television shows that were canceled before you got a chance to find them. Among the television series I've discovered like buried treasure so far are A Bit of Fry and Laurie, The Thin Blue Line and Da Ali G Show. Of course, those are all British imports, but Netflix offers up some American television that suffered untimely deaths. I recently rented The Tick and the fact that this show barely lasted a season does nothing to weaken my contention that American television executives are among the most overpaid underachievers in entertainment history.

The Tick is worthy of making your Netflix queue for several reasons, but the biggest-literally-is its titular star, the supremely gifted Patrick Warburton. Warburton first came to attention as Elaine's boyfriend Puddy on Seinfeld. Big, handsome, and surprisingly religious, Puddy was probably written as just another one-shot love interest, but Warburton's engaging personality turned him into one of the show's favorite recurring characters. Since then, Warburton has made a name for himself as one of the busiest actors in animated voice-over work. He stole The Emperor's New Groove from David Spade and turned in sublime work in the treacherously underappreciated Hoodwinked. The Tick, however, is not animated. In it, Patrick Warburton plans a seven foot tall superhero in a form-fitting blue costume.