Q: How did you get your job on "The Tick"?
A: I guess you could say that I got it the "traditional" way: with a whole lot
of luck. My agent had sent my material to a Fox development executive who
called me in for a meeting. We were discussing various shows that the
network had in the pipe for pilot season when "The Tick" came up.
I was a huge fan of the animated show and was quite familiar with the
characters. The executive liked me very much and thought I had the right
sensibility for the show. My agent had already sent in my material to
Sonnenfeld/Josephson (the producers) where their development people read it
and liked it. Having the network champion my cause really helped, because
at that point, the writing staff was pretty much set. The producers brought
me in to meet with Ben Edlund, the creator and Executive Producer of the
show. A few weeks later, I was called back to meet with Larry Charles, the
show runner. Larry and I hit it off, but it was still a couple of weeks
before it was a DONE DEAL.
Getting hired is a huge process where everyone has to be in agreement. You
could say that the network and the development execs at Sonnenfeld/Josephson
"pre-screened" me before I met with Ben and Larry. Executive producers rely
on them to narrow the field to a short list of writers whose material they
will read. After reading the samples, the EPs decide who they want to meet,
and from there, who they want to hire.
Back to the questions
Q: How many people are on the writing staff? How do you work together (ie,
how do the scripts get written)?
A: We had seven people on the writing staff. We'd pitch story ideas or areas
that we thought would be fun to explore. Larry would then assign a writer
to develop one of the premises into a one page synopsis. We would go over
the synopsis in the writers room and discuss changes. Once Larry and Ben
ran the storyline by the network and studio for their approval, the writer
would go to outline, and then to script.
Back to the questions
Q: "The Tick" is a new series. How did the producers familiarize you with the
concept?
A: Although "The Tick" is a new series, it's not a new concept. Ben Edlund
created the comic book, then created the animated show. All the writers on
the show were quite familiar with one or both of the venues. Ben had
brought over three writers from the animated series to work on the show.
Also, since it is a show about superheroes, many of us were big comic book
fans or collectors, myself included.
Obviously, we were doing the live action version of "The Tick," and there were some
changes. We had a lot of discussions about the philosophy behind the show.
Back to the questions
Q: Does the fact that it's new mean the writers have more leeway in shaping
it, and shaping the characters, than they might on an established series?
A: I'm not sure about other new shows, but we did have a lot of leeway. I
attribute that to the fact that Larry and Ben were open to ideas.
Obviously, Ben knows these characters inside and out, and I don't think he
ever said, "So and so wouldn't do that." For him, the characters were
always evolving.
Of course, we were still at the point of defining what the show was going to
be, and Larry wanted everyone to contribute.
Back to the questions
Q: Did the series change (concept, characters, style) while you worked on
it?
A: Absolutely. I think every new show has to find its legs. The characters
didn't change so much as the concept and style. At first, we didn't want to
do a "villain of the week," but there was some discussion about whether or
not we were cheating fans (this is, after all, a show about superheroes).
Trying to find the right balance took us a while.
Back to the questions
Q: On a brand new series, one that has yet to air, how do you know if what
you're doing is working?
A: We don't. But we'll hear from the network and studio if it's not working!
We were also on the set a lot, and we'd watch dailies to see how the show is
looking. We watch the dailies, we watch what's going on down at the set.
That's when we knew that we couldn't do a lot of big action sequences.
Back to the questions
Q: What did you do the night the first episode aired?
I watched it in the privacy of my own home and made a sacrifice to whatever
gods were listening that the numbers would be good.
Back to the questions
Q: Any idea yet what "The Tick"'s future will be?
A: We're still waiting. We're in a tough time slot, but we're pulling in a key
demographic (young men). I'm optimistic, because the episodes that are
coming up are hysterical. Whenever I pitched the show to someone not
familiar with the comic book or the animated series, they sort of scratch
their heads in bewilderment. It was probably a show they wouldn't take the
time to watch. But now that they've seen it, they love it. I hope other
viewers give it a chance.