美国国家公共电台 NPR He's Big, He's Blue, And Now, He's Bingeable: 'The Tick' Returns

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

All right. He is big. He's blue. And now he's binge-able (ph). He is the Tick, a cult¹ favorite parody² superhero. Tomorrow, 10 episodes of a new "Tick" television series debut³ on Amazon. NPR's Glen Weldon says it's a familiar sort of superhero story but is told in a very different way.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOUG KATSAROS' "'THE TICK' THEME")

GLEN WELDON, BYLINE⁴: The Tick's been around since 1986. And he's bungled⁵ his way through comics, a Saturday morning cartoon and a short-lived live-action series in 2001. Here's what you need to know going into the new series. The Tick is a superhero in a city called The City. Played by Peter Serafinowicz, he's a mountain of muscle in a bright blue costume topped by two very expressive⁶ antennae⁷, which bend and curl like the ears of a Doberman. No, you're right. Real ticks aren't blue, and they don't have antennae. But just go with it.

As for his super powers, he sums them up nicely to his would-be sidekick in the first episode.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

PETER SERAFINOWICZ: (As The Tick) I'm a superhero, Arthur. I'm nigh invulnerable. I have the reflexes of an Olympic-level jungle cat. I have the strength of 10, perhaps 20 men - a crowded bus stop of men. But my greatest power is this - when destiny speaks, she speaks to me. She says hi, by the way.

WELDON: He's got skills, sure. But he's not a thinker.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

SERAFINOWICZ: (As The Tick) Oh, I always let destiny do the melon work, friend. Thought is not my area of expertise⁸. Goodness, no (laughter).

WELDON: The thinking gets done by that nebbishy sidekick, Arthur, an anxiety-ridden accountant in a moth⁹ costume played in the new series by Griffin Newman.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

GRIFFIN NEWMAN: (As Arthur) I'm taking my medication. I have an apartment here in The City - my own apartment, you know? I have a job. I'm a together person.

WELDON: Through every previous iteration, "The Tick" has really been Arthur's story told from the sidekick's perspective. The Amazon series doubles down on that by supplying Arthur with - wait for it - a tragic¹⁰ back story. His father was killed by an elderly supervillain played here with wheezy gusto by Jackie Earle Haley.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

JACKIE EARLE HALEY: (As The Terror) I've always been here because I'm alive, you punk, living inside your pathetic little skull¹¹.

WELDON: This Arthur is a guy who's living with mental illness. And the series raises the question of whether The Tick truly exists or is instead a manifestation¹² of Arthur's id.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

NEWMAN: (As Arthur) You're real?

SERAFINOWICZ: (As The Tick) Don't get stuck on trivia, man. We got a tiger by the tail.

WELDON: It raises that question and answers it soon enough. And I won't spoil it here. But it's not played strictly¹³ for laughs, which is surprising for "The Tick." Superheroes are always getting grim and gritty makeovers. And this isn't that exactly. But it is less broad, less silly, than previous versions. It's - it's still pretty silly, though.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

SERAFINOWICZ: (As The Tick) Light against darkness, up against down - a struggle as old as time but with a beat you can dance to.

WELDON: As in those previous versions, the series has a great time making fun of overblown superhero narration¹⁴ with its soaring music and tortured metaphors¹⁵.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE TICK")

SERAFINOWICZ: (As The Tick) Destiny's got her hand way, way up in their puppets. It's an unpleasant tingling¹⁶, the deepest of wriggles¹⁷.

WELDON: It takes a couple episodes for the two leads to hit upon the right chemistry. But they do find it, which is really what matters because it's that chemistry that allows them to be what The Tick and Arthur need to be, two hapless, broken, horribly overmatched heroes who come to realize that they are each other's destiny. Glen Weldon, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF PHRONESIS, JULIAN ARGUELLES AND FRANKFURT RADIO BIG BAND'S "UNTITLED #1")

1 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

2 parody   

n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文

参考例句：

• The parody was just a form of teasing.那个拙劣的模仿只是一种揶揄。
• North Korea looks like a grotesque parody of Mao's centrally controlled China,precisely the sort of system that Beijing has left behind.朝鲜看上去像是毛时代中央集权的中国的怪诞模仿，其体制恰恰是北京方面已经抛弃的。

3 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 bungled   

v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• They bungled the job. 他们把活儿搞糟了。
• John bungled the job. 约翰把事情搞糟了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 expressive   

adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的

参考例句：

• Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
• He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的，富于表情的，生动活泼的脸。

7 antennae   

n.天线；触角

参考例句：

• Sometimes a creature uses a pair of antennae to swim.有时某些动物使用其一对触须来游泳。
• Cuba's government said that Cubans found watching American television on clandestine antennae would face three years in jail.古巴政府说那些用秘密天线收看美国电视的古巴人将面临三年监禁。

8 expertise   

n.专门知识(或技能等)，专长

参考例句：

• We were amazed at his expertise on the ski slopes.他斜坡滑雪的技能使我们赞叹不已。
• You really have the technical expertise in a new breakthrough.让你真正在专业技术上有一个全新的突破。

9 moth   

n.蛾，蛀虫

参考例句：

• A moth was fluttering round the lamp.有一只蛾子扑打着翅膀绕着灯飞。
• The sweater is moth-eaten.毛衣让蛀虫咬坏了。

10 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

11 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

12 manifestation   

n.表现形式；表明；现象

参考例句：

• Her smile is a manifestation of joy.她的微笑是她快乐的表现。
• What we call mass is only another manifestation of energy.我们称之为质量的东西只是能量的另一种表现形态。

13 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

14 narration   

n.讲述，叙述；故事；记叙体

参考例句：

• The richness of his novel comes from his narration of it.他小说的丰富多采得益于他的叙述。
• Narration should become a basic approach to preschool education.叙事应是幼儿教育的基本途径。

15 metaphors   

隐喻( metaphor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I can only represent it to you by metaphors. 我只能用隐喻来向你描述它。
• Thus, She's an angel and He's a lion in battle are metaphors. 因此她是天使，他是雄狮都是比喻说法。

16 tingling   

v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• My ears are tingling [humming; ringing; singing]. 我耳鸣。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My tongue is tingling. 舌头发麻。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 wriggles   

n.蠕动，扭动( wriggle的名词复数 )v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的第三人称单数 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• Each tail piece wriggles to wholly confuse and distract an attacker. 但是与其他的蜥蜴不同，玻璃蜥蜴的尾巴会逐段的散成碎片，每段碎片都在扭动，以迷惑攻击者，分散其注意力。 来自互联网
• No turning back. He wriggles into the pipe and starts crawling, plastic bag dragging behind. 没有回头路，安迪钻进下水管开始爬行，塑料袋拖在后面。 来自互联网