One day in 2001, I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about the new fall shows. We discussed shows that we thought weren't going to make it as well as shows we really enjoyed. Towards the end of the meal we started to discuss The Tick and how we were both excited to see the live version that was premiering later in the season. I remember turning to my friend and saying, "Isn't there another show premiering on FOX later in the season?" We couldn't think of which show it was and so went back to discussing The Tick.

The show we were trying to think of was The Bernie Mac Show and five years after The Tick had come and gone Bernie's show had become one of the funniest family sitcoms on television.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• 8 Simple Rules... - Season 1
• The Adventures of Jim Bowie - Complete Series
• Charlie Lola - Vol. 5
• Daniel Boone - Season 5
• Darkwing Duck - Vol. 2
• The Dresden Files - Season 1
• Full House - Season 7
• The Hills - Season 2
• Home Improvement - Season 7
• Inside The Actor's Studio - Barbra Streisand
• The Muppet Show - Season 2
• Rome - Season 2
• Roseanne - Season 8
• Saved By The Bell - Hawaiian Style and Wedding in Las Vegas movies
• The Simpsons - Season 10
• Soul Food - Season 2
• The Suite Life of Zack & Cody - Vol. 2
• Superfriends: The Legendary Super Powers Show - Complete Series
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Season 5
• That Girl - Season 3
• The Tick - Season 2

• The Andy Griffith Show - Season 7
• Arrested Development - Season 3
• Astroboy - Ultra Edition, Set 2
• The Awful Truth - The Best of The Awful Truth
• Criss Angel Mindfreak - Halloween
• Darkwing Duck - Volume 1
• Desperate Housewives - Season 2
• Driven To Win - Season 1
• Flavor of Love - Season 1
• Monty Python's Flying Circus - Personal Best
• Mr. Bean - Best Of
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Collection: Volume 10
• Nip/Tuck - Season 3
• Roseanne - Halloween
• South Park - Season 8
• Survivor: Palau
• Tale Spin - Volume 1
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Volume 5
• The Tick - Season 1
• Will and Grace - Season 5

I know, I know, this news is a bit old, but stuff slips by sometimes and you have to catch it later. In this case it was TV Shows On DVD's unofficial annoucement back in January that The Tick, the 1994 animated series based on Ben Edlund's comic book, will be coming out on DVD this year. Disney, who owns the rights, have not made an official annoucement, so we'll have to trust TVSODVD's super secret inside sources.

I hate to admit it, but The Tick didn't really impress me all that much, at least not at first. I had been a huge fan of the comic books long before the animated series came out, and, perhaps unfairly, I had a hard time not comparing it to the comics. Eventually I stopped making that unfair comparison and began to enjoy the show on its own merit. Still, I think I prefer the comics more. I suppose some people felt the same way when the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles got animated. It's hard to let go sometimes, but you learn.

Special thanks to vaccenyl, who mentioned this over on my Animaniacs post.

Here's a fun game to entertain yourself at home. Take any random object around the house and imagine its molecules combined with that of a man. Then speak in a deep announcer voice and make up a TV show about it. For example:

He's half man, half spatula. Despite the cruel world that shuns him he fights a battle against the forces of evil in his underwater helicopter. He is Spatula Man.

For this edition of The Five we're talkin' about our favorite hybrids. Here's five of mine. As always, share some of your own.