Honestly I think within the limitations of live action and the budget. There's probably only so much they can really do. The cartoon show as long as there was budget to produce the cartoon could do just about anything and get as silly as they wanted. I think they probably really were genuinely surprised when they got a second season. But struggled to really write something worthy of it. It was still enjoyable for what it was though.

The antenna were what sold the 2001 for me. That and Warburton. I don't know that I've ever seen anything with Warburton in it that I didn't like. But between him and those damn animatronic antenna. Even though he didn't have the proper cowl Etc it was still very enjoyable. The fox show was definitely a lot campier and low budget. But that sort of worked for it in a way. While they had a lot of star cameos throughout the short run. Just some of the basic scenarios and situations were hilarious. Like the tick fighting the Red Scare in an elevator while Jimmy Carter watched on. But then I'm also an older viewer so probably your mileage could vary.

Unfortunately edland didn't have the full rights to all the characters. So each show is really its own experience. But I think at least some Nostalgia puts the 2001 a little bit out ahead of the Amazon reboot. Even though I could easily recommend it.