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Duckman

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Duckman
GenreAdult animation
Animated sitcom
Black comedy
Surreal comedy
Created byEverett Peck
Developed byJeff Reno
Ron Osborn
Gabor Csupo
Arlene Klasky
StarringJason Alexander
Gregg Berger
Nancy Travis
Dana Hill
Pat Musick
E.G. Daily
Dweezil Zappa
Country of originUnited States
No. of seasons4
No. of episodes70 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersEverett Peck
Jeff Reno
Ron Osborn
Arlene Klasky
Gabor Csupo
Running time22 minutes
Production companiesKlasky Csupo
Reno & Osborn Productions
Paramount Television
Original release
NetworkUSA Network
ReleaseMarch 5, 1994 (1994-03-05) –
September 6, 1997 (1997-09-06)

Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man is an American adult animated sitcom that aired on the USA Network from March 5, 1994 to September 6, 1997.[1] It was created and developed by Everett Peck.[2] The sitcom is based on characters created by Peck in his Dark Horse comic.[3] Klasky Csupo animated the series and produced it along with Reno & Osborn Productions for Paramount Network Television. It marks Klasky Csupo's second adult-oriented television series after The Simpsons. Years later after Duckman, Peck went on to create Squirrel Boy for Cartoon Network, from 2006 to 2007.

Premise

File:Duckman.gif
Left to right: Duckman, Bernice, Ajax, Gecko, Charles, Mambo, "Grand-Ma-Ma" and Cornfed.

The series centers on Eric T. Duckman (voiced by Jason Alexander),[4] a lascivious, widowed, anthropomorphic duck who lives with his family in Los Angeles[5] and works as a private detective. The tagline of the show, seen in the opening credits, is "Private Dick/Family Man" ("dick" being short for "detective", as well as serving as a double entendre).

Main characters include Cornfed Pig (Gregg Berger), Duckman's Joe Friday-esque business partner and best friend, Ajax (Dweezil Zappa), Duckman's eldest, mentally-slow teenage son; Charles (Dana Hill; Pat Musick) and Mambo (E. G. Daily), Duckman's Siamese twin child genius sons whose heads share a body; Bernice (Nancy Travis), Duckman's sister-in-law and the identical twin of Beatrice who is a fanatic fitness buff and hates Duckman with a passion; Grandma-ma (Travis), Duckman's comatose, immensely flatulent mother-in-law; Agnes Delrooney (Brian Doyle-Murray), Grandma-ma's doppelgänger who kidnaps her and poses as her for several episodes; Fluffy and Uranus (Pat Musick), Duckman's two Care Bear-esque teddy-bear office assistants.

Recurring characters include George Herbert Walker "King" Chicken (Tim Curry), a supervillain who schemes to ruin Duckman's life; Beatrice (Nancy Travis), Duckman's first wife who was believed to be killed in an accident; Beverly (Travis), Beatrice and Bernice's long-lost sister; and Gecko, Duckman's pet dog.

In the final episode, four couples (Dr. Stein/Dana Reynard, Duckman/Honey, King Chicken/Bernice, Cornfed/Beverly) got married – the last three in a joint ceremony. The kids, Fluffy and Uranus, and a number of characters from previous episodes are shown to be in attendance. As the ceremonies draw to a close, though, Beatrice (Duckman's supposedly deceased wife) appears and shocks the entire crowd. When Duckman asks how she can still be alive, Beatrice indicates Cornfed always knew. The last line of the series is Cornfed saying, "I can explain." The show then ends with "To be continued...?" superimposed on the screen. In regards to this cliffhanger, Duckman writer Michael Markowitz offered the following shortly after the series came to an end:[6]

"We never formally planned Part II... and I'll never tell what I personally had in mind. I'm hoping to leave it to my heirs, for the inevitable day when Duckman is revived by future generations. Ah, the Spandex suits they'll wear, the hovercrafts they'll fly!"

Production

The series consists of 70 episodes that aired on Saturday nights from 1994 to 1997 on the USA Network. The initial showrunners were Peck, Reno and Osborn, and the show was produced in association with Paramount Network Television. The animation was produced by Klasky Csupo.[7] In later years, the show running duties went to David Misch and Michael Markowitz. Creator and executive producer Everett Peck was with the show for its entire run. Producer Gene Laufenberg was with the show for most of its run. Scott Wilk and Todd Yvega created original music for the series, including the theme.[8] The first season also featured excerpts from Frank Zappa's published catalog.

Guest stars/additional voices

The show regularly featured high-profile guest stars and additional voices, including:[9]

Video game

In May 1997, a point-and-click adventure computer game, Duckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick, was released for Microsoft Windows. In it, Duckman has become a famous detective, and a television series based on him is about to debut, but someone is pushing Duckman out of his own life, and replacing him with a bigger, better, heroic Duckman. The player's goal is to help Duckman get rid of the impostor and reclaim his rightful place.

Originally intended for release in the United States, the game was completed and ready for distribution when the publisher, Playmates Interactive Entertainment, declared bankruptcy. Eventually, the rights were bought at auction by FunSoft; the game had localized text added to replace the English (audio was untouched) and it was released in Germany and South Korea.

Episodes and home release

Main article: List of Duckman episodes
Season Episodes Originally Aired DVD Release
Volume Release date Discs
1 13 1994 1 September 16, 2008 3
2 9 1995
3 20 1996 2 January 6, 2009 7
4 28 1997

In January 2008, TVShowsonDVD.com reported that Duckman would be coming to region 1 DVD.[10] Details followed in May, when it was announced that the first release in the series would be the first two seasons, 22 combined episodes on three discs, on September 16, 2008.[11] The final two seasons, 48 episodes, were released on a seven-disc set on January 6, 2009.[12] Both DVD sets were released by CBS Home Entertainment. With the DVD release, many episodes were edited to remove copyrighted music and as a result they differ somewhat from the aired TV episodes.

Reception

In January 2009, IGN listed Duckman as the 48th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.[1] The show was critically acclaimed.[13][14][15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Top 100 animated series". IGN. Retrieved October 19, 2010.
  2. ^ "Duckman: Seasons Three and Four". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  3. ^ Mendoza, N.F. (March 5, 1995). "WITH ON EYE ON... : 'Duckman's' Dweezil Zappa is a dude who just wants to have fun--a lot". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 10, 2010.
  4. ^ "Duckman - Seasons One & Two". DVD Talk. Retrieved August 22, 2010.
  5. ^ Episode "Bev Takes a Holiday"
  6. ^ "To Be DIScontinued! - The Hall of Unresolved TV Cliffhangers: 1996-2000". Members.tripod.com. September 21, 1998. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  7. ^ "The rugrats' real mom and dad". Business Week. Retrieved August 28, 2010.
  8. ^ [1][dead link]
  9. ^ "Duckman - All Seasons". TV.com.
  10. ^ "Duckman DVD news: Plans Announced for Duckman". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  11. ^ "Duckman DVD news: Announcement for Duckman - Seasons 1 and 2". TVShowsOnDVD.com. May 28, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  12. ^ "Duckman DVD news: Update about Duckman - Seasons 3 & 4". TVShowsOnDVD.com. September 14, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  13. ^ O'Connor, John J. (March 9, 1996). "TELEVISION REVIEW - 'Madison County' Spoof From a Cartoon Duck". NYTimes.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  14. ^ Hiltbrand, David. "Picks and Pans Review: Duckman". People.com. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
  15. ^ Winistorfer, Andrew. "Duckman: Seasons Three and Four". PopMatters. Retrieved March 7, 2015.
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