DUCKMAN

'''Duckman''' was an animated sitcom developed by Jeff Reno & Ron Osborn, based on characters created by Everett Peck in his Dark Horse comic.

Contents

Description

Final episode

Characters

Guest stars

Series alterations

Trivia

Episodes

Season 1: 1994

Season 2: 1995

Season 3: 1996

Season 4: 1997

See also

External links

Description

The series consisted of 70 episodes airing right before USA's ''Up All Night'' on Saturday nights from 1994 to 1997 on the USA Network. The initial showrunners were Reno & Osborn, and the show was produced by Paramount Television. The animation was produced by Klasky Csupo. In later years, the show running duties went to David Misch and Michael Markowitz. Producer Gene Laufenberg was with the show for most of its run. The music for first season episodes was composed and performed by Frank Zappa; however, because the show premiered after Zappa died, all the music was spliced and rearranged by son Dweezil Zappa. The original timeslot for ''Duckman'' episodes while still being produced were changed to a later time during the night due to complaints from parents about children seeing the adult humor-oriented show.
The series followed the adventures of a dim-witted and lascivious private detective duck who lived with his family and sister-in-law named Bernice (an identical twin to his wife). Duckman's wife, Beatrice, died before the show began in 1994. The tagline of the show, seen in the opening credits, is "Private Dick/Family Man."

Final episode

In the final episode, many characters get married and as the ceremonies draw to a close, Beatrice (Duckman's deceased wife) appears and shocks the entire crowd. Cornfed reveals he knew that Beatrice was alive all along. This plot twist is never resolved and has thus created a cliffhanger. Writer Michael Markowitz noted (in Sep 1998): "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!"

Characters

;'Eric Tiberius Duckman' (Jason Alexander): The main character, called Duckman by all (only his wife Beatrice, uncle Mo Dorkin, and sister-in-law Bev knew his first name; he shares his middle name with Captain James T. Kirk of Star Trek fame). A slovenly, womanizing private detective who is more interested in sex than work (although he rarely does either). He is lazy, sarcastic and obnoxious, and usually has a cutting quip or insult on the tip of his tongue, but can't remember the word "clue" and generally doesn't have one. Because he is easily distracted by beautiful women or get-rich-quick schemes, he relies heavily on his right-hand-pig Cornfed, who has gotten him out of numerous precarious predicaments. Duckman apparently killed his father in a shooting accident, inasmuch as his father's last words were reportedly "Careful, son, I don't think the safety's on."
:Duckman is also a widower; when his wife Beatrice died, he began living with their 3 sons (Ajax, Charles & Mambo) and his sister-in-law Bernice, who despises Duckman with a passion. He also has an arch-enemy named King Chicken who blames Duckman for his persona as an evil genius (he was hazed by Duckman in high school), as well as various problems in the world and is constantly looking for revenge. Duckman's catch phrase is "What the Hell are you staring at?!?" He is a graduate of Don Galloway Detective School and also has a detective license from Panama signed by Manuel Noriega. Duckman wears glasses which contain his eyes; when removing his spectacles, his eyes go with them, leaving none in his head.
:Duckman often uses his catch phrases, "What the Hell are you staring at?", "Hommina hommina how wah" (punctuated in the first season by somebody saying "I didn't know you could speak Cherokee"), "Where's the crapper?", and his trademark scream of "D'wah!". Whenever Duckman had something to celebrate, he would do his dance, "the Funky Duckman," which is sticking his arms out infront, move his hips back and thrust, and yell the lyrics, "You thrust your pelvis, ha!" over and over. Sometimes it is introduced with the phrases "You get your down down" and/or "Come on everybody and do the Funky Duckman!"
;'Willibald Feivel Cornfed', also known as 'Cornfed Pig' (Gregg Berger): Duckman's mildly Joe Friday-esque business partner; loosely based on the character "Greggery Peccery" as portrayed by Frank Zappa in a handful of songs. An amazingly talented pig, Corned knows dozens of ancient martial arts. Cornfed was secretly a virgin - this was "remedied" in an episode regarding the Cornfed family's genetic disease contracted from a relative generations past who enraged a tribal elder in a foreign country and was force fed an odd berry.
:Most (if not all) of the cases solved by the Duckman Detective Agency are solved by Cornfed, with Duckman usually hurting the case rather than helping. Cornfed deals with all of the elements of the detective agency that Duckman ignores, such as getting the clients, paying the bills and solving the cases. Cornfed has also helped Duckman numerous times with his personal life, and has often offered him advice on how to keep his family together and how to avoid the various villains, scoundrels, debt collectors, famous celebrities, video stores, politicians, late-night talk show hosts, ex-classmates, ex-girlfriends, prostitutes, pizza delivery drivers, nuns, 911 operators and old ladies who want to see him dead.
:Cornfed might look mild-mannered, but in his chest beats the heart of a super pig and is also a jack-of-all-trades guy similar to Forrest Gump. He has had numerous former occupations, such as mailman, truck driver (at which point he reunited Duckman and his wife Beatrice, also naming their son Ajax after the company he was employed by), waiter, plumber, clerk for a Supreme Court justice, and member of the Irish Parliament. He has a medical degree from a Peruvian med school, and was also educated in air conditioner and VCR repair (the former of which was paid for by Marla Maples when he did her wainscotting at Mar-A-Lago).
;'Ajax Duckman' (Dweezil Zappa): Duckman's eldest teenage son. He speaks with a slight Californian surfer-dude accent, and always calls his father "Dod." Ajax is not the smartest person in the world, and does not seem to have very many friends along with being very shy. Despite being somewhat slow on the ball, he is a skilled free-verse poet, and occasionally surprises Duckman with a few words of slacker wisdom, as well as the occasional piece of obscure knowledge. He is not quick to take action unless he needs to, and when he does need to take action, usually finds a way to avoid it. Still, his dad is proud of him. Ajax got his name from a trucking company Cornfed was driving for when he and Duckman first met. Ajax is a huge Merv Griffin fan.
;'Charles and Mambo Duckman' (Dana Hill then Pat Musick, and Elizabeth Daily): Duckman's Siamese twin sons, whose heads shared the same body and both think very differently. In fact, both heads are often arguing with each other. Charles and Mambo are geniuses. Although Charles and Mambo may seem physically odd, they often are more level headed than their single craniumed father. Duckman can never seem to remember Mambo's name (calling him "la bamba," "mandingo," "mono" and "Gumbel," among other things). In later episodes, occasionally one will attempt to commandeer their one shared body.
;'Bernice Florence Hufnagel' (Nancy Travis): Duckman's sister-in-law. Dresses in spandex and is a fitness buff (with oddly thick thighs for a duck), always trying out the latest exercise trend to keep her body fit and muscular, and she seems to be physically very strong. She is also much taller than Duckman. Because she blames Duckman for the death of his wife, Bernice hates him with a passion and constantly criticizes him for his lack of interest in his children and anything else involving his family. She also beats him up once in a while. She is always yelling at Duckman because of his selfish personality and constant lack in responsibility of taking care of the family (yet ironically continues to put Grandma-ma in Duckman's care). She would like nothing more than to see him fail or get in over his head on one of his investigations.
:To Duckman's sons Ajax, Charles and Mambo, Bernice is very loving to her nephews although she reviles and abhors their father. She is considered to be their primary caretaker, since their father is usually either running off on a dangerous case or dealing with a dangerous case of the runs. Bernice does have a soft spot though... she never fails to show her appreciation to anyone who can show up her no good brother-in-law. She eventually fell in love with King Chicken, Duckman's arch-enemy, due to their similar and sometimes torture-like personally traits; towards the end of the series they become engaged and marry in the series finale episode. The identical twin sister of Duckman's wife Beatrice, it was revealed in the fourth season that she was actually a triplet, and had another sister, Beverly, who was separated at birth. She eventually became a congresswoman.
;'Beverly Glenn Hufnagel' (Nancy Travis): Beatrice & Bernice's long-lost sister. It was revealed in the fourth season that Bernice and Duckman's wife Beatrice were separated from their triplet sister at birth. Eventually she tracked them down and took over Bernice's place in the household when Bernice was elected to Congress.
;'Beatrice Hufnagel Duckman' (Nancy Travis): Duckman's first wife. Duckman met her in a farming country area in Iowa while working for a magazine that sent him to take pictures of bridges, and she met him after a car accident when he hit her cow. They began to spend a lot of time together and quickly fell in love with him. She was originally married to a duck named Richard until he had a heart attack (caused by Duckman), and she married Duckman soon after. She became pregnant with Duckman's first son Ajax while still married to Richard.
:She and Duckman were married for several years until she was believed to have passed away from when Duckman flicked his cigarette out into the street during a parade and it hit a balloon, which deflated and knocked her down a manhole. Beatrice looks a lot like her sisters Bernice and Beverley, but is much softer spoken than either. She is usually seen wearing a dress with her hair fixed-up. Beatrice may be a reference to Dante's Beatrice, as Duckman idealizes his love for her, despite his puerile tendencies.
;'Grandma-ma/Sophia Longnameovich' (Nancy Travis): Duckman's apparently comatose and immensely flatulent mother-in-law. In the episode "Aged Heat", she was kidnapped by her dopplegänger Agnes Delrooney (played by Brian Doyle-Murray), who posed as her for several episodes until her scam was revealed (although in the meantime there was an episode which made it obvious that it was really Grandma-ma). Grandma-ma sits in the same chair and rarely moves. She never says a word, but rarely keeps quiet. How does she do this? She usually lets her flatulence do the talking for her.
:Grandma-Ma has a soft spot in her round form for her son-in-law, but can only express it in her disgusting bouts of wind-passing. Grandma-Ma also loves to watch TV, although most of the Duckman family often wonders if she is aware of what she is watching... or whether or not she knows where she is. She is possibly comatose. In (Crime, Punishment, War, Peace, and the Idiot) is revealed about her former life, she's a Russian immigrant, later on she traveled to the USA. She had a boyfriend named Petrov, who looked like Cornfed and was coveted by Trigorin, who looked like Duckman.
;'Gecko': Duckman's purple dog. Although this may seem strange in the real world, in a family that has a two headed duck and a patriarch whose best friend is a pig, Gecko is the most normal of the bunch. Like most dogs, Gecko likes to eat, but as far as watch dogs go, is not very good. Still, Duckman prefers his company any day over Aunt Bernice's. It's also shown in one episode that Gecko was stolen by Duckman from one of his neighbors, and that his true name is "Sparky."
;'George Herbert Walker 'King' Chicken' (Tim Curry): Duckman's arch-nemesis. Stops at nothing to try to rid the earth of his nemesis. King Chicken hates Duckman with every feather of his being. Blaming Duckman for some past transgressions (such as hazing him back in high-school), he has been the constant thorn in Duckman's side, doing everything he can to ruin the duck detective's life. Although his plots often end in defeat, King Chicken keeps on clucking, returning again and again with more nefarious schemes. Became engaged to Bernice during the series finale.
:His catch phrase is simply "Mwah ha haa, bawk bawk bawk!" At first, every time he appeared, he would give the same speech about why he does what he does, and in later episodes, the other characters act bored with his story. The final time he does this (episode 26 "Color of Naught"), it cuts to a live acted news bulletin, stating that actor Tim Curry has disappeared, leaving a statement that "He will not return until they promise to stop making him repeat that stupid speech about..." and then the newsman recites the whole thing straight and verbatim, complete with the laughing and clucking at the end. His first three names are based off of President George H.W. Bush.
;'Honey Chicken': King Chicken's wife. She has frequent 'romantic' affairs with Duckman, and has had a daughter together with King. Is engaged to Duckman in the final episode.
;'Fluffy and Uranus' (Pat Musick): Duckman's two teddybear-like office assistants who, despite being constantly killed, maimed, or otherwise tortured, always kept an attitude surprisingly like that of the Care Bears. It is unclear of which one is male and female. They file his files, clean his desk and floors, and always greet him with a smile and a kind word. Is it any wonder that Duckman usually ends up tossing them into a blender or throwing them out a window? Poor Fluffy and Uranus would do just about anything for their boss, Mr. Duckman, but their syrupy good nature often provokes mindless acts of violence. In one episode in the fourth season, they get their revenge when Duckman fires them, causing them to turn into giant killer grizzlies, and hunt him down.

Guest stars

The show regularly featured high-profile guest stars, including David Duchovny, Heather Locklear, Coolio, Burt Reynolds, Carl Reiner, Lisa Kudrow (in fact, there was even an episode titled "The One With Lisa Kudrow In A Small Role"), Leonard Nimoy, Ben Stiller, Courtney Thorne-Smith, Brian Keith, Ben Stein, Janeane Garofalo, Joe Walsh, Ice T, Eugene Levy, Gilbert Godfried, Bob Guccione, Bobcat Goldthwait, John Astin, Joe Mantegna, Vicki Lawrence, Jim Varney and Dan Castellaneta. An animated Jason Alexander made a cameo at the end of one episode.

Series alterations

★ The length of the seasons is lopsided. The first two are rather short, twelve episodes for the first, and only nine for the second, while the third is more standard for a network show, and the fourth is unusually long, with nearly thirty episodes.

★ Episode 51 "With friends like these" was supposed to be voiced by the cast of "Friends", somehow it did not work out. Designs were changed at the very last minute.

Trivia

★ The setting of the series is questionable, as many episodes present evidence that Duckman's family resides just outside New York City, whereas others indicate Los Angeles to be the setting. The episode ''Aged Heat'' takes this a step further, as it makes references to a statewide hunt for a Riker's Island (New York) escapee, but depicts the area code 213 (Los Angeles) on every phone number displayed.

Episodes

Season 1: 1994

★ 1. ''1- 1 4000'' 5 Mar 94 'I, Duckman'

★ 2. ''1- 2 4001'' 12 Mar 94 'T.V. or Not to Be'

★ 3. ''1- 3 4003'' 19 Mar 94 'Gripes of Wrath'

★ 4. ''1- 4 4004'' 26 Mar 94 'Psyche'

★ 5. ''1- 5 4005'' 9 Apr 94 'Gland of Opportunity'

★ 6. ''1- 6 4006'' 16 Apr 94 'Ride the High School'

★ 7. ''1- 7 4007'' 23 Apr 94 'A Civil War'

★ 8. ''1- 8 4008'' 30 Apr 94 'Not So Easy Riders'

★ 9. ''1- 9 4009'' 7 May 94 'It's the Thing of the Principal'

★ 10. ''1-10 4011'' 21 May 94 'Cellar Beware'

★ 11. ''1-11 4010'' 28 May 94 'American Dick'

★ 12. ''1-12 4012'' 4 Jun 94 'About Face'

★ 13. ''1-13 4013'' 11 Jun 94 'Joking the Chicken'

Season 2: 1995

★ 14. ''2- 1 4215'' 11 Mar 95 'Papa Oom M.O.W. M.O.W.'

★ 15. ''2- 2 4214'' 18 Mar 95 'Married Alive'

★ 16. ''2- 3 4216'' 25 Mar 95 'Days of Whining and Neurosis'

★ 17. ''2- 4 4217'' 3 Apr 95 'Inherit the Judgment: The Dope's Trial'

★ 18. ''2- 5 4218'' 10 Apr 95 'America the Beautiful'

★ 19. ''2- 6 4219'' 17 Apr 95 'The Germ Turns'

★ 20. ''2- 7 4220'' 24 Apr 95 'In the Nam of the Father'

★ 21. ''2- 8 4221'' 1 May 95 'Research and Destroy'

★ 22. ''2- 9 4222'' 8 May 95 'Clip Job'

Season 3: 1996

★ 23. ''3- 1 4224'' 6 Jan 96 'Noir Gang'

★ 24. ''3- 2 4223'' 13 Jan 96 'Forbidden Fruit'

★ 25. ''3- 3 4225'' 20 Jan 96 'Grandma-ma's Flatulent Adventure'

★ 26. ''3- 4 4226'' 27 Jan 96 'Color of Naught'

★ 27. ''3- 5 4327'' 10 Feb 96 'Sperms of Endearment'

★ 28. ''3- 6 4328'' 17 Feb 96 'A Room With a Bellevue'

★ 29. ''3- 7 4329'' 24 Feb 96 'Apocalypse Not'

★ 30. ''3- 8 4330'' 2 Mar 96 'Clear and Presidente Danger'

★ 31. ''3- 9 4331'' 9 Mar 96 'The Girls of Route Canal'

★ 32. ''3-10 4332'' 16 Mar 96 'The Mallardian Candidate'

★ 33. ''3-11 4333'' 6 Apr 96 'Pig Amok'

★ 34. ''3-12 4334'' 13 Apr 96 'The Once and Future Duck'

★ 35. ''3-13 4335'' 20 Apr 96 'The One With Lisa Kudrow in a Small Role' (also known as 'Planet of the Dopes')

★ 36. ''3-14 4336'' 27 Apr 96 'Aged Heat'

★ 37. ''3-15 4337'' 4 May 96 'They Craved Duckman's Brain!'

★ 38. ''3-16 4338'' 11 May 96 'The Road to Dendron'

★ 39. ''3-17 4339'' 25 May 96 'Exile in Guyville'

★ 40. ''3-18 4341'' 22 Jun 96 'The Longest Weekend'

★ 41. ''3-19 4342'' 29 Jun 96 'The Amazing Colossal Duckman'

★ 42. ''3-20 4343'' 6 Jul 96 'Cock Tales for Four'

Season 4: 1997

★ 43. ''4- 1 4449'' 4 Jan 97 'Dammit, Hollywood'

★ 44. ''4- 2 4446'' 11 Jan 97 'Coolio Runnings'

★ 45. ''4- 3 4440'' 18 Jan 97 'Aged Heat 2: Women in Heat'

★ 46. ''4- 4 4445'' 25 Jan 97 'All About Elliott'

★ 47. ''4- 5 4447'' 1 Feb 97 'From Brad to Worse'

★ 48. ''4- 6 4448'' 8 Feb 97 'Bonfire of the Panties'

★ 49. ''4- 7 4450'' 15 Feb 97 'Role With It'

★ 50. ''4- 8 4451'' 22 Feb 97 'Ajax and Ajaxer'

★ 51. ''4- 9 4452'' 1 Mar 97 'With Friends Like These'

★ 52. ''4-10 4453'' 8 Mar 97 'A Trophied Duck'

★ 53. ''4-11 4454'' 15 Mar 97 'A Star is Abhorred'

★ 54. ''4-12 4455'' 22 Mar 97 'Bev Takes a Holiday'

★ 55. ''4-13 4456'' 12 Apr 97 'Love! Anger! Kvetching!' (also known as 'Ain't Gonna Be No Mo No Mo'')

★ 56. ''4-14 4457'' 19 Apr 97 'Duckman and Cornfed in 'Haunted Society Plumbers''

★ 57. ''4-15 4458'' 26 Apr 97 'Ebony, Baby'

★ 58. ''4-16 4460'' 3 May 97 'Vuuck, as in Duck'

★ 59. ''4-17 4459'' 10 May 97 'Crime, Punishment, War, Peace, and the Idiot'

★ 60. ''4-18 4461'' 24 May 97 'Kidney, Popsicle, and Nuts'

★ 61. ''4-19 4462'' 14 Jun 97 'The Tami Show'

★ 62. ''4-20 4463'' 21 Jun 97 'My Feral Lady'

★ 63. ''4-21 4464'' 28 Jun 97 'Westward, No!'

★ 64. ''4-22 4465'' 12 Jul 97 'Short, Plush and Deadly'

★ 65. ''4-23 4466'' 19 Jul 97 'How to Suck in Business Without Really Trying'

★ 66. ''4-24 4467'' 26 Jul 97 'You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby'

★ 67. ''4-25 4468'' 2 Aug 97 'Hamlet 2: This Time It's Personal'

★ 68. ''4-26 4469'' 16 Aug 97 'Das Sub' (also known as 'Class Warfare')

★ 69. ''4-27 4470'' 23 Aug 97 'Where No Duckman Has Gone Before'

★ 70. ''4-28 4471'' 6 Sep 97 'Four Weddings Inconceivable'

See also

★ Squirrel Boy

External links

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★

★ Jump The Shark - Duckman

★ Cooltoons