TV Show Info:
Created by: Everett Peck
Writers: Various
Directors: Various
Cast: Jason Alexander, Gregg Berger, Nancy Travis, Dweezil Zappa, Tim Curry, Pat Musick, Ben Stein, Elizabeth Daily, Dana Hill
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Paramount
Release Info:
Original Air Dates: March 5, 1994-September 6, 1997
Season Air Dates: March 5, 1994-May 8, 1995
DVD Box Set Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $34.99
Episodes: 13 episodes from Season One, 9 episodes from Season Two
I guess I just never knew anything about Duckman. Before this review, I had no idea Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man was based on a Dark Horse comic. Everett Peck created both the comic and the series. I did know about Up All Night. I found some of the movies shown on the USA Network block to be absolutely hilarious. That’s the station and block when Duckman aired from 1994 to 1997.
Okay, so maybe I didn’t watch this because I was only 13 when this first aired. I saw plenty of adult-oriented films, but never really watched adult-oriented cartoons. The show was on late at night because parents complained about their kids being dumb, seeing a cartoon and watching it. Parental supervision was the problem not the show, but needless to say, the show aired at obscure hours. I believe I did catch the occasional Duckman episode. I was a night owl, who missed a lot of school due to health problems. This made me the perfect candidate for watching late night television.
Back in the day, I couldn’t truly and completely appreciate the humor of Duckman. Sure, Conservatives have complained about the liberal nature of the humor and themes of the show. Then again, I’m not a Conservative, so I can fully enjoy this show in all its glory. The humor for Duckman isn’t exactly something I’d call mainstream. If you’re totally into One Tree Hill, then this might not be the show for you. This is one of those quirky yet cerebral shows, that has even those of us with brains that function on a high level scratching our heads at the absurdity of this series.
That being said, I’m still going to recommend Duckman – Seasons One & Two to just about everyone. I liked the show and you might just like it, too. It has the offensiveness of South Park, the intelligence of The Simpsons and the lasting appeal of any cult classic to make it one of those shows that might be liked by people I didn’t think fit the typical audience spectrum. If you aren’t really into “thinking”, “sarcastic” or “sometimes crude” cartoons then you might want to rent this first, just in case you hate it. For everyone else, buy this Box Set. It’s awesome!
The Duckman – Seasons One & Two Plot
This DVD contains the first 22 episodes of the Duckman series. These episodes make up the first two of four seasons. The entire Duckman series consists of 70 episodes. As I mentioned previously, Duckman aired on USA Network’s Up All Night time block.
Here is a list of the 22 episodes of Duckman that are included in this three disc box set. All of the episodes feature a brief description.
DISC ONE:
“Duckman” (Pilot) – In the pilot, we learn about Duckman (Jason Alexander), a sarcastic, misogynistic, and sometimes whiny private detective. Duckman has his business, but he also has his family. There are his three sons, Ajax (Dweezil Zappa) and the Siamese twins, Mambo (Elizabeth Daily) and Charles (Dana Hill), his dead wife Beatrice’s identical twin sister, Bernice (Nancy Travis), and his extremely farty mother-in-law, Sophia Longnameovich aka Grandma-ma (Nancy Travis).
Duckman is sure his family is ignoring him because he is no longer important. It’s been a year since Beatrice died and he’s absolutely miserable without her. When the only attention he gets is from Bernice nagging him, he’s convinced he’s a failure as a father. However, when a criminal sends Duckman a bomb that’s meant to blow him up, Duckman is overjoyed he’s important enough to be sent a bomb, so now he just has to meet the man who sent it to him!
“T.V. or Not to Be” – Duckman is sure that miracles don’t happen and he sets out to prove it! When Duckman’s family takes over the T.V. to watch Mother Mirabelle’s Home Miracle Network and finds out her miracle making painting has been stolen, they insist he find it with his private investigation skills. With Duckman convinced that Mother Mirabelle is a fake, he’s about to experience his own miracles, at the hospital!
“Gripes of Wrath” – The Duckman family (Duckman, Ajax, Mambo and Charles) go to the launch of a new super computer. The super computer, Loretta, takes a fancy to Duckman. When she overhears something Duckman says, Loretta takes it upon herself to alter reality. She makes the world a better place to live, especially for Duckman…at least for a short time.
“Psyche” – Duckman faces the truth about his problems when he runs away from his reality. After getting a ‘bill job’, he is certain plastic surgery will make him feel more adequate. When his new bill, and PI services attract the attention of two big chested blondes, Duckman is unable to work for them. Instead of helping them look into their lives, he runs off to find a shrink who can help him delve into his subconscious psyche and solve his problems.
“Gland of Opportunity” – Who knew amusement parks also worked as transplant centers? The amusement park clinic does for Duckman. When the adrenal gland of a daredevil is transplanted to Duckman he suddenly becomes more than confident, competent in his profession and the perfect role model for his three sons. The only question is, how long can this truly last?
“Ride the High School” – When Duckman receives a letter requesting that Ajax consider attending a private school for gifted children he considers letting him go. After checking out his current school conditions the boarding school looks better and better, but there’s something suspicious going on and it might just be Duckman’s evil nemesis King Chicken (Tim Curry) calling the shots!
“A Civil War” – Duckman’s sidekick, Cornfed Pig (Gregg Berger) is suddenly getting all the attention. A jealous Duckman fires him, making Duckman work on a murder case alone with no one to help him do all the PI dirty work.
DISC TWO:
“Not So Easy Riders” – The IRS are after Duckman for $29,587.42 in back taxes. When Duckman is unable to come up with the money, he and Cornfed make a run for it, heading out on the road as tax evading fugitives. When the IRS man comes a calling, Bernice falls for him and allows him to stay at the house until they hear from Duckman.
“It’s the Thing of the Principal” – After Bernice tells Duckman that Ajax has stopped eating at school and he’s been sent to the principal every day, Duckman and Cornfed decide to find out what’s going on by going undercover. When they find out that Ajax is having an affair with his vice principal, the two go on the run, content to be together. To find them, Duckman and Bernice must pretend to be a couple.
“Cellar Beware” – Bernice has decided the family will be inviting neighbors over for a block association meeting. When a security expert salesman shows up to the meeting, he gives such a good pitch, Duckman falls for it. He ends up purchasing the most elaborate system the guy sells, the “Interlopen Fuhrer 2000″. When the security system works too well, locking the family in the basement, Duckman isn’t sure it’s worth the price he paid.
“American Dicks” – Duckman is the only PI in the business not affected by the detective union strike. That gives him and Cornfed the unique opportunity to be on the reality show, American Dicks, wanting to solve their 100th on air crime, the show decides to follow Duckman around as he tries to solve his latest case; finding the mayor who has been kidnapped!
“About Face” – Duckman can be a real jerk. In fact, he’s about to prove just how big a jerk he can be. When Duckman calls 911 and hears the beautiful voice at the end of the other line he falls for the woman instantly. When the two agree to meet, he is disgusted by how truly ugly she is. Wanting to please him she attempts to get a makeover.
“Joking the Children” – When Eddie Catalpa, a kind, clean, comedian’s politically correct humor routine becomes a hit, the rude crude comedians in town are stumped. They hire the only man who thinks his routine stinks, Duckman, to find out why he is so popular and to get rid of him, so they can go back to being crude!
DISC THREE:
“Papa Oom M.O.W. M.O.W.” – When Duckman thwarts an assassination attempt against the President of the United States, he becomes a famous hero. When it was revealed that Duckman didn’t really mean to save the President and he was only trying to grab the asses of the President’s mistresses, he tries to make a name for himself as a sleaze ball.
“Married Alive” – Bernice has gone off on a vacation. When she returns she has news. She’s getting married. She’ll be marrying a self-made billionaire. Here’s the real kicker. She’ll be taking the boys with her, leaving Duckman all alone, while the four of them move to Europe.
“Days of Whining and Neurosis” – Since this is California Cornfed and Duckman are about to take on a case dealing with celebrities. When the two find out there is something shady going on at one of the support groups at a local health spa, the two go undercover to try and crack the case.
“Inherit the Judgment: The Dope’s Trial” – Duckman wants his free clock radio and he’ll do anything to get it. When he takes his family out into the desert on his quest to find it, he runs into a town run by Sheriff King Chicken. With King Chicken in charge, he takes the law into his own hands. As you might imagine, it isn’t long before Duckman is on trial for being a heretic.
“America the Beautiful” – Duckman gets a lesson in American history, decade style. When a model named America goes missing, a group of children hire Duckman and Cornfed to find her. The only thing is, she’s been kidnapped by four men, each representing a decade of American culture between the 1950s and 1980s.
“The Germ Turns” – Duckman and the family head out to the new age fair in town. While there, Duckman is at a booth where a highly infectious germ (Katey Segal) turns out to be his mother. When Duckman finds out she got that way by being mean to him, he’s afraid he’ll be reincarnated as a germ, too. He does the only thing he can think of to prevent that…showers his kids with love, affection and stuff!
“In the Nam of the Father” – Duckman and Cornfed head to Vietnam after Cornfed’s long lost son he never knew he had appears in California. Wanting to find his mother, Cornfed goes off to search for her. With Duckman heading to Vietnam with the family for vacation, he has more to deal with then nagging family members. He starts having flashbacks of Vietnam!
“Research and Destroy” – Ajax is good at poetry. To Duckman, this means a job opportunity and money. When Ajax is coerced into signing a contract to be a greeting card writer by his dad, he realizes this really isn’t the occupation he wants to have.
“Clip Job” – While this show offers plenty of Duckman clips, it also offers a story when Duckman is kidnapped by a p-ed off fan. The fan (Ben Stiller) has kidnapped Duckman because he believes he is the cause of the decline of family morals and values on television!
Storyline/Plot: 
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:
Audio/Visual:
This show looks (visually) like it comes out of the 90s. You know what’s funny about that? Duckman does come from the 90s! In fact, Duckman is looking like it was transferred directly into 1.33:1 standard full frames with little to no touch ups. Sure, this is somewhat crudely drawn animation. The colors are vibrant, but not as vibrant as they are today. It’s 90s retro and that’s okay! Just don’t expect perfection. There are occasional instances of noise, some grain, a few compression errors, but overall, you’ll enjoy watching this whether the quality is perfect or not!
The audio for Duckman is a little better than the visual quality. However, this too is a standard quality for a cartoon. The English Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound is good, clear and there wasn’t any need for me to play with the volume. The sound remained consistent throughout all of the episodes. That being said, I wish this included a more dynamic soundtrack. If nothing else, that catchy Duckman score could have sounded so much better with a 5.1 track!
There are no subtitles available, but the hearing impaired can use Closed Captioning to watch the episodes in this Duckman box set.
Visual: 
Audio: 
Bonus Features:
There a few bonus features that fans can sink their teeth into when they purchase the Duckman – Seasons One & Two Box Set. First up is a commentary on the pilot episode of Duckman. This commentary is with Everett Peck and Jason Alexander. The two of them offer up their take on the show and this episode. Their nice chemistry and easy flowing dialogue makes this commentary a winner.
Next up is the featurette, “What the Hell are you Staring At?”. This featurette features creator, Everett Peck, producer/writers Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn and cast members that include Jason Alexander. In this featurette, there is a look at the connection between Duckman as a comic and Duckman the show, a look at their characters, and the social commentary at the time (the show was very hip to the social/political times) when the show was animated and how satire was used to emphasize said commentary. This is the best bonus in the set!
The final featurette is “Designing Duckman”. This looks at the design of Duckman from original conception to his appearance on the animated show. Finally, character biographies are available for the most prevalent characters on the show in a section labeled “Six Degrees”.
Bonus Features:
Bottom Line:
Duckman is an incredibly obscure comedy. This adult-oriented cartoon may not be for everyone and may not seem like the kind of show you’d typically watch. It grows on you though and the cast of talented voice actors (including the magnificent, Tim Curry) make watching this show all the more worthwhile. If you have never seen Duckman before, you may want to rent this before purchasing it. Otherwise, purchase this Box Set while you can!
Overall Rating:
Technorati Tags: Duckman, Season One, Season Two, DVD Review, TV show, Cartoon, Jason Alexander, Political, Obscure
