Duckman

One of the shows I’m proudest of. Starring the voice of Jason Alexander, adapted by Jeff Reno and Ron Osborn (“Meet Joe Black,” “Moonlighting,” “The West Wing”) from an underground comic by Everett Peck, animated by Klasky Csupo, “Duckman” was as edgy as animation gets, and yes, I’m including “South Park” and “Family Guy.”

During our four-year, 70-episode run we got two Emmy nominations, a CableAce Best Animated Series award and Best Animated Program (in the World, baby) from the Banff International Television Festival.

Broadcast on USA (whose programming at the time consisted primarily of wrestling and “Wings” reruns), the show was about a duck detective, his pig partner Cornfed (Gregg Berger) and shrewish sister-in-law Bernice (Nancy Travis), who moved in when his wife died to help raise his moron son Ajax (Dweezil Zappa) and two-headed other son(s), Charles (Dana Hill) and Mambo (E.G. Daily). A frequent guest villain was King Chicken (Tim Curry).

Joining for Season 2, I reveled in the freedom of animation and (mixed blessing) anonymity. We tried to be not only funny but innovative, incorporating musical numbers, live action and lots of satire.

We also had some pretty cool guest stars – Ben Stiller, Kim Catrall, Heather Locklear, James Brown, Brendan Fraser, Joe Mantegna, David Duchovny, Lisa Kudrow, Ice-T, Burt Reynolds, Leonard Nimoy, Janeane Garofolo, Coolio, Robert Klein, Jeremy Piven, Dana Delaney and Carl Reiner.

When an episode that parodied Forties thrillers (“Noir Gang”) came out well, we did genre tributes to the Bob Hope/Bing Crosby “Road” pictures (“The Road To Dendron”) and Forties scare comedies, like the ones with Abbott & Costello and The Three Stooges: “Duckman and Cornfed in ‘Haunted Society Plumbers’,” which includes my quasi-legendary “AAAAAAAA…” routine (later reprised by FedEx) and a surprise guest star at the end.

(If you care, and there’s no reason you should, here’s a discussion of the legal issues behind FedEx’s shameless theft of my joke.)

   
    For the Hope/Crosby parody, composers Scott Wilk and Todd Yvega collaborated with D.A.
    “Yip” Misch to write “The Road To Dendron (Love Theme from ‘The Road To Dendron’).” 
    Click image to watch.

    Mr. Alexander cut his teeth in musicals; despite an abrasive character voice, Jason – and
    Gregg Berger as Cornfed – did a wonderful job in their duet. (Bus driver Ben Stein has a
    cameo.)


Lots of episodes are on YouTube so take a look at what Variety called “one of TV’s funniest programs,” The New York Times considered “a television treasure,” and whose fans include Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg. (Yes, I know you have things to do but those guys are busy too.) Misch-centric titles include “Hamlet 2: This Time It’s Personal,” “The Mallardian Candidate” and “Clip Job” (named one of the best TV clip show parodies by Vulture).

The show got a second DVD release, which Forbes really liked. WatchMojo calls it the #1 Criminally Underrated Animated TV Show, Den of Geek! says it’s “one of the greatest shows of all time,” CBR describes it as “the perfect balance of intelligent, emotional, and hilarious,” and the old tongue-shaped urine-colored fowl made a cameo appearance on “Rick and Morty.”

Reddit and Facebook fans are pushing for new episodes, and Jason’s enthusiastically on board. Watch him expound on the show for the TV Academy; and/or/and check out Vulture’s analyses of three of our best shows: “Duckman and Cornfed in ‘Haunted Society Plumbers,’” “The Road To Dendron,” and “Cock Tales For Four.” 

Better, forget all that and buy those DVDs; I get 4½¢ from each sale!

 

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