| Duckman | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man |
| Genre | Adult animation Animated sitcom |
| Created by | Everett Peck |
| Based on | Duckman by Everett Peck |
| Developed by |
|
| Directed by |
|
| Starring | |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| No. of episodes | 70(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
|
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 22–23 minutes |
| Production companies |
|
| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | March 5, 1994 (1994-03-05) – September 6, 1997 (1997-09-06) |
Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man, commonly known simply asDuckman, is an Americanadultanimated sitcom created and developed byEverett Peck, based on the characters he created in his 1990 one-shot comic book published byDark Horse Comics.Duckman aired on theUSA Network from March 5, 1994, through September 6, 1997, for 4 seasons and70 episodes. It follows Eric Tiberius Duckman (voiced byJason Alexander), aprivate detective who lives with his family.
After airing in syndication, the series gained acult following.[1] Spin-off media include volume DVDs released from 2008 to 2009, a comic book collection released byTopps between 1994 and 1996, aComplete Series DVD set released in 2018, and a video game entitledDuckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick forMicrosoft Windows. The series was listed amongIGN's "Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows" in 2009 and received three nominations at thePrimetime Emmy Awards.
In a universe where humans and anthropomorphic animals coexist, the series centers on EricTiberius Duckman (voiced byJason Alexander),[2] a widowed, lewd, self-hating, egocentricanthropomorphic duck who lives with his family inLos Angeles (as mentioned in the episode "Bev Takes a Holiday") and works as a private detective. The tagline of the show, seen in the opening credits, is "Private Dick/Family Man".
Main characters include Cornfed (voiced byGregg Berger), a pig who is Duckman'sJoe Friday–esque business partner and only friend; Ajax (voiced byDweezil Zappa), Duckman's eldest, slow-witted teenage son; Charles (voiced byDana Hill and laterPat Musick) and Mambo (voiced byE. G. Daily), Duckman's geniusconjoined twins whoseheads share a body; Bernice (voiced byNancy Travis), the identical twin of Duckman's presumed-dead wife Beatrice, a fanatical fitness buff who hates Duckman with a passion; and Grandma-ma (voiced by Travis), Duckman's comatose, immensely flatulent mother-in-law.
Recurring characters include Agnes Delrooney (voiced byBrian Doyle-Murray), Grandma-ma'sdoppelgänger who kidnaps her and poses as her until near the end of the final season; Fluffy and Uranus (voiced by Musick), Duckman's two obsessivelypolitically correctCare Bear–esque pink and blueteddy bear office assistants; George Herbert Walker "King" Chicken (voiced byTim Curry), a supervillain who schemes to ruin Duckman's life as retribution for ruining his high school tenure; Beverly (voiced by Travis), Beatrice and Bernice's long-lost sister; and Gecko, Duckman's pet dog (which he had stolen and renamed).
In the final episode, four couples (Dr. Stein/Dana Reynard, Duckman/Honey, King Chicken/Bernice, Cornfed/Beverly) get married – the last three in a joint ceremony. The kids, Fluffy and Uranus, and a number of characters from previous episodes are in attendance. As the ceremonies draw to a close, 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. Cornfed says, "I can explain." The show then ends with "To be continued...?" superimposed on the screen. In regards to thiscliffhanger,Duckman writer Michael Markowitz offered the following shortly after the series came to an end: "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."[3] On August 13, 2015, Markowitz posted on his Twitter page in response to a question from a fan about the cliffhanger, "Was then (& now) an #XFiles fan (bride in ep was Dana Reynard, a Mulder-Scully hint) so involved gov't coverup of aliens".[4]
The series consists of 70 episodes that aired on Saturday nights from 1994 to 1997 at 10:30 PM[5] and later 10:00 PM[6] on theUSA Network. It later reran onComedy Central from 2000 to 2006. InSpain, it aired onCanal+ in the 1990s and onCartoon Network from 2000 to 2001 through a nightly block aimed at adults, vaguely as a pre-beta toAdult Swim, both times alongsideThe Critic. In theUnited Kingdom, it aired onSky 1 andBBC Two, and inCanada, it is a former program onMTV2 andTeletoon. The initialshowrunners were Peck, Reno and Osborn, and the show was produced in association withParamount Network Television.Klasky Csupo animated and produced the show; around the same time, they were also producingAaahh!!! Real Monsters onNickelodeon.[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. ProducerGene 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 music fromFrank Zappa's published catalog (Zappa died several months prior to this series' premiere).
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | March 5, 1994 (1994-03-05) | June 11, 1994 (1994-06-11) | |
| 2 | 9 | March 11, 1995 (1995-03-11) | May 8, 1995 (1995-05-08) | |
| 3 | 20 | January 6, 1996 (1996-01-06) | July 6, 1996 (1996-07-06) | |
| 4 | 28 | January 4, 1997 (1997-01-04) | September 6, 1997 (1997-09-06) | |
Between 1994 and 1996, various comic books were published byTopps based on the TV series.[9] These were largely written and drawn by others, includingJay Lynch,Scott Shaw! andCraig Yoe. Topps also reprinted Peck's original 1990Duckman comic.
In January 2008,TVShowsOnDVD.com reported thatDuckman 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 byCBS DVD/Paramount Home Entertainment.
With the DVD releases, many episodes were edited to remove copyrighted music because of royalty issues. As a result, they differ somewhat from the aired TV episodes. However, Everett Peck was involved in the process of the DVD releases and he felt the most important music was preserved.[13]
TheComplete Series DVD was released on February 6, 2018.[14]
| Title | Season(s) | Episode count | Release date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume 1: The Complete First and Second Seasons | 1 and 2 | 22 | September 16, 2008 (2008-09-16) |
| This three-disc release contained the entire first two seasons. | |||
| Volume 2: The Complete Third and Fourth Seasons | 3 and 4 | 48 | January 6, 2009 (2009-01-06) |
| This seven-disc release contained the entire final two seasons. | |||
| The Complete Series | 1–4 | 70 | February 6, 2018 (2018-02-06) |
| This ten-disc release contained the entire series. | |||
In May 1997, apoint-and-click adventure computer game,Duckman: The Graphic Adventures of a Private Dick, was released forMicrosoft 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. APlayStation port was planned for a release in the first quarter of 1997 but it was cancelled.[15]
The show was critically acclaimed.[16][17][18] In January 2009,IGN listedDuckman as the 48th best in the Top 100 Best Animated TV Shows.[19]
Episodes "T.V. or Not to Be", "Noir Gang", and "Haunted Society Plumbers" were nominated for aPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1994, 1996, and 1997, respectively.[20]
System: PlayStation, Release date: 1st Qtr, '97
