La fabbrica delle anatre

I remember seeing "The Duck Factory" on NBC as a teenager( makes two who saw it). I had an interest in voice-work and animation, plus curious to see what Don Messick looked like.

The show was OK, from what I remember, but felt NBC did not really give it a chance. Typical of shows that are actually good but the almighty dollar, and ratings, rules so it was cut.

Thought up by veteran MTM writer-producer Allan Burns, "The Duck Factory" was set backstage at an animation studio specialising in "The Adventures of Dippy Duck." This delightful but short-lived comedy got a video release when Jim Carrey's career took off, and disappointed people expecting to see him clowning around the place; as the talented young animator newly arrived at the studio and who's charged with retooling the show (his first suggestion is to kill off a main character, but when the producer objects, Skip [Carrey's character] quickly bounces back with "Did I mention this takes place in outer space?" As anyone who's seen enough Hanna-Barbera shows will attest, this gambit is hardly unrealistic...), he mostly plays straight man to the more off-tilt people around him. He's never been as good since. (I'm serious.)

As a lifelong cartoon fan, this behind-the-scenes show was a treat - one episode taking potshots at well-meaning but often misguided PC consultants was particularly good (the show fell victim to whining about cartoon violence and agreed to tone it down, but the results were so dire that they went back to the old fashion - and this was several years before "The Simpsons" did the episode with Marge taking on Itchy and Scratchy!). Plus the cast included the great Don Messick as the star of their voice cast and Jay Tarses as the show's writer who wanted to be more; "The Duck Factory" may only be a footnote in the MTM story, but it deserved to be more. And note: Apart from the abortive pilot "Carlton, Your Doorman" (as in "This is..." - it revolved around the unseen character from "Rhoda"), this was MTM's only foray (so to speak... if you're not a cartoon fan, you won't get the joke) into animation.

"Where's the cat?" (QUACK!)

My grade is projecting on a curve. Almost every sitcom starts slowly (in the first few episodes), because it has to set up the premise and introduce the characters. It spends the next few episodes trying to decide which characters deserve the most airtime. After 8-10 shows run, the show gets feedback from viewers, critics and the industry and fine-tunes. If it's going to be any good, it builds.

THE DUCK FACTORY got only 13 episodes-- and was screwed from day one. NBC originally intended to air it in the fall, but the network decided to give BUFFALO BILL (a low-rated well-reviewed sitcom) another chance. So the show got pushed back as a mid-season replacement.

That meant the creative team-- Creator Alan Burns (who co-created the Mary Tyler Moors Show), Director Gene Reynolds (M*A*S*H and Lou Grant), Producers Rod Daniel (WKRP In Cincinnati) , Thad Mumford (M*A*S*H, Maude) and Dan Wilcox (M*A*S*H, America 2-Night)-- had to work in a vacuum

Given their resumes, they probably would have figured it out. But NBC also ran the episodes out of order.-- even though the show used a continuing storyline. How bad was it? The pilot episode featured a cliffhanger-- the second episode (which resolved it) was the 13th episode aired. The tenth episode produced aired third

(If you want to go to YouTube and watch the show in sequence, the correct order is episode 1-13-10-3-4-6-8-2-5-9-11-7).

After airing seven episodes NBC pre-empted it for one week-- then switched the timeslot from Thursday at 9:30 to Wednesday. Audiences-- already disconcerted by watching episodes out of order-- probably assumed it had been cancelled. Which NBC soon did.

Was it good? Not eight stars- maybe six. It was so busy setting up its premise (which was involved) that it had to shortchange on jokes a bit.

All-American Boy grew up in Duluth Minnesota watching Dippy Duck cartoons. Once he graduates, he sends Dippy's creator his portfolio-- and gets hired. He moves out to Hollywood-- and arrives the day of the creator's funeral.

It turns out the boss was a control freak who ordered everyone around, so his staff is now rudderless. The network head is new and doesn't like the show anymore. Oh, and the boss married an airhead topless dancer three weeks before he died.

So young Skip Tarkenton (who idolizes all the employees because he's such a geek that he watches credits) has to save the day.

Burns got his start working for Jay Ward, on the Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Ward was allegedly a lot like this show's dead boss. So there are a string of jabs at cheapskate owners who hump the help, clueless network and the cut-throat industry. The heroes of the show are the underpaid, overworked shoestring staff.

If you know how cartoons are made, the show is VERY funny. If you come in cold, your mileage might vary. One episode has the voice of Dippy (played by Don Messick, the voice of Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, Muttley, Boo-Boo and Ranger Smith) temporarily forgetting how to do his voice-- and running the risk (they can't wait for him to work it out) of being replaced.

Something like that nearly happened to a legendary voice actor. You might not buy the premise if you don't know it. A lot of the jokes (the production is outsourced to Panama, where the peons make 50 cents a day) seem over the top. ("Could it really be that bad?" you wonder. Actually, yeah (or pretty close).

One thing that disappoints everyone who digs episodes up. Yes, the star of the show is Jim Carrey. But he's 22, playing his first major role-- and he's playing "Naive midwestern kid in the Big City." Of course he is bland. Carrey starts to get more whacked out as the show progresses-- one can imagine him becoming hilarious in season two.

But the show never got that far.

Jack Gilford (as a legendary animator), Messick, Theresa Ganzel (the wife) and Julie Payne (the hard-nosed business manager) are all funny. Everyone else seems to have potential to be at least pretty good.

But NBC killed it before the show got rolling-- thereby proving the cracks about the network were on-target.

The basic concept was earnest, young art school grad Jim Carrey lands his dream job at a venerable animation studio only to find the crazy people who work there are running the place into the ground and it is up to him to be the responsible grown up who keeps it all together. See the irony? One of the greatest physical comics ever, a man who is himself a living cartoon character, is locked into a straight-man role, while everyone else on the show is supposed to be a lunatic. Carrey is such a good actor that when he emerged a decade later as a wild man on "In Living Color," I was absolutely amazed. It didn't help anything that this show took the time slot of the truly inspired "Buffalo Bill" show with, oh, you know, Dabney Coleman, Gina Davis...

I loved this show from the first episode -- I thought it was laugh-out-loud funny. I'm a big Teresa Ganzel fan, and also thought Jack Gilford was a treasure. Who knows what might have happened with even minimal support from the network? Perhaps in some people's view it suffered from too much inside humor, but as I remember it, the humor didn't require a great deal of industry knowledge to understand.

I had completely forgotten Jim Carrey starred on this show -- proof that back then, he could play comedy that wasn't over the top. Teresa Ganzel, though, provide my most enduring memories of "The Duck Factory" -- her "dumb blonde" shtick was the best this side of the late Carol Wayne.

In summary, there have been many inferior shows that lasted on air longer.