The Duck Factory

6.0

1984•30m

The Duck Factory is a 1984 NBC television series produced by MTM Enterprises that is perhaps most notable for being Jim Carrey's first lead role in a Hollywood production. The show was co-created by Allan Burns. The premiere episode introduces Skip Tarkenton, a somewhat naive and optimistic young man who has come to Hollywood looking for a job as a cartoonist. When he arrives at a low-budget animation company called Buddy Winkler Productions, he finds out Buddy Winkler has just died, and the company desperately needs new blood. So Skip gets an animation job at the firm, which is nicknamed "The Duck Factory" as their main cartoon is "The Dippy Duck Show". Other Duck Factory employees seen regularly on the show were man-of-a-thousand-cartoon voices Wally Wooster; comedy writer Marty Fenneman; artists Brooks Carmichael and Roland Culp, editor Andrea Lewin, and business manager Aggie Aylesworth. Buddy Winkler Productions was now owned by his young, ditzy widow, Mrs Sheree Winkler, who had been married to Buddy for all of three weeks before his death. The Duck Factory lasted thirteen episodes; it premiered April 12, 1984. The show initially aired at 9:30 on Thursday nights, directly after Cheers, and replaced Buffalo Bill on NBC's schedule. Jay Tarses, an actor on The Duck Factory, had been the co-creator and executive producer of Buffalo Bill, which had its final network telecast on Thursday, April 5, 1984.

Production

Seasons

13 Episodes • Premiered 1984

1. Goodbye Buddy, Hello Skip

Skip Tarkenton finds his dream of being an animator coming true a lot sooner than he expected when he hops a bus to L.A.

2. Filling Buddy's Shoes

Someone must fill Buddy's shoes as the Dippy Duck showrunner. But who?

3. The Annies

A series of mishaps arise when the staff attend the Annies, where Buddy is to receive a posthumous award.

4. No Good Deed

Skip learns that no good deed goes unpunished when he gives Ginger a job she doesn't deserve and Marty's script a kinder review than it deserves.

5. The Way We Weren't

Aggie plans to attend a reunion with her old Navy pals, but when she can't scrounge a date, she asks Skip to accompany her.

6. Can We Talk?

Marty's plagiarism becomes Skip's problem.

7. The Education of Mrs. Winkler

In hopes of being smarter, Sheree decides to finally get her high school diploma, and Brooks gives her a helping hand -- and a little something extra.

8. Ordinary People, Too

Skip helps come up with the cash to fund Andrea's film project, yet doesn't get the thanks one might think.

9. It Didn't Happen One Night

The gang begin to suspect that Skip and Andrea are romantically involved. Meanwhile, Marty isn't happy about his friend's new girlfriend -- Sheree.

10. The Duck Stops Here

Wally decides to throw his hat into the Shakespeare ring after his Dippy Duck voice escapes him.

11. The Children's Half Hour

It's Children's Night at the Apollo when Brooks' son and Wally's daughter both want to further their artistic careers -- to the joy of Brooks and the dismay of Wally.

12. You Always Love the One You Hurt

Roland is pressured to quit the animation biz and follow in his father's footsteps -- as a dentist. Meanwhile, the staff consider changing the show when a parents group vote it one of the most violent kids' programs on TV.