Sitcoms Online Photo Galleries - Duck Factory: Jim Carrey

The Duck Factory ran from April until July 1984 on NBC.

The Duck Factory was set in a small run-down Hollywood animation studio peopled by the loony crew who produced a tv cartoon show called Dippy Duck. The newest employee was Skip Tarkenton ( Jim Carrey), an eager young cartoonist fresh from the midwest and bursting with excitement at his first professional job. His wide-eyed innocence contrasted sharply with the cynicism of his co-workers: Brooks ( Jack Gilford), the fatherly artist full of doubts about his own brilliance; Andrea ( Nancy Lane), the sarcastic man-hungry film editor; Marty ( Jay Tarses), the two-bit gag writer; Roland ( Clarence Gilyard, Jr), the only black storyboard artist in the business; and Wally ( Don Messick, the real voice of such cartoon characters as Boo Boo of Yogi Bear, Ruff of Ruff and Reddy, and Scooby-Doo to name a few), the voice over narrator who had a repertoire of so many cartoon voices that he had long sense forgotton his own voice. Buddy Winkler, the tyrannical owner of the studio, had just died and the place was virtually leaderless when Skip arrived, so the whole crew turned to the reluctant newcomer to save Dippy Duck-which was constantly on the verge of cancellation by the network. This brought the enmity of Aggie( Julie Payne), the pushy, penny-pinching business manager who thought she should be in charge, but also the appreciation of Mrs. Winkler ( Teresa Ganzel), the sexy young bimbo whom Buddy had met and married only 3 weeks before his demise-and who was therefore, now the studio's owner.

A Review from TV Guide
Published on May 26-June 1, 1984

Review by Robert MacKenzie

Wouldn't you love to meet the folks who bring you one of those cheesy Saturday morning cartoon shows?

I know, neither would I. That may be one reason I have trouble staying with this new NBC comedy series.

A naive young cartoonist named Skip ( Jim Carrey) arrives in Hollywood by bus, dazzled by all the sleazy louts and oddballs on Hollywood Beulevard-only to find that his would-be new boss, cartoon king Buddy Winkler is deceased. But he gets the job anyway. The unlamented Buddy has left behind a run-down animation studio and a squad of disgruntled employees who struggle to find something nice to say at his funeral. The animation studio is a steamy little hotbox of contesting egos and assorted dips.

Aggie ( Julie Payne) is a lascivious baracuda who wants to run the place. Andrea ( Nancy Lane) is a cute but caustic wisecracker who is after Skip. Jack Gilford plays an old-time artist who is humorously bitter about being overworked and underpaid. There is the voiceman ( Don Messick), the gag writer ( Jay Tarses), the animator( Clarence Gilyard, Jr), and there is the late Winkler's wife ( Teresa Ganzel), who is-how shall I put it?-a bimbo. " I was always picking up after Buddy," burbles Mrs. Winkler . " He was always dropping his pants in the darndest places." To which Andrea cracks: " So I've heard."

To give you an idea, one episode revolved around who would get a producer credit on the Dippy Duck Show. When Skip's water bed collapsed, he was obliged to spend the weekend at Mrs. Winkler's house. The next Monday, she named him producer of the show.Skip's colleagues were sure he had slept with her to get the job. It didn't help that he had tried to sneak into work wearing his deceased boss's clothes.

This show wants to be charming, and there's an air of sweetness about several of the characters-notably the innocent Skip, the airheaded Mrs. Winkler and the grousy but good-hearted Brooks ( Gilford). But the characters are always perpetrating minor cruelties on one another, and the office cynicism gets excessively heavy. Aggie apparently sleeps with network clients to bring in business, and nobody seems to be having much fun making the Dippy Duck show.

In one story the staff went to the Annie Awards all hoping to win something. Everyone lost but the late Buddy. Roland's date turned out to be a hooker, and Marty ( Tarses) who had pointlessly lied that Veronica Hamel was his date was saved when Hamel showed up as a presenter. Mrs. Winkler impulsively fired Brooks when he blurted out that her late husband had been a " cheep" conniving bastard. " This was patched up, but Brooks language left a bad taste; too strong for a lightweight comedy.

A sidelight: This show is filmed rather than videotaped. You wouldn't know the diference, maybe, if you weren't trained to see it, but there are changes of mood and atmosphere between the two. Film has more dept and subtlety and suggests more complexity. Video pictures are flatter, harder-edged, crisper and may be more suited for sitcoms. The choice of film may be another sign that somebody is confused here.

For more on The Duck Factory go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Duck_Factory

For more on The Duck Factory go to http://www.tvacres.com/birds_ducks_dippy.htm

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