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Series

The Duck Factory

1984 · 1 season · 13 episodes · Ended · NBC

Comedy

TMDB 6.1 · 8 votes

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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.

Episodes

  • S01E01Goodbye Buddy, Hello Skip1984-04-1230m

    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.

  • S01E02Filling Buddy's Shoes1984-04-1930m

    Someone must fill Buddy's shoes as the Dippy Duck showrunner. But who? Skip (Jim Carrey) abandons his room at the studio in the wake of a waterbed flood, out of his temporary residence at Mrs. Winkler's estate, and brings a plague of innuendo from colleagues who resented his assignment to produce "Dippy Duck."

  • S01E03The Annies1984-04-2630m

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

  • S01E04No Good Deed1984-05-0330m

    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.

  • S01E05The Way We Weren't1984-05-1030m

    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.

  • S01E06Can We Talk?1984-05-1730m

    Marty's plagiarism becomes Skip's problem.

  • S01E07The Education of Mrs. Winkler1984-05-2430m

    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.

  • S01E08Ordinary People, Too1984-06-0630m

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

  • S01E09It Didn't Happen One Night1984-06-1330m

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

  • S01E10The Duck Stops Here1984-06-2030m

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

  • S01E11The Children's Half Hour1984-06-2730m

    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.

  • S01E12You Always Love the One You Hurt1984-07-0430m

    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.

  • S01E13Call Me Responsible1984-07-1130m

    The ball is in Skip's hands when the show needs someone to fight for it at the network, or it will be cancelled.

Cast