I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about Klasky Csupo a very weird animation company with a very weird style of animation. Everything looked weird in their cartoons. You either loved it or hated it. I put my self in the love section even if it was just for todays show, but honestly I felt the weird animation designs brought a lot to Rugrats and Ahhh Real Monsters! too. Founded by Arlene Klasky (no relation to Garfield's girlfriend) and Gabor Csupo (I wish my name was Gabor that's a fun name to say) and they were honestly ALL over the place in the 1990s. From the early episodes of the Simpsons to friggin Mad TV with the Spy Vs. Spy bits. Yes, they even did stuff that wasn't in their weird-o style. Pretty neat huh! Don't forget they worked with Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo! Who doesn't love that?!
DuckMan was originally created by Everett Peck for a comic book in 1990. He first appeared in Dark Horse Presents #22 ALL the way back in 1988. Yes that's right they were making shows based off comic books that weren't superheroes even back in the 1990s. They mine comic books for ideas and people still don't give 'em any respect. Sad as hell man. Anyway, there would be more Duckman comics off and on until Klasky/Csupo and USA Network got the idea to try a show, which premiered on March 5th, 1994. It was not very popular during its run there sadly, never having the greatest popularity but a cult following did help the show last 4 seasons and 70 episodes.
I did not get to see this show until it was canceled. In the late 1990s (1997 to be exact) Canada got it's second full time station dedicated to children, called TeleToon. Teletoon well showed cartoons. I don't know if they ever started doing live action Television because I don't have cable anymore. I live in a future where you can get literally every damn thing that you want, unless someone never recorded it from television, still I do miss deciding between two things that weren't all that great. "Yeah sure I'll watch The Vulture (1967) over 6 episodes in a row of City Guys. I do have a lot of nostaliga for early Teletoon like the first few years, ESPECIALLY the later in the night stuff. They'd show like season 1-3 of the Simpsons a lot. I don't know why it was just those seasons. They'd show weird shit from all over the world like Pond Life. It was pretty terrible but they would show it. All kinds of Hanna Barbera stuff. A really fun time to watch stuff, or have it play out in the background as you talk about NES games or Horror movies on some forum. Ahhh to be a teenager again.
Duckman was one of the shows I would always make sure I'd actually sit down and watch, not just have it on in the background. I thought the show was hilarious and incredibly entertaining. I'm pretty sure Teletoon had it on for at least a good decade. I could be wrong about that, again I don't have the TV guides to find out what was on in the end of the 1990s to the end of the 2000s. Just that I watched a hell of a lot of this show. Duckman was the life story of one Eric Duckman who is uh very horny and very abrasive. He's just lost his wife and doesn't know what is gonna happen to him and his family. He has to live with his Sister In Law Bernice who uh, doesn't like him very much. He has three children although two of them share a body (I don't know if this was Klasky/Csupo's weird ass idea or Everett Peck's) Ajax, Charles and Mambo (Duckman always gets his name wrong). Charles and Mambo are child genusies while Ajax is dumb as a rock. Duckman's day job is that of a detective. His partner is Cornfed Pig. He also works with Fluffy and Uranus, two teddy bears that Duckman ALWAYS destroyes in horrible yet comedic fashion. I also have to mention his other Sister In Law who comes around in Season 3, and also King Chicken because it's Tim Curry and well he always has to be talked about.
The Final Episode of Duckman entitled Four Wedding Inconceivable! came about on September 7th, 1997 (which was about a month before TeleToon came to be!) is about well, Four Weddings. It starts at Ben Stein's character's wedding where he gets married to a beautiful woman. Duckman comes in late and DOESN'T hit on the bride. DOESN'T act like a dickhead so everyone is worried about him. It turns out that he's in love! In love with HONEY CHICKEN! King Chicken's ex wife! King Chicken is in love with Bernice! Cornfed is in love with Beverly (his other sister in law). At the wedding JUST after everyone is married, Beatrice, the wife Duckman thought was dead pops in. Everyone is shocked until she says "Didn't Cornfed tell you!?" That's where the episode ends on a fucking hell shit ass fuck cliffhanger that is STILL pissing me off 24 years later! I swear I'm amazed I haven't found where Michael Markowitz (the guy who wrote this episode) lives and just sit outside his doorstep until he tells me! Apparently he told someone on Twitter that it was going to involve government coverups of aliens! THAT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO SEE PART II EVEN MORE.
FINAL VERDICT: Cliffhanger aside, this is a pretty fun episode. My favorite part was King Chicken finally learning what sex was and running out side to vomit. His ex-wife even got him to vomit just by saying penis. I dunno, It made me laugh and I enjoyed watching it. I can't really say much more than that. I'm curious about how some of my other favorite moments from this show stand up and I can't wait to finally re-watch this show. (Also this is my 69th post on my blog and it feels good that it was this show)
This reply is going to make you MAD and NOT FUN because I hate Duckman. It's an awful, awful show that is trite and cliched. I know a lot of TV is cliched but this one is really bad with it. HAHA Duckman's horny. HAHA Cornfed is the straight man. Even the teddy bears get tiresome quick.
ReplyDeleteAnd before you say it, I watched ALL of this show. Young Port didn't exactly do much of the "social interactions" or the "going out and being socialable on the weekends" so he stayed home and watched slop like this and played SNES games. This show is my category of regret with total shit like The Wonder Years (which I only watched because my dad liked it because he was nostalgic for HIS childhood. This is like my son watching me watch The Goldbergs, which is THE SAME EXACT SHOW just without Fred Savage and with more Jews) and Doug (which SUCKS ASS. DOUG IS A WEINER. HE IS A SOFT FLACCID PENIS. I WILL NOT EVEN CALL HIM A COCK OR DICK.). There are plenty more shows but I already gave you enough ideas for FINAL EPISODE POSTS about BAD TV SHOWS.
Anyway, yeah I watched it and no it is not good. At all.
Now that you are mad at me, I will write MORE WORDS which will gradually calm your Port Rage. Obscure comics were the 90s go-to source mine. There's this. Then Men In Black. Dinosaurs for Hire. I am sure there are more I can't think of. I am still shocked they never made a MILK & CHEESE anything.
Klasky Csupo was definitely the 90s royalty of animation. They were indeed everywhere. I watched all of Rugrats and I borderline regret that. It wasn't bad like Doug but it was definitely not something I should have been watching at age 11.
This episode sounds dumb because they broke out the long dead wife got gotcha purposes. That's dumb. And they got bit on the ass because they got canceled on a cliffhanger. That happens a lot and you'd think TV producers would only back into cliffhanger season enders when they have a new season already greenlit.
So that's that. This show stinks. Speaking of which, do the last episode of The Critic because that series is fantastic and the last epsiode is awesome. Especially since it's a clip show that's not really a clip show in the traditional sense.
Duckman is great hilarious TV and you stink.
ReplyDeleteDoug is also a fun show about being a kid. Same with Rugrats, the older I get the more I like them way more than Ren and Stimpy.
I like the Wonder Years and I wasn't born in the 1960s, Jerk. It was a good tv show.
Young Port is like old port. A damn jerk.
I want to own more obscure comics like this one from the 1990s. If only for my silly little blog.
I don't have a problem with Rugrats. It was just when it aired and I watched it, I was already aged out of the demographic for it. It's like watching Sesame Street when you were 9 instead of 4. I can abide by a claw rating of good and fun for it.
ReplyDeleteI stand by my calls. Doug is about being a lame nerd. It encourages having no confidence as being acceptable. He's just a weiner.
The Wonder Years was a blowjob for our parents. You are not supposed to like it. It is bad and not fun because it indulges the same stupid tendencies that caused our parents to essentially ruin society when they became adults. The Wonder Years's only saving grace is Danica whatshername aged like a fine wine and the butthead brother was funny. Otherwise it was trash.
Duckman still sucks.
Wrong on all counts except Rugrats. Turd.
ReplyDelete