Duckman - Seasons 3 and 4 (part VII of VII)

The last disc. I've finally made it. (More on that, later.)

Short, Plush and Deadly (w: Lisa Latham; d: Jeff McGrath & Steve Ressel): The family goes on a camping trip. Also, Cornfed nearly dies due to bug bites. It's something of a weird coincidence that this and "Westward, No!" would be right next to each other in the show's production order. While this manages to suck less than that episode (thanks to some sharp lines throughout) the whole thing is dragged down by...well, why don't I let Fluffy and Uranus tell it: "You're being insulting, abusive, degrading..." "And not in the way we like!" Jerkass Duckman makes an unwelcome return, though seeing Fluffy and Uranus hulk out and threaten to go Prophecy on his hide was nice, even if the beatdown he deserved never came to pass.

How to Suck in Business Without Really Trying (w: Ellis Weiner; d: Jaime Diaz): Art DeSalvo convinces the financially-strapped Duckman to sell his likeness to the Variecom company. Unfortunately, this means that he can no longer use the name 'Duckman'. What follows is a Kafkaesque story, with a lot of laughs and a terrific song - "I've Finally Made It".

You've Come a Wrong Way, Baby (w: Gene Laufenberg & Howard Marguiles; d: Stig Bergquist): Bernice catches Mambo smoking. Her subsequent crusade against tobacco leads her and the family at the home of tobacco company head Walt Evergreen (Jim Varney). This episode is all over the place: the family ends up having to pick tobacco, but then, Agnes Delrooney reveals herself (making one question the placement of "Crime, Punishment..."), sending her and Duckman on the run and the deus ex machina ending with Tony Randall (an impersonation; the real Randall 'wouldn't return [their] calls'). It's entertaining enough, and Varney is terrific.

Hamlet 2: This Time It's Personal (w: David Misch; d: Anthony Bell): No "Rock Me Sexy Jesus" to be found here. It's essentially Duckman getting stuck in the story of "Hamlet" and Cornfed trying to get him out of it. Pretty clever re-telling, highlighted by the play put on by Duckman and the boys.

Das Sub (w: Gene Grillo and Michael Markowitz; d: Peter Avanzino): Duckman is sentenced to community service and acts as a substitute teacher. The main story is decent enough, but the bits with Duckman infuriating the judge (Burt Reynolds!) with nonsensical defenses of horror movie franchises provide the biggest laughs.

Where No Duckman Has Gone Before (w: Gene Laufenberg; d: Steve Loter): Captain Eric Tiberius Duckman finds himself locked in a death struggle with the nefarious Khan Chicken. Yep, it's a "Star Trek" parody, and an uproarious one, at that. A lot of sharp references lead to a disturbing (though still somewhat funny) ending.

Four Weddings Inconceivable (w: Michael Markowitz; d: Steve Ressel): The wedding of Dr. Ben Stein and the lovely Dana Reynard inspires a number of marriage proposals: Cornfed to Beverly, King Chicken to Bernice and Duckman to Honey ("Cock Tales for Four"). The drama nearly overwhelms the humor, but this is a good episode and would've made a fantastic series finale if not for one surprise. (About the surprise: if there are any "Duckman" writers out there in the blogosphere, and I know of at least one, thank you for your fine work and could you please tell me where you were going with the surprise? I'm willing to pay cash, credit and first-born children.)

Special features include:

- The opening of "I, Duckman" broken down to storyboards. (Personally, I like the gag used in the episode where, as Duckman ranted, he disappeared little by little, as opposed to in the boarding process where he shrank into nothingness.)

- A series of walk cycles and expressions for the characters. It was quite fascinating to see how something like a walk could define a character.

- The original, unaired pilot, with comments from Everett Peck and Gregg Berger ("Cornfed"). Some nice bits of information, but it was mostly stuff covered in the first set. Also, it would've been nice to a) see the pilot in full and b) hear some of the original choices for casting of the characters. Still, what's here is quite nice.

Overall, it was worth the wait to get the entire series on DVD.