Wednesday, December 28, 2011

You Know The Voice: Don Messick goes primetime (1984)

The late Don Messick compiled a mammoth body of work in cartoons, mostly at Hanna-Barbera. You know most of the characters by heart. Boo-Boo & Ranger Smith opposite Yogi Bear. Astro, The Jetsons' family pet. And, of course, Scooby-Doo. In 1984, veteran comedy writer-producer Allan Burns co-created a sitcom for MTM Productions and NBC that was the perfect place for Don to finally appear in front of the cameras.

The Duck Factory was a typical MTM ensemble comedy, more on the order of, say for example, WKRP In Cincinnati, but didn't have the ratings that NBC wanted. On the show, Don played voice actor Wally Wooster, star of the Dinky Duck Show, and, as we'll see in the episode, "The Children's Half Hour", estranged from his daughter, Wendy.

Duck Factory was the first star vehicle for Jim Carrey, but the Canadian funnyman wouldn't really hit the big time until 6 years later with a little series for Fox you might've heard of. In Living Color. The cast also includes Clarence Gilyard, Jr. (later of Matlock & Walker, Texas Ranger) and former Cracker Jack pitchman Jack Gilford.

Courtesy of JimCarreyOnline, here's "The Children's Half Hour":



4 comments:

magicdog said...

I remember this series but wasn't a regular viewer.

It was rather cool to hear Don Messick doing those voices we all know so well! It makes me miss him all the more. I think Frank Welker (and to a smaller extent, Janet Waldo) is the last of the old school VAs still alive and active in the biz.

The premise was fairly original and it was cool to have a series which focused on the animation industry at the time.

hobbyfan said...

As I recall, Duck Factory was slotted on Thursdays, but it was before NBC developed their "must-see" lineup that included The Cosby Show, Cheers, & Family Ties. The Factory came along at the wrong time.

Mario500 said...

"Duck Factory was the first star vehicle for Jim Carrey, but the Canadian funnyman wouldn't really hit the big time until 6 years later with a little series for Fox you might've heard of. In Living Color"

Many writers refer to some successful TV shows and theatrical movies as "little" and pretend the readers would not know the opposite. The author of the article above could have typed simply, "But the Canadian funnyman wouldn't really hit the big time until 6 years later with 'In Living Color' from Fox".

hobbyfan said...

Mario500: I've seen other, veteran writers use similar phrasing in writing articles to jog readers' memories. While In Living Color remains fairly recent, and reruns are currently on cable (BET & Centric have the rights presently), there might still be a few folks who might not have known about the show.

Of course, in between "Color" & "Duck Factory", Carrey made a movie with Lauren Hutton, "Once Bitten", in 1985, that still flies under the radar in some places, but has flashes of the physical comedy that would become his trademark.