Disney DVD Request: "The Duck Factory: The Complete Series"

[stevearino]

Dear Bob Iger,

I have a proposal for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment: to issue and release, under the 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment banner, "The Duck Factory: The Complete Series," a loving showcase of all 13 half-hour episodes of the acclaimed but short-lived 1984 sitcom "The Duck Factory" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network.

Created by Allan Burns & Herbert Klynn, "The Duck Factory" was a short-lived 13-week sitcom originally airing on NBC from April 12, 1984 - July 11, 1984, initially airing on Thursday nights at 9 P.M. ET after "Cheers" before moving permanently to Wednesday nights at 9 P.M. ET after "The Facts of Life."

The show starred a newcomer to Hollywood named Jim Carrey (born on January 17, 1962 in Newmarket, Canada), fresh out of Canada, who'd only done a few movies in Canada before then (including one where he played a Nudist), who was cast in his first lead Hollywood role as Skip Tarkenton, a Midwesterner from Duluth, Minnesota who came to Hollywood in Los Angeles, California to pursue his dream to become an animator for his idol, Buddy Winkler, at Buddy Winkler Productions for the fictional Saturday morning show-within-a-show "The Dippy Duck Show." Unbeknownst to Skip, however, upon his arrival, Buddy had just died, leaving his new widow, Sherry (Teresa Ganzel), as the new owner of Buddy Winkler Productions, Sherry having been married to Buddy (a recent widower himself at the time of their 1st meeting) only 3 weeks before he died.

Other Principal characters on "The Duck Factory" included business manager Aggie Aylesworth (Julie Payne), who knew Buddy most outside Sherry; Brooks Carmichael (Jack Gilford), the "Dippy Duck" show's head animator; Marty Fenneman (real-life comedy writer Jay Tarses), the show's head writer; Andrea Lewin (Nancy Lane), the assistant film cutter; and the voice of "Dippy Duck" himself, Wally Wooster (real-life voice actor Don Messick, known for, among other roles, Scooby Dooby Doo), who'd voiced Dippy Duck so long he'd long forgotten his own real voice.

Despite the show's short run, reruns of "The Duck Factory" aired on Nick at Nite 6 years later on April 1, 1990 for one night only at 9 P.M. ET as part of the 7 P.M. to 11 P.M. ET April Fool's Night Prank of the launch of the then-new HA! TV Comedy Network (which exactly one year later, April 1, 1991, merged with the HBO-Owned Comedy Channel to form The CTV Comedy Network, which became Comedy Central on June 1, 1991, which continued to air "The Duck Factory" for over a year regularly as part of its Sitcom Sanctuary programming block, after which it aired sporadically thereafter in reruns on Comedy Central through 1997, before Comedy Central became fully owned by Viacom, now Paramount Skydance Corporation as of August 2025), after which The HA! TV Comedy Network aired "The Duck Factory" regularly as part of its weekday Sitcom Sanctuary Programming Block of short-lived Sitcoms.

In 1995, at the height of Jim Carrey's movie star fame, a handful of "Duck Factory" episodes (including the first 3 shows) became available on VHS Tape.

Tentatively, Bob, 20th Century Studios Home Entertainment shall issue and release "The Duck Factory: The Complete Series" on DVD on Tuesday, January 6, 2026 at a cost of ONLY $24.99 wherever DVDs are sold.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino