Featured TV on DVD Review: Duckman: The Complete Series
February 3, 2018
Duckman: The Complete Series - Buy from Amazon: DVD
Duckman is an animated series that ran for four years back in the mid 1990s. It picked up three Emmy nominations, but I don’t think it has stuck around in the minds of most people in the 20 years since it came off the air. Has it aged well? And is the Complete Series Megaset worth the price?
I’ve previously reviewed the show when it first came out and, having rewatched it, I have to agree with my initial assessment. I love the show and I’m glad I got a chance to rewatch it. That said, it is not for everyone and there are some issues that still stand out to this day.
Firstly, it takes a few episodes to find its stride, which is a common problem for a lot of shows, and it runs out of steam in season four. Additionally, the mix of low-brow humor and social commentary can be, well, jarring at times and it does go after some easy targets. In fact, the low-brow humor alone will limit its audience. That said, the vast majority of the episodes have high replay value and there are a dozen or so that can be considered classics of the era and there are some episodes that I still quote to this day.
There are no new extras on the 10-disc set; in fact, it is just the two previous releases reprinted. Fortunately, there are a number of extras, including an audio commentary track on the pilot, a couple of featurettes, animation tests, etc. Furthermore, the 10-disc set is just $23. That’s barely more than the 3-disc first release is selling for on Amazon right now.
Duckman: The Complete Series is one of five complete series megasets Paramount is releasing this week. The others are Bosom Buddies, The Guardian, Ren & Stimpy, and War of the Worlds. This series is the best of the five coming out, in my opinion, and the one I recommend buying the most.
Of the others, I haven’t seen Bosom Buddies in so long and I’m worried it hasn’t aged very well. The Guardian didn’t do enough to stand out, while Ren and Stimpy was great, until John Kricfalusi left for ... scheduling reasons. (He was notoriously late with work and his relationship with the network was never on the best of terms, as his humor was a little to adult for Nickelodeon.) Finally, War of the Worlds suffered from a really low production budget. It was a Canadian show and was low-budget compared to most Canadian shows.
The Show
The Extras
The Verdict
Filed under: Video Review