Don Messick could be found in cartoons, radio, and commercials, but in his career that spanned over fifty years, Messick only had one major on-camera role. That, my friends, was The Duck Factory.
Never heard of it? That's for good reason. It was a sitcom that aired on NBC for only three months in 1984. It follows the employees of the titular Duck Factory, an animation studio behind the popular in-universe animated series, "The Dippy Duck Show." Messick plays, rather fittingly, a voice actor known as Wally Wooster, allowing Messick to show his vocal talents even in a live-action setting.
The show in general had quite an impressive ensemble cast. Jay Tarses, a writer for The Bob Newhart Show, portrays a writer at the studio. Jack Gilford and Clarence Gilyard Jr. both play artists, while Teresa Ganzel, another HB voice actor, is Sheree Winkler, who runs the company. And for the lead role of cartoonist Skip Tarkenton, we have some guy named Jim Carrey. Never heard of him before.
While this all sounds fun and it definitely has the makings of a sitcom classic, the show itself is just kind of fine. It's nothing horrible for sure, but it's also not that great, either. But if you'd like to judge the show yourself, check out the first episode below. The other twelve are also available online, as the show has unfortunately never been released in full on home video. It's certainly not the best show, but it's great to see Messick perform a role for once rather than simply hear him.
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