The Lucky Duck is the 23rd episode of Season 1 of Between the Lions.
| The Lucky Duck | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 23 | |
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| Air date | May 3, 2000 |
| Written by | Sarah Durkee and Christopher Cerf Richard Chevat Diana DeCubellis Ellis Weiner Joe Fallon Michael K. Fifth Judy Freudberg Tony Geiss Louise Gikow Peter Hirsch Sean Kelly Sharon Lerner Kathryn Mullen Fred Newman Norman Stiles Belinda Ward Kathy Waugh Tom Whedon |
| Directed by | David Turner |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous Episode 22: Red Hat, Green Hat |
Next Episode 24: The Old Man |
| Picture | Segment | Description |
|---|---|---|
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Celebrity | Announcer Bunny Program Preview: What's Your Name?: Short U (EKA: Episode 09: Fuzzy Wuzzy, Wuzzy?) |
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SCENE 1 | Leona introduces the audience to her family (as this was the first episode produced) and talks about how she plans to pounce on her brother Lionel while he isn't looking. Her mother, Cleo, has just arrived with a new stack of books for the library. When scanning the books, Click the Mouse mentions that one of them is about a cute little duck. Lionel says he doesn't want any cute duck books in the library, which attracts Leona's attention as she jumps at Lionel from behind. Cleo decides that it would only be fair if they read the book before they decide to keep it or not, so she gives Theo the honors of reading it. |
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SCENE 1 (Cont'd) | Right after the story is over, the duck tears himself out of the pages and angrily declares that he's tired of being cute. Despite his complaints, the lions and Click still can't resist how adorable he is. Lionel offers to help give the duck a makeover, and the two of them go off to somewhere else. Leona says she likes him just how he is, while Cleo tells her not to worry. |
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Insert | Barnaby B. Busterfield III says he has a cute little duck on his mind. The top of his head opens up, revealing a tiny rubber duck. This prompts a little boy watching the show on TV to complain about it to his mother. When she asks why a duck is there, Busterfield replies, "Why not?" |
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Insert | The grey hand takes the "u" out of "duck". |
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Puppets | Martha Reader and The Vowelles sing the short "u" sound from the word "mud". |
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Celebrity | Fred Says: mud |
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Insert | Rectangular Bugs: mud, mug, bug |
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Puppets | Arty Smartypants: bug, but, butter, butterfly |
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Cartoon | The Adventures of Cliff Hanger: Cliff Hanger and the Big Flying Rug |
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Insert | Seesaw: rug, mug, muck, duck |
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SCENE 2 | Lionel introduces the new and improved "Big Bad Duck"! The duck sings a rock-and-roll song about how tough he is now, and everyone in the library joins in. |
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SCENE 2 (Cont'd) | It turns out that, even with his new look and song, the duck is still cute. He bemoans being doomed to stay cute forever, but when Cleo tells him that the author of his book wrote him that way, Lionel suddenly gets an idea... |
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Puppets | B.B. the King of Beasts sings Troubled by the Letter Y (First: Episode 15: There's a Fly in My Soup) |
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Puppets | Information Hen answers a call about the chicken and the egg. |
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Film | What's Your Name?: Short "u" (intro redubbed) (First: Episode 09: Fuzzy Wuzzy, Wuzzy?) |
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Celebrity/
Puppets |
Stephon Marbury says the word "dunk". (First: Episode 18: Hug, Hug, Hug!) |
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Insert | Stage: dunk, duck, puck, pup |
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Cartoon | Grubby Pup (With Words) (First: Episode 09: Fuzzy Wuzzy, Wuzzy?) |
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Film | Gawain's Word: stuck |
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Cartoon | Tiger Words: truck (First: Episode 14: Lionel's Great Escape Trick) |
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Insert | The grey hand puts the "u" back in "duck". |
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SCENE 3 | Lionel returns with a book he wrote himself: "The Yucky, Yucky, Yucky Duck". The duck is excited to not be cute anymore, but Leona whines that there won't be a duck in the regular book anymore. Click quickly remedies this by making a copy of the duck and sending that one into The Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Duck. Everyone agrees that, while the duck is still cute, he isn't as cute as before, which is good enough for him. |
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Insert | Busterfield doesn't want a cute little duck on his head anymore, so it goes back inside. |
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Designated Reader | Cleo and Lionel read "The Adventures of Mississippi Skip and his Pirate Ship". (EKA: Episode 01: Pecos Bill Cleans Up the West) |
Featured Story[]
The Lucky, Lucky, Lucky Duck by Ernestine Darling
Notes and Trivia[]
- "The Lucky Duck" is available as a book by the same name, written by Sarah Durkee.
- This is the second time Lionel's shirt has orange stripes instead of green stripes. The first was in Touching the Moon.
- This appears to have been the first episode produced, as it begins with Leona introducing herself and her family to the audience. In addition, Leona's hair on her head and Cleo's eyes are noticeably different, presumably for the same reason.
- The boy from the Sam Spud: Par-Boiled Potato Detective segments makes a cameo appearance in this episode.
- The Adventures of Cliff Hanger segment is later seen in the Season 2 episode Humph! Humph! Humph!.
- This episode was last broadcasted on PBS in November 2008.
- This episode aired the same Day as Sesame Street Episode 3908 (With Elmo's World Episode: Drawing).
Allusions[]
- The Big Bad Duck is an allusion to "The Big Bad Wolf" from "Little Red Riding Hood", "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" and "The Three Little Pigs" which will be read in a season 3 episode that features the same vowel.
- At one point of "The Big Bad Duck", he impersonates the late Chuck Berry's and currently living Angus Young's famous "duck walk".
Gallery[]
This page has a limited amount of images in the template. For extended images, see The Lucky Duck/Gallery.
Quotes[]
- Busterfield: All right, that's enough. I don't want a cute little duck on my mind, anymore. Good-bye, duck.
- Duck: 'Not as cute' is good enough. Thanks, Lionel.
- Duck: Good-bye, three-dimensional world!
- Gawain: And this is Gawain saying 'don't you get stuck.'
- Duck: Oh, I am doomed to be cute forever.
- Leona: Don't be sad, little duck. I'm really glad you're still cute.
- Duck: (singing) I was a cream puff / Now I've got power.
- Duck: (singing) Instead of nice, I'm being rude / And look who's back, the duck in black / And you'd better watch out / I'm in a 'fowl' mood.
- Lionel: You've heard of the big, bad wolf. Well, stand back and get ready for the big, bad duck.
- Boy: Mom, there's a statue with a duck coming out of the top of his head!
- Mom: Why a duck?
- Busterfield: (wearing Groucho Marx mustache and glasses) Why not?! Ha ha ha ha. Come on, yuk it up! This is classic comedy!
- Duck: I want power. I want respect.
- Lionel: It's over! It's over! The cuteness is over!
- Duck: It's over, all right. I am sick and tired of being nothing but cute. Cute all the time, cute!
- Leona: I like cute duck books!
- Leona: Shh. I'm sneaking up on my brother, Lionel. I'm gonna jump on him, and he doesn't even know it.
Cast[]
- Anthony Asbury - Lionel Lion
- Kathryn Mullen - Leona Lion
- Peter Linz - Theo Lion, Announcer Bunny, Gawain, "Grubby Pup" singer
- Jennifer Barnhart - Cleo Lion, mother
- Tim Lagasse - Barnaby B. Busterfield III, Arty Smartypants
- Heather Asch - Click the Mouse, Information Hen
- Tyler Bunch - various
- Jim Napolitiano - various
- Rick Lyon - various
- Matt Vogel - various
- Fred Newman - himself, The Lucky Duck, golf announcer
- Michael K. Frith - Cliff Hanger announcer
- Chris Phillips - Cliff Hanger, Bug
- Stephon Marbury - himself
- Jack Berner - boy (uncredited)
- Makeba Mooncycle - What's Your Name? singer (uncredited)
- Babi Floyd - Vowelles announcer
- Paul Jacobs - What's Your Name? backup singer
Releases[]
- VHS (Singular episode; June 5, 2001, later reprinted on October 1, 2002)
- Complete First Season 5-Disc DVD Boxset (January 8, 2008)
