YBMW Interview: Patrick Duffy. A Man With A Crab

PD: (laughing) Was that on Adult Swim? Because I just filmed this thing for them and it’s in the same vein in terms of its version of reality as the crab stuff.

YBMW: Nope, It was on Funnyordie.com

PD: Oh, I think, you know, it’s wise for all of us who want to continue to continue to be a part of the industry to enjoy the world where it leads you. And I’m sure that’s what Henry would say in what he’s doing.

YBMW: This isn’t the first time that you’ve had something of yours air on Adult Swim. People can see your “Family Guy” episodes as well there, right?

PD: Ya, The guy on “Family Guy,” Seth McFarland, is a huge Dallas fan. That’s how that whole thing got started. I did one with Victoria (Principal) to begin with and then came back and did a couple voice-over character things for him. I love that sense of humor. I don’t know if you know but I was once Scuzzlebutt’s left leg on South Park but not because I volunteered for it. They can just do whatever they want, they used it.

YBMW: You’ve had a nice stretch as far as different things in the industry. In fact, the first thing that people asked me about when I told them we’d be talking wasn’t “Dallas,” it was that they all wanted to know if anything was ever going to happen again with the “Man from Atlantis?”

PD: The “Man from Atlantis.” When I saw your website I thought, “You know, he’s going to be a person that knows probably more about ‘Man from Atlantis’ than he knows about ‘Dallas.'” And yeah, I don’t know. I have written the first part of a trilogy of books on “Man from Atlantis,” which is not published yet, and I’m working on the second book, and eventually will write the third one… and see if there’s a publisher out there who wants to do it. But the interesting thing is, I’ve never even seen reruns of “Man from Atlantis” on Sci-Fi anything, so I’m not sure, and I’ve never availed myself to keep track of who owns the rights and why it wouldn’t be because we did twenty one episodes out of the “Man from Atlantis.” We did thirteen episodes and four two hour movies.

I have several episodes and every once in a while someone will ask for it, so I loan ‘em out. It’s pretty rudimentary in terms of its special effects; there really weren’t any in those days. We pretty much did everything ourselves; there was no CGI, just blue screen but it was also very primitive. So I would like something; not that I would DO “Man from Atlantis”… at sixty years old you’re not about to get me in a swimming suit but, you know, I think somehow there’s a history that’s fun about that show.

YBMW: Well especially if you look and see what they did with shows like Battlestar Galactica.

PD: Yes, which I just got hooked on.

At first I didn’t watch it, the new Battlestar. My eldest son, who’s thirty-five, for Christmas got me the box set and I started watching it, and became completely hooked on it.

I just love the juxtaposition of everything. Where the Cylons have a single god, the human characters have multiple gods, it’s just all topsy-turvy, on its head, you follow one piece of logic and then they sneak up on you and you realize you’ve been totally duped by what’s going on. So, I’m only through the first season, I’m right up to where, when you listen to me I’m really a freak now, where Commander Adama just got shot…

Just from a technical standpoint, as a person in the business, I think its brilliantly written, I think it’s fantastically directed and lit, I think the performances are spot on… they stop just short of melodrama and over-the-top… in every aspect, in the writing, the directing, the performance and everything I just… I’m stunned