Hello and welcome to the penultimate installment of Laughing Place’s regular recap of the new scripted podcast This Duckburg Life, which expands upon the fictional universe and characters established in Disney XD’s popular DuckTales reboot.
Listen to DuckTales Podcast | Episode 6: Out to Lunch | Disney XD:
Episode 6 of This Duckburg Life, entitled “Out to Lunch,” begins with host Huey Duck (voiced by Danny Pudi) asking “What makes for the best stories?” Is it non-stop action or romance? No, Huey says the best stories are often snapshots of everyday life, and explains how he recently spent the day with Launchpad McQuack (Beck Bennett), the McDuck family’s accident-prone personal pilot and limo driver. Of course early on in the day Launchpad crashes into a stop sign, and then a stop sign factory. Huey’s brother Louie Duck (Bobby Moynihan) interrupts the broadcast for a commercial promoting his new business called Louie’s Luncheon, a food delivery service that also sends you your own personal chef to cook your meal. “Lunch just got a lot more lazy.”
Huey discovers that Launchpad has a “rigid daily routine” that entails him crashing the limousine, getting pulled over and ticketed by Duckburg police, and visiting the drive-through at Burrito Belly where he orders the exact same menu items every day. Except one day he finds that Burrito Belly has been closed down and replaced by a new fast-food restaurant called Sushi Shenanigans. “Raw fish? For food? What is this, some kind of prank show? I refuse to end up on one of those a third time!” Launchpad crashed the limo again on his way out of the drive-through and become anxious about what else in his life may change. He gets pulled over by Policewoman Paula again and wonders aloud if she’s going to give him raw fish instead of a ticket as well. Louie then cuts in with another ad for Louie’s Kitten Cleaners, “the only service that will send a team of adorable kittens right to your home to lick all of your dishes clean.”
Launchpad consults with his stomach about where to eat in lieu of Burrito Belly, and his stomach convinces him to return to Sushi Shenanigans and try something new. The drive-through attendant Sal offers Launchpad a sample of “some of our best sushi,” which he loves, though he confuses the wasabi for guacamole, the soy sauce for soda, and chopsticks for “weird broken forks.” Sal promises Launchpad that since he likes burritos so much, the next time he comes in he’ll make a sushi burrito just for him. Huey says this event transformed Launchpad from a creature of habit to a creature of spontaneity, trying all the exciting new dishes his friend Sal whipped up like eel nachos, tentacle taquitos, tortilla miso soup, spicy chipotle tuna rolls, and sashimi quesadillas.
Launchpad says he wants to spread the word about Sal’s special menu to his friends and family, but Sal reminds him he’s only supposed to make food from Sushi Shenanigans’ regular menu. “That’s not fair. You should be able to make whatever you want,” responds Launchpad, suggesting that Sal open his own restaurant: “You could call it Launchpad’s… no, wait– Sal’s! That’s even better because your name is Sal.” Sal admits it’s always been his dream to open his own restaurant, but can’t afford the rent on a building. Launchpad says maybe a restaurant doesn’t need a building, and the two continue to build their relationship as the pilot establishes a new habit of visiting Sushi Shenanigans every day.
Then one day Launchpad pulls up to the restaurant’s drive-through to find that Sal isn’t working there anymore. The new attendant, Carla, tells Launchpad that Sal got fired for making his own off-menu concoctions. He tries ordering a sushi burrito, then freaks out when Carla doesn’t know what that is. He crashes the limo yet again and goes off in search of Sal. We get another commercial from Louie promoting a third business called Louie’s Little Old Ladies, “the only service that will send a team of sweet old ladies to your house to adopt all those cute little kittens!” Launchpad tries looking for Sal at all the other drive-through businesses in Duckburg, including StarDucks Coffee, the First Duckburg Bank, and a drive-through wedding chapel, all to no avail.
Policewoman Paula tickets Launchpad for driving circles in the middle of the road, then consoles him as he breaks down in tears because he’s unable to find Sal and feels guilty for his friend losing his job. Suddenly Launchpad gets the idea that Sal may be collecting seafood from Duckburg Pier, and races to his new destination. Along the way, he notices a big truck following behind him and honking at the limo. “Stop honking at me! I’m trying to find my friend Sal!” He fails to lose the truck, which follows him all the way to the pier where he attempts to drive into the ocean, though he once again forgets to put the car in forward and backs into Sal’s new food truck. Launchpad is ecstatic to discover his friend is okay and has become an entrepreneur, and promises that his boss Scrooge McDuck will pay for the damage he caused to the truck.
Sal tells Launchpad he was responsible for giving him the idea to launch the business. “In fact, I even named my food truck after you…. it’s called the Lunch-Pad.” Launchpad is honored, but he wonders to himself, “Should I tell him he spelled my name wrong?” Sal offers to make Launchpad a sushi burrito on the house as his first customer. “Can I have it on a plate instead? A house might be kind of heavy to lift.” Huey says both Sal and Launchpad had inspired each other to venture beyond their old routines and try something new. Then Launchpad shows up to pick Huey up from the recording studio, and proceeds to crash the limo one last time. “At least it wasn’t a stop sign… oh wait, it was.” Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo) reads the podcast’s credits once again.
The final episode of This Duckburg Life will be released next Monday on the Disney XD YouTube channel.