What a Dummy

What a Dummy is a syndicated television sitcom that lasted for one season in 1990 until 1991. The premise of the show was that the Brannigan family of Secaucus, New Jersey was getting advice from a talking, thinking ventriloquist's dummy named Buzz (voiced by Loren Freeman), who had been locked in a trunk for fifty years before being discovered by the family. Kaye Ballard played the family's next-door neighbor, Mrs. Treva Travalony. The animatronic puppet used for Buzz was created by special effects artists Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. of Amalgamated Dynamics, and puppeteered by Mark Rappaport.

Cast

 * Stephen Dorff as Tucker Brannigan
 * Joshua Rudoy as Cory Brannigan
 * David Doty as Ed Brannigan
 * Annabel Armour as Polly Brannigan
 * Janna Michaels as Maggie Brannigan
 * Kaye Ballard as Treva Travalony
 * Loren Freeman as Buzz (voice)

International broadcast
The series also aired in Germany, as Der Familienschreck (The Family Fright), Spanish countries as Vaya muñeco (Go Doll), and Italy as L’amico di legno (The Wooden Friend).