Duane has worked in television since the early 1980s, initially becoming involved in script work at the Hanna-Barbera animation studio (now Cartoon Network). After writing numerous scripts for such series as "Scooby and Scrappy-Doo", "Captain Caveman", "Space Stars", "Fonz and the Happy Days Gang", "Biskitts", and "Laverne and Shirley in the Army", she moved on to work in development and serve as a staff writer at Filmation, and in 1985 was hired to story-edit the DiC animated series "Dinosaucers". During this period she also wrote scripts for Sunbow Productions ("Glo Friends", "Transformers", and "My Little Pony") and Walt Disney Productions ("Duck Tales"). In 1986, she co-wrote (with Michael Reaves) the script of one of the earliest episodes of "", "Where No One Has Gone Before".