By now you must have heard of Duck Dynasty. The show about a homespun Louisiana family and their multi-million dollar duck-call company, Duck Commander, returned for season four this week with record-shattering ratings: 11.4-million people, the most ever for a reality show on cable.
If you’ve never watched it, from one non-reality-show fan to another, let me tell you what it’s not. It’s not Honey Boo-Boo, some precocious, uninteresting kid and her family who have done nothing to warrant attention. It’s not the Real Housewives of (insert city here), a collection of plastic faces that get riled up and bitch at each other. It’s a real family that made an empire out of something organic to them – hunting ducks. And they are genuinely funny. Not only that, the show doesn’t just focus on the younger members of the clan. The wizened old men and women, including patriarch and matriarch Phil and Miss Kay, get just as much, if not more attention, than the young folk do. One has to assume that’s by design. We learned this week that they share a total of $200,000 per episode for this hit show. That’s unprecedented. It’s not only a low amount it’s a lump sum that they divide among themselves. They are quirky and different but the Robertsons are a real family and they care about each other.
Despite his wild beard and ever-present headband, Willie is the sort of sane head of the business and his brothers Jase, Allan, Jep and their wives and kids all figure in the program at some time or another. Uncle Si freely and gleefully shares his wisdom that ranges from the ridiculous to the even more ridiculous. When Miss Kay demands they remove an old motorhome from the property they come up with a brilliant plan to winch it into some trees and use it as a duck blind. It’s repurposing at its finest! When Willie realizes his son is spoiled after the boy brings home the family SUV with the gas tank on E for the umpteenth time, he takes the lad on a tour of dodgy used car lots and wrecking yards to find him a crappy vehicle of his own. They’re real people dealing with real life issues as opposed to being tossed into a living situation created purely for the cameras. There’s always something cooking in Miss Kay’s kitchen and it’s clear that she is the backbone of the family. It has big laughs, jaw-dropping moments and a few warm and fuzzies.
Duck Dynasty isn’t for everyone but it’s obviously for a lot of people. When they get into hunting, I change the channel. But when they’re just being the Robertsons and Uncle Si is waxing philosophic about how to get along with women (he has even written a book titled Si-cology!) it’s as entertaining as it gets. All I am saying is give ducks a chance.