Duck Dynasty

"Duck Dynasty", a new reality series on A&E, focuses on the Robertson clan- a southern family who have made a multi-million dollar mini-empire in the duck-call business. We mainly follow Willie, the current CEO of Duck Commander (their business), as he tries to get his insanely Southern family and friends to keep the business together, while they just want to spend their time having fun, hunting and living off the land.

I will give credit where it is due, it is an addicting series, and is a lot of fun to watch. Willie actually comes across as a decent, nice Southern boy who is in over his head taking care of the family business. And some of the family and friends are an absolute riot to watch. I've seen three episodes, and it is a joy to sit through, cackling both at and with the Robertson family.

The series, thus far, has centered on feuds within the family, mainly as Willie tries to expand their business and get more deals for them. All while his workers are intent to do their own thing, and Willie himself gets distracted by various tasks, including catching frogs, participating in a cooking DVD, and trying to stop his workers from flooding their business' parking lot to make a pond to test the calls out in. It's engaging to an extent.

The problem with the series is the same problem I have with many reality series, however. There are always a few sore thumbs in the cast that you can't stand.

Now I don't mind Southern People. Although I'm from Upstate New York, I have family down in the Carolinas and further down. I don't even mind rednecks all that much, a lot of them are decent people and can be fun to hang around with and go fishing with.

What I don't like are rednecks (or any group of people, for that matter) who seem to go out of their way to try and prove every negative stereotype about them, and there are a few of those in this show. Also, some of the old-fashioned and downright misogynistic/misandry viewpoints some of the people express on the shows are kind of appalling. (Ex. Women must cook and clean, men have to be uber-manly, etc. Antiquated ideas that don't mean much in the modern world.)

Also, after three episodes, I'm also concerned about the show perhaps not being able to remain fresh over time. Unless there are some big revelations or change-ups, I don't see myself watching past the first season.

That being said, this is a decent reality-TV show, and it's a lot of fun to enjoy. For the most part, the cast are fun, real people you will love to laugh with, and it'll give you a great half-hour of TV. I give it a very decent 7 out of 10.

I have never hunted a day in my life, but saw the commercials for this show and watched the first episode just because it looked kind of funny to me. Well, since that first episode, I look forward to Wednesday night's more than any other night and cannot wait to watch every week! My entire family watches the show, and we all laugh and have a great time. I don't care if it is not all real, or if it is fake, I don't care. It is a great show, with a message at the end and throughout the course of the entire show. Jase and Si crack me up every week, and I find myself saying HEY and ending my statements with JACK a lot more often than before! It is a great show that puts the meaning of family first. It is our favorite show on TV and I am quite sad the season finale is already here this week. Bring this back for many seasons to come, we will be watching! Thank you.

Many of my neighbors wear Duck Dynasty T-Shirts, my son's teacher gave him a Duck Dynasty coloring sheet to work on in his free time, and the local stores all have Duck Dynasty-related items for sale. As someone who tries to be fair, I gave the show a chance. The first time I watched it, the boys were sitting around talking about ice cream and apparently about how to motivate each other to actually do some work. Then one of them made a crack about preferring chunky women to skinny women. Then there was a prayer. Next episode they were out shooting some birds, then they cut to some apparently humorous remarks by one son about another bearded member of the family. Commercial break. Prayer. If you don't really care about minor aspects of T.V. entertainment such as writing, plot, character development and plausibility, this is the show for you.

At first I'd cringe when they'd show the preview for "Duck Dynasty." I thought it would be a rather pointless show that would serve no real purpose other than to entertain us with "redneck millionaires." However, that was before I gave it a chance. Duck Dynasty presents you with comedy, drama,life lessons and life challenges all packed into one 30 minute show. While some may not always agree with the ethics of the Robertson family, you can't deny that they're anything short of 'good people.' If you watch this show without being too critical you'll have an endless supply of funny moments. Don't judge this show because the life style of the Robertson family, much like others have. Judge the show from an unbiased view. "Is this show funny and entertaining?" You don't have to look to hard to find the answer to that question.

I just love this show. It sprouts more hilarious truisms than Shakespeare on a bad day. Personally, I block out the smoopey last minutes of the show, but the rest of it is sheer poetry. I come from redneck roots and have a deep respect for southern humor. This is redneck reality at its best.

Si is my personal favorite. His turn as Santa's Christmas elf will never be forgotten. "You want somethin' done right, hell, don't come to me!" is one of my favorite lines from the whole series. When the little boy asked Santa for an art set because he wanted to be an artist, Si the Angry Elf retorts, "Hell, they ain't no money in that." The sisters-in-law womenfolk stuff gets old, because they don't have the Robertson gift for snark, but Miss Kay is definitely cool. The Robertson men are nothing short of mythic in stature.