"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.
