Airing on A&E Wednesday nights, Duck Dynasty is a reality show that follows the antics of a fun loving bearded Louisiana duck call mogul family. The Robertson’s, looking more like a ZZ Top cover band than the millionaires that they are, have a huge fan following.
The numbers don’t lie. This season’s premiere of Duck Dynasty was the most watched non-fiction series in cable television history with 11.8 million viewers.
And, my kids love it!
Most reality shows on TV today are mind-numbing-train-wreck-of-girls-behaving-badly-stab-you-in-the-back-scream-in-your-face-at-high-octives-and-profanity-laced programming. (Think Dance Moms, Real Housewives, anything Kardashian.)
Okay, full disclosure here. My little guilty pleasure is the original Real Housewives of OC, and it’s really just for “research” to see how the other half lives and thinks. (wink) But, I don’t want my kids watching it!
So, why would I love that my girls love a reality show? (Seriously? Didn’t you at least chuckle at that video above?)
- I don’t need to have a long discussion about inappropriate or lewd behavior. It’s not your typical reality show as stated above. Actually, they call it a “docu-style sitcom”, and it’s film more like a sitcom.
- They value family. The Robertson family loves one another. They bicker without holding a grudge. They tease without meanness in their heart. They irritate without screaming and dropping the f-bomb every other sentence.
- They are funny. Scripted, or not, this family, with their Southern charm and sharp wit, is laugh-out-load funny.
- The show has a counter-cultural message with its Christian family values, traditional gender roles, and mutual respect for each other, and their spouses. There is no profanity, no twerking, and no cat-fights. They end each show thanking God for what He has done for them while sitting around the dinner table. Jase Robertson’s personal motto: “God. Family. Ducks. In that order.”
- It’s a rags to riches story. From dirt poor, addictions, humble beginnings of making duck calls in the backyard shed to running a successful family business, filming a wildly popular TV show, writing books, and managing lucrative merchandising deals. Don’t believe me about the merchandising? Just take a trip to Walmart sometime. It’s the American dream. If these guys can make it big by making, of all things, duck calls, then so can I.
- They eat squirrel and frog legs. My inner Missouri country girl smiles.
- They are authentic. They claim the show is only “scripted” in the sense that the producers put the Robertson family in situations just to sit back and see how it plays out. It’s long been reported that these guys can be difficult — refusing to recite lines, or go along with a story line – instead they say what they please. And honestly, I don’t care. I am in it for the message.
All this makes for a “Happy, Happy, Happy” Wednesday night in our house.
Have Faith Everyday 