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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(107,957 posts)
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:02 PM Mar 2017

Fowl Play: Saying Goodbye to 'Duck Dynasty,' TV's Worst Show

These days it's tough to find reasons to be cheerful about the state of the nation – but an America without Duck Dynasty is a good place to start. No show in television history has ever sucked quite like this one. And if the TV gods are willing, no show ever will.

A&E's massive hit became a cultural presence in 2012 for its down-home charm – the zany adventures of a real-life Lousiana clan who kept their country manners and backwoods habits, with Phil, Miss Kay, their bearded sons and loopy Vietnam vet Uncle Si. Tonight, after five seasons of shenanigans running the family duck-call business, the Robertsons sign off tonight with their series finale, the last gasp of their barely noticed farewell go-round. The decline and fall of Duck Dynasty seems like it should have been a big-deal event, but it's a surprisingly meek exit for a hit that loomed so large just a couple of years ago. This is the way the dynasty ends – not with a quack but with a whimper.

It's poetic justice that 2017 is the year the Robertson family is finally heading off to the duck pond in the sky. The show represented the pre-Trump Christian right's fantasy of itself – a family of hairy but God-fearing bootstrappers bowing their heads in prayer over the dinner table. Just a year ago, this was the most feared demographic in American politics – the bloc that couldn't be bought or sold. But when the Christian right fell in line behind the most flamboyantly secular presidential candidate of the past century – a pussy-grabbing New Yorker who didn't pretend to owe Jesus a damn thing – they sold themselves out, ensuring it'll be a cold day in heck before they get another chance to vote for one of their own. The right is a whole new bird hunt now, as the godless white nationalists take over from the church ladies. And that makes Duck Dynasty look pitifully dated, in addition to everything else that blows about it.

The Robertsons weren't even fun to watch on a reality-trash level, because they were too phony to believe – so artificial in their micro-scripted dialogue, so cynical in their piety, so bone-headed in their recycled sitcom plots. Hell, even their beards looked fake. So their family values always came across as a made-for-TV shuck; however sincere they may or may not have been in real life, the Robertsons never failed to turn into show-biz frauds onscreen. In one episode, Miss Kay confides that Phil never remembers their wedding anniversary – the only dates he can remember are Christmas and Easter. Aaaaawww.

http://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/fowl-play-rob-sheffield-on-the-end-of-duck-dynasty-w473591

37 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Fowl Play: Saying Goodbye to 'Duck Dynasty,' TV's Worst Show (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Mar 2017 OP
Good read. beam me up scottie Mar 2017 #1
yep....RS has had decades of great writing. my subscription started with this: Gabi Hayes Mar 2017 #4
Wow. There's a blast from the past. beam me up scottie Mar 2017 #11
... muntrv Mar 2017 #2
I (semi-inadvertently) boycotted A&E based on this shitty show making me never want to go back Dem2 Mar 2017 #3
Never got the attraction... WoonTars Mar 2017 #5
I only saw the show in bits and pieces a couple of times when flipping channels meadowlark5 Mar 2017 #6
yay! wish it could have been sooner UpInArms Mar 2017 #7
It's an OMEN, I tell you. An OMEN. Achilleaze Mar 2017 #8
Yeah, the fascination with artificially freaky bumpkins in the lower 48 is over Warpy Mar 2017 #9
Good riddance. LOL Lib Mar 2017 #10
Just like the Duggars and Honey Boo Boo. Initech Mar 2017 #14
Oh you really hit the nail on the head! LOL Lib Mar 2017 #16
Conservatives who I know personally love this shit. Initech Mar 2017 #18
Proud to say I never watched a single episode... Wounded Bear Mar 2017 #12
Me neither. I suppose the douche bag kids will shave those beards now. Hassin Bin Sober Mar 2017 #17
This is what is most absurd about "conservatives" Cosmocat Mar 2017 #26
Duck Dynasty may be gone (finally)... Initech Mar 2017 #13
Fake reality trash to entertain trash dalton99a Mar 2017 #15
Hallelujah! ornotna Mar 2017 #19
I can, with pride, say GWC58 Mar 2017 #20
They were exposed as phonies a while ago; they became the reality tv equivalent of pro wrestling MADem Mar 2017 #21
even before their right wing views became public i thought the Show sucked JI7 Mar 2017 #22
"... god fearing.. " my Democratic Cha Mar 2017 #23
This message was self-deleted by its author Ken Burch Mar 2017 #24
I sort of hope "Uncle Si" gets a solo show, though. Ken Burch Mar 2017 #25
It was a completely rubbish show, and repetitive. A little guilty OnDoutside Mar 2017 #27
American Pickers is the only one I've ever watched and... WePurrsevere Mar 2017 #28
A lot of it is clearly staged but I do find a number of them in OnDoutside Mar 2017 #29
Willie and his bunch literally live about a mile and a half... Ferretherder Mar 2017 #30
I hope you charge him at least twice what everyone else pays. Vinca Mar 2017 #31
Flying Spaghetti Monster knows... Ferretherder Mar 2017 #32
The end of the Dynasty will not be pretty. rug Mar 2017 #33
this show was so bad (I never watched it tho) that when my g'randdaughter... samnsara Mar 2017 #34
I thought it was a new Disney animated show. Dave Starsky Mar 2017 #35
I remember seeing it advertised when it first came out. Two thoughts came to my mind: Tommy_Carcetti Mar 2017 #36
I also hate Naked and Afraid katmondoo Mar 2017 #37
 

Gabi Hayes

(28,795 posts)
4. yep....RS has had decades of great writing. my subscription started with this:
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:11 PM
Mar 2017


RIP to HST, and where are you, Oscar?

beam me up scottie

(57,349 posts)
11. Wow. There's a blast from the past.
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:37 PM
Mar 2017

RS managed to stay afloat in a world where good journalism is rare, where TMZ style 'reporting' gets more clicks than substantive in-depth articles.

Although I do enjoy their snarky pieces too - Matt Taibbi is always spot on.

What would HST have to say about where we are now?

Dem2

(8,168 posts)
3. I (semi-inadvertently) boycotted A&E based on this shitty show making me never want to go back
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:08 PM
Mar 2017

Although that racist "The First 48" didn't help ... where, who knew, 95% of murders are committed by non-whites.

meadowlark5

(2,795 posts)
6. I only saw the show in bits and pieces a couple of times when flipping channels
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:13 PM
Mar 2017

And I was insulted by the absolute stupid things they would do and say. I can't say I found anything I saw funny. I would just shake my head in disgust that this idiocy was being glamorized to be copied and emulated by viewers.

Warpy

(111,255 posts)
9. Yeah, the fascination with artificially freaky bumpkins in the lower 48 is over
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:35 PM
Mar 2017

While I still see Mama June at the checkstand at the supermarket from time to time, Honey Boo Boo is probably getting orthodonture and obsessing over her first prom dress in obscurity. The Robertsons have pulled off the spirit gummed beards (they were always yuppies underneath them, you know) and are now concentrating on their various new businesses, such as they are, while making sure the stock portfolio remains healthy.

All that remains of the genre are a few shows about people in the Alaskan bush, heavily scripted and just as phony as the rest of the slop.

I hated these shows. I dealt with backwoods poor folks down south and most of them lived quietly boring lives as they tried to do their best with too little to work with.

While I realize the LCD will prevail, especially on some of the cable channels, I'm delighted to see it raised even a millimeter as they revive "Trading Spaces," an interior desecration show that did have its hilarious moments.

LOL Lib

(1,462 posts)
10. Good riddance.
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:37 PM
Mar 2017

These hicks conned millions out of the Bible thumpers. Some of my family fell for these dopey homophobes. They are grifters just like President Turnip.

Initech

(100,068 posts)
14. Just like the Duggars and Honey Boo Boo.
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:48 PM
Mar 2017

Conservatives thrive on stupid bullshit, and you can't get much stupider than that.

LOL Lib

(1,462 posts)
16. Oh you really hit the nail on the head!
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:55 PM
Mar 2017

Two of the most cringe, gag, and vomit worthy shows ever. Perfect mind numbing tv for the conservative cult.

Initech

(100,068 posts)
18. Conservatives who I know personally love this shit.
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 09:06 PM
Mar 2017

I like to think I have good choices in entertainment. I don't listen to shitty music, watch shitty TV shows or movies, or read shitty books. I listen to Depeche Mode and Green Day, awesome bands. They listen to Ted Nugent and Kid Rock and Florida Georgia Line. I watch Archer and 30 Rock, they watch Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Fucking Dynasty. I read books that are about things like history. They read Ann Coulter's latest hate filled piece of shit. Totally different worlds.

Hassin Bin Sober

(26,326 posts)
17. Me neither. I suppose the douche bag kids will shave those beards now.
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:55 PM
Mar 2017

Like Bush stopped "clearing brush" on his "ranch"

Cosmocat

(14,564 posts)
26. This is what is most absurd about "conservatives"
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 06:34 AM
Mar 2017

It can be as brazen self promotion like these guys and Trump, and they still eat it up with a ladle.

Initech

(100,068 posts)
13. Duck Dynasty may be gone (finally)...
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 08:46 PM
Mar 2017

But it's being replaced with the "Catch me outside, how about that" girl. If you think I'm kidding, look it. And Mama June is back on TV as well. There's no end to reality TV horseshit. Oh and fuck Duck Dynasty!

GWC58

(2,678 posts)
20. I can, with pride, say
Wed Mar 29, 2017, 09:59 PM
Mar 2017

I never, ever watched that phony ass garbage! Good riddance to a show I cared nothing about.

JI7

(89,249 posts)
22. even before their right wing views became public i thought the Show sucked
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 01:49 AM
Mar 2017

i watched a few minutes once and just could not get it. and it was very OBVIOUSLY fake also which in itself would not be bad as long as it was good and entertaining but it wasn't.

Response to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

 

Ken Burch

(50,254 posts)
25. I sort of hope "Uncle Si" gets a solo show, though.
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 06:17 AM
Mar 2017

He was the only one who seemed close to being a decent guy. You had a feeling he realized the whole thing was a joke all along.

OnDoutside

(19,956 posts)
27. It was a completely rubbish show, and repetitive. A little guilty
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 06:45 AM
Mar 2017

secret of myself and my wife is to watch an hour of crap tv after our kid has gone to bed, but we wouldn't watch that rubbish. We'd draw the line at stuff like Mountain Men/American Pickers/Swamp People/Alaska Last Frontier/Gold Rush even though we know most of them would certainly have voted for Trump. However, many of them are simple people .... you know, f*cking idiots....

WePurrsevere

(24,259 posts)
28. American Pickers is the only one I've ever watched and...
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 07:09 AM
Mar 2017

That was a few years ago before we gave up on satellite TV. Myself and a lot of my friends were antique and collectible dealers (and some were 'pickers' as well) on eBay so we found the show rather interesting.

As for the rest... IDK. I've only seen the Duck Dynasty crap for sale in Wal-Mart and heard them on some news shows once or twice. They're certainly not at all my cup of tea so to speak but up here in red dumbnuts NY their stuff was being worn quite a bit.

OnDoutside

(19,956 posts)
29. A lot of it is clearly staged but I do find a number of them in
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 07:20 AM
Mar 2017

Mountain Men and Alaska Last Frontier to be likeable. We're fortunate to have access to BBC/ITV/Channel 4 here in Europe, which is a better standard.

Ferretherder

(1,446 posts)
30. Willie and his bunch literally live about a mile and a half...
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 07:26 AM
Mar 2017

...down Arkansas Road from me - and I helped put in his TV's, audio and lighting control. It's probably not very hard to imagine that while the show was at its most popular, Willie could hardly be bothered to say two words to the 'help', but, just a week or so ago, I had to redo the mount on an outside TV, and he hung out and talked to me and the company owner like we were old friends. I guess with the passing of Duck Dynasty, it's time to become REAL people again.

...I fucking loathe 'reality' TV.

...and no, I never saw a single episode.

Vinca

(50,269 posts)
31. I hope you charge him at least twice what everyone else pays.
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 07:35 AM
Mar 2017

They're nothing but a bunch of Bible-thumping grifters.

samnsara

(17,622 posts)
34. this show was so bad (I never watched it tho) that when my g'randdaughter...
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 08:10 AM
Mar 2017

...wouldn't go to bed I threatened to make her watch it.

Dave Starsky

(5,914 posts)
35. I thought it was a new Disney animated show.
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 08:42 AM
Mar 2017

Seriously, when the show was in its first season and everyone was talking about it, I honestly thought they had brought these guys back:



Which would be an awesome idea. Imagine my crushing disappointment when I found out what it really was.

Tommy_Carcetti

(43,181 posts)
36. I remember seeing it advertised when it first came out. Two thoughts came to my mind:
Thu Mar 30, 2017, 08:47 AM
Mar 2017

1. A show about a family who makes duck hunting calls is the stupidest premise for a reality show ever.
2. No one in their right mind will want to waste their time watching this shit.

I stand by Thought No. 1 100% to this day.

Sadly, I was still proven wrong about Thought No. 2.

By the way, Carl Hiaasen's Razor Girl is a great read. Just saying.

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