Who is Duck Dynasty? The entertainment and reality television world knows Duck Dynasty asan American reality television series on A&E. It shows the lives of the Robertson family, who became wealthy from their family-operated business, Duck Commander, operated in West Monroe, Louisiana, which makes products for duck hunters, primarily the duck call named Duck Commander. The Robertson men, brothers Phil, Si, and Phil's sons Jase, Willie, and Jep, are known for their long beards. The business began in a family shed, where Phil Robertson spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees.[1] His son Willie is now the CEO of the company. The family was previously featured on the series Benelli Presents Duck Commander and its spin-off Buck Commander, which still airs on the Outdoor Channel.[2]
The show has broken several ratings records on both A&E and cable television as a whole; the fourth season premiere drew 11.8 million viewers, the most-watched nonfiction cable telecast in history.[3]
Robertson family
Phil Robertson (Phil Alexander Robertson) created the Duck Commander duck call in 1972 and incorporated the Duck Commander Company in 1973.[4][5] He played college football at Louisiana Tech University and was offered a contract by the Washington Redskins after his junior year. He turned it down and quit football because it interfered with duck season.[6]
Phil is known for his dislike of modern technology (he proudly admits
that he does not own a cellphone or a computer) and his concern that his
grandchildren are becoming "yuppies". Phil also professes belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like others in the Robertson family he participates in the White's Ferry Road Church of Christ.[7]Kay Robertson (Marsha Kay Robertson, née Carroway), Phil's wife, is most often referred to as Miss Kay. She married Phil at age 16. She is the mother of Alan, Jase, Willie, and Jep. She loves cooking, so she always has her entire family over for a home-cooked meal after a hard day's work.[8] (The meal setting is featured at the end of each episode, with Phil praying beforehand and Willie talking about the events of the episode.)
Si Robertson (Silas Merritt Robertson) is Willie's uncle and Phil's brother, a Vietnam War veteran.[9] He works at Duck Commander, making the reeds that go into every duck call.[10] Si is known for his storytelling, his constant use of the expression "Hey!" and the word "Jack" to end many of his sentences, and his ever-present blue plastic Tupperware cup filled with iced tea, which his mother sent him while he was stationed in Vietnam. Si is married to Christine.
Christine Robertson (née Raney) is Si's wife.[11]
Willie Robertson (Willie Jess Robertson) is Phil and Miss Kay's third son, the CEO of Duck Commander. He used his business degree from University of Louisiana Monroe to take Duck Commander from a family business to a multi-million dollar empire.[12] He is married to Korie Robertson, and they have four children.[13] Willie does the majority of the narration on the show.
Korie Robertson (née Howard) is Willie's wife and business partner. She graduated from Harding University. She is the office manager of Duck Commander. Korie and Willie have known each other since she was in 3rd grade and he in 4th.[14] They married on January 11, 1992[15] when they were 18 (Korie) and 19 (Willie).[16][17][18] They have four children: John Luke, Sadie, adopted son Will (called "Li'l Will" on the show), and Bella. In addition, the family is host to Rebecca, an exchange student from Taiwan.[19][20]
Jase Robertson (Jason Silas Robertson) is Phil and Miss Kay's second son; he is in charge of the manufacturing aspects of Duck Commander.[21] Along with other employees, Jase tunes the duck calls by hand.[21] Many of the episodes feature the laid-back, self-professed redneck Jase doing something to aggravate the gung-ho, business-savvy Willie (such as turning a warehouse cleaning into a ping-pong battle).
Missy Robertson (née West) is Jase's wife. They have 3 children: Reed, Cole, and Mia.
Jep Robertson (Jules Jeptha Robertson) is Phil and Miss Kay's youngest son. For enthusiasts worldwide, he currently films and edits DVDs of the Robertson family hunting. He is often seen at Duck Commander and at family dinners. He is married to Jessica and they have four children.
Jessica Robertson (née Bailey) is Jep's wife or Willie's sister in law. Jessica and Jep have four children: Lily, Merritt, Priscilla, and River.[22]
Alan Robertson is Phil and Kay's eldest son. Originally he left the family business to become a preacher, but he left this profession to rejoin his family both doing public relations at Duck Commander and appearing on the show since season four; he wanted to join the show to spread the Word of God to more people. Alan is the only beardless adult male in the family.[23]
Lisa Robertson is Alan's wife. She appears on the show as of season four.
Family tree
Shaded entries indicate family members who have appeared on the show.| James Robertson |
Merritt Hale |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Phil Robertson |
Kay Carroway b. December 21, 1950[24] |
Silas Robertson |
Christine Raney |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alan Robertson |
Jason Robertson |
Willie Robertson |
Jeptha Robertson b. May 28, 1978[24] |
Trasa Robertson |
Scott Robertson |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lisa | Missy Robertson(West) |
Korie Robertson(Howard) |
Jessica Robertson | Kyle Wayne Cobern |
Marsha Markert |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| two daughters with children |
Reed Robertson |
John Luke Robertson |
four children | four sons | three sons | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cole Robertson |
Sadie Robertson |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mia Robertson |
three other children |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Other recurring cast
- Justin Martin – An employee of Duck Commander, who is often given grief over his large figure
- John Godwin – An employee at Duck Commander since 2002, mainly building duck calls, managing supplies, and overseeing the shipping department as well as being the decoy technician[25]
- Mountain Man (Tim Guraedy – his real name has not been used on the show) is a neighbor who operates his own air-conditioning repair business, co-hosts a local radio talk show on KXKZ,[26] and is the only semi-regular cast member who is not a Duck Commander employee
List of episodes
Main article: List of Duck Dynasty episodes
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Region 1 | |||
| 1 | 15 | March 21, 2012 | May 23, 2012 | November 25, 2012 | |
| 2 | 13 | October 10, 2012 | December 5, 2012 | March 5, 2013 | |
| 3 | 13 | February 27, 2013 | April 24, 2013 | August 6, 2013 | |
| 4 | 10 | August 14, 2013 | October 23, 2013 | TBA | |
Ratings
An hour-long Christmas special premiered on December 5, 2012 as the season two finale and became (at the time) the most-watched A&E episode in the network's history.[28]The February 27, 2013, the season three premiere tallied 8.6 million viewers, including five million in the adults 25–54 demographic and five million in adults 18–49 demographic, making the premiere (at the time) the most watched telecast in network history, beating the season two finale.[29]
The one-hour season three finale (shown on April 24, 2013) tallied 9.6 million viewers, with 5.6 million in the Adults 25–54 demographic and 5.5 million in the Adults 18–49 demographic, making it the highest rated telecast in A&E history.[30]
On August 14, 2013, the season four premiere drew a total of 11.8 million viewers, an increase of 37% vs. the season three premiere, drawing 6.3 million viewers in the Adults 25–54 demographic, making it the most watched nonfiction series telecast in cable television history.[3] Duck Dynasty tops the list of celebrity/pop culture-themed costume searches on Yahoo! in October 2013, according to data compiled by Yahoo Web trend expert Carolyn Clark.[31]
Seasonal ratings
| Season | Time slot (ET) | # Ep. | Premiere | Finale | TV season | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Premiere viewers (in millions) |
Date | Finale viewers (in millions) |
||||
| 1 | Wednesday 10:00 pm Wednesday 10:30 pm |
15 | 1.81[32] | 2.56[33] | 2012 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 3.70[34] | 6.45[35] | ||||
| 3 | 13 | 8.62[36] | 9.63[37] | 2013 | |||
| 4 | Wednesday 10:00 pm | 10 | 11.77[38] | 8.40[39] | |||
Editing controversy
In 2012, Phil Robertson said he confronted producers of Duck Dynasty about editors of the show telling them not to say "Jesus" during their prayer at the end of episodes and adding "fake bleeps" when there was no profanity spoken.[40][41]Robertson spoke about the fake bleeps saying, “They inserted fake bleeps, like someone had used profanity, but no one had used profanity”. Robertson said the editors “probably thought that there was some profanity going on” even though there was "zero". Robertson responded by saying, “If you want that, oh, you can get all of that you want. Just turn the station. There’s plenty of that. If we’re not using profanity, why make it look like we’re using profanity? What is the point? Why don’t you just run it, and say what we say. They’re like, ‘You got a point.’ So they quit doing that.”
Robertson then said, “The other thing was when we prayed, we said, ‘In Jesus' name, amen’ … they would just have me say, ‘And thank you, Lord, for the food, thank you for loving us, amen.”’ Robertson responded by saying, “So I said, ‘why would you cut out in Jesus’ name?” Robertson's paraphrased response of the editors was they “don’t want to offend some of the Muslims, or something.” Robertson responded by saying our calendar year is labeled Anno Domini (A.D.), which means "in the year of Our Lord". Robertson then said, “I said, ‘You Hollywood cats are counting time by Jesus just like I am.’ I would think that out of all of the people that walk planet Earth, if we’ve all decided in America to count time by just one of them, Jesus of Galilee, I don’t think it hurts to throw his name in there from time to time”. Robertson then said, “So I noticed now, every once in a while, they’re leaving it in there.”
Other television and media
The Robertsons appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. Scheduled musical guest Morrissey canceled because he objected to being on the show with those he called "animal serial killers". The band Churchill filled in for Morrissey. Phil Robertson responded, saying, "Whoever he is, I don't hold it against him". They made a parody video where they sold a carrot call, instead of a duck call, to call wild carrots to jump straight into their mouths.[42] The Robertsons have also appeared on Conan, Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Live! with Kelly and Michael, Today, Katie, The Wendy Williams Show and 700 Club. Willie Robertson appeared on FNC's The Five on August 13, 2013.[43] The Robertsons guest-starred on the Season 3 premiere of Last Man Standing.Members of Duck Dynasty are featured in the music video of the #1 country song "Wagon Wheel" by Darius Rucker.[44]
Holiday album
On June 10, 2013, it was announced that the family was working on a Christmas album.[45] Titled Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas, it was released on the UMG Nashville label on October 29, 2013.[46]Charts
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [47] |
US Country [48] |
US Holiday [49] |
CAN [50] |
|||
| Duck The Halls: A Robertson Family Christmas |
|
4 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
|
To see more of Who Is click here
