Back in December聽2013, Phil Robertson, the bearded star of A&E鈥檚 , said some offensive things about black people and gay people. Robertson became the subject of boycotts and counter-boycotts, , and .
But outrage requires shock, and Robertson鈥檚 views shouldn鈥檛 have come as a surprise to anyone familiar with his empire. (While I鈥檝e watched only a couple of episodes of Duck Dynasty, I confess to being a waterfowler and a casual fan of Robertson鈥檚 more baroque early work, a hook-and-bullet series on the Outdoor Channel called .)
The reality star鈥檚 rants about “gross sexual immorality” are all over the Internet. Robertson plays a stereotypically backward Deep South hillbilly. America鈥檚 outrage centered on the fact that Robertson embodied his caricature too well.
Robertson is the biggest star of the biggest boom in reality TV: hicksploitation. The genre laughs at (and sometimes with) the last group of people it鈥檚 still ostensibly OK to stereotype鈥攚hite backwoodsy men. The modern iteration launched in 2011 with Animal Planet鈥檚 , about Oklahoma catfish noodlers, then MTV offered its West Virginia鈥揵ased . We have now waded deep into swamp country, with Discovery鈥檚 , the History Channel鈥檚 , and Animal Planet鈥檚 . But Duck Dynasty has dominated the category since debuting in March 2012. The season four premiere, in August 2013, netted A&E 11.8 million viewers. Last year, Duck Commander merchandise made more than $400 million. Viewers laugh, but the joke isn鈥檛 on the men in camo.
“They鈥檙e highly intelligent guys who don鈥檛 get anything pulled over on them,” says Duck Dynasty executive producer Scott Gurney. “And they鈥檙e funny.”
It鈥檚 also not a new trick. “The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction鈥攖hese were massive hits in the sixties,” says Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. “They were called hick-coms back then.”
Why are the shows so popular now? It鈥檚 hard to say whether Americans like to laugh at rubes or are envious of men who can hunt all day and ignore basic hygiene. One thing is for sure鈥攖he shows are immensely profitable, in part because they鈥檙e cheaper to produce than man-versus-nature shows like Deadliest Catch. “Duck Dynasty and the rest of them have modest production values and location requirements,” says Thompson.
Two days before Christmas, Cracker Barrel returned the Duckmen products to its shelves to appease angry customers. Four days later, . Robertson didn鈥檛 comment, but , “Ole Phil may be a little crude but his heart is good. He鈥檚 the Real Deal!”
He鈥檇 better be. In January, Animal Planet unveiled its latest show, this one about a family of Canadian trappers called Beaver Brothers. Its star is a 65-year-old trapper named Charlie Landry. “I think you鈥檒l like him for his expertise,” says producer Keith Hoffman. “Plus he talks funny.”