The long hyped 5th season premiere of Duck Dynasty failed to take flight with American viewers this week. Wednesday Night’s premiere had 28 percent fewer viewers than last year’s premiere episode. If A & E was hoping the publicity surrounding Phil Robertson’s homophobic and racist remarks would generate viewers, they must have been sadly disappointed in the mediocre numbers. The adage that “any publicity is good publicity” failed to take root and the show limped into the new season on broken wings, failing to eclipse even the season three opening numbers. Robertson was suspended by the network after he made homophobic and racist comments. Referring to the Jim Crow South he waxed nostalgic stating:
I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once… They’re singing and happy… Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues.
On homosexuality he opined:
Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men..It seems like, to me, a vagina?as a man?would be more desirable than a man’s anus.
Although A & E responded to public pressure and lifted their suspension of Phil Robertson, that support for the Duck Dynasty patriarch did not translate into viewers when the show resumed its new season. While loud and vocal Robertson defenders may have created the illusion of public support for Robertson’s comments, the ratings suggest otherwise. While Phil Roberston may still claim he is not a bigot, the American people have apparently decided that if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, its a duck. Robertson’s words belie his claims that he is not a bigot. American viewers have apparently been turned off and are tuning out or tuning in elsewhere. Edited/Published by: SB
