'Duck Dynasty': Which Cast Member Was Most Against the Show?
The leading men of the hit A&E show "Duck Dynasty" dropped by "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Monday to reveal who among them was most opposed to the reality show when they were first pitched the idea a few years back.
Willie Robertson, Jep Robertson and Uncle Si told NBC host Fallon that in fact the patriarch of the family, Phil Robertson, known for his "redneck wisdom" and Christian faith, was most against the family doing a reality show when the Robertsons received an email from the A&E network a few years back.
"We always thought there may be something there, and we just got an email out of the blue said, 'Hey, I think you guys may have a big show,'" Willie told Fallon. "And so I went to talk to dad and said, 'We could do a big show on a network,' and he said, 'Nah, that won't work.'"
Willie, the CEO of the family's duck call business, Duck Commander, then added: "I remind him of that every week, though."
The reality show, known for its wholesome portrayal of a large Louisiana family dedicated to duck hunting and making duck calls, premiered its fourth season in August, receiving record-breaking cable ratings. Each character plays a unique and different role in the show; Phil Robertson serves as the patriarch, while his wife Kay busies her time with cooking and playing with the grandchildren. Willie is the CEO of the family company and considers himself to be a boss in the family too, while brother Jase enjoys goofing off and playing pranks on Willie. Jep, the youngest brother, is the baby of the family while Uncle Si is known for his eccentric rants and one-of-a-kind catchphrases, the most popular being "Hey Jack!"
"Duck Dynasty" became cable's most-watched nonfiction telecast to date when it premiered its season four episode on August 14 to 11.8 million viewers. According to Deadline, season 4 was almost delayed from airing over a salary dispute between cast members and the A&E network, but the disagreement was resolved in time for the premiere and the cast members reportedly walked away with $200,000-per-episode salary to split between the nine adults on the show and the 11 grandchildren.
The cast members have also done their own individual promoting; Phil Robertson released a book entitled Happy Happy Happy, while Si recently released a biography entitled Si-cology 1. Matriarch Kay released a cookbook, Miss Kay's Duck Commander Kitcken, while granddaughter Sadie recently launched her own prom dress line that had its runway debut at New York City's Fashion Week.
The gang will also be releasing a Christmas album come December aptly called "Duck the Halls."