If it seems that the original Duck Dynasty, which became a huge hit for A&E, aired decades ago, well, it only seems that way. The original version of the second series that followed the Robertson family — another series, Duck Commander, ran in 2009 — aired from 2012 to 2017. But it feels like eons ago because we’ve had a pandemic, and are now deep into a second and more extreme Trump administration than the one that was in place when the original Duck Dynasty ended. Is there still room for a lighthearted reality sitcom that’s based in “faith, family and ducks”?
Opening Shot: West Monroe, Louisiana. As ducks and their ducklings bob on the water, four men sit in a duck blind: Willie Robertson, his brothers Jase and Jep, and his uncle Si. They’re all wondering when the last time Willie, the CEO of Duck Commander, had visited the company’s headquarters.
The Gist: Willie, who travels extensively to promote Duck Commander, decides it’s high time to pop in for a visit. The massive warehouse that serves as Duck Commander’s headquarters holds a number of businesses, and is all overseen by Willie’s wife Korie, who is in essence the real CEO.
Willie’s oldest son, John Luke, runs a coffee roasting business, and when he talks about arabica beans, Willie glazes over. Youngest daughter Bella runs the gift shop. Middle daughter Sadie does podcasts for her ministry, Life Original, out of the warehouse. In fact, Willie finds out just how much room LO takes up when he walks into what used to be his office and finds that it’s bathed in white and decorated by Sadie in LO’s gentle tones and colors. Oldest daughter Rebecca is pregnant with her and husband John’s third child. Their youngest, Rowdy, is off at college. Will Jr. and his wife live in Dallas but visit often.
Korie has an all-hands meeting planned for that day, so Willie decides to “pop in” to that meeting and make a big speech. He wedges himself behind the fake desk at a replica of his old office in the museum portion of the headquarters and taps it out on his iPad. When he surprises everyone at the meeting, his disjointed speech tells everyone that he’s decided to be “fully, semi-retired.”
Because he feels like he needs to find a successor (which he doesn’t, because Korie really runs the show), he brings Korie, John Paul, Sadie, Will Jr. and their spouses to go duck hunting. Or at the very least, he wants to see how tough they all are and has them shoot skeet. But the October, 2024 arrival of Rebecca and John’s son helps him remember the main reason for his semi-retirement: His desire to be with his big and growing family.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Duck Dynasty: The Revival is, of course, a next-generation sequel to the 2012-17 “reality sitcom” Duck Dynasty.
Our Take: The thing about Duck Dynasty is that it never pretended to be anything more than a semi-scripted reality sitcom about a family-run duck-call business. Everyone acted goofy, and the show’s writers gave them situations to help bring out their goofiness. Did the sons of the late Phil Robertson grow beards and start wearing camo and bandanas when they became reality TV stars? Maybe. But no one is pretending that what’s going on in front of the cameras is some sort of cinema verite.
This even goes beyond our well-founded “reality TV isn’t real” cynicism. Reality sitcoms like Duck Dynasty don’t even pretend to be as “real” as stuff like The Real Housewives franchise. The reason why we mention this is that, because you can watch Duck Dynasty: The Revival knowing that most of what’s going on is semi-scripted, you can just enjoy the sitcomminess of it all. And, as with the original show, there are some genuinely funny moments, especially involving Willie getting zero respect, even though he’s the CEO of Duck Commander.
What Duck Dynasty: The Revival is setting out to do is to concentrate on Willie as the patriarch of a huge, ever-growing family and his adventures in semi-retirement, and it succeeds in that. The genuine warmth it seems the members of the Robertson family have for each other is communicated on-screen, even if the conflicts they all have with each other are limited to joking around and gentle ribbing.
Of course, is a show that’s about “faith, family and ducks, in that order,” as Korie says about the Robertsons, one that people in 2025 want to watch? The Revival is premiering during a very different time than the original, which ended just as the first Trump administration was getting started. There may be audiences who identify even more with the goofy, wholesome nature of the Robertsons, who wear their faith on their sleeves but don’t proselytize; the two seasons that A&E ordered might just be the thing to help them escape from (sweeping hands) all this.
But there may be others who were fans of the original who are just not in the mood to hear about Sadie’s ministry or see the entire family pray over everything. The show’s producers, to their credit, try to keep that kind of thing to a minimum, instead concentrating on Willie’s amiable silliness and how his family navigates his loveable weirdness. But faith is in the mix, and it’s yet to be seen if that’s going to be a feature or bug of this new iteration of the series.
Sex and Skin: None. Duck Dynasty: The Revival is a show you can watch with the whole family.
Parting Shot: The Robertsons gather to welcome Rebecca and John’s baby son home from the hospital.
Sleeper Star: Just like she’s the one really in charge of Duck Commander, Korie Robertson is the show’s emotional rock, always supportive of Willie while making sure he’s centered.
Most Pilot-y Line: When Willie walks into the studio of the Duck Call Room Podcast to talk to Si and the three guys who do the podcast with him, they’re all on microphones and Willie isn’t. We’re not sure if this means they stopped the podcast to talk to Willie, or Willie was supposed to look like he was on the podcast, even though he’s not talking into any podcast microphones.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Duck Dynasty: The Revival might just be the silly, goofy fun you need after a hard week of working and watching the news, especially if you identify with the Robertsons’ credo of “Faith, family and ducks.”
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.
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