'Country Buck$' review: Forced and charmless 'Duck Dynasty' replica
Terry Carr aka "T-Carr," Matt Busbice, and Ryan Busbice of A&E's "Country Buck$." Credit: A&E
WHAT IT'S ABOUT Wildgame Innovations -- like Duck Commander -- is a sprawling family-run business based in Louisiana. Unlike DC, it's involved in the sale and manufacture of products used to attract and kill deer. Now, meet the family: brothers Ryan and Matt Busbice; dad, who goes by "Big Bill"; his brother, "Uncle Hard Luck," who tests the products; and T-Carr, the trusted ranch manager.
About that ranch: Vast (55,000) acres, where any deer with half a brain wouldn't be caught dead.
Tonight, Willie Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" pops in for a visit. (And by the way, "DD" returns at 9 tonight with a two-hour season premiere leading into "Buck$.")
MY SAY "Country Buck$" raises the urgent and important ... or at least immediately obvious question: Is this 'ol TV world of ours big enough for two "Duck Dynasties?"
Two unscripted series filled with country boys, patient spouses, family high jinks, and playful musical soundtracks that forcibly remind us that what we are watching is "comedy"?
It's not another "Swamp People" or "Bayou Billionaries" or even "Rocket City Rednecks" (mind you), but almost an exact replica.
I searched my heart for an answer, and came up with this: Oh, hail no ...
"Country Buck$" was pretty much the longest 22 minutes and 29 seconds of my reviewing life ... with seconds feeling like minutes, minutes like hours. Even worse, to paraphrase T-Carr, there are absolutely some things you can't unsee. This would be one of them.
What "Buck$" wants to do is capture whatever it was that made "Duck" one of those bizarre out-of-the-box sensations that you (or A&E) couldn't make up if you wanted to. The result here is something studied, forced and charmless.
Setting aside the lethal nature of their enterprise -- the scientific slaughter of deer -- the Busbices seem like a nice, intelligent family that has otherwise spent countless hours studying the Duck Commander TV secret sauce. They came up with this: Do or say something really dumb ... do a lot of double-takes for the camera ... roll your eyes when the family cut-up (Uncle Hard Luck) does something really idiotic.
A vial of deer urine tucked into his underwear to get it warm? Cue to double-take! Roll eyes! Nyuk, nyuk!
Gag. Gag.
GRADE D-
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