Duck Dynasty? Duck Dynasty? Duck Dynasty? Ask three times, confused social media users, and then maybe Beetlejuice or someone just as mysterious will tell you everything you've been wondering about A&E's most popular-yet-puzzling show.
Last week, "What is Duck Dynasty?" became the new "What is twerking?" after the bearded patriarch of the show, which stars the camouflage-clothed Robertson family of Louisiana, attracted swift criticism for homophobic comments he made in a GQ profile. Phil Robertson told the magazine's Drew Magary:
“It seems like, to me, a vagina — as a man — would be more desirable than a man’s anus. That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”
But despite the following furious — and highly publicized — debate over the 67-year-old's opinion and the uproar sparked by A&E's suspension of the star on Wednesday, it's a wonder so many people still have no clue what the show is or why it's successful.
In its fourth season, Duck Dynasty continues to detail the Robertsons' backwoods lives, propelled by the family's mom-and-pop shop that sells handcrafted duck calls and decoys. Viewers tune in each week for the show's uniquely southern humor and the lively characters operating the family's small business, Duck Commander.
See also: Inside the Device That Made 'Duck Dynasty' Famous
As if issuing its own duck call to audiences, A&E started the fourth season with a ratings bang, attracting 11.8 million viewers to the premiere in August. That's the highest pull ever on cable from a nonfiction series, and it's more viewers than AMC's smash hit Breaking Bad had for its series finale in September (10.3 million). The Duck Dynasty season finale in October roped in 8.4 million viewers.
In between those episodes, veteran journalist Barbara Walters named the Duck Dynasty cast as an honorees in her annual list of the 10 most fascinating people, though Phil Robertson reportedly skipped Walters' interview to go duck hunting.
The show has found success in the form of online buzz, too. Duck Dynasty was the most-mentioned show on Facebook in 2012, and the book it spawned (Happy, Happy, Happy: My Life and Legacy as the Duck Commander, authored by Robertson) was the most-mentioned book in 2013, a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable. The show's Facebook page also has 7.3 million fans — slightly more than the page for Breaking Bad.
Meanwhile, on Twitter, a quick search for "What is Duck Dynasty?" yields a steady stream of, as you might guess, people scratching their heads about what the show is and why it would cause an uproar.

It's not unusual for people who don't watch certain popular shows to have at least some inkling as to what those shows are about due to word of mouth, but Duck Dynasty has an air of mystery about it for many. Offline, the sentiment is similar, with people discussing the media uproar with tinges of confusion about the show's overall premise.
This season, the Twitter buzz has been relatively high during the show's telecasts — but exceedingly when compared to other popular shows in the social TV space.
The Duck Dynasty Christmas special on Dec. 11, for example, generated 66,900 tweets written by 41,700 people, a Nielsen SocialGuide spokesperson told Mashable. Roughly 1.5 million people saw those tweets. Other shows, like ABC's Scandal, however, had better social outings that week, according to Nielsen Twitter TV Ratings:

In an era when viewers, networks and advertisers are weighing the correlation between TV ratings and social buzz, it's interesting that Duck Dynasty did not "break the Internet," so to speak, despite relatively good viewership numbers this season.
But the social chatter sparked by Robertson's homophobic comments appears to have reached that Internet-breaking intensity over the past week, as each new development in the controversy intensifies the initial uproar.
First came A&E's suspension of Robertson, followed by backlash from his supporters, who created a Facebook page — "Boycott A&E Until Phil Robertson Is Put Back On Duck Dynasty" — that has nearly 1.8 million Likes. A Change.org petition also launched, urging A&E to bring Robertson back. The petition has garnered more than 115,000 signatures.
A&E, for its part, has declined to comment to Mashable regarding the show's social prowess or the uproar over its star.
In response to the controversy, Cracker Barrel removed Duck Dynasty items from its restaurants, but immediately reversed its decision after a barrage of complaints from customers. The company explained the reversal in a candid letter on Sunday:
"When we made the decision to remove and evaluate certain Duck Dynasty items, we offended many of our loyal customers. Our intent was to avoid offending, but that’s just what we’ve done. You told us we made a mistake. And, you weren’t shy about it. You wrote, you called and you took to social media to express your thoughts and feelings. You flat out told us we were wrong. We listened. Today, we are putting all our Duck Dynasty products back in our stores. And, we apologize for offending you. We respect all individuals right to express their beliefs. We certainly did not mean to have anyone think different. We sincerely hope you will continue to be part of our Cracker Barrel family."
The Robertsons posted a statement on their website standing by Phil, saying they would continue the show without him (Though the family is likely bound to keep participating due to contractual agreements with A&E).
"We want to thank all of you for your prayers and support. The family has spent much time in prayer since learning of A&E's decision. We want you to know that first and foremost we are a family rooted in our faith in God and our belief that the Bible is His word. While some of Phil’s unfiltered comments to the reporter were coarse, his beliefs are grounded in the teachings of the Bible. Phil is a Godly man who follows what the Bible says are the greatest commandments: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart' and 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Phil would never incite or encourage hate. We are disappointed that Phil has been placed on hiatus for expressing his faith, which is his constitutionally protected right. We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm. We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty. Again, thank you for your continued support of our family."
The family's business, Duck Commander, is the centerpiece of Duck Dynasty, with several family members and neighbors having a major hand in operating the company. Robertson, the company founder, addressed the controversy Sunday. "I will not give or back off from my path," the Daily Mail reports he said during a speech. "I love all men and women. I am a lover of humanity, not a hater."
For now, the future of Duck Dynasty remains a mystery with many unanswered questions: For how long will Robertson remain suspended? Will the show continue without him, if at all? In the wake of the backlash, how difficult will it be for A&E recover? And will people finally understand what, exactly, is the concept of the show?
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BONUS: 32 Weirdest Moments of 2013
Melon skiing at Chinchilla Melon Festival in Queensland, Australia on Feb. 15, 2013.
Robert De Niro and cat Lil Bub attend the Directors Brunch during the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival on April 23, 2013 in New York City.
A bare-breasted FEMEN protester with an inscription on her body that reads: 'Life In Plastic Is Not Fantastic' yells protest slogans while holding up a burning cross with a Barbie doll attached to it outside the Barbie Dreamhouse Experience on May 16, 2013 in Berlin, Germany.
A man holds a giant joint during a march for the legalization of cannabis in Santiago, on May 18, 2013, as part of the 2013 Global Marijuana March which is being held in hundreds of cities worldwide.
Contestants in the men's race chase a cheese down the steep gradient of Cooper's Hill on May 27, 2013 in Brockworth, Gloucestershire, England. Although no longer a officially organised event since 2009, thousands of spectators still gathered to watch contestants from around the world tumbling down the 200m slope with the winner of each receiving a cheese. Injuries such as broken arms and legs are commonplace.
A giant chrome brushed aluminium skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus (T-Rex) dinosaur, made by French sculptor and painter Philippe Pasqua, stands at the pier of riverboat company Bateaux-Mouches on June 12, 2013 in Paris. (
People take pictures of a sand sculpture representing Avatar science fiction movie's characters during the Sand Sculpture Festival in Blankenberg on June 18, 2013.
People interact with a large-scale installation art piece by Leandro Erlich, named 'Dalston House,' is displayed on June 24, 2013 in London, England.
Canadian performer Matias Salmenaho, 26, stands still as axes are juggled past him as the three generation Quebecois circus company, Cirque Alfonse at the Southbank Centre in London on July 9, 2013.
A team goes over an obstacle as they compete in the Red Bull Soapbox race in London on July 14, 2013.
An Indian parrot hatchling is fed by hand in Dimapur on July 24, 2013, after being caught in a forest by a local hunter and offered for sale in the north-eastern Indian state of Nagaland.
Czech Michal Navratil dives for a joke as superman after of the men's high diving final competition at the FINA World Championships in Moll de la Fusta port in Barcelona on July 31, 2013.
A man wearing only his underwear dances in front of a crowd in Times Square in an attempt to break the Guinness Book of World Records' record for 'the most amount of people gathered in their underwear in the Times Square section of New York' on Aug. 5, 2013 in New York City.
Two competitors face off in a friendly fight while drinking beer during the 60th annual Bavarian finger wrestling championships (also known as Fingerhakeln) on Aug. 11, 2013 in Feldkirchen-Westerham, Germany.
A woman poses with a Pigeon and Mealworm burger on a 'Pop Up' stand at One New Change on Aug. 15, 2013 in London, England.
Members of an international religious movement called the White Brotherhood perform ritual dances on the top of the Rila Mountain, near Babreka lake, on Aug. 19, 2013.
Revellers take part in the annual 'Tomatina' festivities in Bunol, near Valencia, on Aug. 28, 2013. Twenty thousands revellers hurled 130 tonnes of squashed tomatoes at each other, drenching the streets in red in a gigantic Spanish food fight known as the Tomatina.
People gather to see a giant Rubber Duck by Dutch conceptual artist Florentijin Hofman at Glory Pier on Sept. 19, 2013 in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Volunteers cook the largest morcilla (black pudding) in an attempt to break the Guinness Record in Burgos on Sept. 29, 2013. Four hundred volunteers made and cooked the giant morcilla before serving 4,000 portions.
A devotee of the Chinese Bang Neow Shrine with his cheeks pierced by metal rods waits for the start of a street procession during the annual Vegetarian Festival in the southern Thai town of Phuket on Oct. 10, 2013. During the festival, which begins on the first evening of the ninth lunar month and lasts nine days, religious devotees slash themselves with swords, pierce their cheeks with sharp objects and commit other painful acts to purify themselves, taking on the sins of the community.
This photo taken on Oct. 10, 2013 shows a journalist driving Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor's prototype model electric trike 'i-Road', in Tokyo. Cars that drive themselves -- and avoid collisions -- could be on the market within a few years.
A woman talks on her phone as she stands near works entitled 'Lounge Lover' by British artist Dee Ferris, 'Nia' by Japanese artist Tomoaki Suzuki and 'Blue Milk' by Dee Ferris at the Frieze London art fair in Regent's Park, north London, England, on Oct. 16, 2013.
An aerial picture shows Britain and Irelands largest land art entitled 'Wish' at Belfasts Titanic Quarter in Northern Ireland on Oct. 23, 2013. Spanning 11 acres, the artwork, by Cuban-American artist Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, is made up from 30,000 pegs, 2,000 tons of soil and 2,000 tons of sand.
A woman on a bicycle watches a life-sized replica of a mammoth being pulled through the streets of Uherske Hradiste, southeastern Czech Republic on Oct. 23, 2013.
A donkey, two sheep and three camels pose with Rockettes outside Radio City Music Hall Hall before their first day of rehearsals for the 2013 'Radio City Christmas Spectacular' and their starring role in the Living Nativity' show Oct. 29, 2013 in New York.
A Pakistani animal handler holds up a stick as a goat balances over it in Islamabad on Nov. 2, 2013. The handlers earn a living by training animals to perform tricks to crowds.
Students from St Andrew's University indulge in a tradition of covering themselves with foam to honor the 'academic family' on Nov. 4, 2013, in St Andrews, Scotland. Every November the 'raisin weekend' which is held in the university's St Salvator's Quadrangle, is celebrated and a gift of raisins (now foam) is traditionally given by first year students to their elders as a thank you for their guidance.
A picture taken on Nov. 5, 2013 in Condeon shows a five-leg female sheep that the owner tried to sell on the internet.
A burning barrel soaked in tar is carried at the annual Ottery St Mary Tar Barrel festival on Nov. 5 2013 in Ottery St Mary, Devon, England. The tradition, which is over 400 years old, sees competitors (who must have been born in the town to take part) running with burning barrels on their backs through the village, until the heat becomes too unbearable or the barrel breaks down, starting with junior barrels carried by children and continuing all evening with ever larger and larger barrels. The event, which has been threatened with closure on previous years due to increasing public liability insurance costs, raises thousands of pounds for charity and attracts spectators from around the world.
Children take the form of a shark with a detached fin as part of a Kids Ocean Day event, aimed at raising awareness on shark fin trade and consumption in Hong Kong on Nov. 8, 2013.
Cristie Kerr of the USA prepares to hit a shot from an unusual lie during the pro-am prior to the start of the HSBC Women's Champions at the Sentosa Golf Club on Feb. 27, 2013 in Singapore.
A woman takes a photo on July 9, 2013 of the Titan arum flower in the national botanic garden in Meise, Belgium. The Titan Arum, one of the world's largest, rarest and smelliest flowers is variously known as a 'corpse flower' in Indonesia where first found, or 'huge deformed penis' under its scientific name, 'Amorphophallus titanium.'
Image: A&E Networks