A&E
‘Duck Dynasty’ Isn’t in Production, and a Vicious Legal Battle Might Be to Blame
With all the reboots and revivals hitting the airwaves, reality fans are likely wondering, is Duck Dynasty still in production? Might we see the Robertson family on TV anytime soon? The short answer: It doesn't seem so. The long answer: A legal battle might be the reason the A&E show hasn't returned.
British media company ITV bought a majority stake of Duck Dynasty production company Gurney Productions for $40 million in 2012, The Telegraph reports, and then fired founders and Duck Dynasty creators Scott and Deirdre Gurney in 2016. In the ensuing court battle, ITV alleged Scott and Deirdre acted with "stunning greed" to fraudulently inflate the profits at their company; and ITV also alleged the couple tried to expense $1.2 million of guns, jewelry, massages, vacations, and parties. Meanwhile, the Gurneys claim ITV wrongfully fired them and tried to bilk them out of a fortune, and they've claimed damages of more than $150 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Gurneys provided an ITV document they found that allegedly shows ITV had planned the takeover for months: a checklist titled "Operation Peking." (Peking Duck — get it?)
As all this drama was going down, the Robertson family revealed that the eleventh season would be the show's last just after the Season 11 premiere. "We've decided as a family for this to be the final chapter of the Duck Dynasty series," Jase Robertson said in the video announcement. In a statement released concurrently, A&E said, "After five years, 130 episodes and one of the biggest hits in the history of cable, the Robertson family and A&E jointly decided that Duck Dynasty, the series, will come to an end after this season."
At the time, Korie Robertson consoled fans by saying the fam might be back for "a special or two," but we haven't seen hide nor hair of the family on television since the series finale aired on March 29, 2017. We don't know if it's A&E, the Robertsons, the legal war, or all the controversy that's keeping the show from returning — but many of the old episodes are on Hulu, so fans aren't totally bereft.
