So how many reality shows about country folk who run multimillion-dollar outdoor sporting goods companies can fit on one TV network? A&E thinks at least two, and they’re going to test the theory with Country Buck$, premiering Wednesday, Nov. 19, following Duck Dynasty.
Country Buck$ follows the Busbice family, proprietors of Wildgame Innovations, a company that specializes in nutritional supplements and attractants to support quality deer herd management. They also run a sportsman fantasy camp on more than 50,000 acres in Louisiana that also serves as a testing ground for their sporting-goods products in development, the more interesting of which include a silent crossbow, gator bait and 5-D camouflage.
The series features visits from singer Jason Aldean, Duck Dynasty‘s Willie Robertson and Swamp People‘s Troy Landry.
Country Buck$ premieres on A&E with back-to-back new episodes. In “Sac-Attack,” Duck Dynasty‘s Willie Robertson visits the Busbice ranch, the boys have to remove an infestation of bees from a block of deer food, and Uncle Hard Luck creates and tests new underpants you’ll have to see to believe. Then in “Fishing Crossbow,” Matt develops an idea for a crossbow with a fishing reel system that will let arrow-anglers haul in their catches. Then Ryan, Uncle Hard Luck and T-Carr “stinkify” themselves to test out a new deer-attractant formula.
UPDATE: We’ve received a few complaints, so we’re trying to figure out why A&E sent us (and electronic program guides) an incorrect program listings update for Duck Dynasty/Country Buck$. The only thing we can think of is that A&E intentionally tried to deceive viewers by listing a two-hour episode of Duck Dynasty. DVRs would then record two hours: one hour of DD and an hour of Country Buck$. Viewers DVRing DD were forced to also record Country Buck$, thereby manipulating its total audience. This is the first instance we’ve seen in which a network appears to have deliberately misled viewers to increase a show’s exposure or ratings. It’s troubling to us, and should be troubling to pay-TV providers who use interactive program guides as well as the Neilsen Co. which measures live and time-shifted audiences. Contrast the A&E update with what actually aired:
Photo: (C) 2014 A&E. Credit: Richard Knapp