One Man's View Is Another Man's Duck Face

The Duck Dynasty story is as wrought with at least as many plot twists as your average soap opera, only it's reality TV. In the latest installment, the beleaguered patriarch returns with help from A&E.

The latest news over at A&E would have thrilled Aaron Spelling, creator of the Eighties TV series Dynasty. The camp icon killed off many a main character in the show’s heyday, only to have them return via convoluted explanation. So it is with Duck Dynasty’s Phil Robertson, whose “indefinite hiatus” (or "mysterious disappearance" in soap-opera speak) turns out not to have been permanent.

Robertson, whose anti-gay comments in a recent GQ article brought about his suspension from the show, has been reinstated.

“Duck Dynasty is not a show about one man's views,” the network said in a statement first obtained by the Hollywood Reporter. “It resonates with a large audience because it is a show about family… a family that America has come to love. As you might have seen in many episodes, they come together to reflect and pray for unity, tolerance and forgiveness. These are three values that we at A&E Networks also feel strongly about.”

We bet they do. Duck Dynasty is a cash cow for the network - the show, its videos, its merch, its bobbleheads - one they’re clearly not ready to let go.

But what about the residuals of Robertson’s comments for LGBTQ people and the worlds we live in? What about the people who agree with his views on homosexuality? Yes, the network plans to run PSAs “promoting unity, tolerance, and acceptance among all people,” as per its press release, but will it be enough?

Stay tuned.