Chrisley Knows Best: New Reality Show Is Like A Dysfunctional Duck Dynasty

Chrisley Knows Best is taking on the reality show genre in a new way, with a sitcom-like feel that critics think is trying to cash in on the success of Duck Dynasty — only a bit raunchier.

The show follows self-made millionaire Todd Chrisley, his wife Julie and their five kids. The Atlanta-based family lives large, with a lot of family-friendly, good-natured antics. Like the Robertsons, the Chrisleys are filthy rich and live in a 30,000-square-foot mansion in Atlanta.

Critics see shades of Duck Dynasty, which has found big ratings and commercial success by selling the Robertson family as an alternative to the raunchier reality shows of past. The same family idea is there in Chrisley Knows Best, though the themes are a bit more adult, notes Variety.

Television critic Brian Lowry writes:

“Chrisley’s unorthodox parenting style might strike some as odd: He enthusiastically talks to his daughter about her breast implants, disciplines his 17-year-old son by placing a boot-lock on his car, and swaps sexual innuendos with the father of his grandchild. His wife Julie, meanwhile, does little more than roll her eyes.”

Even the family’s young son, first grader Grayson, gets in some adult one-liners.

“I wanna go to Hooters. I want to see some hot girls,” he says from child-proof seat while his mother is at the wheel.

Todd Chrisley is shown as a perfectionist of sorts, one who wants his children to act just as he instructs and even calls his daughter “bitchy” for eloping. He is shown following their every move with tracking devices and even reading their text messages.

In one scene, Todd takes a laptop form his son and throws it into a pool. In next week’s episode of Chrisley Knows Best he is shown doing the same to a cell phone.

“I am from South Carolina,” Todd is seen telling his 17-year-old son, Chase. “You grew up weak, in Georgia.”

Chrisley Knows Best airs Tuesdays at 10 pm on the USA Network.