The first new episodes of Duck Dynasty since the Troubles of December ‘13 aired last night, and plenty of people still watched the show. Per Nielsen numbers confirmed by A&E, about 8.5 million tuned in for the two episodes last night, about a half-million viewers short of ABC’s Modern Family and bigger than everything else on ABC and NBC last night. While short of the nearly 12 million who caught the summer 2013 premiere (when networks were mostly in rerun mode), the numbers are right in line — or a bit higher — than what the show was bringing in back in October (between 7 and 8 million). In other words, there’s no sign viewers surged to the show because of the controversy surrounding it, nor any sign they’re abandoning it. And quack’s the way it is.
