Gurney Productions, the shingle behind A&E’s hit series “Duck Dynasty,” has lined up redneck fare at Discovery Channel with reality show “Porter Ridge.”
Docu-comedy centers on an isolated community in Indiana with a colorful cast of rural characters, including Jeff “The Bear Man,” who has a backyard full of bears, country calendar model Kayla, local garbage man and Elvis-lookalike “Elvis Larry,” and Terry Porter, CEO of an auto junkyard.
“Porter Ridge” launches Discovery into the hillbilly reality biz, a niche genre that TLC has seen success in with “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.” Many producers within the unscripted space cite A&E’s bearded men of “Duck Dynasty” as the template for copycat reality comedies, while also acknowledging that the casting on that show is, in a way, lightning in a bottle.
Discovery ordered 12 halfhour episodes of “Porter Ridge” and will debut the series on August 13 at 10:30 p.m.
