Other websites, some with way too much time on their hands, have meticulously detailed the staging that goes into the show. But suffice it to say that the Robertsons have thrived in part because they and their producers have been adept at making themselves seem authentic. As one reality TV producer suggested when discussing the show, even if the situations are all phony, you couldn’t create those guys.

Still, the full-throated defense on behalf of the Robertsons primarily reflects two things: The very effective tactic of making Christians feel like they are disrespected and persecuted by the mainstream media; and most germane to this discussion, the sorry lack of media literacy in the U.S., where people might insist they’re in on the gag, but if they’re seeing something on TV, they tend to assume it’s true.