Clint Eastwood -- Reality Show Did NOT Set Up Obama Schtick

Clint Eastwood was NOT put up to his painful Barack Obama schtick last night by the producers of his family's reality show -- in fact, sources close to the legend tell TMZ, Clint "acts that way all the time at home."

There's been a lot of speculation -- Clint's bit was so awful ... there's no way it wasn't a setup for reality TV ... but we're told it really wasn't. The whole thing was Clint's idea, and even his family had no clue what he planned to do on stage.

According to sources, Clint's family's reality show "Mrs. Eastwood & Company" has not officially been picked up for a 2nd season and they're not currently in production -- so there's no way producers could have had a hand in last night's trainwreck.

We’re told Clint's family believes his speech was widely misunderstood -- Clint just has a dry sense of humor that people don't understand.