The Dukes of Hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard
Genre
Created by Gy Waldron and Jerry Rushing
Starring
Narrated by Waylon Jennings
Opening theme "Good Ol' Boys" performed by Waylon Jennings
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 7
No. of episodes 147 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setup Single-camera
Running time 45–49 minutes
Production company(s)
  • Paul R. Picard Productions and Piggy Productions, Inc. (season 1)
  • Lou Step Productions (seasons 2–7)
  • Warner Bros. Television
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network CBS
Audio format Mono
Original release January 26, 1979 (1979-01-26) – February 8, 1985 (1985-02-08)
Chronology
Followed by
Related shows
External links
Website www.warnervideo.com/dukesofhazzarddvd/

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action-comedy television series that aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985. The show aired for a total of 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.

Plot overview

The Dukes of Hazzard follows the adventures of "The Duke Boys," cousins Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) (including Coy and Vance Duke for most of season 5), who live on a family farm in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, with their attractive female cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) and their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle). The Duke boys race around in their customized 1969 Dodge Charger stock car, dubbed (The) General Lee, evading crooked and corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his bumbling and corrupt Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best) along with his deputy(s), and always managing to get caught in the middle of the various escapades and incidents that often occur in the area. Bo and Luke had previously been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine; their Uncle Jesse made a plea bargain with the U.S. Government to refrain from distilling moonshine in exchange for Bo and Luke's freedom. As a result, Bo and Luke are on probation and not allowed to carry firearms — instead, they often use compound bows, sometimes with arrows tipped with dynamite — or to leave Hazzard County unless they get probation permission from their probation officer, Boss Hogg, although the exact details of their probation terms vary from episode to episode. Sometimes it is implied that they would be jailed for merely crossing the county line; on other occasions, it is shown that they may leave Hazzard, as long as they are back within a certain time limit. Several other technicalities of their probation also came into play at various times.

Corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis (J.D.) "Boss" Hogg, who either runs or has fingers in virtually everything in Hazzard County, is forever angry with the Dukes, especially Bo and Luke, for always foiling his crooked schemes. He is always looking for ways to get them out of the picture so that his plots have a chance of succeeding. Many episodes revolve around Hogg trying to engage in an illegal scheme, sometimes with aid of hired criminal help. Some of these are get-rich-quick schemes, though many others affect the financial security of the Duke farm, which Hogg has long wanted to acquire for various reasons. Other times, Hogg hires criminals from out of town to do his dirty work for him, and often tries to frame Bo and Luke for various crimes as part of these plots. Bo and Luke always seem to stumble over Hogg's latest scheme, sometimes by curiosity, and often by sheer luck, and put it out of business. Despite the Dukes often coming to his rescue (see below), Hogg forever seems to have an irrational dislike of the clan, particularly Bo and Luke, often accusing them of spying on him, robbing or planning to rob him, and other supposedly nefarious actions, as he believes they are generally out to get him.

The other main characters of the show include local mechanic Cooter Davenport (Ben Jones), who in early episodes was portrayed as a wild, unshaven rebel, often breaking or treading on the edge of the law, before settling down to become the Duke family's best friend (he is often referred to as an "honorary Duke") and owns the local garage; and Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer), an honest but naive young deputy who, despite his friendship with the Dukes (and his crush on Daisy), is reluctantly forced to take part in Hogg and Rosco's crooked schemes. In the third and fourth seasons, when Enos leaves for his own show, he is replaced by Boss' cousin Deputy Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst), Boss's cousin, who is slightly more wily than Enos but still a somewhat reluctant player in Hogg's plots.

Owing to their fundamentally good natures, the Dukes often wind up helping Boss Hogg out of trouble, albeit grudgingly. More than once Hogg is targeted by former associates who are either seeking revenge or have double crossed him after a scheme has unraveled in one way or another. Sheriff Coltrane also finds himself in some instances. On such occasions, Bo and Luke usually have to rescue their adversaries as an inevitable precursor to defeating the bad guys; in other instances, the Dukes join forces with Hogg and Coltrane to tackle bigger threats to Hazzard or one of their respective parties. These instances became more frequent as the show progressed, and later seasons saw a number of stories where the Dukes and Hogg (and Coltrane) temporarily work together.

Production

The series was developed from the 1975 film Moonrunners. Created by Gy Waldron in collaboration with ex-moonshiner Jerry Rushing, this movie shares many identical and very similar names and concepts with the subsequent TV series. Although itself essentially a comedy, this original movie was much cruder and edgier than the family-friendly TV series that would evolve from it.

In 1977, Waldron was approached by Warner Bros. with the idea of developing Moonrunners into a television series. Waldron reworked various elements from Moonrunners, and from it was devised what would become The Dukes of Hazzard. Production began in October 1978 with the original intention of only nine episodes being produced as mid-season filler. The first five episodes were filmed in Covington and Conyers, Georgia and surrounding areas, including some location work in nearby Atlanta. After completing production on the fifth episode, "High Octane", the cast and crew broke for Christmas break, expecting to return in several weeks' time to complete the ordered run of episodes. In the meantime, executives at Warner Bros. were impressed by the rough preview cuts of the completed episodes and saw potential in developing the show into a full-running series; part of this plan was to move production from Georgia to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, primarily to simplify production as well as develop a larger workshop to service the large number of automobiles needed for the series.

Rushing appeared as shady used car dealer Ace Parker in the third episode produced, "Repo Men" (the fourth to be broadcast). Rushing believed this to be the start of a recurring role, in return for which he would supply creative ideas from his experiences: many of the Dukes (and thus Moonrunners) characters and situations were derived from Rushing's experiences as a youth, and much of the character of Bo Duke he states to be based on him. However, "Repo Men" would turn out to be the character's only appearance in the entire show's run, leading to a legal dispute in the following years over the rights to characters and concepts between Rushing and Warner Bros., although he remained on good terms with cast and crew and in recent years has made appearances at several fan conventions.

By the end of the first (half) season, the family-friendly tone of The Dukes of Hazzard was mostly in place. When the show returned for a second season in Fall 1979 (its first full season), with a few further minor tweaks, the show quickly found its footing as a family-friendly comedy-adventure series. By the third season, starting in Fall 1980, the template was well set in place for that which would be widely associated with the show.

As well as its regular car chases, jumps and stunts, The Dukes of Hazzard relied on character familiarity, with each character effectively serving the same role within a typical episode, and with Deputy Cletus replacing Deputy Enos in Seasons 3 and 4, and Coy and Vance Duke temporarily replacing Bo and Luke (due to a salary dispute) for most of Season 5, being the only major cast changes through the show's run (Ben Jones and James Best both left temporarily during the second season due to different disputes with producers, but both returned within a few episodes). Of the characters, only Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg appeared in all 145 episodes; Daisy appears in all but one, the third season's "To Catch a Duke". The General Lee also appears in all but one (the early first-season episode "Mary Kaye's Baby", the fourth to be produced and the third broadcast).

Cast and characters

Cast of The Dukes of Hazzard (from left): (bottom) John Schneider, Tom Wopat, Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, Peggy Rea; (top) Ben Jones, Sorrell Booke, James Best, Sonny Shroyer
Character Portrayed by Season Reunion! Hazzard in Hollywood
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Luke Duke Tom Wopat Main Recurring Main
Bo Duke John Schneider Main Recurring Main
Daisy Duke Catherine Bach Main
Jesse Duke Denver Pyle Main
Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane James Best Main
Boss Hogg Sorrell Booke Main
Cooter Davenport Ben Jones Main
Deputy Enos Strate Sonny Shroyer Main Recurring Main
Deputy Cletus Hogg Rick Hurst Recurring Main Guest Main
Coy Duke Byron Cherry Main
Vance Duke Christopher Mayer Main
The Balladeer Waylon Jennings Main

Main characters

The pilot episode was to include a barber modeled after Floyd Lawson on The Andy Griffith Show as a regular character, but was eliminated when the final draft of the pilot's script was written and before the show was cast.

When John Schneider auditioned for the role of Bo Duke, he came to the audition in a dilapidated pickup truck, sporting a week-long beard growth, wearing overalls and a white T-shirt with a pack of cigarettes rolled up in a sleeve collar, and carrying a can of beer, trying to look the part. At the audition, Schneider drank the beer and said he was from Snellville. The producers bought his "Good Ol' Boy" act and Schneider was hired on the spot.

Recurring characters

Character Actor
Info
Lulu Coltrane Hogg Peggy Rea
Boss Hogg's wife, Hughie Hogg's aunt, and Rosco's sister. Lulu constantly challenged her husband for authority and rallied for the equality of women in Hazzard, and was one of the few people in Hazzard whom Boss was actually intimidated by, though he genuinely loved and cared for her. Although much mentioned, Lulu only appeared once during the first season (in the episode "Repo Men") and once during the second season ("The Rustlers"), before her appearances gradually increased over the third season. By the fourth season, she was a frequently-seen recurring character. Initially in her single first and second season appearances, she was portrayed to be rather spoiled and selfish; as her appearances increased, the character evolved into being more caring and kind — often to the contrast of Boss, and which on occasion proved to be his downfall or Achilles' heel. Although Boss is a nemesis to the Dukes, Lulu is best friends with Daisy.
Myrtle / Mabel Tillingham Lindsay Bloom
Mabel is Hogg's cousin who runs the Hazzard Phone Company, who often sneak listens to calls and lets Hogg know what's going on. Her name mysteriously changed from Myrtle to Mabel midway through the second season.
Longstreet B. Davenport Ernie Lively (credited as Ernie W. Brown)
L.B. was Cooter's cousin who filled for Cooter when he was away from the garage in several second-season episodes (in reality, this was to cover for Ben Jones' absence, after a disagreement with producers as to whether Cooter should have a beard or not). L.B. appeared in the episodes "Follow that Still", "Duke of Duke" "The Runaway", before Jones returned to the series; the episode "Grannie Annie" also features another temporary Cooter replacement, Mickey Jones as B.B. Davenport. Ernie Lively also played a different character named "Dobro Doolan", a friend of Bo and Luke, in the first episode of the series, "One Armed Bandits" (where he was credited as Ernie Brown), and as a guard called Clyde in the later sixth-season episode "The Ransom of Hazzard County". With Cooter's temporary absence, it was never fully explained why one of his relations was suddenly running the garage in his place; and in a similar vein to Coy and Vance in the fifth season, both of these cousins of Cooter were very much clones of the original character, and were never mentioned before or after their temporary spells replacing the original character.
Hughie Hogg Jeff Altman
Boss Hogg's young nephew, said to be as crooked as — maybe even more crooked than — Hogg. Dressed in an all-white suit just like his Uncle Boss, Hughie drove or was chauffeured around in a white VW Beetle with bull horns on the hood, similar to Boss Hogg's Cadillac. Typically, Boss Hogg would call in Hughie once per season to come up with a particularly dastardly scheme to get rid of the Dukes. Hughie's seemingly flawless plots would always end up in disaster, and Boss Hogg would end up throwing him out of Hazzard at the end of the episode. Despite this, Hogg would always give Hughie "one last chance" on his next appearance. On some later appearances, Hughie would worm is way back into Hazzard by coming up with a scheme and then persuading Hogg to go along with it, often by bribery. The character of Hughie was first introduced in the episode "Uncle Boss", produced as the second episode of the second season but not broadcast until the third season (for unknown reasons, and just several episodes prior to "The Return of Hughie Hogg"). By that time, Hughie had already been seen as Temporary Sheriff in the second-season episode "Arrest Jesse Duke" in which he appeared in a secondary role, written in at the last minute to cover Sheriff Rosco's absence during James Best's temporary boycott of the show. He acted somewhat out of character of his usual conniving self in the episode, due to being given most of Rosco's lines.
Wayne / Norris Roger Torrey
One of Hughie's loyal duo of henchman. Played by the same actor but with different names on different occasions.
Floyd / Barclay Pat Studstill
The other of Hughie's duo of henchman. He and Norris were both bigger than Bo and Luke, but nonetheless struggled in fights against them. Again played by the same actor, but with different names on different occasions.
Emery Potter Charlie Dell
Emery Potter is the part-time Hazzard County registrar and chief teller of the Hazzard Bank. Emery is a meek, soft-spoken man with a low tolerance for anything exciting. He is a friend of the Dukes, and sometimes falls under Hogg's crooked schemes simply because he is too timid to stand up for himself. First seen in the second-season episode "People's Choice", the character made several return appearances across the seasons. He has also served as Temporary Deputy on occasion.
Dr. Henry "Doc" Petticord Patrick Cranshaw
Hazzard County's ancient, long-serving physician.
Miz (Emma) Tisdale Nedra Volz
The postmistress of the Hazzard Post Office, Miz Tisdale ("Emma" to Jesse Duke) was an elderly woman who drove a motorcycle and had a huge crush on Uncle Jesse because they knew each-other long ago. She was also a reporter for the Hazzard Gazzette.
Sheriff Edward Thomas "Big Ed" Little Don Pedro Colley
The hulking chief law enforcement officer (driving a 1975 Plymouth Fury patrol car) of neighboring Chickasaw County, and the only recurring character in the series played by a black actor. Sheriff Little had a tendency to punch and kick fenders and doors off of cars he wrecked, in anger. He was also not afraid to pull out his trusty 12-gauge shotgun and open fire. He is also a Left hander Police officer, The ill-tempered sheriff hated Bo, Luke, Daisy, Coy, Vance, Uncle Jesse, Cooter, Enos and Cletus immensely and they were well aware that Bo and Luke were not allowed to enter his county. Sheriff Little was constantly irritated by the bumbling performance of Rosco and the crookedness of Hogg, although he thought highly of Enos; Little was strict, by-the-book, and a competent law officer, everything that Sheriff Rosco was not (although he too had little luck in capturing Bo and Luke). His unseen wife's name was Rachel plus his Daughter. Before Sheriff Little was introduced, in the third-season episode "My Son, Bo Hogg", several first and second-season episodes saw several similar tough-as-nails Sheriffs from adjoining counties.
Mr. Rhuebottom John Wheeler
A local store owner, seen occasionally from the fourth-season episode "Pin the Tail on the Dukes" onwards. (The Rhuebottom General Store shopfront is seen as early as the first-season episode "Luke's Love Story")
Dr. "Doc" Appleby Elmore Vincent, later Parley Baer
Elderly successor to Doc Petticord. Played by Elmore Vincent on the character's first appearance, in the fourth-season episode "Dear Diary", before Parley Baer took over the role in subsequent appearances.
Elton Ritchie Montgomery
A disc jockey on the local WHOGG radio station, seen in the sixth-season episode "Enos's Last Chance" and the late seventh-season episode "Strange Visitor To Hazzard", and referred to along with the radio station in several other episodes. Other than actor M. C. Gainey (who played Sheriff Rosco in the 2005 movie version and had previously played a villain in the fourth-season episode "Bad Day in Hazzard"), Ritchie Montgomery is the only actor to appear in both episode(s) of the TV series and the 2005 movie (where he plays the small role of a State Trooper). Montgomery mentions this in a feature on DVD versions of the movie.

Notable guest appearances

Throughout its network television run, The Dukes of Hazzard had a consistent mix of up-and-comers and established stars make guest appearances.

Others

NASCAR driver Terry Labonte makes a brief, uncredited appearance as a crewman in the episode Undercover Dukes Part 1. The race cars supplied for both part 1 and part 2 of Undercover Dukes were supplied by Labonte's race owner, Billy Hagan. However, the emblems of the sponsors of the cars (at that time Labonte was sponsored by Budweiser) were covered to avoid paying royalties.

The celebrity speed trap

During the show's second season, the show's writers began flirting with the idea of incorporating a "celebrity speed trap" into some of the episodes, as a means to feature top country stars of the day performing their hits. On its first couple of instances, the "Speed Trap" was featured early in the story, but for most of the cases, it was featured in the last few minutes of an episode, often used when the main story was running too short to fill episode time.

The "celebrity speed trap" feature was essentially similar: Aware that a big-name country star was passing through the area, Boss Hogg would order Rosco to lower the speed limit on a particular road to an unreasonable level (using a reversible sign, with one speed limit on one side and another, far lower, on the back), so that the targeted singer would be in violation of the posted limit. The singer would be required to give a free performance at the Boar's Nest in exchange for having their citations forgiven; the performer would then perform one of their best-known hits or other popular country music standard, while the Dukes, Boss, Rosco, Enos, Cletus, Cooter, and other patrons whooped and hollered in enjoyment of the performance. More often than not, the performer would give a sarcastic parting shot to Boss and Rosco.

Singers who were featured in the "speed trap" segments were:

Honorable Mentions: Mickey Gilley, Loretta Lynn

Gilley's and Lynn's appearances were not solely for the celebrity speed trap. After performing a concert in Hazzard, Gilley was nabbed while leaving and forced to do a second show to nullify his citation. Lynn was kidnapped by criminals wanting to break into the music business. Loretta Lynn was the very first country music guest star on the show in 1979 and had an entire show titled "Find Loretta Lynn."

Note: Janie Fricke was the only guest country star who did not perform a song, celebrity speed trap or otherwise. She played an accomplice to a robber in an episode who hid money in the dashboard of the car that was to become the General Lee.

Coy & Vance

Christopher Mayer and Byron Cherry as Vance and Coy Duke, respectively

The Dukes of Hazzard was consistently among the top-rated television series (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS' Friday night schedule). With that success came huge profits in merchandising, with a wide array of Dukes of Hazzard toys and products being licensed and becoming big sellers. However, over the course of the show's fourth season, series stars Tom Wopat and John Schneider became increasingly concerned about a contract dispute over their salaries and merchandising royalties owed to them over the high sales of Dukes products. Neither were being paid what was owed to them and this became very frustrating to the duo. As a result, in the spring of 1982, as filming was due to begin on the fifth season, Wopat and Schneider did not report to the set in protest over the matter. Catherine Bach also considered walking out due to similar concerns, but Wopat and Schneider convinced her to stay, insisting that if she left then there may not be a show to come back to, and that settling the issue was up to them.[4]

Production was pushed back by a few weeks as fairly similar looking replacements were subsequently, hastily hired: Byron Cherry as Coy Duke and Christopher Mayer as Vance Duke. Bo and Luke were said to have gone to race on the NASCAR circuit; how they managed to do this, bearing in mind the terms of their probation, was never explained. Cherry and Mayer were originally contracted at just ten episodes as stand-ins, still with hope that a settlement might be reached with Wopat and Schneider[5] (in total, they made 19 episodes including 1 with Bo and Luke). Some scripts for Coy and Vance were originally written for Bo and Luke but with their names quite literally crossed out and Coy and Vance penned in.[4] The new Dukes — previously-unmentioned nephews of Uncle Jesse, who were said to have left the farm in 1976, before the show had started — were unpopular with the great majority of viewers, and the ratings immediately sank. Much of the criticism was that Coy and Vance were nothing but direct clones of Bo and Luke, with Coy a direct "carbon copy" replacement for Bo and Vance for Luke, with little variation in character. This was something that even show creator Gy Waldron has said was wrong,[6] and that he insisted, unsuccessfully, that audiences would not accept direct character clones and the two replacements should be taken in a different direction characterwise, but was overridden by producers. Waldron also commented that if Bach too had walked, the show would have most probably been cancelled. It was reported that prior to filming, Cherry and Mayer were given Bo and Luke episodes to watch, to study and learn to emulate them, although Cherry has said in interviews that he doesn't recall this ever happening.

Hit hard by the significant drop in ratings, Warner Bros. renegotiated with Wopat and Schneider, and eventually a settlement was reached, and the original Duke boys returned to the series in early 1983, four episodes from the conclusion of the fifth season. Initially, part of the press release announcing Wopat and Schneider's return suggested that Cherry and Mayer would remain as part of the cast (though presumably in a reduced role),[7] but it was quickly realized that "four Duke boys" would not work within the context of the series, and due to the huge unpopularity associated with their time on the show, they were quickly written out of the same episode in which Bo and Luke returned.

Return of Bo and Luke

Although Coy and Vance were never popular with the majority, a few viewers were disappointed by their departure episode, "Welcome Back, Bo 'N' Luke", which was for the most part a standard episode, with the return of Bo and Luke and the departure of Coy and Vance tacked onto the beginning (Bo and Luke return from their NASCAR tour just as Coy and Vance leave Hazzard to tend to a sick relative). Even a few viewers commented that they were disappointed by this, and that they would have liked to have seen both pairs of Duke boys team up to tackle a particularly dastardly plot by Boss Hogg before Coy and Vance's departure, but as it turned out, Coy and Vance had little dialogue and were gone by the first commercial break, never to be seen again.[8]

While the return of Bo and Luke was welcomed by ardent and casual viewers alike, and as a result ratings recovered slightly, the show never completely regained its former popularity. One of Wopat and Schneider's disputes even before they left was what they considered to be increasingly weak and formulaic scripts and episode plots.[9] With Wopat and Schneider's return, the producers agreed to try a wider scope of storylines.[10] However, although it continued for two more seasons, the show never fully returned to its former glory. As well as what was widely recognized to be increasingly inferior scripts, many cast members decried the miniature car effects newly incorporated to depict increasingly absurd General Lee and patrol car stunts (which had previously been performed with real cars by stunt drivers). The miniature car effects were intended as a budget saving measure (to save the cost of repairing or replacing damaged vehicles) and to help compete visually with KITT from the NBC series Knight Rider. In February 1985, The Dukes of Hazzard ended its run after seven seasons.

Vehicles

The General Lee (Dodge Charger)

The General Lee Charger
The General Lee on public display

The General Lee was based on a 1969 Dodge Charger owned by Bo and Luke (the series had 1968-1970 Chargers to look like a 1969). It was orange with a Confederate battle flag painted on the roof, the words "GENERAL LEE" over each door, and the number "01" on each door. In the original five Georgia-filmed episodes, a Confederate flag along with a checkered racing flag in a criss-cross pattern could be seen behind the rear window; this was removed when it was felt that this extra detail did not show up enough on-screen to warrant the already very tight time constraints of preparing and repairing each example of the car. The name refers to the American Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The television show was based on the movie Moonrunners, in turn based on actual moonshine runners who used a 1958 Chrysler named Traveler, after General Lee's horse (with a slight spelling change). Traveler was originally intended to be the name of the Duke boys' stock car too, until producers agreed that General Lee had more punch to it.

Since it was built as a race car, the doors were welded shut. Through the history of the show, an estimated 309 Chargers were used; 17 are still known to exist in various states of repair. A replica was owned by John Schneider, known as "Bo's General Lee." In 2008, Schneider sold "Bo's General Lee" at the Barrett-Jackson automobile auction for $230,000. An eBay auction which garnered a bid of $9,900,500 for the car was never finalized, with the purported bidder claiming his account had been hacked.[11] The underside of the hood has the signatures of the cast from the 1997 TV movie. Schneider has also restored over 20 other General Lees to date. In 2008, a replica of the General Lee fetched a high bid of $450,000 at the Barrett-Jackson auto auction, indicating the significant interest in the car as a cultural icon. In 2012, the "General Lee 1", the first car used in filming the series, was purchased at auction by golfer Bubba Watson for $110,000. The car had been scrapped after being wrecked during the famous opening jump shoot, and was later discovered in a junk-yard by the president of the North American General Lee fan club.[12] In 2015, following a wave of sentiment against confederate symbolism in the wake of shootings in Charleston, SC, (relating to photos where the attacker had posed with the Confederate flag), Bubba Watson announced that he would remove the Confederate Flag from the roof of General Lee 1 and repaint it with the US National Flag.[13]

The show also used 1968 Chargers (which shared the same sheet metal) by changing the grille and taillight panel to the 1969 style, and removing the round side marker lights. These Chargers performed many record-breaking jumps throughout the show, almost all of them resulting in a completely destroyed car. The 1970 Chargers were modified by removing the chrome bumper and changing the taillights.

The Duke boys added a custom air horn to the General Lee that played the first twelve notes of the song Dixie. The Dixie horn was not originally planned, until a Georgia local hot rod racer drove by and sounded his car's Dixie horn. The producers immediately rushed after him asking where he had bought the horn. Warner Bros. purchased several Chargers for stunts, as they generally destroyed at least one or two cars per episode. By the end of the show's sixth season, the Chargers were becoming harder to find, and more expensive. In addition, the television series Knight Rider began to rival the General Lee's stunts. As such, the producers used 1:8 scale miniatures, filmed by Jack Sessums' crew, or recycled stock jump footage — the latter being a practice that had been in place to an extent since the second season, and had increased as the seasons passed.

Some of the 01 and Confederate flag motifs were initially hand painted, but as production sped up, these were replaced with vinyl decals for quick application (and removal), as needed.

During the first five episodes of the show that were filmed in Georgia, the cars involved with filming were given to the crew at H&H body shop near the filming location. At this shop, the men worked day and night to prepare the wrecked cars for the next day while still running their body shop during the day. Time was of the essence, and the men that worked at this shop worked hard hours to get the cars prepared for the show.

The third episode "Mary Kaye's Baby" is the only one in which the General Lee does not appear. Instead, the Dukes drove around in a blue 1975 Plymouth Fury borrowed from Cooter that Luke later destroyed by shooting an arrow at the car, whose trunk had been leaking due to the moonshine stowed in the back.

The Duke boys' CB handle was (jointly) "Lost Sheep". Originally when the show was conceived, their handle was to be "General Lee" to match their vehicle, but this was only ever used on-screen on one occasion, in the second episode, "Daisy's Song", when Cooter calls Bo and Luke over the CB by this handle, although they were actually driving Daisy's Plymouth Roadrunner (see below) at the time. As it became obvious that the "General Lee" handle would be out of place when the Duke boys were in another vehicle, the "Lost Sheep" handle was devised (with Uncle Jesse being "Shepherd" and Daisy being "Bo Peep").

Hazzard police cars (AMC Matador, Dodge Polara, Dodge Monaco, Plymouth Fury)

1970's era Plymouth Fury similar to the ones used in the series

The 1975 AMC Matador[14] was one of many different Hazzard County police cars used on the series, mostly in the first season; they had light bars and working radios. A 1972 Dodge Polara[15] and a 1974 Dodge Monaco[16] were used during the pilot episode "One Armed Bandits", these were also seen in the show's title sequence. From the second season, the 1977 Dodge Monaco[17] was mostly used. From mid-season four the similar looking 1978 Plymouth Fury[18] was used instead. The Matadors and Furies were former Los Angeles Police Department vehicles, while the Monacos were former California Highway Patrol units.

Plymouth Road Runner

A 1974 Plymouth Road Runner[19] (yellow with a black stripe) was Daisy Duke's car in the first five episodes of the first season. For the last episodes of the first season a similarly painted 1971 model with a matching "Road Runner" stripe was used. In the second season Bo and Luke send it off a cliff in "The Runaway." Another identical Plymouth 1971 model car appeared in the background a few more episodes along with the Jeep CJ-7 until it was finally dropped altogether.

Jeep CJ-7

Dixie was the name given to Daisy Duke's white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" which had a golden eagle emblem on the hood and the name "Dixie" on the sides. Like other vehicles in the show, there was actually more than one Jeep used throughout the series. Sometimes it would have an automatic transmission, and other times it would be a manual. The design of the roll cage also varied across the seasons. When the Jeep was introduced at the end of the second season's "The Runaway", it was seen to have doors and a slightly different paint job, but, bar one appearance in the next produced episode, "Arrest Jesse Duke" (actually broadcast before "The Runaway", causing a continuity error), thereafter the doors were removed and the paint job was made all-white, with "Dixie" painted on the sides of the hood. These Jeeps were leased to the producers of the show by American Motors Corporation in exchange for a brief mention in the closing credits of the show.

Ford F-100 pickup truck

Uncle Jesse's truck was a white Ford pickup truck, most commonly a Sixth generation (1973–1977) F100 Styleside.[20] However, in the earliest episodes it had a Flareside bed, and varied between F100 and F250 models throughout the show's run. Bo, Luke and Daisy also drove Jesse's truck on occasion.

Cadillac Coupe de Ville

A White 1970 Cadillac De Ville convertible was used as Boss Hogg's car, notably with large bull horns as a hood ornament. In early seasons, Hogg was almost always driven by a chauffeur, who was normally nameless and had little or no dialogue, but identified on occasion as being called "Alex"; and played by several different uncredited actors, including stuntman Gary Baxley. This chauffeur would often be dressed in a red plaid shirt and deep brown or black Stetson hat, but on occasion would be an older man, sometimes dressed in more typical chauffeur attire. Hogg is first seen to drive for himself in the second season opener "Days of Shine and Roses", where he and Jesse challenge each other to one last moonshine race. From the fourth season onward, except for a couple of brief reappearances of the chauffeur (during the fourth season), Hogg drove himself around in his Cadillac (or occasionally driven by Rosco and, in the series' finale, by Uncle Jesse) and frequently challenged others by invoking his driving expertise from his days as a ridge-runner. Unlike other vehicles in the series, Boss Hogg's Cadillac is typically treated with kid gloves. The car is almost always seen with its convertible top down, with the top only being seen in two episodes, "Daisy's Song" (the chauffeur was called "Eddie" in this episode), the second to be produced and broadcast, and briefly in the second-season episode "Witness for the Persecution", when Cooter is returning it to the Court House after repairs.

Tourist attraction

Artifacts from the show are on display in Luray, Virginia, Nashville, Tennessee and in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Cooter's Place in Luray is overseen by Ben "Cooter" Jones from the series. The Gatlinburg location features a gift shop, Dukes of Hazzard-themed indoor mini golf and go-cart track, with a small display of costumes, collectables and artifacts from the show.

Covington and Conyers, Georgia; where the original five episodes were produced, have been two major tourist attractions for Dukes of Hazzard fans.

Dixie Outfitters in Branson, Missouri on Highway 76 has the General Lee and Rosco's police car signed by Daisy, Cooter, Cletus and Enos.

Theme song

The theme song "The Good Ol' Boys" was written and performed by Waylon Jennings. He was also "The Balladeer" (as credited), and served as narrator of the show. However, the version released as a single is not the same version that was used in the show's opening credits; the single version has a repeat of the chorus and an instrumental to pad out the length, uses a different instrumental mix that emphasizes the bass, and replaces the last verse with an inside joke about how the TV show producers "keep on showing (Jennings's) hands and not (his) face on TV."

In 1980, the song reached #1 on the American Country chart and peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.[21]

Broadcast history

Syndication

Soon before the series ended its original run on CBS, The Dukes of Hazzard went into off-network syndication. Although not as widely run as it was back in the 1980s and the years since, reruns of the program do continue to air in various parts of the United States.

Notably, television stations that aired the show in syndication include KCOP Los Angeles, WGN-TV Chicago, KBHK San Francisco, WKBD Detroit, WTAF/WTXF Philadelphia, KTXL Sacramento, WVTV Milwaukee, KMSP Minneapolis–Saint Paul, among others.

Nationwide, the show also aired on ABC Family (2000–2001, 2004) and CMT (2005–2007, 2010–2012, 2014–15) and TV Land (2015); TV Land dropped the show in the wake of protests and controversy surrounding the display of the Confederate flag.[23]

The Nashville Network bought The Dukes of Hazzard from Warner Bros. in 1997 for well over $10 million; not only did it improve the network's ratings, the show was also popular among younger viewers, a demographic TNN had a notorious difficulty in drawing; The Dukes of Hazzard has run either on TNN or sister network CMT ever since.[24]

Nielsen ratings

Year Viewers (Millions) Rating
1978–1979 21.0[25] #20[25]
1979–1980 18.38[26] #9[26]
1980–1981 21.81[27] #2[28]
1981–1982 18.41[29] #6[30]
1982–1983 17.2 #29[31]
1983–1984 16.4[32] #36[32]
1984–1985 13.8[33] #61[33]

Episode list

The show ran for seven seasons and a total of 145 episodes. Many of the episodes followed a similar structure "out-of-town crooks pull a robbery or commit a crime or scandal, Duke boys blamed, spend the rest of the hour clearing their names, the General Lee flies and the squad cars crash".[34]

Spin-off

The second-season episodes "Jude Emery", about a Texas Ranger, and "Mason Dixon's Girls", about a travelling private investigator and his female associates, were both pilots written by Dukes creator Gy Waldron for proposed new shows. Both failed to sell.

Films

There were two made-for-TV reunion movies that aired on CBS, The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) and The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000). Also made were The Dukes of Hazzard in 2005 and a direct-to-video prequel The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning in 2007.

Home media

DVD

Warner Home Video has released all seven seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard on DVD in regions 1 and 2. The two TV-movies that followed the series were released on DVD in Region 1 on June 10, 2008 and in Region 4 on June 4, 2014.[35] In Region 4, Warner has released only the first six seasons on DVD and the two TV movies.

DVD Name Ep # Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
The Complete 1st Season 13 June 1, 2004 August 15, 2005 August 17, 2005
The Complete 2nd Season 23 January 25, 2005 September 26, 2005 August 17, 2005
The Complete 3rd Season 23 May 31, 2005 November 21, 2005 March 1, 2006
The Complete 4th Season 27 [36] August 2, 2005 February 13, 2006 March 1, 2006
The Complete 5th Season 22 December 13, 2005 April 10, 2006 August 9, 2006
The Complete 6th Season 22 May 30, 2006 July 24, 2006 August 9, 2006
The Complete 7th Season 17 December 5, 2006 September 22, 2008 N/A
Two Movie Collection 2 June 10, 2008 N/A June 4, 2014

Streaming

The TV series was also made available for streaming and download through a variety of services.[37]

In 2005, Tom Wopat and John Schneider were reunited during "Exposed", a fifth season episode of the television series Smallville.[38] Wopat guest-starred as Kansas State Senator Jack Jennings, an old friend of Clark Kent's adoptive father Jonathan Kent (portrayed by Schneider). In the episode, Jennings drives a 1968 Dodge Charger—the same body style as The General Lee.[39]

Lizard Lick Towing featured an episode with its repossession specialists Ronnie Shirley and Bobby Brantley repossess a General Lee replica.

John Schneider and Tom Wopat have recently been featured reprising their roles as Bo and Luke Duke in ads for AutoTrader.com. Then The General Lee gets replaced in the commercial with the new generation version which is a 2013 Dodge Viper which is General Lee the 2nd.

In 2015, in the wake of renewed debate about the symbolism of the Confederate battle flag (which was prominently featured on the General Lees roof and panel behind the rear window in the first five episodes), reruns of the original series were pulled from circulation. Warner Bros., which owns the property, announced it would also no longer create merchandise bearing the flag, including miniatures of the General Lee.[40] However many people still make and sell custom General Lee diecast replicas everywhere online.

References

  1. The Dukes of Hazzard: One Armed Bandits DVD commentary track by John Schneider and Catherine Bach
  2. John Shelton Reed, Southern Folk, Plain and Fancy: Native White Social Types (2007), p. 21.
  3. "Basset Hounds". tvacres.com. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  4. 1 2 Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 96.
  5. Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 92.
  6. The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Complete Fourth Season (The Dukes Story: Building the Legend extra). Warner Bros.
  7. Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 97.
  8. Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 249.
  9. Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 86.
  10. Hofstede, David (1998). The Dukes Of Hazzard — The Unofficial Companion. Renaissance Books. p. 100.
  11. "'General Lee' auction?back on again - May. 11, 2007".
  12. "First 'General Lee' sells for $110,000". Fox News.
  13. "Confederate flag: Bubba Watson to paint over Dukes of Hazzard car". BBC News.
  14. "1974 AMC Matador in "The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979–1985"". IMCDb. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  15. "1972 Dodge Polara in "The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979–1985"". IMCDb. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  16. "1974 Dodge Monaco in "The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979–1985"". IMCDb. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  17. "1977 Dodge Monaco in "The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979-1985"". IMCDb.org. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  18. "1977 Plymouth Fury in "The Dukes of Hazzard, 1979-1985"". IMCDb.org. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  19. "1974 Plymouth Roadrunner — White — Front Angle". Seriouswheels.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  20. "jesse's truck - HazzardNet Gallery". Hazzardnet.com. July 18, 2006. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  21. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 hits (8 ed.). Billboard Books. p. 321. ISBN 0-8230-7499-4.
  22. "TV Land pulls ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ reruns amid Confederate flag controversy". WFLA.
  23. "Dukes Of Hazzard Off Air Amid Rebel Flag Row". Sky News.
  24. Flint, Joe. (1997-10-17) Divine (TV) Profits. EW.com. Retrieved on 2013-08-18.
  25. 1 2 Brooks, Tim and Marsh, Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, page 1253.
  26. 1 2 "TV Ratings > 1970s". ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  27. "ClassicTVHits.com: TV Ratings > 1980's".
  28. "TV Ratings > 1980s". ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  29. "ClassicTVHits.com: TV Ratings > 1980's".
  30. "TV Ratings > 1980s". ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  31. "TV Ratings > 1980s". ClassicTVHits.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  32. 1 2 "27 May 1984, Page 3 - The Akron Beacon Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  33. 1 2 "28 Apr 1985, Page 59 - The Index-Journal at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2016-05-03.
  34. Hofstede, D. (2011). 5000 Episodes and No Commercials: The Ultimate Guide to TV Shows On DVD. Ten Speed Press. p. 91. ISBN 9780307799500. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  35. "The Dukes of Hazzard DVD news: Announcement for The Dukes of Hazzard - 2 TV Movie Collection". TVShowsOnBlu-ray.com. Retrieved April 27, 2010.
  36. Source: tv.com and The Dukes Of Hazzard: The Complete Fourth Season Dvd box set
  37. "Amazon.com: Dukes of Hazzard Season 1: Philip Mandelker: Amazon Digital Services LLC".
  38. Kelly Souders & Brian Peterson (writers); Jeannot Szwarc (director) (November 3, 2005). "Exposed". Smallville. Season 5. Episode 6. The WB.
  39. Sloan, Sam (November 3, 2005). "'The Dukes' of Smallville are on Tonight". Slice of SciFi. Retrieved June 6, 2011.
  40. "Confederate flag gets 'Dukes of Hazzard' yanked". USA TODAY. July 1, 2015.

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