the dukes of hazzard

The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.

Exposition

The TV series, The Dukes of Hazzard, followed the adventures of two good ol' boys, Bo and Luke Duke, living in an unincorporated area of the fictional Hazzard County, in Georgia, racing around in their modified 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Bo and Luke had been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine.

Many episodes revolved around Boss trying to engage in an illegal scheme with criminal associates. Some of these were get-rich-quick schemes, though many others affected the financial security of the Duke farm, which Boss had long wanted to acquire for nefarious reasons. Other times, Boss hired known criminals to frame Bo and Luke for crimes such as bank robbery (thus, resulting in probation revocation and allowing Boss to easily acquire the Duke farm). It was up to Bo and Luke to uncover the schemes and foil the criminals. Due to their fundamentally good natures, although Boss Hogg continually tried to frame them, the Dukes were always willing to help him out.

More than once Boss was targeted by former associates who were either seeking revenge or had turned against him after a scheme unraveled as a consequence of Boss' greedy nature or Rosco's bumbling. Sometimes, criminals who were even more crooked and ruthless than Boss came to town. Sheriff Rosco also found himself in trouble more than once. On such occasions, Bo and Luke usually had to rescue their adversaries as an inevitable precursor to defeating the bad guys.

Origins

The show was an adaptation of the movie Moonrunners (1975), based on the life and times of Jerry Rushing. In Moonrunners, the "Good Ol' Boys", Grady and Bobby Lee Hagg, ran moonshine for Uncle Jesse Hagg. Uncle Jesse prides himself on his old-fashioned moonshining and refuses to buckle to the 'big business moonshine' tactics of boss Jake, who controls the area for the New York mafia. There is an obvious parallel between the surnames 'Hagg' and 'Hogg', despite the transfer from hero to villain. Characters including "Uncle Jesse", "Sheriff Rosco Coltrane" and "Cooter" are also featured in the film.

A lesser source of archetypes are the Louisiana car chase scenes from the James Bond film, Live and Let Die, featuring Sheriff J.W. Pepper. The Sheriff is a recognizable antecedent of Boss Hogg, likewise his wisecracking deputies (the boys) for Bo and Luke.

Characters

Main characters

• Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) (1979–1982 & 1983–1985) was the dark-haired, slightly older cousin. More mature and rational than his cousin Bo, he was typically the one who thought of the plan that would get the two out of whatever trouble they had gotten into. Luke was an ex-Marine and a former boxer. He was the more physical of the two, often doing stunts like jumping onto moving cars. As part of their probation, Bo and Luke were not allowed to use firearms, instead using bow and arrows to fight corruption in Hazzard. Luke was best known for his famous "hood slide" across The General Lee, which was seen in the opening credits of the show.

• Bo Duke (John Schneider) (1979–1982 & 1983–1985) was the blond-haired Duke boy. He was the younger, wilder one of the pair. He was more of a "shoot first, ask questions later" type, and was often the one to get the duo into the various scrapes they found themselves in. An ex-stock car test driver, Bo was the one who, in the earlier episodes at least, drove The General Lee most of the time. He was known for taking the car off wild jumps (and landing without a scratch). He and his cousin Luke were under probation for transporting moonshine and were not permitted to carry firearms (which leads to the use of bows and arrows by the two cousins) or leave the county. Along with Luke, Bo regularly fought on the side of justice against the corrupt law officials in Hazzard. Bo was known for his yell, "Yeeeee-Haaa!"

(Unusually, the images of John Schneider as Bo were updated in the fourth season (even though the were still from the first few episodes, ("One Armed Bandits" and "Mary Kaye's Baby"), whereas the rest of the cast generally had the same shots throughout the run.)

The Duke boys shared the CB callsign "Lost Sheep."

• Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) was Bo and Luke's pretty young cousin. She was honest and kind, although could sometimes be slightly over-trusting and naïve, which led the Duke family into trouble on occasion. She sometimes aspired to be a singer, and at other times a reporter. She raced around Hazzard with her cousins, first in a yellow and black 1974 Plymouth Road Runner (although it often turned into a Plymouth Satellite!). She received her trademark white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle" with a Golden Eagle emblem on the hood (and the name "Dixie" on the hood sides) after the brakes on her previous car failed, while being driven by Bo and Luke, sending it over a cliff in the second season episode "The Runaway". (Due to the episodes being broadcast in a different order to that of which they were filmed, the Plymouth made several returns after it was supposedly destroyed.) As with other vehicles in the show, there were different versions of the Jeep shown in various episodes. Sometimes the Jeep would have a different paint scheme with the "Dixie" name on the hood instead of the doors, and it would alternate between automatic and manual transmissions. Daisy worked as a waitress at the Boar's Nest, the local bar owned by Boss Hogg, as part of an agreement with Boss Hogg so that he wouldn't throw the Duke boys in jail for breaking probation. The arrangement was supposed to be for an indefinite time, but there were several times throughout the series that Boss fired her. However, he always ended up rehiring her at the end of each episode because of various circumstances. Daisy often used her looks and her position at the restaurant to get insider information to help the Dukes in foiling Boss's various schemes. Daisy also has the distinction of having her trademark provocatively high-cut jean short shorts named after her: "Daisy Dukes."

CB Callsign: "Bo Peep."

• Jesse Duke, (Denver Pyle) refered to just by about everyone in Hazzard other than Boss Hogg as "Uncle Jesse", was the patriarch of the Duke clan, and the father-figure to all Dukes who stayed with him on the dilapidated "Duke Farm." Jesse apparently had no children of his own, and happily provided for his nephews and niece in the unexplained absence of all of their parents (The creator of the show states on the DVDs that their parents were killed in a car wreck, but it was never mentioned in the show). Jesse Duke, in his youth, had been a Ridge-Runner in direct competition with J.D. Hogg, thus beginning the "feud" between the Dukes and the Hoggs. However, it should be noted that, while both Boss Hogg and Uncle Jesse would scowl at the mention of the other's name, the two enjoyed a lifelong "friendship" of sorts, with one helping the other when in desperate need. Jesse educated his nephews against Hogg, and often provided the cousins with inspirational sage advice. Uncle Jesse drove a white 1973 Ford F-100 pickup truck. In the barn, he also had his old moonshine-running car, called "Sweet Tillie" in it's first appearance (in the first season episode 'High Octane'), but referred to as "Black Tillie" in subsequent appearances. There seem to be conflicting viewpoints on Jesse's driving style. Sometimes he likes to take things easy, like in one particular episode where he refuses to let Bo and Luke jump the General Lee while he's riding in the back, while at other times he himself performs a jump or two and does plenty of skidding around the corners, like the old moonshiner he is.

CB Callsign: "Shepherd."

• Sheriff Rosco Purvis Coltrane (James Best) was the bumbling sheriff of Hazzard County and right-hand man and brother-in-law of its corrupt county administrator, Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg ("Boss Hogg"), whom Rosco referred to as his "little fat buddy". Although Rosco spent the first 20 years of his career as a mostly honest lawman, after the county voted away his pension Rosco joined Hogg in an effort to fund his retirement. He is also the little brother of Lulu Coltrane Hogg, Boss Hogg's wife. Rosco frequently initiated car chases with Bo and Luke Duke (whom Hogg wanted to get rid of due to them constantly exposing his corrupt schemes), but the Duke boys were usually able too easily elude Rosco, who often wound up crashing his patrol car in various ways (always escaping uninjured). These chases were often the result of Rosco setting up illegal speed traps such as a 55 mph speed limit sign that would change to 35 mph at the press of a button when somebody drove by, or a Hospital Zone sign in the middle of nowhere. While he enjoyed "hot pursuit" much like a little boy playing with toy cars would, he (and Boss Hogg as well) never intended for anyone to get hurt, which made it just good fun. Rosco's loyal companion (pictured) is Flash.

Rosco's name is misspelled in many sources as "Roscoe". The series itself was not past making this mistake - in the final scene the first episode, "One Armed Bandits", a banner reads "Welcome Sheriff Roscoe" (presumably the error was spotted mid-way through filming, as the offending e was conveniently covered up by a balloon in a close-up shot).

His middle initial of 'P.', was not added until the start of the second season.

Only in one episode (the third season's "Mrs. Rosco P. Coltrane") was it revealed that his initial stood for 'Purvis'.

James Best left the series for a few episodes during the second season, unhappy with the working conditions. In the series, Rosco often got soaked with water crashing his patrol car; Best's complaint wasn't that he minded getting wet, but there were unsuitable changing conditions afterwards. During his absence, several other temporary Sheriffs were seen, until the issue was resolved and Best returned as Rosco.

• Boss Jefferson Davis "J.D." Hogg, (Sorrell Booke), was the wealthiest man in Hazzard County, and owns most of its property and businesses — whether directly or by holding the mortgages over the land. Usually dressed in an all-white suit, he was the fat, greedy, corrupt County Commissioner with visions of grandeur, a voracious appetite for fatty foods, and constantly orders his bumbling sheriff, Rosco, to "Git them Duke Boys!!". Boss Hogg was also married to Rosco's sister, a point that did not always sit well with either Boss Hogg or Rosco; and Boss often claimed that Rosco was indebted to him after he had married his (Rosco's) fat sister. His vehicle was a white 1970 Cadillac de Ville convertible, with bull-horns on the hood. In the first couple of seasons, he was almost always driven around by a chauffeur; from the fourth season onwards, he usually drove himself. His old moonshine-running car was called the "Grey Ghost". Like Rosco, Boss never tried to hurt anybody, including the Dukes, and when one of the Dukes did get hurt by a bad guy from out of town, Boss and Rosco would usually call a truce with the Dukes until said bad guys were caught.

Just like the exact specifications of the Duke Boy's probation rules, just what Boss' powers were exactly seemed to vary from episode to episode. However, this can be countermanded slightly, as Boss would often bend the law and make up rules to suit himself.

• Cooter Davenport (Ben Jones) was the Hazzard County mechanic, also known as "Crazy" Cooter. In the very early episodes, he was a wild man, often breaking the law (stealing the Sheriff's patrol car in "One Armed Bandits", reportedly wrecking Luke's car prior to the same episode, running moonshine for Boss Hogg in "Mary Kaye's Baby", and 'borrowing' the President's Limousine for a joy-ride in "Limo One Is Missing"). By the end of the first season, he had settled down, and become an easy going good ol' boy. He owned "Cooter's Garage" in Hazzard County Square, directly across from the Sheriff Department. Cooter was an "Honorary Duke", as he shared the same values and often assisted the Dukes in escaping Rosco's clutches, or helped them to foil Boss Hogg's schemes. Cooter drove a variety of trucks, including Fords, Chevys, & GMCs.

CB Callsign: "Crazy Cooter." Often started his CB transmissions with "Breaker 1, breaker 1, might be crazy but I ain't dumb... Craaaazy Cooter commin' atcha... "

During the second season, Ben Jones left the series for a few episodes due to a dispute with the producers. They wanted the character to be unshaven, whereas Jones had grown a full beard. In his absence, Cooter's place was filled by several of Cooter's supposed cousins, who, in typical Coy and Vance style, were never mentioned before or since. Jones returned when the dispute was solved – Cooter would be clean shaven. (However, for continuity reasons, this didn't occur until the third season).

• Deputy Enos Strate (Sonny Shroyer) (1979-1980; 1982-1985), was generally a friend of the Dukes, but, working under Rosco and Boss, was often forced into pursuing the Dukes and / or arresting them on trumped up charges. When he returned from his stint in Los Angeles, he seemed to be able to stand up to Boss and Rosco slightly more, and sometimes refused. Rosco frequently called him "Dipstick". He had a crush on Daisy Duke that she often used to the Dukes' advantage in unraveling Boss and Rosco's schemes. Enos is very much in love with Daisy, and although Daisy is indicated to love him back, it is only as a close friend. Later, in the first Reunion movie, Enos and Daisy finally become a pair and planned to get married - but Daisy backs out at the last minute.

• Deputy Cletus Hogg (Rick Hurst) (1980-1982), Boss Hogg's second cousin twice removed, was also generally friendly and dim-witted. Like Enos, he would often be forced by Rosco and Boss to chase the Dukes on trumped up charges, but while generally good-hearted and sometimes resentful of having to treat the Dukes in such way, he was generally more willing to that Enos. Like Enos, Cletus often ended up landing in water when pursuing the Duke boys in a car chase. Cletus made his first appearance in the first season episode "Money To Burn", in which he was the driver of the bank truck that became involved in Boss' latest plot. He acted temporary Deputy in season two's "The Meeting" and "Road Pirates" while Enos was away, and became permanent Deputy in the same episode that Enos left, in the third season's "Enos Strate To The Top". When Enos returned at the start of the fifth season, the pair of them both served as Deputies and shared the same patrol car for a few episodes, before Cletus disappeared, said to have gone on vacation, never to return (until 1997's Reunion movie). Each of the Hazzard County Sheriff's Department officers drove various mid to late 70's Chrysler full-size "C body" patrol cars, most often a 1975 or 1976 Dodge Monaco or Plymouth Gran Fury.

• Coy Duke (Byron Cherry) (1982-1983), an obvious replacement for Bo, was another blond-haired cousin who moved to Uncle Jesse's farm along with cousin Vance after Bo and Luke left Hazzard to join the NASCAR circuit. Supposedly, with cousin Vance, he had previously lived on the Duke farm in 1977, before the series had started. The character proved to be unpopular with fans and was written out of the show after 18 episodes. Following John Schneider and Tom Wopat's return to the series, Coy, along with cousin Vance, left to tend to a sick relative, never to be mentioned again.

• Vance Duke (Christopher Mayer) (1982-1983), an obvious replacement for Luke, filled the void of a dark-haired Duke on the show. Like Luke, Vance was more the thinker and the planner of the duo. Supposedly, with cousin Coy, he had previously lived on the Duke farm in 1977, before the series had started. The character proved to be unpopular with fans and was written out of the show after 18 episodes. Following John Schneider and Tom Wopat's return to the series, Vance, along with cousin Coy, left to tend to a sick relative, never to be mentioned again.

• The Balladeer (voice of Waylon Jennings) sang and played the Dukes of Hazzard theme song, "Good Ol' Boys," and also served as the show's narrator. During each episode, he provided an omniscient viewpoint of the situations presented, and regularly interjected comical asides during crucial plot points (often, during a freeze frame of a cliffhanger scene right before a commercial break) and "down home" aphorisms. (Note that these freeze frame cliffhangers were often abridged in showings in some countries, such as the commercial-free BBC in the United Kingdom). Waylon actually appeared in one episode, the seventh season's aptly titled "Welcome, Waylon Jennings", in which he was presented as an old friend of the Dukes.

• Flash was a slow-paced Basset Hound and Rosco's loyal companion, who always barked at Boss but loved the Dukes. He first appeared in the first produced third season episode, "Enos Strate To The Top" (although was not formally "introduced" in that episode). Flash was added after James Best suggested to the producers that Rosco had a dog.

Recurring characters

Memorable characters that appeared once in the series

• B.B. Davenport (Mickey Jones (no relation of Ben Jones)) — Cooter's cousin who filled in for him at the garage when Cooter was out of town. B.B. appeared in "Granny Annie".
• Hazel
• Mary Kaye Porter - A pregnant woman who was on the run from gangsters in "Mary Kaye's Baby".
• Ace Parker — Ace was Hazzard's number-two car salesman. (He was also the only car salesman in Hazzard. As the Balladeer put it, "There weren't no others. But ol' Ace just couldn't be first at anything.") Ace was a partner with Boss in their crooked car lot.
• Dewey Hogg — Dewey Hogg was introduced in "How to Succeed in Hazzard". He is Hughie's older brother and is a proud supporter of crooked Hogg family values. Like Hughie, Dewey grew up with the Dukes and tormented them at every opportunity. As children, Dewey tried to push Daisy off the roof of the house in a soapbox airplane. He also cheated her out of first place in the All-School Spelling Bee, which Daisy is still upset about. Dewey, like Boss and Hughie, started his scams young. In the third grade, Dewey faked the Bubonic Plague and got the school closed for a week. In the ninth grade, Dewey sold all the school chairs and desks to get two moonshine stills. As the Balladeer says, "Dewey makes his Uncle Boss look respectable." Dewey was once a boy scout-apparently, that's where he learned how to plan out his schemes. Seemingly, Dewey was devised as a temporary replacement for Hughie by the writers, evidenced in the fact that he only ever appeared in one episode, for which Jeff Altman (Hughie) was presumably not available. Dewey was played by Robert Morse, whose most famous role was in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (of which "How to Succeed in Hazzard" may be a pun on).
• Buster Moon — Sheriff Buster Moon replaced Grady Byrd and made his only appearance in "Return of the Ridge Runners". To this day, no one really knows what prompted Boss to give Buster Rosco's job.
• Abraham Lincoln Hogg — Boss Hogg's identical twin (and good) brother, played by Sorrell Booke in a dual-role. He wore a black suit and drove a black Cadillac convertible in direct contrast of his brother, J.D., who always wore white and drove a white Cadillac convertible.
• Hortense Coltrane — Lulu and Rosco's skinny older sister, Hortense is a no-nonsense woman who doesn't think very highly of Boss. She appeared in "The Return of Hughie Hogg".
• Jamie Lee Hogg (portrayed by Jonathan Frakes) — Jamie Lee Hogg is Boss's nephew who visits Hazzard in "Mrs. Daisy Hogg". Jamie is fabulously wealthy, like all the Hoggs, and at first appearance seems to have made all his money legally. However, Jamie Lee's true Hogg nature comes through when it's revealed he's the head of a major counterfeiting operation. When his partners turn on him and threaten Daisy, Jamie Lee does step up to defend her and tries to marry her so she wouldn't testify, but that doesn't keep him from being arrested for his illegal activities.
• Mindy Lou
• Clarence Stoveal — The bank janitor at Boss Hogg's bank.
• Aunt Clara Coltrane - From the episode Sadie Hogg Day, she became acting sheriff for one day.
• Jason Steele — A bounty hunter with a criminal past that supposed multi-millionaire Rosco hires to capture Bo and Luke Duke. Steele has a genuinely nasty disposition and loses his temper and kidnaps Rosco when the sheriff — upon learning he isn't a multi-millionaire after all — is unable to pay a $100,000 fee for services rendered.
• Billy Joe Fong — A friend of the Dukes, Billy Joe was a member of Hazzard's oldest—and only—Chinese family, the Fongs.
• Dr. Huer
• Bobbi Lee Jordan
• Terry Lee (portrayed by Danny Cooksey voiced by June Foray)
• Big Daddy Hogg (portrayed by Les Tremayne) — The head of the Hogg clan comes to town in "Big Daddy". Boss's "Big Daddy" visits his son to see what kind of man he's become. While at first it seems Big Daddy is as straight as Abraham Lincoln Hogg, it is discovered he's more crooked than Boss ever was. Big Daddy is one of the biggest scam artists the South has ever seen, next to his son.
• Lester Crabb (portrayed by Clifton James) — Sheriff Lester Crabb the "Traveling Sheriff", came to Hazzard in Treasure of Hazzard" to replace Rosco. Lester was a very different type of Sheriff. According to the Balladeer, "When Lester walks by, babies cry, flowers wilt, and beer just naturally goes flat." Lester's motto was "Orders is orders", which would seem to make him good for Boss. However, Lester suddenly left Hazzard for parts unknown.
• Nancy Lou (portrayed by Kim Richards) — In "Cooter's Girl" Cooter is reintroduced to his 18-year-old daughter, Nancy Lou. Years ago, Cooter and local girl Beverly Hibbs ran away and got married. Back then, Cooter was still somewhat of a wild man. Beverly's daddy had the marriage annulled, but not before Beverly got pregnant. Because of his wild side, both she and Cooter agreed it would be better if she raised Nancy alone. Beverly later remarried. When she turned 18, Nancy was told about her daddy and came to Hazzard to learn about him. After a typical Hazzard rough start, Nancy and Cooter finally got to spend time with each other and begin becoming a part of each other's lives.
• Jonas — One of Cooter's friends.
• Rufus Z. Coltrane — Rosco's Great Great Grandfather (portrayed by James Best).
• Thaddeus B. Hogg — Boss Hogg's Great Great Grandfather (portrayed Sorrell Booke).
• Dieter Davenport — Cooter's Great Great Grandfather (portrayed by Ben Jones).
• Jeremiah Duke — Uncle Jesse's Great Great Grandfather (portrayed by Denver Pyle).
• Jenny Duke — Uncle Jesse's Great Great Grandmother.
• Waylon Jennings (as himself) came to Hazzard with a mobile Country Music museum, which Boss Hogg promptly stole (a crime he framed the Duke boys with). While Waylon is revealed as being an old friend of the Duke family and refuses to believe they had anything to do with the theft, his associate falls for Boss's tricks and is convinced that they stole the museum. The primary evidence is a hat that Waylon gave to the Duke boys (although he had also given out similar hats to other people), which was left at the scene of the crime. Naturally, everything is eventually cleared up and the Dukes help find and return the museum. During this episode, it is revealed that the Balladeer is, indeed, Waylon Jennings (who is recounting the tales of the Dukes, rather than just narrating the stories). One of the memorable "Waylonisms" of this episode is "Now, I should've known better than that..."
• Jude Emery — Jude Emery is a Texas Ranger who came to Hazzard, in pursuit of bandit Russel "Snake" Harmon. Jude was an unconventional lawman: he drove a Korean War surplus Jeep and his gun didn't work. Jude and Daisy showed an attraction to one another, but like all classic cowboys, Jude rode off into the sunset.
• Sheriff Emmitt "Spike" Loomis — The nastiest lawman in the South with an extremely bad temper, he's been known to rip off whole pieces of cars when angry. Very much a prototype of Sheriff Little.
• Sheriff Grady Byrd played by Dick Sargent, Grady Byrd was Boss's cousin and night watchman at the gravel pits for 20 years before he finally gave him the chance to fill in for Rosco. Grady first appeared in "Officer Daisy Duke". While Grady did his best to live up to Boss Hogg's low expectations, it quickly became clear that Grady wasn't going to be a success at his new job. Grady left the job two episodes later.
• "Little Cousin" (Felix Silla) — An alien from outer space, whom Boss wanted to put into his zoo.

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. The following list include some of the better known visitors to Hazzard County:

• Robert Alda
• Alan Autry ("In the Heat of the Night")
• James Avery ("The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air")
• Lucille Benson ("Bosom Buddies")
• Morgan Brittany ("Dallas")
• Pat Buttram ("Green Acres")
• Mary Jo Catlett ("Diff'rent Strokes")
• Lydia Cornell ("Too Close for Comfort")
• Danny Cooksey ("Diff'rent Strokes")
• Elinor Donahue ("Father Knows Best", "The Andy Griffith Show")
• Leslie Easterbrook ("Laverne & Shirley", "Police Academy" movie franchise)
• Bernard Fox ("Bewitched")
• Jonathan Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation")
• Janie Frickie
• Henry Gibson ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")
• Mickey Gilley
• Michele Greene ("L.A. Law")
• Dennis Haskins ("Saved by the Bell")
• Arte Johnson ("Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In")
• Roz Kelly
• Pat Klous ("The Love Boat")
• Terence Knox ("St. Elsewhere", "Tour of Duty")
• Stephanie Kramer ("Hunter")
• Audrey Landers ("Dallas")
• Loretta Lynn
• Simon MacCorkindale ("Falcon Crest")
• Robin Mattson ("All My Children")
• John Matuszak
• Gerald McRaney ("Simon & Simon", "Major Dad")
• Richard Moll ("Night Court")
• Robert Morse
• Stella Parton
• Richard Paul ("Carter Country")
• Jo Ann Pflug ("M*A*S*H (film)")
• William Sanderson ("Newhart")
• Gailard Sartain ("Hee Haw", "The Buddy Holly Story", "Ernest P. Worrell" franchise)
• Ronnie Schell
• Avery Schreiber (of the comedy team Burns & Schreiber, Doritos spokesman)
• Tracy Scoggins ("Dynasty")
• Rhonda Shear ("USA Up All Night")
• Felix Silla ("The Addams Family")
• Hal Smith ("The Andy Griffith Show")
• Martha Smith ("National Lampoon's Animal House", "Scarecrow & Mrs. King")
• Don Stroud ("The Buddy Holly Story")
• Lyle Talbot
• Shannon Tweed ("Falcon Crest")
• Barry Van Dyke ("Airwolf", "Diagnosis: Murder")
• Shawn Weatherly ("Baywatch")
• Hal Williams ("227")
• Morgan Woodward ("Dallas")
• Cale Yarborough

The celebrity speed trap

One of the show's notable recurring gags was the celebrity speed trap. With orders from Boss Hogg, Rosco would lower the speed limit on a particular road to an unreasonable level so that singers of country music passing that way would be in violation (How Boss and Rosco acquired information of the stars' whereabouts was never revealed). The singers would then be required to sing at the Boars' Nest in exchange for having their citations forgiven. Typically, the nabbed act would give a parting shot to the nefarious commissioner and his half-witted yes man. Celebrities who were caught included:

• Hoyt Axton
• Donna Fargo
• Freddy Fender
• The Oak Ridge Boys
• Roy Orbison
• Buck Owens
• Johnny Paycheck
• Mel Tillis
• Tammy Wynette
• Dottie West

Vehicles

• The General Lee was a souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger. It was orange with a Confederate battle flag painted on the roof, and the words GENERAL LEE over each door and the number "01" on each door. In the first episode (One-Armed Bandits), you could also see a confederate flag and a checkered racing flag in a criss-cross pattern behind the rear window, just in front of the deck lid. The name refers to the American Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Since it was built as a race car, the windows were always open (probably removed), a rollbar was installed, and officially the doors were welded shut, although in reality they only welded the doors of the cars that were jumped because the extra strength was needed to keep the car from completely buckling and hurting the stunt driver. Through the history of the show, an estimated 229 General Lees were used. Twenty still exist in various states of repair. The upper left corner of the "1" in the "01" varied, making for a continuity error. As the show progressed and Chargers became harder to find, they started using 1968 and 1970 models (which shared mostly the same sheet metal) by changing the grill and taillights to the 1969 model year style. The offical specs list a 440 Magnum as the engine, which was Chrysler's largest engine available, but the actual engines in the cars also included 318 smallblocks, 383 big blocks, and even the occasional classic 426 Hemi. Occasionally the cars would also have a manual transmission instead of the 727 Torqueflite automatic. These Chargers performed many record-breaking jumps throughout the show, almost all of which resulted in a completely totaled car. If you do a freeze frame on certain landings of the General Lee on the DVDs now available, you can sometimes see the destructive effect a drop of even 8-10 feet can have. For longer jumps, lots of weight had to be added to the trunk to prevent the weight of the engine from flipping the car end over end. The Duke boys had added a custom horn to the General which played the tune of the song "Dixie." In the first season, the actual horn in the car was used while filming. From the second season on, any instance of the horn playing (along with many other sound effects for the car and its engine) was edited in after filming was complete.

• The 1974 AMC Matador was one of many different Hazzard County police cars used on the series, mostly in the first season. These were fitted with light bars, and working radios. Matadors were among the more obscure sedans, but a popular police car from 1972 to 1974, also used in Adam-12, and pummeled by Michael Jackson in a video. The Dukes of Hazzard was also infamous for the use (and destruction) of mid- to late-1970s Dodge Monacos and Plymouth Furys.

• Dixie was the name given to Daisy Duke's trademark 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. Sometimes it had doors with "DIXIE" on them, other times it would have no doors and the "DIXIE" name would be on the hood.

• The Plymouth Roadrunner was used by Daisy Duke in the first five episodes of the season; for the last episodes similarly painted 1971-72 Satellites were used. For the second season, the Satellite was used until Bo and Luke sent it off a cliff in "The Runaway". At the end of that episode, she is given her Golden Eagle Jeep "Dixie." The model of Plymouth Roadrunner used was the 1974 model.

Bo and Luke leave the show

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). Then, in the spring of 1982, series stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat walked off the set in a contract dispute over their salaries and merchandising royalties.

Two "replacement Dukes" were subsequently hired (Byron Cherry as Coy, Christopher Mayer as Vance), and the ratings immediately sank. Much of the criticism was that Coy and Vance were nothing but clones of Bo and Luke, something that creator Gy Waldron himself has said was wrong. The scripts were nothing more than Bo and Luke ones with Bo and Luke crossed out - quite literally - and Coy and Vance penned in. The "faux Dukes" (one of the more polite ways viewers described the previously unmentioned nephews of Uncle Jesse, who were said to have left the farm in 1978, before the show had started) were never popular with viewers, and were immediately written out the show when Schneider and Wopat reached a settlement and returned to the series in early 1983. Some fans consider this period as "The Scabs of Hazzard".

Although Coy and Vance were never popular with the majority, many viewers were disappointed by their departure episode, "Welcome Back, Bo 'N' Luke", which was very much a standard episode, with the return of Bo and Luke and the departure of Coy and Vance tagged onto the beginning. As unpopular as they were, many fans would have liked to have seen Coy and Vance team up with Bo and Luke to tackle a particularly dastardly plot from Boss Hogg, but as it turned out, the "faux Dukes" had virtually no dialog and were gone by the first commercial break, never to be mentioned again.

While the return of Bo and Luke was welcomed by hardcore and casual viewers alike, the show never 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, something that many viewers, even including hardcore fans, tended to agree with. With Wopat and Schneider's return, the producers agreed to try a wider scope of storylines, even including some science fiction tones in certain episodes. However, the damage had been done with Coy and Vance, and at the end of its seventh season in 1985, The Dukes of Hazzard quietly ended its run.

Tourist attraction

Although Hazzard County, Georgia was a fictional location (the early episodes of the show were filmed in Covington, Georgia and Conyers, Georgia), the real-life town of Hazard, Kentucky was a beneficiary of the show's popularity. Members of the cast were frequent visitors to the town's annual Black Gold Festival. There are still gatherings of Dukes of Hazzard fans, the largest of which is the Dukesfest, which is now held at the Music City Motorplex in Nashville, Tennessee and organized by Ben Jones (Cooter Davenport) and his wife. More than 100,000 fans attended the 2 day event in 2006; the largest gathering of fans for a TV show in history.

The "Cousin Countin' Game"

Many people have tried to decipher the Duke's family tree in an attempt to understand how it is that so many people could be cousins, all with the last name "Duke." The last unofficial word is that Jesse Duke would have had to have come from a family of seven boys, including himself, as he would have had to have six brothers to have produced offspring named "Duke."

• Brother 1 - Luke and Jud Kane's father [Jud Kane appeared the episode "Brotherly Love" (Episode 4, Season 6. Original airdate: 14 October 1983). He is the long lost younger brother of Luke Duke, thought to have died in a hospital fire as an infant]
• Brother 2 - Bo's father
• Brother 3 - Daisy's father
• Brother 4 - Coy's father
• Brother 5 - Vance's father
• Brother 6 - Jeb Stuart's father [Jeb Stuart Duke appeared in the episode "Along Came a Duke" (Episode 17, Season 3. Original airdate: 13 February 1981). He rides into Hazzard on a motocross bike]
• Brother 7 - Jesse Duke

Considering Jesse's advanced age, it is possible he may have been a great-uncle to Bo, Luke and Daisy, and thus the brother of their grandfather. As the term "cousin" has a wide range of familial applications, it isn't strictly necessary for all the various cousins depicted on the show to be first cousins.

NOTE: "Gaylord Duke" appeared in the episode "The Duke of Duke" (Episode 13, Season 2. Original airdate: 21 December 1979) claiming to be a cousin by marriage, but turned out to be a con man impersonating their real 3^rd cousin from London, England where he is a priest at a halfway-house.

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 Jennings theme song that is currently available for purchase is NOT the same version that was used on the show's opening credits. The differences being the show featured a different verse ["...Fightin' the system like-a two modern day Robin Hoods"], an enhanced bass line, a shorter length, and includes the famous "Yee-haw" yell at the end. It is uncertain if fans will ever be able to purchase the original "opening credits" version.

Episode list

A complete listing of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes, along with synopsis, can be found at List of The Dukes of Hazzard episodes.

Spin offs

• The character of Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate was spun off into his own short-lived detective show called Enos, which ran from 1980–81.
• An animated version of the show called The Dukes aired in 1983. The first season fell under the Coy and Vance era of the live-action show and thus they were adapted into animated form. By the second season, Bo and Luke had returned, and they replaced Coy and Vance in the cartoon.
• Five video games based on the show were created:
  • The Dukes of Hazzard for the Colecovision using Expansion Module #2 (1984)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard (unreleased Atari 2600 prototype by Coleco)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard: Racing for Home (1999)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard 2: Daisy Dukes It Out (2000)
  • The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee (2004)
• In 2005, the Humana Festival of New American Plays premiered a full-length comedy-drama entitled Hazzard County by Allison Moore. The story centers on a young widowed mother and a visit she receives from a big city television producer. Interspersed with recollections of Bo, Luke, and Daisy, the play takes a deep look at southern "Good Ol' Boy" culture and its popularization through the lens of American mass media.

Broadcast History and Reruns

• The series was originally broadcast in America by CBS on Friday nights.

• Until TNN was purchased by Viacom, it aired reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard. Some months after the creation of "The New TNN" (shortly before its change to "Spike TV"), the program was absent from all television for quite some time. Viacom's country music-themed cable network CMT (the former sister network to TNN) currently airs the show at 7:00 p.m. eastern time weekday. CMT Canada and Showcase Action airs The Dukes in Canada. CMT America began airing the series in late February 2005.

• The series was broadcast by BBC One in the United Kingdom, debuting on Monday 11th March 1979 (just several months after it began in the US). A massive hit, it moved from Monday evenings to prime time Saturday evening, where it stayed for a number of years. Later when ratings began to dip (partly caused by the change to Coy and Vance, and partly to do with competition from ITV, with new hit shows such as The A-Team), it moved back to Mondays, making the odd return for short runs on Satudays. Late episodes also popped up occasionally on Sunday afternoons, and the tail-end of the series was broadcast on weekday mornings during school holidays in the late 1980s.

• In 1992, UK satellite channel Sky One bought a package of the programme, owning the rights to the first 60 episodes produced (running up to "The Fugitive"), showing the series on Saturday afternoons at 4 p.m. They later showed the episodes they owned again, including a stint showing it in a weekday 3 p.m. slot, running for fifty minutes (including commericals) with the episodes heavily edited for time as a result. Despite requests from fans, they did not secure the rights to later episodes.

• UK satellite channel Bravo began reruns in August 2005. It also airs Monday-Thursday on ABC Family.

• The show was also shown in the Netherlands, with Dutch sub-titles, rather than being dubbed.

After the show

Movies

There were two made-for-TV reunion movies, The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1997) and The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard In Hollywood (2000)

A feature film remake of the series, The Dukes of Hazzard premiered on August 5 2005. It earned over $113 million dollars worldwide, although critically was panned.

A second Dukes of Hazzard film, The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning , a prequel to the original (and the series) will be a straight to DVD release.

DVD releases

• Season 1 was released on Region 1 DVD on June 1, 2004 and on Region 2 DVD on August 15, 2005.
• Season 2 was released on Region 1 DVD on January 25, 2005, and on Region 2 DVD on September 26, 2005.
• Season 3 was released on Region 1 DVD on May 31, 2005, and on Region 2 DVD on November 21, 2005.
• Season 4 was released on Region 1 DVD on August 2, 2005. and on Region 2 DVD on February 13, 2006.
• Season 5 was released on Region 1 DVD on December 13, 2005. and on Region 2 DVD on April 10, 2006.
• Season 6 was released on Region 1 DVD on May 30, 2006. and on Region 2 DVD on July 24, 2006.
• Season 7 was released on Region 1 DVD on December 5, 2006

Dukes of Hazzard references

• In 1982, Johnny Cash wrote a song called "The General Lee", which, of course, was about the General Lee, and was incredibly popular with Dukes of Hazzard fans.
• Smallville (TV series): In episode 5-06, "Exposed", Jake Jennings (Tom Wopat), Jonathan Kent (John Schneider)'s oldest friend, rolls onto the Kent farm in a blue Dodge Charger with a General Lee roll bar and the signature General Lee 10-spoke vector wheels. During the episode Jake tells a story of how Jonathan once outran the cops in Chickasaw County, which neighbors fictional Hazzard County in the Dukes of Hazzard. Later in the episode, Lex Luthor refers to Jake Jennings as a "good ol' boy" in a conversation with Jonathan Kent. In a final tip of the hat to The Dukes of Hazzard, Jonathan Kent takes the wheel of the Dodge Charger, Jake Jennings climbs into the passenger window (because the door is stuck), and the pair tear off the farm where thereafter a few shots of short car jumps over the camera, à la Dukes of Hazzard, ensue.

• Smallville (TV series): During the prologue of the episode "Nicodemus" (1-15), Jonathan Kent (John Schneider) is driving along in the family truck listening to the Dukes of Hazzard theme song on the radio ("The Good Ol' Boys" written and performed by the late Waylon Jennings) .

• Family Guy: In the episode, To Live and Die in Dixie, a thug is after Chris, and Peter's family has to move south from Rhode Island. They relocate to one of the southern states and live in a run down house. "The Duke Boys would be proud" as Peter and Brian convert their station wagon into The General Lee, and always drive the car off a ramp whenever they see one to recreate the Dukes of Hazzard. A particularly memorable scene depicts Brian Griffin running to jump through the window. However, Brian knocks himself out cold as Peter has left the window closed. Later, in the episode The Fat Guy Strangler Brian throws a rock at Peter and states, That's for closing the window when I tried to jump in the damn General Lee. Also, in the episode Chitty Chitty Death Bang, Peter and Chris go to Cheesy Charlie's, and Peter has a watch with him while he tries to insert his hand into a prize grabber machine in order to cheat, and takes his arm out quickly when Chris appears. A kid plays the machine and pulls out Peter's watch, and says, "What's the Dukes of Hazzard?" Peter tries to steal the watch back from the kid while the screen freezes while Waylon Jennings says a line in a Dukes of Hazzard-esque style.

• Three Wishes: In the episode taped in Covington, Georgia, Amy Grant opened the show driving the General Lee.

• "Weird Al" Yankovic: In his song "eBay" he mentions buying a Dukes of Hazzard ashtray.

• In the song "What was I thinking", Dierks Bentley sings the line "Hood Sliding like Bo Duke" in reference Schnieder's running slide across the hood of The General Lee in order to get to the drivers side when in a hurry.

• In the song "19 Somethin'", Mark Wills refers to his first love being "Daisy Duke in those cutoff jeans", a reference to her famous shorts. In the music video, the artist arrives driving a Charger painted to look like The General Lee and equipped with a Dixie horn.

• PvP: In this comic strip/book, the characters working at the titular game magazine have acquired a General Lee thanks to a wish granted by a genie and are occasionally seen driving it (typically flying through the air and yelling "yee-haw!") when in a particular hurry.

• In the video for the Barenaked Ladies "One Week", they are featured doing the Dukes' "hood slide" across a replica General Lee Dodge Charger, sliding in through the windows of the closed doors, and spinning out as they race off.

• In the movie Mars Attacks!, one of the shows the martians pick up on their monitors is the Dukes of Hazzard.

• In one episode of the cartoon Johnny Bravo, the title character believes that time has stopped. One of the reasons for this is that he turns on the TV in the image is that of the General Lee hanging in the air, prior to the resuming of the show.

• In the seventh season opening episode of South Park, '

Cancelled', Chef (Isaac Hayes) has to out run aliens disguised roughly as officers. There are two jumps and in both, the General Lee's horn is heard. In the midst of the first jump either Trey Parker or Matt Stone impersonates of Waylon Jennings as the Balladeer. Also there is a sign featuring a Boss Hogg-like character called 'Big Pig' on a billboard and after Chef lands the car and Kenny, Kyle, Stan & Cartman are abducted, Trey or Matt does the balladeering again and do a pretty good job. (The Dixie horn is actually taken from the first General Lee jump at the beginning of the first Dukes episode, 'One Armed Bandits' - if you listen carefully, you can hear the in-episode music playing behind it).

• The 2006 TV Land Awards - During the show's opening montage of classic television theme songs, Tom Wopat and John Schneider sing a portion of "Good Ol' Boys" while scenes and opening credits of "The Dukes of Hazzard" roll on a jumbotron behind them. Later in the program, Wopat and Schneider presented the TV Land Pop Culture Award to the cast of Dallas, the show The Dukes of Hazzard preceded for its entire 7-season run on CBS.

• The Knight Rider episode "Give Me Liberty...or Give Me Death" features a recognizable General Lee, as a car in an alternate-fuel car race. Missing its trademark flag, horn, and number, it is still recognizable from its paint color and wheels. It is driven by the moonshine-drinking "Prince Brothers" (as opposed to the "Duke Boys"). The episode is fascinating to fans of both shows for the simultaneous onscreen appearance of the legendary car of 1970s television, The General Lee, and KITT, the new hero-car for the 1980s. (Furthermore, early TV Guide ads for Knight Rider featured KITT over-taking a car closely resembling the General Lee, introducing the former as TV's new super-car.)

• In the Superman: The Animated Series episode "New Kids on the Block", a flashback episode taking place at some point during the 70's or 90's, Martha Kent tells her husband Jonathan that "The Dukes of Hazzard" is on television. Ironically, several years later in the Smallville television series, the character of Jonathan Kent would be played by former Duke boy John Schneider himself.

• An episode of Robot Chicken features a race with the Dukes in The General Lee. Then in the episode "Junk In The Trunk", bloopers from their show are shown in the scenes where they dive through the windows of the car.

• A show called The Damn! Show did a very raunchy parody on their DVD called The Gooks of Hazzard which included many Asian jokes, and the two guys in the Bo and Luke role drove in a Subaru XT coupe painted in orange with the Japanese flag on the roof and "01" on the doors in an oriental font.

• The show was also recently parodied for a Lotto Super 7 TV commercial in Canada; in the ad, the parody was called The Dukes of Windsor, starring Lucas (Luke) and Beauregard (Bo), a pair of rich and rebellious bon vivants being pursued by The CEO (Boss Hogg). The show's theme song, "Good Ol' Boys", was redone with new lyrics and a different arrangement to fit the theme of the parody, sounding similar to the Masterpiece Theatre theme song.

• On Comedy Central's Last Laugh '06, comedian Patton Oswalt compared President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney to the Duke Brothers saying, "They get themselves in these crazy predicaments."

• On RoboCop: Prime Directives's last episode "Crash & Burn", RoboCop, his son and Ann drive a black Dodge Charger and breaks a security fence which separated Delta City and the old Detroit, then, the guards try to lift what seems to be a elevator bridge and the gang use the bridge as a ramp, when they jump throught it, the General Lee's horn sound can be heard just like on the Dukes of Hazzard.

Trivia

• Denver Pyle (Uncle Jesse) and Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) are the only characters to appear in every single episode of the series. Catherine Bach (Daisy) appears in all but one episode, the third season's "To Catch A Duke".
• Waylon Jennings provides the voice of The Balladeer for every single episode.
• The third episode, "Mary Kaye's Baby", is the only episode of the entire run that (bar the opening and closing credits) the General Lee does not appear in.
• In 1987, Tom Wopat and John Schneider were reunited in the TV Movie Christmas Comes to Willow Creek. Probably by pure coincidence, a place called Willow Creek was occasionally mentioned in The Dukes of Hazzard.
• After the first few episodes, the Sheriff's office is moved to the center of town and all the deputies but Enos are gone without explanation (although the odd unnamed deptuty, with no dialogue, appears in the background of the odd first and second season episode). Also, several of the Dukes friends disappear and are never mentioned again.
• Jerry Rushing, who played crooked used car salesman Ace Parker in the early, first season episode "Repo Men", was a former moonshine runner whose exploits were much of the inspiration for Moonrunners (the movie that lead to The Dukes Of Hazzard), and was said to be very much the inspiration for the character of Bo Duke. Rushing wanted the part of Ace Parker to be a re-occurring one, but "Repo Men" was his sole appearance.
• The very early episodes are slightly, but noticeably, raunchier than the family-friendly show that the series would soon become. Examples include: light-hearted comments that Bo and Luke each have a number of girlfriends and that Luke may even be the father to several children; Bo telling Daisy (in "One Armed Bandits") "If we weren't related, I'd marry you", to which Daisy responds "That never stopped anyone in this family before"; mention of Enos being "the oldest virgin in Hazzard County"; the inclusion of 'good time girls' in the second episode, "Daisy's Song"; and use, by both Boss Hogg and Rosco, of the phrase "Jackass", which would evolve into Rosco's "Dipstick".
• There are several noticeable differences in character in the very early episodes, including Rosco as an embittered, once honest law-man who turned crooked after being cheated out of his pension; and Cooter, far from being the clean-cut good ol' boy mechanic that he would become, instead being very much a petty criminal, stealing the Sheriffs car at the start of the first episode ("One Armed Bandits"), running moonshine for Boss Hogg in another ("Mary Kaye's Baby"), and even borrowing the President's limo for a joyride in "Limo One Is Missing". All of the characters in general are more serious and grittier than the caricatures that they would develop into.
• The two-hour / two-part story "Carnival Of Thrills", (produced at the end of the second season, broadcast at the start of the third season), was adapted into a set of reels for children's 3D toy View-Master. The fourth season episode "Pin The Tail On The Dukes" was later adapted into a second set.
• Denver Pyle (Uncle Jesse), James Best (Rosco), Tom Wopat (Luke), Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) and John Schneider (Bo) all directed episodes of the series.
• At the end of the seventh season, the cast and crew knew that the series had not been renewed for another season and that it was the end of the series. Instead of a 'closure' episode, things ended with a standard episode, "Opening Night at the Boar's Nest", the only notable thing about this episode being that it was written and directed by John Schneider (Bo).
• The shot of a guitar being held and played at the start of the first season opening credits wasn't of Waylon Jennings. The shot was updated to a shot that was actually of him at the start of the second season, remaining for the rest of the show's run.
• As well as the two spin-offs, Enos and the animated The Dukes, two second season episodes, "Jude Emery" (about a Texas ranger), and "Mason Dixon's Girls" (about a Private Investigator and his two attractive associates) were both pilots for possible new shows, but neither one became an actual series.
• The single version of Waylon Jennings' theme to the series, "Good Ol' Boys", includes a line (not featured on the television version) "...They keep a-showin' my hands and not my face on TV". This references his balladeer role to the show, in which only his hands were seen playing his guitar at the start of each episode.