For those of y'all who don't know much about the Dukes Of Hazzard or are asking yourself, "What the heck is The Dukes Of Hazzard?" Well, I guess this page could help ya out! I will explain about as much as I can and if you still have questions, feel free to e-mail them to me at anytime. Please don't send me junk mail or Rosco will have to cuff N stuff ya!
The Dukes Of Hazzard was a weekly show back in the late 70's through mid 80's. To be specific, the show began on January 26, 1979 and ended on February 8, 1985. The show was created by Gy Waldron based on the real life of a family of moonshiners. Waldron was asked to do a TV series based on his movie "Moonrunners", to fill in for another TV show temporarily. Waldron came up with the names and ideas. He wanted to keep the names short so he used Duke as the last name. He came up with Hazzard County because he wanted the name to relate to the story and he had heard of Hazard, Kentucky, a real town!
When the show first kicked off, everyone hated it, except the fans. Out of 200 letters the producers received from critics, 196 of them were bad. They filmed the first 5 episodes in Georgia but filmed the remaining 140 in California. This upset the cast because most of them were from the South and it was a Southern show.
The fans loved the Dukes, and the 'Good Ol' Boys' won themselves a permanent crowd. The cast list goes as follows, Bo Duke played by John R. Schneider, Luke Duke played by Tom Wopat, Daisy Duke played by Catherine Bach, Uncle Jesse Duke played by the late Denver Pyle, Crazy Cooter Davenport played by Ben Jones, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane played by James Best, Deputy Enos Strate played by Sonny Shroyer, Deputy Cletus Hogg played by Rick Hurst, 'Boss' Jefferson Davis Hogg played by the late Sorrell Booke, and his wife, Lulu Hogg played by Peggy Rea. Bo and Luke Duke were known by most as the good ol' Duke boys. Sheriff Roscooooo P. Coltrane and Boss Hogg were Hazzard's quote unquote "Law". Crazy Cooter was Hazzard's one and only mechanic. Deputy Strate was known as the oldest virgin in Hazzard. Deputy Cletus Hogg was in the middle, he wasn't as underhanded as his Uncle Boss but he wasn't as honest as Enos. So Hazzard became the only county where the phrase "Anything can happen" comes into play literally!
The Duke boys fought the system and always won. Every episode consisted of the same thing, car chases, Daisy showing off her legs, and Boss trying to lock up the Duke boys. Not many would consider that much of a show, not when that's all that occured for 145 episodes. But, that's what made Hazzard so special, even though everything was really the same, it was really different for all the sense that makes. All that counted was that everyone loved the Dukes, Hazzard County, and the remarks between Boss and Rosco. The truth is, everyone still does! So to put it in Bo's words, YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHAAAAAAAH!
That really isn't an in depth description of The Dukes but, it gives you an idea, if you didn't already know, what the show is like. The Duke boys have been off the air for 24 years now but, thanks to TNN(The Nashville Network), the Dukes live on daily in re-runs! "The Dukes Of Hazzard" airs weekdays at 2:00 am Pacific time. Please, write to TNN and let them know we won't support them if they continue to show Dukes at such an inconvient time.
The Dukes didn't stay silent the whole time. In 1996, a made-for-television movie was madw titled, "The Dukes Of Hazzard, Reunion In Hazzard". Also known as the Reunion Show. It aired in April of 1997. The entire cast returned except for the late Sorrell Booke, and Waylon Jennings didn't return as the balladeer. Don Williams took his place and in Jennings' opinion, did a good job. Paul Picard didn't return for the Duke's reunion either and joins Sorrell in their own 'Hazzard Heaven'. Denver Pyle had been diagnosed with Lung Cancer and struggled to finish the Reunion Movie, having to break for treatments quite often. The opening theme song, titled Carryin' On, was performed by Tom Wopat and John R. Schneider. It was produced by Steve Wariner.
The Reunion in Hazzard's story is as follows. The Dukes all got together for the annual Homecoming, only to find Hazzard in great danger. Uncle Jesse fills them in that Boss Rosco and his "partner" Mama Max planned to build a theme park in Hazzard. Now Bo and Luke must race against a car Mama Max has with Hazzard's future at stake! Rosco finds he is being cheated by Mama Max and gives Hazzard's fans a heartfelt finish. I won't give it away but if you would like to know how the movie ends up, just e-mail me and I'll let ya know. If I missed anything let me know! Keep it between the ditches, ya hear?
