Shérif, fais-moi peur!

Eight years after Fred Silverman's infamous "rural purge", this show burst on the scene and instantly became a hit. Even though the show did get a lot of heat for the outlandish plots, simplistic characters and scantily clad women, especially Daisy, this show struck a chord with the American public during the late 70's/early 80's. Also, you could tell that this show was done very tongue in cheek and that the cast had a lot of fun doing it. The only bump in the road that hurt its momentum was when John Schneider and Tom Wopat left the show due to a contract dispute. When the producers thought that those two could be replaced by a pair of actors that were almost identical to their predecessors. However the show went downhill during this period. Also, the producers thought that it was the car and not the two leads that everyone turned in to see. However, when the ratings dropped and soon the producers were begging Schneider and Wopat to return.

Even though this show wasn't Shakespeare, it still was one of the highlights of C.B.S.'s Friday night lineup.

Yes, I grew up watching this (along with All in the family, facts of life, Diff'rent Strokes, The A-Team, etc) I was born in 72 in Marietta, GA and I remember loving this show (yes, I am a male) I would be sitting in front of the T.V. every time this show came on. It was great back then and I could relate to the scenery, Plots, etc. Georgia really looked like that back then, no traffic, not many people and a lot of the main roads were dirt (Canton road, Acworth, 41, etc, were one lane roads and usually dirt) I miss those times and blame technology on busting us people apart... it's too bad they don't have good shows on like this anymore.. If you have not seen this I would suggest you watch some but you have to have the right frame of mind to understand them... :) This was made when America was a great place to live, we were free and did not live under a dictatorship...

I remember being eight years old when I started watching this show. I would anxiously await the Friday line up that included The Incredible Hulk, Dallas, Falcon Crest and this one. That was a great Friday line up, highlighted of course by the Dukes. What was so appealing about this show to so many people was it's virtue. I'm sure parents wanted their kids to watch it because you couldn't have a better show for their kids to watch. It was safe. The Dukes were polite, virtuous and church going. How could they not like that? How could a parent object to anything like that? But of course as kids we liked it for different reasons.

Stunts, fast cars, Daisy, Boss Hogg and Roscoe. The Dukes of Hazard was so absurd sometimes but it always entertained you and more often than not it made you laugh. Could you imagine what the script must have looked like when they first pitched it to studio? Could you imagine how silly Roscoe must have looked on paper? I mean how do you write in his ridiculous laugh? How do you write all of his idiosyncrasies? Or was that all James Best? I don't know, but it sure was funny.

TV is different now in the 90's and beyond. Shows are more gritty and real and there is nudity and foul language and talk of homosexuality and alcoholism and a plethora of other issues. And that is fine. I like shows like Dawsons Creek and Friends and such, but Dukes of Hazard is a throw back to a simpler time. It is a time in television history when innocence was combined beautifully with humour, fast cars and lots of scenes of the General Lee jumping creeks. This was so much fun to watch and even when Coy and Vance came on the show, it was still okay.

The Dukes of Hazard was classic TV. My generation looks at this like my parents generation looks at Leave It To Beaver. Has twenty years really gone by?

OK, I'm a junkie. I just can't help myself. I watched the "Dukes" episodes when they originally aired, built a website for the show in the 1990s, watched the show again on TNN (when it was the NASHVILLE Network, you understand), wrote a book companion to the show, and now, as the show is airing again on CMT, I'm STILL watching the episodes again!

Was there any other TV show like it? I don't think so. "The Dukes of Hazzard" was a one-of-a-kind. You can watch these episodes over several phases of life and maturity -- and still find value in them! Holy cow.

I was always, of course, impartial to Flash, Rosco's hound, as well as the rarely appearing brother of our dastardly Boss Hogg, Abraham Lincoln Hogg, the "white sheep" of the family. And you could always appreciate the country values the Dukes always espoused ... be good to your neighbor, thank the Lord before meals, don't lie or cheat or steal.

"The Dukes of Hazzard" is not rocket science, it's not deep or profound or socially redeemable or whatever else. It's just plain heckin' fun!!!!

I'm biased because I was the of perfect age (and mindset, I LOVE car culture) to grow up with shows like this and Knight Rider. But this show was one of a kind, and took advantage of the car cult flicks of the 70's. While I'll admit some of the episodes were downright cartoonish (actually, most were!), some episodes were really attempting to tell a decent story. As predictable as every episode was, it still had a charm to it that made you want to engage. The main actors were all really good in their portrayals, and you felt like Hazard county really existed somewhere, and to a certain degree, I bet it does, without the jumping car, of course. Bottom line, this was an era where shows were comfortable in what they were, and that alone holds value with me. No agendas, no propaganda, no hidden messages, just "turn your brain off" fun, with eye candy for both sexes. And a fast car to boot. That was all you asked for back then, and honestly, I'd do anything for us to be living in that time again.