The Dukes of Hazzard

"The Dukes of Hazzard" is- I reckon- one of TV's classics from the 1980's. This is a show with great stunts and stunt people pre-CGI special effects and some well-drawn out characters.

The problem with this show, is not that it is poorly written. Some of the plots are actually very good, and "The Dukes" is a better show than some of the other idiot sitcoms of TV's post Golden era, namely "Batman", "Gilligan's Island", and of course "Sabrina the Teenage Witch" of today.

Adventure shows like "Charlie's Angels", "Wonder Woman", and "Smallville" of today have camp elements. But The Dukes of Hazzard is not just from time to time intentionally goofy, it is almost always intentionally stupid. The stupidity of the show smothers some tender moments between Uncle Jesse Duke (Denver Pyle), and his family, niece Daisy (Catherine Bach), and nephews Bo and Luke played by John Schneider and Tom Wopat.

Occasionally there is some serious drama like when Uncle Jesse is almost in tears when he's about to lose his farm to the thoroughly underhanded Boss Hogg, or lose his boys to a bounty hunter who wants to put them away for life, or Bo and Luke trying to protect a beautiful young witness from the clenches of a rogue U.S. senator. But if these tender moments give the show any credibility as a real drama, it is abruptly smothered by lots of slapstick, stupidity, redneck humor, the dimwitted Sheriff Roscoe P. Cotraine (James Best) and the antics of the totally corrupt, bloated Boss Hogg.

Long time character actor Sorrell Booke, unknown to most, but carrying credits from "All in the Family" among others plays the conniving, scheming, bloated, and thoroughly corrupt lawman of Hazzard County in the "Dukes of Hazzard". "The Dukes" was this actor's claim to fame, and Booke WAS "The Dukes of Hazzard." After Booke's untimely death in 1994, the cast members got together for three reunion specials on CBS. It was clear the Booke's presence was sorely missed. These reunion shows were lamer than the General Lee at The Battle of Gettysburg and Custer's hope of defeating the Union army. Booke's absence proved that he was the center and most irreplaceable piece to this classic 1980's comedy/adventure.

Some people down South like the "Dukes" for its fast cars chasing and colliding for half of every episode, or the hot chicks like Daisy Duke, or are intrigued by the luscious women that sometimes draw Bo and Luke into a trap. But none of that matters if you don't have an enormous presence like Booke's Boss Hogg in the middle to stir up trouble in ol' Hazzard County.

Bogg Hogg is not a demon, but he is a devil. he is cunning, conniving, shrewd, and very avaricious. He has this wrongful vendetta against Jesse Duke and is always scheming with yankees and no-gooders to rob Jesse of his farm and land. Yet Boss Hogg is not seen as a mean character, but as a buffoon. He has a monopoly over Hazzard County, and still has this obsession with foreclosing on the Duke farm, and getting Jesse Duke's two nephews "thrown permanently in the clink".

Sheriff Roscoe's "little fat buddy" also eats, and he eats, and he eats, and he eats, and he takes a cigar break, then he eats. He must consume about 20,000 calories per day. He takes pizza breaks, pigs knuckles breaks, eats ham hocks, and a family size portion of fried chicken in one sitting. A snack for him is a dozen kielbasa sausages with sauerkraut, or a sixteen scoop ice cream sundae with whipped cream, caramel, chocolate, strawberry, and butterscotch topping.

And the dimwitted Sheriff Roscoe P. Cotraine, Doesn't Boss Hogg ever let this man eat? Maybe Roscoe can't properly carry out his duties as Sheriff because he's famished. For example Boss Hogg says "Roscoe. Don't ever disturb me when I'm trying to use these here chopsticks, to enjoy me this here Chinese lunch ( a complete course with six egg rolls)."

James Best as Sheriff Roscoe is the king of slapstick comedy, and his deputies are the princes. Roscoe is the perfect foil figure to the Duke boys, and could never catch them to help silence them during Boss Hogg's nefarious schemes. He'll trip and fall on his own shadow, or hit himself in the back of the neck with a shovel. The Dukes always overcome the blustering and deviancy of Boss Hogg to save him and Sheriff Cotraine from the clenches of the real dangerous criminals. Yet Hogg continues to play every trick in the book to swindle old Jesse Duke out is farm and send his two boys "to the pokey". When will he ever learn common decency?

"The Dukes of Hazzard" is a show that thrives on intentional stupidity. This show is actually dumber than "The Beverly Hillbillies", a 1960's CBS classic with a lot of the same redneck silliness as the more modern "Dukes". I mean how many times can you go the right way down a one way street and encounter head on traffic? Unlike "The Beverly Hillbillies", "The Dukes" had charisma, character depth, charm and lots of color, and was very cartoonish. I mean how many people in rural Georgia have a sparkling red & orange car with an eight cylinder engine, and four wheel drive that can easily outrun a Sheriff or jump a river? Them Duke boys' car can do it.

'Just some good ol boys, never meanin' no harm - they been in trouble with the law since the day they wuz born...' So began the classiest of all hicksville county roadchase shows, where each week those loveable two modern day Robin Hoods, Beaureguard "Bo" Duke [John Schneider] & Lucas K. "Luke" Duke [Tom Wopat] would pit themselves against some ner do wells, probably from Chickasaw county, and inadvertently manage to rub Sherriff Roscoe P Coltrane [James Best] up the wrong way to boot. Cue slo-mo shots of an airborne General Lee [1969 Dodge Charger]flying down leaf littered byways with Roscoe's cruiser once again in hot pursuit.

This was a fantastic early Saturday evening kid's classic, mainly because of the shows hugely appealing basic premise -Bo & Luke are on probation for running moonshine, and they have the fastest motor in the county. So they're basically outlaws with hearts of gold who never really do anything particularly anti-social, they're just fighting the system that's run by corrupt town official Jefferson Davis Hogg, AKA "Boss Hogg" [Sorrell Booke]. He's fat, he's greedy and he wears a ridiculous white suit. And to make matters worse he's always trying to aquire the deeds to the Duke's farm, managed by his long time rival Uncle Jesse [Denver Pyle]with the help of Daisy Duke [Catherine Bach]. Show me a ten year old boy who, in 1981, didn't have a major Daisy Duke fixation - I mean, her legs were insured for two million dollars. Crikey.

So our renegade heroes would have at least a couple of car chases each week, they'd hang out with Cooter in the garage, take the p**s out of the educationally sub-normal deputy Cletus, stop some really bad guys from doing something dastardly and probably blow up a barn or something with a stick of dynamite fired from a bow and arrow. And that's just before lunch.

It all went pretty badly wrong in about '83 when the the boys were replaced by some pseudo Duke-lite wannabes named Coy and Vance. Their names alone speak volumes. This kind of signalled the beginning of the end, and I'm not sure the show ever quite recovered. Still, it's better not to dwell on this shamefully duff period in the show's history, instead it's better to fondly remember the Dukes in all their glory - flagrantly disregarding the law, and only ever climbing into and out of the General Lee via the windows, as the doors were soldered shut. Yee-haww.

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!!!!

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...

'A kids show! But well done. Well with today"s P C crowd The Dukes of Hazzard got taken off T V land. I guess the car, the short shorts, and southern stereotypes where laughable in the 70's, but never to be aired on regular t v again. Cable and H B O I would say yes. But back in the 70's Confederate flags, BBQ, short shorts/ tight shirts, male and female eye candy was the norm. Boss hog, and Rosco where two bumblers bad guys and every episode had no social message, but a formulated plot which involved dynamite and high rev gear jamming. Funny the first 3 seasons where more adult oriented with humor, but The Dukes of Hazzard slow became more of a predictable kid's show as the series progressed. Tom and Wil where gone for a season due to a contract hold out, which formulated the series even more. Laughable at times, with some interesting stunts, with funny stereo type humor influenced from the Smokie and Bandit Burt Reynolds 70's make The Dukes of Hazzard a memorable series like M A S H. For the monster truck, and professional wrestling crowd which I love. Ya all have a good time now. 7 stars.