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Dukes of Hazzard, The


“JUST SOME GOOD OL’ BOYS.” Folkloric deep-south adventures of harmless, loveable outlaws Bo and Luke Duke (TOM WOPAT, JOHN SCHNEIDER), their Uncle Jessie (DENVER PYLE) and sister Daisy (CATHERINE BACH) in the doorless General Lee, always putting one over on nasty old sub-Cool Hand Luke town governor Boss Hogg (SORRELL BROOKE) and his ficko henchman Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane (JAMES BEST). They were just makin’ their way, the only way they knew how. If that was just a little bit bolder than the law would allow, then so be it. Bach in denim hotpants and goofball humour were very much the order of the day here. And car chases of course, by the dozen, with the GL being launched over bumps at infeasible angles and then continuing on its way without a scratch. Subsidiary characters included garage mechanic Cooter, the laid back narrator/singer (WAYLON JENNINGS), sub-sheriffs Enos and Cletus (careful how you say it), and Roscoe’s annoying dog, Flash. Someday the mountain might get ’em, but the law never will…

12 Comments

12 Comments

  1. Austin Maxi

    October 19, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Closing titles usually played over a scene of Rosco’s police cruiser chasing the General Lee Dodge Charger round and round some bushes.

  2. THX 1139

    March 11, 2017 at 6:12 pm

    This has been banned from TV repeats in the US after it was revealed the good ol’ boys were massive racists for sporting a Confederate Flag on the top of their car. I must admit that passed me by when I was watching it on a Saturday evening in the 1980s, but that’s hindsight for you.

  3. Ian W.

    July 8, 2017 at 11:48 am

    General Lee wasn’t doorless, but they’d taken the windows out.

    • richardpd

      August 10, 2018 at 9:58 pm

      The doors had been welded shut to give the body more strength, which might explain why it coped with the amount of jumps & other stunts.

      Supposedly they got through 300 Dodge Chargers during the time it was in production, & towards the end it was getting hard to source them, as owners didn’t want to sell them to just be crashed.

  4. Glenn Aylett

    November 8, 2020 at 10:48 am

    The General Lee had a cage inside like a rally car to reduce injuries if the car crashed. Also Daisy Duke had a Jeep Wrangler for a time, another car that was useful for chase scenes as it could go off road.
    I’d imagine when this was first made in 1979, the energy crisis and gas shortages meant V8 gas guzzlers like Dodge Chargers were cheap to buy and not considered worth saving in the same way The Professionals used to destroy Vauxhall Victors regularly.

  5. Richardpd

    November 8, 2020 at 11:54 am

    Also a lot of older American cars used to have a fair bit of built in obsolescence & would be rusting after 10 years on the road. The ones with lots of chrome trim used to be bad for this because of all the holes drilled into the bodywork to fix them on.

    • Glenn Aylett

      November 8, 2020 at 7:27 pm

      America had hundreds of thousands of old cars that could be picked up for next to nothing, which meant there was a ready supply of cars for television shows. In 1979, something like a ten year old Dodge Charger with its 10 mpg fuel consumption was on the floor and ideal for The Dukes Of Hazzard, where Bo and Luke riding around in a Toyota Corolla wouldn’t have been the same.

      • Richardpd

        November 8, 2020 at 11:15 pm

        It’s interesting to see how American cars downsized in the 1970s, with even diesel engines available!

        The mid 1970s Ford Mustang was based on the Pinto!

        Some muscle cars didn’t seem too badly affected, with the Pontiac Firebird producing the iconic Trans-Am of Smokey & The Bandit fame.

  6. THX 1139

    November 8, 2020 at 2:38 pm

    Must admit when I tried to bring the General Lee’s novelty car horn to mind just there, it turned into the Cheggers Plays Pop klaxon.

  7. JakeyD

    September 28, 2021 at 10:36 pm

    Wasn’t Daisy their cousin?

  8. JakeyD

    September 28, 2021 at 10:37 pm

    Wasn’t Daisy their cousin not their sister?

    • Richardpd

      September 29, 2021 at 10:32 pm

      Yes that’s right as was Vance & Coy, so Uncle Jessie was one of six brothers!

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