The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that originally aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985. It was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners .
Overview
The television series The Dukes of Hazzard followed Bo and Luke Duke, two cousins living in a rural part of the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, racing around in their modified 1969 Dodge Charger R/T, The General Lee , evading corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Bo and Luke had been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine - their uncle Jesse made a plea bargain to stop brewing moonshine in return for the boys to forgo jail time and instead be placed on probation. As a result, Bo and Luke were not allowed to carry firearms (they often used compound bows, sometimes tipped with dynamite) or leave Hazzard County (although the exact details of their probation terms varied from episode to episode; sometimes it was implied that they would be jailed for merely crossing the county line; on other occasions, it was shown that they may leave Hazzard as long as they were back within a certain time limit).
Corrupt politician Boss Hogg, who either ran or had fingers in just about everything in Hazzard County (and whose exact powers, much like the terms of the Duke boys' probation, often varied in different episodes) was forever angry with the Dukes, in particular Bo and Luke, for eternally foiling his crooked scams and was always looking for ways to get them out of the picture so his plots had a chance of succeeding. 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 from out of town to do his dirty work for him, and often tried to frame Bo and Luke for various crimes such as bank robbery (thus resulting in imprisonment and allowing Boss easily to acquire the Duke farm). Bo and Luke always seemed to stumble over Boss' latest scheme, sometimes by curiosity, and often by sheer luck, and put it out of business.
Due to their fundamentally good natures, the Dukes often wound up helping out Boss Hogg, albeit begrudgingly. More than once Boss was targeted by former associates who were either seeking revenge or had turned against him after a scheme unraveled in any number of ways: Boss' greedy nature, Rosco's bumbling, the criminals simply outsmarting the two or their consciences came to the surface. 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; these instances became more regular as the series went on.
Characters
Main characters
- Lucas K. "Luke" Duke (Tom Wopat) (1979–1982 & 1983–1985) is 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 wore a checked blue shirt (a plain blue shirt in most second season episodes), and a denim jacket over it in early episodes. He was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a former boxer. He was the more physical of the two, often doing stunts like jumping onto moving cars. Luke was best known for his famous "hood slide" across The General Lee , which was seen in the opening credits of the show and later told by Tom Wopat to be an accident because his foot got caught on the side of the General Lee when he attempted to walk across the hood. In the pilot episode "One-Armed Bandits", he mentioned having a car of his own (which Cooter had secretly "borrowed" to run justin off the road "to make him mad", upon which he stole his patrol car for a subsequent car chase with the Duke boys) that mysteriously was never mentioned again after this episode, although it might be assumed that Cooter wrecked it.
- Beauregard "Bo" Duke (John Schneider) (1979–1982 & 1983–1985) is the blond-haired Duke boy. He's the younger, wilder one of the pair. He's 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. Bo usually wore a cream-yellow shirt (though could be seen wearing a red or blue one on occasion in very early episodes), and for most of the first three seasons, a blue t-shirt underneath (brown in the first episode). 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). Along with Luke, Bo regularly fought on the side of justice against the corrupt law officials in Hazzard. Bo was known for his rebel yell, " Yeeeee-Haaa !"
- Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach) is Bo and Luke's pretty young cousin. She's honest and kind, although she 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 (later on it was a Plymouth Satellite) and then in her trademark white 1980 Jeep CJ-7 enchristened "Dixie" with a Golden Eagle emblem on the hood (and the name "Dixie" on the hood sides). 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 would give Uncle Jesse and the boys a loan for a lower interest rate so the boys could purchase the entry fee for a race that they wished to race General Lee in. 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' various schemes. Daisy also has the distinction of having her trademark provocatively high-cut jean short shorts named after her: "Daisy Dukes." She appeared in every episode of the series except one, Season 3's "To Catch a Duke" and her CB handle was "Bo Peep."
- Jesse Duke , (Denver Pyle) referred to by just about everyone in Hazzard other than Boss Hogg as "Uncle Jesse", is 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 Boss, 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 its first appearance (in the first season episode 'High Octane'), but referred to as "Black Tillie" in subsequent appearances. There seems 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 is 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 ridgerunner he is. In the second season episode "Follow That Still" and the sixth season episode "The Boars Nest Bears", the marriage to and death of his wife is mentioned. He appeared in every episode and his CB handle was "Shepherd."
- Sheriff Rosco Purvis (P) Coltrane (James Best) is 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", "Little Chrome Dome", and several other names. In the very early episodes, it was mentioned that Rosco spent the first 20 years of his career as a mostly honest lawman, but after the county voted away his pension Rosco joined Hogg in an effort to fund his retirement in his last couple of years as Sheriff. As the series settled down and found its footing, this was soon dropped into the background and not mentioned again (and his role as Sheriff appeared to be open ended). 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 to easily elude Rosco,
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