The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action comedy television series created by Gy Waldron that aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985, with a total of seven seasons consisting of 147 episodes. It was consistently among the top-viewed television series in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
The show's ensemble cast is about two young male cousins, Bo Duke and Luke Duke, who live in rural Georgia and are on probation for moonshine-running. Probation prevents the "Duke Boys" from owning guns, and they are armed with bows and arrows and clever plans to outwit a corrupt sheriff and greedy rich "city slickers." They and their family live on a small farm on the outskirts of town, where they plan various escapades to expose and evade county commissioner Boss Hogg and law officer Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. The "Duke Boys" drive a customized 1969 Dodge Charger nicknamed the General Lee, which became a symbol of the show.
The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, about a bootlegger family, which Waldron wrote and directed and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.
The show was followed by four films, The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!, The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning.
Plot
The Dukes of Hazzard follows the adventures of "the Duke boys", primarily cousins Bo Duke and Luke Duke , who live on a family farm in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, with their cousin Daisy and their wise old [|Uncle Jesse]. The Duke boys race around in their customized 1969 Dodge Charger stock car, dubbed General Lee, evading crooked and corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg and his bumbling and corrupt Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane along with his deputy, and always managing to get caught in the middle of various local escapades and incidents.Bo and Luke were previously sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine; their Uncle Jesse made a plea bargain with the U.S. government to refrain from distilling moonshine in exchange for Bo and Luke's freedom. As a result, Bo and Luke are on probation and not allowed to carry instead, they often use compound bows, sometimes with arrows tipped with or to leave Hazzard County unless they get permission from their probation officer, Boss Hogg. The details of their probation terms vary from episode to episode. Sometimes it is implied that they would be jailed for merely crossing the county line, or in other episodes the state line. On other occasions it is shown that they may leave Hazzard as long as they are back within a certain time. Several other technicalities of their probation come into play at various times.
Corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg either runs or has his fingers in virtually everything in Hazzard County. Hogg is forever angry at the Dukes, especially Bo and Luke, for their habit of foiling his crooked schemes. Many episodes revolve around Hogg's attempts to engage in some such scheme, sometimes with the aid of hired criminal help.
Some of these are get-rich-quick schemes, but many others affect the financial security of the Duke farm, which Hogg has long wanted to acquire for various reasons. Other times, Hogg hires criminals from out of town to do his dirty work for him, and he often tries to frame Bo and Luke as part of these plots. Bo and Luke always seem to stumble over Hogg's latest scheme, sometimes by curiosity, and often by sheer luck, and quash it. Despite the Dukes often coming to his rescue, Hogg never loses his irrational dislike of the clan, particularly Bo and Luke, often accusing them of spying on him, robbing or planning to rob him, or other nefarious actions.
Hogg was played by Sorrell Booke, who performed frequently on radio, stage, and film before his role in The Dukes of Hazzard. Hogg is one of only two characters to appear in every episode of the series, the other being Uncle Jesse Duke. Daisy Duke appears in all but one episode.
The show's other main characters include local mechanic Cooter Davenport, who in early episodes was portrayed as a wild, unshaven rebel, often breaking or treading on the edge of the law, before settling down to become the Duke family's best friend and owning the local garage. Enos Strate is an honest but naïve young deputy who, despite his friendship with the Dukes, is reluctantly forced to take part in Hogg and Rosco's crooked schemes. In the third and fourth seasons, when Shroyer left for his own show, his character was replaced by Deputy Cletus Hogg, Boss's cousin, who is slightly wilier than Enos but still a somewhat reluctant player in Hogg's plots.
Owing to their fundamentally good natures, the Dukes often wind up helping Boss Hogg out of trouble, albeit grudgingly. More than once Hogg is targeted by former associates who are either seeking revenge or have double-crossed him after a scheme has unraveled. Sheriff Coltrane also finds himself targeted in some instances. On such occasions, Bo and Luke usually have to rescue their adversaries as an inevitable precursor to defeating the bad guys; in other instances, the Dukes join forces with Hogg and Coltrane to tackle bigger threats to Hazzard or one of their respective parties. These instances became more frequent as the show progressed, and later seasons saw a number of stories where the Dukes and Hogg temporarily work together.
Production
The series was developed from the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was written and directed by Gy Waldron. Waldron was originally from Lenoxburg, Kentucky and had grown up around stock car racing culture. The film was based on the real life of Jerry Rushing, a former moonshiner from Taylorsville, North Carolina. Rushing and his brother Johnny had raced and run moonshine for their uncle in North Carolina during the 1950s, and were often accompanied by their cousin Delane. Rushing owned a 1958 Chrysler named "Traveller", after the famous horse owned by General Robert E. Lee. These events from Rushing's life formed the basis of Waldron's film. Moonrunners follows the exploits of the Hagg brothers, Bobby and Grady Lee who owned a stock car named "Traveller", after Rushing's car. The Hagg brothers ran moonshine for their uncle Jesse Hagg.In 1977, Waldron was approached by Warner Bros. with the idea of developing Moonrunners into a television series. The network was inspired by the success of Smokey and the Bandit. Elements from Smokey and the Bandit influenced the Dukes of Hazzard, such as Sally Field's character in the film. Waldron reworked various elements from Moonrunners, ultimately devising what became The Dukes of Hazzard. Bobby Hagg was developed into the character of Bo Duke, Grady Lee was developed into Luke Duke, and Jesse Hagg became Jesse Duke. Their car was renamed "General Lee", referencing the "Traveller" from Moonrunners. The show was more family-friendly than Waldron's original film, with a heavier emphasis on comedy and less emphasis on the illegal or immoral actions of its protagonists.
Production began in October 1978 with the original intention of only nine episodes for a mid-season filler. The first five episodes were filmed in Covington and Conyers, Georgia and surrounding areas, including some location work in nearby Atlanta. After completing production on the fifth episode, "High Octane", the cast and crew broke for Christmas break, expecting to return in several weeks to complete the ordered run of episodes. In the meantime, executives at Warner Bros. were impressed by the rough preview cuts of the completed episodes and saw potential in developing the show into a full-running series. Part of this plan was to move production from Georgia to the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, to simplify production as well as develop a larger workshop to service the large number of automobiles needed for the series.
Rushing was initially unaware of the show's development, and received no compensation from it. He successfully sued for compensation and agreed to appear on the show afterwards in minor parts. Rushing appeared as shady used car dealer Ace Parker in the third episode, "Repo Men". Rushing believed this to be the start of a recurring role, in return for which he would supply creative ideas from his experiences: many of the Dukes characters and situations were derived from Rushing's experiences as a youth, and much of the character of Bo Duke, he states to be based on him. However, "Repo Men" turned out to be the character's only appearance in the show's run, leading to a legal dispute in the following years over the rights to characters and concepts. Despite this, Rushing remained on good terms with cast and crew and in recent years has made appearances at several fan conventions.
By the end of the first season, the family-friendly tone of The Dukes of Hazzard was mostly in place. When the show returned for a second season in the fall of 1979, with a few further minor tweaks, it quickly found its footing as a family-friendly comedy-adventure series. By the third season, starting in the fall of 1980, the template which would be widely associated with the show was evident.
As well as car chases, jumps and stunts, The Dukes of Hazzard relied on character familiarity, with each character effectively serving the same role within a typical episode. Deputy Cletus replaced Deputy Enos in seasons 3 and 4, and Coy and Vance Duke temporarily replaced Bo and Luke for most of season 5, but these were the only major cast changes through the show's run. Only Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg appeared in all 145 episodes; Daisy appears in all but one, the third season's "To Catch a Duke." The General Lee appears in all episodes except "Mary Kaye's Baby".
The show was largely filmed in Hidden Valley in Thousand Oaks, California, with scenes also shot at nearby Lake Sherwood and at Paramount Ranch in nearby Agoura Hills.