Who remembers “The Dukes of Hazzard?” Come on… raise those hands. Admit it; if you were a girl, you watched it for good ol’ boys Tom Wopat and John Schneider. If you were a guy, it was for the combination of Catherine Bach’s iconic ‘Daisy Dukes’ and the General Lee. Heck, I admit to watching it when it aired years ago, but what surprised me in looking back at it was how long it lasted. Can you believe it ran for 7 seasons, and was actually the king of Friday nights for 6 of them? The TV series, “The Dukes of Hazzard” ran from 1979 to 1985 and was the brainchild of Guy Waldren. It was based on his 1974 film “Moonrunners”, going so far as to have a lot of the same characters names. At its heart, the show was about rednecks.

Now, I don’t use that term in a derogatory manner, because though I was born in Chicago, I was raised in Texas. I found the series to be endearing the way it embraced the life of the redneck, complete with boozing, womanizing and an affinity for fast cars. Granted I am not a redneck myself, but I definitely wanted my own Dodge Charger. I even wanted the signature confederate flag emblem.

“The Dukes of Hazzard” was a fairly simple show, each week pitting the Duke boys and their Uncle Jessie (Denver Pyle) against the dimwitted Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and the crooked Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (well, the middle initial really wasn’t used until the 2nd season). Episode after episode featured any number plots and plans to get rid of the boys, which somehow never, ever worked. And if you were looking for car chases, this was the show to watch. Silly? Yes. Harmless fun? Certainly.

This was not a show to be taken seriously, which was evident by the tongue-and-cheek performances by the cast. What is almost more surprising than the poularity of the series itself is how far the Duke boys have gone since. Tom Wopat has lent his talents to a huge assortment of musicals over the years, both on Broadway and on tour. I recently saw him in Dallas, while on tour as Billy Flynn in “Chicago.” (Hmmm, how odd is that? I live in Dallas, but am from Chicago…) He was excellent in the role and I look forward to catching him in other shows.

Then there is John Schneider. Who knew that there was a serious actor hiding underneath that good ol’ boy, blonde headed exterior? He has made a name for himself over the years in the theater and music venues, even having gone so far as to direct a few episodes of “The Dukes of Hazzard”. His latest and greatest claim to fame is his role as Jonathan Kent in the mega-hit series, “Smallville.” Having become a huge fan of the series myself, I’ve been extremely impressed by his performance. I’ve actually come to identify him so much with that role, that he seems far removed from Bo Duke. As a matter of fact, when I first saw last years DVD release of the 1st season of “The Dukes of Hazzard” from Warner Brothers, my first reaction was, “He looks so young!!.”

Now Warner Brothers is gearing up the release of the 2nd season and this new DVD set includes all 23 episodes from the sophomore season spread out over four discs. This is a bit of an upgrade from the 1st seasons set that had only 13 episodes and three discs. And while the episodes here aren’t all that different from what came before (Dukes get into trouble, wreck cars, get out of trouble), there’s no way you can’t say the simple nature and humor of the show isn’t fun to watch. Racing fans might even be excited to know that racing legend Cale Yarborough was the focus of, and guest starred in one of the episodes.

For the hardcore fans, the new DVD set offers up a documentary all about the 25th Anniversary Dukefest Festival held in Tennessee. Put together by Ben Jones (Cooter), the festival attracts people from (literally) all over the world who want to meet the stars of their favorite show. Car collectors come out to show off their very own General Lees, and stunt drivers wow the crowds with car jumps that sometimes end in a pseudo-demolition derby. The documentary runs just over 30 minutes and offers quite the collection of southern accents and Daisy Duke shorts. There are also a couple of screen test auditions for Wopat and Schneider that have got to be completely embarrassing for them now.

One of the more interesting little tidbits about “The Dukes of Hazzard” is the incessant ranting that you’ll hear every now and again that the show was somehow racist. The biggest complaint I head was about the use of the rebel flag on the General Lee. Oh Puh-leeeze. But whenever I hear these little criticisms I always consider the source. Thanks to our increasingly PC world, anytime there is a stereotype to be protested or a call to arms against racism, we can rely on the ‘Intellectually Challenged’ (re: stupid people) to step up to the plate. Of course, this group is made up of a combination of the ‘Employment Deficient’ (re: lazy people) and the ‘Educationally Poor’ (re: can’t read), whom we shouldn’t be listening to anyway.

“The Dukes of Hazzard” represents nothing more than some good old fashioned harmless fun, and if you read any more into it than that, well… oh that’s right… you can’t read.

Now that we’ve had a little time to reminisce about “The Dukes of Hazzard”, what say we break out the gee-tar and have us a little sing-along:

Straight'nin' the curve,
Flat'nin' the hills.
Someday the moutain might get 'em, but the law never will.

Makin' their way,
The only way they know how,
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow.

Just good ol' boys,
Wouldn't change if they could,
Fightin' the system like a true modern day Robin Hood..

Ole’ Waylon would be proud…

Episodes:
Days of Shine and Roses
Gold Fever
The Rustlers
The Meeting
Road Pirates
The Ghost of General Lee
Dukes Meet Cale Yarborough
Hazzard Connection
Witness for the Persecution
Granny Annie
People’s Choice
Arrest Jesse Duke
Duke of Duke
The Runaway
Follow That Still
Treasure of Hazzard
Officer Daisy Duke
Find Loretta Lynn
Jude Emery
Return of the Ridge Riders
Mason Dixon’s Girls
R.I.P. Henry Flatt
Southern Comfurts

Starring: Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, James Best, Sorrell Booke, Ben Cooper
Extras: “Extreme Hazzard” – Documentary Gallery Covering the 25th Anniversary Dukefest, Screen Tests for Tom Wopat and John Schneider
Specifications: Full Screen
Studio: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 1/25/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give The Dukes of Hazzard: Season 2 a B.