Chances are, if you grew up in the 1980s (especially if you were a boy during the 1980s) you watched the Dukes of Hazard. The show ran from 1979 to 1985. To the extent it had much of a plot, it revolved around the Duke family (Bo, played by John Schnieder, Luke, played by Tom Wopat, Uncle Jesse, played by Denver Pyle, and among many a kid's first crushes, Daisy, played by Catherine Bach), who were moonshine runners down in Hazzard County Georgia. They were constantly being chased by the corrupt, but inept Sherrif, Rosco (played by James Best), and his inept deputies. The county was essentially run by the even more corrupt Boss Hogg, played by Sorrell Booke.
The show basically recycled the same plot over and over again, and then toward the end started getting even more silly than it already was (including episodes involving hilariously fake-looking aliens). And, we will not even talk about the Coy and Vance season. Of course, the big attraction was the car, "The General Lee", and the jumps. Of course, nowadays there is a huge backlash over the fact that the car was named after the traitor confederate general and had the confederate flag painted on the top. Even though the show was never overtly racist, and the car was used in more of the "southern pride" context than a racist context (although for some in the south the two are a circle on a Venn diagram), the show was not exactly the most racially inclusive thing either. The handful of black people who ever appeared on the show were usually bad guys, including the Sherriff of the neighboring county who would also torment the Dukes any time they crossed county lines.
It looks like there are a couple of different sets floating around out there. I have the one that just sold the individually packed seasons together. Because they were released when the physical DVDs were still pretty popular, each season had a lot of extras, most of which were produced in the "present-day" for the DVD releases. Those included a lot of interviews with the surviving cast members, but there was also some behind-the-scenes footage from when the show was originally aired that was included too.
Overall, the set is pretty good. The DVD releases were much better than what most shows get today. You do have to contend with the dreaded double-sided DVDs for some of the seasons. In my set, seasons 1-3 have the double-sided discs and then seasons 4-7 have the regular single-sided discs. So, you definitely want to watch them right away to see if you have any scratched discs. The show was never going to win any acting or writing awards, but it generally had a good theme of family and community, and even the "bad" guys had some redeeming qualities to them. It is a show that would certainly not be made today, at least not in the same way that it was back then, but even so, I think it is stupid that it has been pulled from syndication and is almost never on television anymore (and that is coming from someone who is half black and lives in Minnesota). For those of us who grew up watching it during its original run and/or when it was played heavily in syndication, it will be a fun blast from the past. It is certainly not as good watching it as an adult as I thought it was when I watched it as a kid, but it has a nostalgic feel and the car chases are still pretty cool.
The show basically recycled the same plot over and over again, and then toward the end started getting even more silly than it already was (including episodes involving hilariously fake-looking aliens). And, we will not even talk about the Coy and Vance season. Of course, the big attraction was the car, "The General Lee", and the jumps. Of course, nowadays there is a huge backlash over the fact that the car was named after the traitor confederate general and had the confederate flag painted on the top. Even though the show was never overtly racist, and the car was used in more of the "southern pride" context than a racist context (although for some in the south the two are a circle on a Venn diagram), the show was not exactly the most racially inclusive thing either. The handful of black people who ever appeared on the show were usually bad guys, including the Sherriff of the neighboring county who would also torment the Dukes any time they crossed county lines.
It looks like there are a couple of different sets floating around out there. I have the one that just sold the individually packed seasons together. Because they were released when the physical DVDs were still pretty popular, each season had a lot of extras, most of which were produced in the "present-day" for the DVD releases. Those included a lot of interviews with the surviving cast members, but there was also some behind-the-scenes footage from when the show was originally aired that was included too.
Overall, the set is pretty good. The DVD releases were much better than what most shows get today. You do have to contend with the dreaded double-sided DVDs for some of the seasons. In my set, seasons 1-3 have the double-sided discs and then seasons 4-7 have the regular single-sided discs. So, you definitely want to watch them right away to see if you have any scratched discs. The show was never going to win any acting or writing awards, but it generally had a good theme of family and community, and even the "bad" guys had some redeeming qualities to them. It is a show that would certainly not be made today, at least not in the same way that it was back then, but even so, I think it is stupid that it has been pulled from syndication and is almost never on television anymore (and that is coming from someone who is half black and lives in Minnesota). For those of us who grew up watching it during its original run and/or when it was played heavily in syndication, it will be a fun blast from the past. It is certainly not as good watching it as an adult as I thought it was when I watched it as a kid, but it has a nostalgic feel and the car chases are still pretty cool.
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