The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action comedy TV series created by Gy Waldron, that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979, to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series in the late 1970s (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS's Friday night schedule).
The show is a retelling of the English folk tale Robin Hood and features two young male cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who live in rural Georgia and are on probation for moonshine-running. Probation prevents the "Duke Boys" from owning guns and the duo are armed with bows and arrows and clever plans to outwit a corrupt sheriff and greedy rich "city slickers." Their female cousin Daisy Duke, and other family (such as patriarch Uncle Jesse), live in a secluded country home in the woods 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 also inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, about a bootlegger family, which was written and directed by Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts. The show was the basis for a film of the same title in 2005.
Plot overview
The Dukes of Hazzard follows the adventures of "the Duke boys", cousins Bo Duke (John Schneider) and Luke Duke (Tom Wopat) (including Coy and Vance Duke for most of season 5), who live on a family farm in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia (the exact location of which was never specified, though Atlanta was mentioned several times as the nearest big city), with their female cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) and their wise old Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle). The Duke boys race around in their customized 1969 Dodge Charger stock car, dubbed (The) General Lee, evading crooked and corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and his bumbling and corrupt Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best) along with his deputy(s), 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 five years' 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 probation permission from their probation officer, Boss Hogg. The exact 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; on other occasions, it is shown that they may leave Hazzard, as long as they are back within a certain time limit. Several other technicalities of their probation also come into play at various times.
Corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis (J. D.) "Boss" Hogg either runs, or has his fingers in, virtually everything in Hazzard County. Hogg is forever angry with the Dukes, especially Bo and Luke due to 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, though 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 put it out of business. 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.
The role of Boss Hogg was played by Sorrell Booke, who performed frequently on radio, stage, and film prior to his role in The Dukes of Hazzard. Boss Hogg is one of only two characters to appear in every episode of the series, the other being Uncle Jesse Duke.