News

MaryAnne here again, comin’ up on this hour of HNet News….. ROFL

 
I’m still attempting to verify the special screening that MTV will apparently be having some time this week but have found no further information on the MTV website. However, I have found the following….
 
Some of you have heard of a premier in Knoxville, TN on July 31. I have been unable to find specific info, but after doing a Google search I learned that there is a benefit premier taking place on July 30th in Knoxville, TN. Unfortunately the site that this news is on (VIPmc.com – The Society Calendar) is one you have to register for (which I did) but then I got in there and STILL wouldn’t let me see the posting as I apparently have to post something worthy first. Cripes! I’m just a lowly ol’ Content Manager for a website, what do these people want? Jessica Simpson’s itinerary for the next month??
 
Anyway, upon further investigation I found in another forum posting on another site (that I actually could read, thankyaverymuch) that The Dukes of Hazzard premier in Hollywood will take place on July 28 at Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
 
I also found an Irish website listing the Dukes release date as August 26.
 
http://www.premiermoviereviews.com/
 
I’m not sure if this just in Ireland or if this is the European release date.

Chrysler may have said “No Thanks” to a Dukes tie-in but the 2006 Dodge Charger is a hot prize for Dukes themed sweepstakes.
 
Just in my travels around the web I found two for the car…
 
Y100, a country music station in San Antonio, Texas is having a “Y100 Dukes and Dodge Summer in Hazzard County” contest, where you can listen to win tickets to a special screening of the Dukes movie on August 6th and also be entered to win a 2006 Dodge Charger.
 
http://y100fm.com/contests/dukesdodgecharger.html
 
At the same time, while I was checking the MTV site to find more on this July 18th preview or whatever the hell it is they’re having (of which I could find nothing so far) I see an ad for Castrol GTX and that they’re having a sweepstakes to win a 2006 Dodge Charger as well. The contest, called “The Drive Hard with Castrol GTX and the General Lee<" has the tag line about Castrol GTX keeping the General Lee driving hard and the General goes zooming by in the ad. For a brief moment I thought maybe they were giving away a 1969 Dodge Charger General Lee....but imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be the '06 Charger.     In addition to all that, KodakMobile Service is getting in on the act with Dukes promotions, giving away a free movie ticket and a free Dukes of Hazzard photo wallpaper for your cell phone if you sign up for a free 30 day trial of their service.   http://www.kodakmobile.com/dukes

Hey y’all, MaryAnne here with enough news that I think we can start on that 24 hours news network and not have to put anything on hold for an hour or two. LOL. Pull up a chair, we got a ton o’ stuff!

A few have emailed us reporting that you’ve received error messages while attempting to sign up for our newsletter. We’re currently working on correcting that problem and will announce here once the newsletter sign up is working once again. Of course, you realize that although we say monthly newsletter, it’s more like….when we get around to it type thing. LOL. Kinda like Scott Adams and his Dilbert newsletter (at least, that’s what he put in one of his books. “The Dilbert newsletter is free and it’s published approximately “whenever I fee like it,” which is about four times a year.”) We publish ours about monthly…..which might be twice a year. If we’re lucky. =)

Now, onto some news!

After assisting CMT with their Inside Fame program and then landing a mention in April in the nationwide USA Today newspaper, HazzardNet.com continues to make waves in the national media, thanks in part to a mention on Neal Boortz’s website.
 
Okay….actually it’s just a link in an article written by an intern but ya know, ya take what you can get!

The intern, in turn, was writing about driving in Florida, which she made sound a lot like driving in Massachusetts. And given that she mentions most of the tourists visit Florida on a 3-month holiday, more than likely they ARE Massachusetts drivers. Anyway, her topic specifically was about the proper procedure for coming to a four way stop. The first, naturally, is the generally accepted and expected practice of abiding by the law. The second way is the Redneck way.
 
In the interest of HNet’s readers, we think you should check out the Redneck way. You’ll want to scroll down to “Heather’s Corner”
 
http://boortz.com/nuze/200507/07132005.html

A Canadian styled MTV channel will be have a special program on July 31 as everybody and their cousin gears up for the August 5th release of the Dukes of Hazzard movie. From their website….

Dukes of Hazzard, Live @ Much

Hoooonk! Get outta the way, cause the action-packed cast of The Dukes Of Hazzard will be charging through Much HQ with the fury of one hundred boots made for walkin’! Seann William Scott, Johnny Knoxville AND Jessica Simpson will sit down with Devon Soltendieck and Leah Miller for an hour of hijinx. As always, you can relay your questions to the fearsome threesome through phone, email, text and Speakers Corner!

It all goes down on Sunday, July 31 with the Countdown to The Dukes Of Hazzard Live @ Much starting at 5pm ET!

Meanwhile, here in the US, SpikeTV is going to be doing a special program in conjunction with the release of the movie. Their program, called The Dukes of Hazzard: The New Dirt will take place on August 4th, at 9pm (eastern). They’ll air the two hour episode Carnival of Thrills and will, in their words “bring viewers close and personal with Johnnie Knoxville, Seann William Scott and Jessica Simpson, as they reveal clips from the upcoming film and give viewers the dirt on turning this television series into a big screen blockbuster.”
 
Whether or not the movie will be a blockbuster is debatable, but those of you with long memories will remember that just before SpikeTV became SpikeTV it was The National Network (and before that was the Nashville Network). The Dukes enjoyed a long and prosperous run on the Nashville Network before the channel changed to the National Network. The Dukes aired for a little while longer on the National Network before being dumped from their programming back in 2001.

Now perhaps the current SpikeTV had nothing to do with the previous incarnation known as The National Network. We know they certainly had nothing to do with the old Nashville Network. But I have to wonder…ya reckon they’re eating crow now? CMT’s ratings have blown through the roof since the Dukes hit back in February and anything and everything having to do with the Dukes of Hazzard is super hot right now. Somebody at SpikeTV (or somebody at the former National Network) has got to be kicking themselves. Hard. Either that or they were fired. However, it’s interesting to note that the show was dumped originally by The National Network before becoming SpikeTV because the programmers didn’t think it fit their target audience. Funny how the Dukes of Hazzard tv show hasn’t changed any since ’01, yet now with this movie coming out (and Jessica Simpson bouncing her boots all over the place) all of a sudden SpikeTV gets into the act.

Frankly, I think the Dukes was too good a program for SpikeTV and it was just as well they didn’t air the show. Which brings us to our next subject…

Those of you who have frequented our forums know already the lively discussions and debates that have occurred over the movie. It’s a mixed bag of reactions, mostly based on the casting, sneak peek pics from the set, trickle down information on the script, over-inflated “faux” reviews on the rough cut of the movie, initial reviews based on the trailer, the music included in the soundtrack and….oh yeah…did I mention casting?

Although it’s pretty clear fans are excited by the prospect of seeing General Lee fly on the big screen, many have a healthy amount of skepticism. Most of us have our opinions already set and come August 5th, these opinions will either be slightly changed or merely reaffirmed.

I think it’s safe to say that this movie will not, in any way, change any long standing Dukes fans’ feelings about the original show. After all, it’s the original show that we all know and love and grew up with. Given the discussions that have abounded about the movie remake, it’s pretty clear that the remake won’t be taking the place of the show in any Dukes fans’ heart. But it has to be acknowledged that the movie has created a resurgence of interest in the show.

Many of you have emailed us wondering what the original cast thinks of the new movie. John Schneider has made it clear he’s not impressed with the script and Ben Jones has made it quite clear that he’s not at all impressed with the script. Here’s what Cooter has to say….

WASHINGTON, Va., July 13 /PRNewswire/ — Former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones, who played “Cooter” on the hit TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” has blasted the new film version to be released in August as a “profanity-laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series.”

In an open letter to the fans of the show on his Web site, Jones says that “rather than honoring our legendary show, they have chosen to degrade it.” He closes by saying that fans should send the producers a message that says, “If you don’t clean it up, we’re not going to see it.” He adds, “Maybe a kick in their pocketbook will get their attention.”

Jones, who was defeated by Newt Gingrich in 1994, now operates two “Dukes of Hazzard” museums, in Nashville and Gatlinburg, Tenn.

The series is now having a very successful cable run on CMT based in Nashville, Tenn.

Below is the letter as it appears on Jones’ Web site http://www.cootersplace.com

Hey Y’all,

I thought this would be a good time to let everybody know my feelings about the upcoming “Dukes of Hazzard” feature film, since if it weren’t for the “Dukes” fans, our show would have been long since “put out to pasture.” The folks who love our show have kept it alive and well, despite the lack of respect it has been shown by “Hollywood.”

Web sites like ours have been an extraordinary means of communication for the “Dukes” community. The power of the internet has enabled us to not only keep the show viable, but to help make it a hit show all over again. CMT is getting record ratings and the kids of America think it is a new show. In our business, it doesn’t get much better than that.

Like our fans, those of us who worked on the show have a special affection for it. For over 25 years we have cared about it, nourished it, and fought for it. And it seems to me that it is time for us to have our voices heard again. From all I have seen and heard, the “Dukes” movie is a sleazy insult to all of us who have cared about the “Dukes of Hazzard” for so long.

You probably know that the creators of this film wanted absolutely nothing to do with the original members of the cast. Doesn’t that seem strange to you, given how popular our show is right now, and how popular our cast still is? After all, our huge success for so many years is the reason they are making the film, and the film, after all, is about us.

In the last few years I reckon I’ve done many hundreds of interviews around the country on radio and television and for dozens of newspapers. I always tell them that ours is a classic family show with positive values, great action, wonderful slapstick comedy, mighty fine country music, and a very gifted cast who had great chemistry. America could tell that we were clearly enjoying what we were doing and for that hour folks could forget their troubles and just have fun along with us. It is exactly the kind of entertainment that families crave right now.

Lately most of the interviewers want to know my opinion of the “movie” version that is coming out in August. I’ve always tried to be candid with my opinions, and when it comes to this film, I think it would be a mistake for me to pull the punches. Like you, I haven’t seen the film, but I have read the script, I’ve talked to a lot of people who worked on the set, and I’ve seen the raunchy TV commercial. Frankly, I think the whole project shows an arrogant disrespect for our show, for our cast, for America’s families, and for the sensibilities of the heartland of our country.

Unless they clean it up before the August 5th release date I would strongly recommend that true blue Dukes fans hold their noses and pass this one up. And whatever you do, don’t take any youngsters to see it. As plain as I can put it, the only thing this movie shares with our show is the title. Oh, they do have the General Lee flying through the air, although according to the New York Times, they didn’t even use stunt drivers.

Sure it bothers me that they wanted nothing to do with the cast of our show, but what bothers me much more is the profanity laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I’m not a prude. But this kind of toilet humor has no place in Hazzard County. Rather than honoring our legendary show, they have chosen to degrade it.

When CMT brought our series back on the air in February of this year, 23 million viewers tuned in on that first weekend. Very few, if any, movies have ever matched those kind of numbers for an opening weekend. Our show is a hit right now! Very young children have fallen in love with the “Dukes” on CMT, just as their parents did 25 years ago. They love the positive values of our show, its wholesome friendliness, and the fact that Bo and Luke are heroes who always make the right moral choice. How can the producers of this film be so cynical, so jaded, so out of touch with America’s heartland as to trash a great family show in this way?

Well, there may not be much we can do, but we have to do all we can. Let’s send them a message: “If you don’t clean it up, we’re not going to see it.” Maybe a kick in their pocketbook will get their attention.

The Hon. Ben Jones
The BriarPatch
Washington,Va.

SOURCE:  Cooter’s Place

Cripes, I guess! Mark yer calendars folks. Lessee….

August 1st — Second edition of David Hofstede’s book “The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion” will be released.

This is speculative at best, as the listing at Amazon.com is buried and finding it is like trying to find a needle in a haystack. I think this is the link…

The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion

But if that doesn’t work, if you do a search for the Dukes of Hazzard at the top of your listing will be the book, twice. The first is the “customers who searched for The Dukes of Hazzard expressed interest in” blah blah and then below that will be your actual results. There are two links for “Other Editions.” “Paperback” takes you to the August 1st release, the other shows both the first edition release and the August 1st release.

Anyway, near as I can tell the second edition will have some more stuff in it. What exactly, we don’t know yet, but the August 1st release shows a book containing 352 pages. The first edition only clocked in at 224. So it looks like there’s over a hundred pages of….god only knows. Hopefully Mr. Hofstede went back and made corrections of some of the more glaring errors in the book (or it was all the publishers fault, which might explain why there’s a different publisher listed this time around) and perhaps there’s more photos in this edition. (We dig pictures. LOL).

We’ll keep an eye out for anything further on this.

August 3rd — 4th season DVD will be released.  YEEHAA! Need I say more? =)

Click here to order!!

August 5th — Nationwide opening of the Dukes of Hazzard movie.

Remember what we said about that 24 hours news network? LOL. There’s tons of news to tell but we keep puttin’ off ’til the next hour!
 

HazzardNet Survives Server Crash

Obviously the crashing of the server has put us a bit behind the 8-ball so please bear with us as we continue to get our bearings. Many of you have asked how did we crash the server. Hey, when ya got three Coltranes running this place, what’d you expect?

For those of you out there who aren’t as computer savvy and are wondering just exactly what the crashing of the server entailed, we thought we’d provide you with a visual representation….

Awright, now on to the news! And we got a lot, y’all better pull up a chair for all this…

MTV to Film Special in Covington

First, a heads up to Dukes fans in the Covington, Georgia area!! MTV will be in town this weekend to film a special for the Dukes premier. There will be a lot of special events (all free we’re told) at the square in Covington starting around 11am. On Sunday at Oxford College (starting at 11am) MTV is re-creating the General’s jump at Oxford as made famous in the first episode of the Dukes and forever used in the opening credits.

MTV also will apparently be holding a special Dukes movie screening the week of July 18th. We have not independently confirmed this yet and have no futher details such as location, date or time. But we’ll keep you posted!

Simpson’s Video Stirs….Controversy!!

Meanwhile, Jessica Simpson’s video for “These Boots are Made for Walking” is still hot and is now causing a bit of a controversy (beyond the opening of the General’s door…although that was controversy enough!). The IMDB reports that the Resistance, an American Christian group, is calling her video “slutty” and is demanding that she reshoot a cleaner version. The group feels that where Simpson’s father is a Baptist pastor, Simpson is a Christian role model and should not have to reduce herself to being a “singing stripper.”

If you still haven’t seen what all the fuss is about, the video is currently amongst the “featured” list of videos at MTV.com and can be found on AOL and Yahoo.

“Boots” Debuts on Billboard Hot 100

Bilboard reports today that the song itself has debuted on the Hot 100 chart at #33. This is highest debut Simpson has made so far in her career. (HNet Editorial: The highest?! That’s it?!?)

The song will be featured on the soundtrack album for the movie. The soundtrack is scheduled to be released on July 19th and features the following songs:

1) Uncle Jesse Tells A Joke
2) These Boots Are Made For Walkin’ – Jessica Simpson
3) One Way Out – The Allman Brothers Band
4) Pride And Joy – Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
5) Call Me the Breeze – Lynyrd Skynyrd
6) The South’s Gonna Do It Again – The Charlie Daniels Band
7) Flirtin’ With Disaster – Molly Hatchet
8) Hillbilly Shoes – Montgomery Gentry
9) Black Betty – Ram Jam
10) Soul City – Southern Culture on the Skids
11) Change My Mind – The Blueskins
12) Burn It Off – Blues Explosion
13) Funk #49 – The James Gang
14) Good Ol’ Boys – Willie Nelson
15) Uncle Jesse Tells Another Joke

We have no idea what the Uncle Jesse Tells A Joke bits are but if they turn out to be dirty jokes we’re gonna just scream. Otherwise, the soundtrack looks pretty decent. About.com, however, said that the soundtrack would feature Waylon Jennings but I don’t see anything with Waylon in that listing (unless they’re counting his writing credit for Good Ol’ Boys).

Besides Simpson’s video causing controversy we found out a week or so ago that WB dished out some big bucks in a settlement of a breach of copyright lawsuit filed by the original producer of the 1974 film “Moonrunners.”  AOL news reported back on June 30th…

Warner Bros. to pay 17.5 million dollars in ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ settlement

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Hollywood’s Warner Bros. studios will pay 17.5 million dollars to settle a breach of copyright lawsuit that threatened to block the release of its “Dukes of Hazzard” movie, reports said. The 11th-hour agreement by the movie powerhouse to fork out the huge sum to film producer Robert Clark came after a judge barred the studio from releasing its 55-million-dollar movie on August 13 unless the case was settled, industry publications said.

Under an injunction issued last week by US federal Judge Gary Allen Feess, all copies of Warner’s new movie would have been impounded pending the settlement of the case, according to Daily Variety.

“Plaintiffs have shown a likelihood that they will be able to prove at trial that they have an ownership interest in ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ film,” Feess wrote, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The settlement of at least 17.5 million exceeds what the studio spent on the salaries of actors in the high-anticipated summer movie that stars Johnny Knoxville, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds and Willie Nelson.

The hit 1979 television series focused on the law-defying adventures of southern US country folk in a fast car.

Now if y’all do the math, an assuming an even split, that means that the four stars listed received about 4 million bucks to do this movie. We’re in the wrong freakin’ line of work.

Clark had claimed that Warners had infringed on the copyright of his obscure 1974 film “Moonrunners,” which became the basis of the hit Warner television series, “The Dukes of Hazzard,” which led to the upcoming feature.

As you stood with us after 9/11, we stand with you, shoulder to shoulder. The combined resolve of our peoples, our faith and our belief in freedom and democracy will continue unabated. Those responsible for the terrible acts of 7/7 are fighting a losing battle. They can bomb our cities, our buildings, our transportation centers…anything they think will contribute to the crush of our societies. But they have underestimated us greatly. Our spirit will never be crushed.

The thoughts and prayers of all of HNet are with all of those effected by yesterdays attacks.

“Freedom is the sure possesion of those alone who have the courage to defend it.” – Unknown