Capt_Redneck

Awesome...........I haven't seen that in a long time..... Much appreciated.... Darrell

Awesome...........I haven't seen that in a long time..... Much appreciated.... Darrell

EXACTLY...........To Hell with the dang critics. We are the ones who will be the judge of this movie. I still can't believe that was actually published. That writer might not have gotten a General Lee or a Dukes toy when he was a kid and still holds a grudge. Then again he might not get the basics of the show either. Damn fool... I'm gone Darrell

EXACTLY...........To Hell with the dang critics. We are the ones who will be the judge of this movie. I still can't believe that was actually published. That writer might not have gotten a General Lee or a Dukes toy when he was a kid and still holds a grudge. Then again he might not get the basics of the show either. Damn fool... I'm gone Darrell

I can live with this review...I think this one is pretty , after all they gave it a B+..... http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,1089289_1_0_,00.html The Dukes of Hazzard Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman GOOD OL' JOYS Daisy, Bo, and Luke are back in The Dukes of Hazzard, a free-wheelin' TV upgrade Whenever Bo Duke (Seann William Scott) and Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville), the rowdy, horny, and profoundly literal-minded good-ol'-boy cousins of The Dukes of Hazzard, get into a car chase, which happens to them about as often as most people pull up to a stoplight, you can be relatively certain of one thing: the General Lee, their orange hot rod with the Confederate flag painted on top, will careen down the road or (more likely) through the woods with such loosey-goosey, no-holds-barred abandon that it zooms ahead at a razory diagonal angle, perpetually in mid-swerve. The movie, likewise, guns forward at a sustained zigzag. It's trash, all right, but perfectly skewed trash — a comedy that knows just how smart to be about just how dumb it is. Bo and Luke, who sell jars of moonshine manufactured by their grizzled Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), want nothing more out of life than to fight, party, race cars, and chase curvalicious Dixie chicks. The two are loopy cornpone hedonists devoted to the American dream: the pursuit of happiness, white-trash yokel style. Somehow, though, the law has a way of always squashing their freedom, and fighting back is no simple trick. It takes lots of schemes and plans; it takes entire convoluted episodes. When Luke, with his scuzzy scowl, and Bo, with his maniacal infantile gleam, attempt to break into the safe of Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds, a-twinkle with sin), the corrupt commissioner who is plotting to strip-mine Hazzard County, it's a job as tricky as splitting the atom, albeit with somewhat more primitive means. The safe gets dragged by tow truck through the office window, then down the road, where it smashes a bunch of mailboxes, then down the road farther, with Luke pulled along on top of it. A few strategically placed explosives, along with a flaming arrow, finally do the trick, but what gives the sequence its nuthouse kick is that it's staged with utter demented conviction, as the epitome of common sense. In Hazzard County, this is how you bust open a safe, dammit. By any idiotic means necessary. When it premiered in 1979, The Dukes of Hazzard looked like the final chapter in the schlockification of TV. It drew on the corporate jiggle of Charlie's Angels, the how-low-can-you-go cheesiness of Fantasy Island, but what gave Dukes its unique doltish appeal was the innocuous ease with which it co-opted the dregs of '70s outlaw culture. Bo and Luke may have been Ken dolls in Stetsons, but the series, which drew on the New South kitsch of CB radios, Smokey and the Bandit, and the lame-duck aimlessness of the late Jimmy Carter era, had the brain-dead temerity to insist that these plastic hicks were true-blue ''rebels.'' On TV, at least, this is what bad-boy insouciance had come to: beefcake ciphers with paste-on accents sticking it to the man between station breaks. As a movie, The Dukes of Hazzard is more fun than it has any right to be, perhaps because it's not a cynical hipster campfest. Unlike, say, the strenuously tongue-in-cheek buddy movie that was fashioned out of Starsky & Hutch, it doesn't condescend to the original show. It hardly needs to: The condescension is built into the material, and so the director, Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers), out-hips the hipsters by playing it straight, italicizing the dopiness ever so slightly, letting the throwaway chicanery of The Dukes of Hazzard wink at itself. He makes the chintzy pleasures of one-dimensional storytelling seem like hog-wild innocence rather than an insult. Then, too, Chandrasekhar kicks up the series' sexy energy. The car chases are blissful celebrations of movement and flight, cued to the burnt-rubber scorch of '70s Southern-rock chestnuts like the Allman Brothers Band's ''One Way Out'' and Molly Hatchet's ''Flirtin' With Disaster,'' and Scott and Knoxville are a rudely charming pair of low-down freewheelers. When they sneak into a lab at a university in Atlanta, pretending to be Japanese science geeks, the film cuddles up to racism without quite crossing over into it. Bo and Luke are such ingenuous nitwit tricksters that they turn xenophobia into a half-cocked state of grace. And then, of course, there's Daisy Duke, their perversely wholesome sex-bomb cousin, who uses her willowy assets to ease them out of tight spots. On the show, Catherine Bach got famous for mainstreaming a disco fashion trend, but apart from those butt-cleaving cutoffs, she was a flavorless wedge of cheesecake. Jessica Simpson, with skin as tawny as melted caramel and a smile of joy to rival Julia Roberts', turns Daisy into a vibrantly luscious comic tease. She's Little Annie Fanny as the world's most self-mocking Hooters waitress, and it will be no surprise if Simpson's star keeps rising long after she has hung up her short shorts. To post comments to this article, you must be an EW Subscriber, EW Newsstand Buyer, or AOL Member. Please log in or subscribe. (Posted:08/02/05)

I can live with this review...I think this one is pretty , after all they gave it a B+..... http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/movie/0,6115,1089289_1_0_,00.html The Dukes of Hazzard Reviewed by Owen Gleiberman GOOD OL' JOYS Daisy, Bo, and Luke are back in The Dukes of Hazzard, a free-wheelin' TV upgrade Whenever Bo Duke (Seann William Scott) and Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville), the rowdy, horny, and profoundly literal-minded good-ol'-boy cousins of The Dukes of Hazzard, get into a car chase, which happens to them about as often as most people pull up to a stoplight, you can be relatively certain of one thing: the General Lee, their orange hot rod with the Confederate flag painted on top, will careen down the road or (more likely) through the woods with such loosey-goosey, no-holds-barred abandon that it zooms ahead at a razory diagonal angle, perpetually in mid-swerve. The movie, likewise, guns forward at a sustained zigzag. It's trash, all right, but perfectly skewed trash — a comedy that knows just how smart to be about just how dumb it is. Bo and Luke, who sell jars of moonshine manufactured by their grizzled Uncle Jesse (Willie Nelson), want nothing more out of life than to fight, party, race cars, and chase curvalicious Dixie chicks. The two are loopy cornpone hedonists devoted to the American dream: the pursuit of happiness, white-trash yokel style. Somehow, though, the law has a way of always squashing their freedom, and fighting back is no simple trick. It takes lots of schemes and plans; it takes entire convoluted episodes. When Luke, with his scuzzy scowl, and Bo, with his maniacal infantile gleam, attempt to break into the safe of Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds, a-twinkle with sin), the corrupt commissioner who is plotting to strip-mine Hazzard County, it's a job as tricky as splitting the atom, albeit with somewhat more primitive means. The safe gets dragged by tow truck through the office window, then down the road, where it smashes a bunch of mailboxes, then down the road farther, with Luke pulled along on top of it. A few strategically placed explosives, along with a flaming arrow, finally do the trick, but what gives the sequence its nuthouse kick is that it's staged with utter demented conviction, as the epitome of common sense. In Hazzard County, this is how you bust open a safe, dammit. By any idiotic means necessary. When it premiered in 1979, The Dukes of Hazzard looked like the final chapter in the schlockification of TV. It drew on the corporate jiggle of Charlie's Angels, the how-low-can-you-go cheesiness of Fantasy Island, but what gave Dukes its unique doltish appeal was the innocuous ease with which it co-opted the dregs of '70s outlaw culture. Bo and Luke may have been Ken dolls in Stetsons, but the series, which drew on the New South kitsch of CB radios, Smokey and the Bandit, and the lame-duck aimlessness of the late Jimmy Carter era, had the brain-dead temerity to insist that these plastic hicks were true-blue ''rebels.'' On TV, at least, this is what bad-boy insouciance had come to: beefcake ciphers with paste-on accents sticking it to the man between station breaks. As a movie, The Dukes of Hazzard is more fun than it has any right to be, perhaps because it's not a cynical hipster campfest. Unlike, say, the strenuously tongue-in-cheek buddy movie that was fashioned out of Starsky & Hutch, it doesn't condescend to the original show. It hardly needs to: The condescension is built into the material, and so the director, Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers), out-hips the hipsters by playing it straight, italicizing the dopiness ever so slightly, letting the throwaway chicanery of The Dukes of Hazzard wink at itself. He makes the chintzy pleasures of one-dimensional storytelling seem like hog-wild innocence rather than an insult. Then, too, Chandrasekhar kicks up the series' sexy energy. The car chases are blissful celebrations of movement and flight, cued to the burnt-rubber scorch of '70s Southern-rock chestnuts like the Allman Brothers Band's ''One Way Out'' and Molly Hatchet's ''Flirtin' With Disaster,'' and Scott and Knoxville are a rudely charming pair of low-down freewheelers. When they sneak into a lab at a university in Atlanta, pretending to be Japanese science geeks, the film cuddles up to racism without quite crossing over into it. Bo and Luke are such ingenuous nitwit tricksters that they turn xenophobia into a half-cocked state of grace. And then, of course, there's Daisy Duke, their perversely wholesome sex-bomb cousin, who uses her willowy assets to ease them out of tight spots. On the show, Catherine Bach got famous for mainstreaming a disco fashion trend, but apart from those butt-cleaving cutoffs, she was a flavorless wedge of cheesecake. Jessica Simpson, with skin as tawny as melted caramel and a smile of joy to rival Julia Roberts', turns Daisy into a vibrantly luscious comic tease. She's Little Annie Fanny as the world's most self-mocking Hooters waitress, and it will be no surprise if Simpson's star keeps rising long after she has hung up her short shorts. To post comments to this article, you must be an EW Subscriber, EW Newsstand Buyer, or AOL Member. Please log in or subscribe. (Posted:08/02/05)

After reafdng their review online , I have decided not to renew my subscription. This is the worst review I have ever reaf....Rolling Stone can kiss my butt...... http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/6823644?rssfeed=moviereviews&rnd=1123200200984&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.872 The Dukes of Hazzard Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, Willie Nelson Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar 2005 All Movies Rated PG-13 There's a stink coming off the big-screen Dukes of Hazzard that even fans of the TV series (1979 to 1985) won't be able to shake out of their nostrils. With Bo Duke (Seann William Scott) and his Georgia cousin Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville) behind the wheel of the General Lee, that orange-colored 1969 Dodge Charger still flies. Everything else lands with a thud. I have no problems with the jokes being lowbrow and moronic. Hey, it's still summer. But the film oozes the desperation of people sweating hard to create the illusion that if you yell "yee-haw" long enough you'll have a good time. It's not happening. The big news is the casting of pop princess Jessica Simpson as sexpot cousin Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach created the role for TV). Simpson had never acted in a movie before squeezing into Daisy's short-shorts. As far as I'm concerned, her record is clean. Simpson's body is unimpeachable, but her thespian talent is still undiscovered country. It's as if director Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers) told her to treat her performance like a photo shoot: Turn. Smile. Pout. Primp. Her stiff line delivery could be a reaction to John O'Brien's labored, laugh-free script. Let Meryl Streep try to get a redneck to fix her car by sticking out her boobs and saying, all flirty-like, "I think something bounced up into my undercarriage." Simpson's star billing is misleading. She merely visits the movie from time to time, letting the camera photograph her like a prize heifer. The heavy lifting falls to the boys. Scott does his Stifler thing, and Knoxville does his Jackass thing. Nothing there to erase the memory of the TV Bo (John Schneider) and the TV Luke (Tom Wopat). For Schneider, who has a gig on Smallville, and Wopat, who is a strong stage actor (Glengarry Glen Ross), Hazzard hasn't been a career hazard. Scott and Knoxville, who expend their energy climbing in and out of the General Lee, should be so lucky. The other actors must fight over the script's slim pickings. As Boss Hogg, Burt Reynolds carries what passes for a plot. Hogg uses the auto race that ends the film as a decoy to win court permission to strip-mine Hazzard County and steal the farm where Uncle Jesse Duke (Willie Nelson) makes his moonshine. Nelson shuffles through the movie cracking jokes: "What do you call a hillbilly carrying a sheep under each arm?" Answer: "A playboy." As Dukes drags to a close, you might ask yourself how many car chases you can watch before your eyes glaze over. At one point, the film's narrator says, "If you have to go to the bathroom, now would be the wrong time." I beg to differ. There is no wrong time to flush this turd. The only bright spot comes during the outtakes over the final credits. Suddenly, the actors seem loose, Simpson's smile is warm and natural, and we watch the stunt drivers ply their trade like kids with the world's best toys. For a few minutes, the movie flickers with a party spirit. It's too little and too late. PETER TRAVERS (Posted Aug 04, 2005)

After reafdng their review online , I have decided not to renew my subscription. This is the worst review I have ever reaf....Rolling Stone can kiss my butt...... http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/_/id/6823644?rssfeed=moviereviews&rnd=1123200200984&has-player=true&version=6.0.12.872 The Dukes of Hazzard Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Jessica Simpson, Burt Reynolds, Willie Nelson Directed by Jay Chandrasekhar 2005 All Movies Rated PG-13 There's a stink coming off the big-screen Dukes of Hazzard that even fans of the TV series (1979 to 1985) won't be able to shake out of their nostrils. With Bo Duke (Seann William Scott) and his Georgia cousin Luke Duke (Johnny Knoxville) behind the wheel of the General Lee, that orange-colored 1969 Dodge Charger still flies. Everything else lands with a thud. I have no problems with the jokes being lowbrow and moronic. Hey, it's still summer. But the film oozes the desperation of people sweating hard to create the illusion that if you yell "yee-haw" long enough you'll have a good time. It's not happening. The big news is the casting of pop princess Jessica Simpson as sexpot cousin Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach created the role for TV). Simpson had never acted in a movie before squeezing into Daisy's short-shorts. As far as I'm concerned, her record is clean. Simpson's body is unimpeachable, but her thespian talent is still undiscovered country. It's as if director Jay Chandrasekhar (Super Troopers) told her to treat her performance like a photo shoot: Turn. Smile. Pout. Primp. Her stiff line delivery could be a reaction to John O'Brien's labored, laugh-free script. Let Meryl Streep try to get a redneck to fix her car by sticking out her boobs and saying, all flirty-like, "I think something bounced up into my undercarriage." Simpson's star billing is misleading. She merely visits the movie from time to time, letting the camera photograph her like a prize heifer. The heavy lifting falls to the boys. Scott does his Stifler thing, and Knoxville does his Jackass thing. Nothing there to erase the memory of the TV Bo (John Schneider) and the TV Luke (Tom Wopat). For Schneider, who has a gig on Smallville, and Wopat, who is a strong stage actor (Glengarry Glen Ross), Hazzard hasn't been a career hazard. Scott and Knoxville, who expend their energy climbing in and out of the General Lee, should be so lucky. The other actors must fight over the script's slim pickings. As Boss Hogg, Burt Reynolds carries what passes for a plot. Hogg uses the auto race that ends the film as a decoy to win court permission to strip-mine Hazzard County and steal the farm where Uncle Jesse Duke (Willie Nelson) makes his moonshine. Nelson shuffles through the movie cracking jokes: "What do you call a hillbilly carrying a sheep under each arm?" Answer: "A playboy." As Dukes drags to a close, you might ask yourself how many car chases you can watch before your eyes glaze over. At one point, the film's narrator says, "If you have to go to the bathroom, now would be the wrong time." I beg to differ. There is no wrong time to flush this turd. The only bright spot comes during the outtakes over the final credits. Suddenly, the actors seem loose, Simpson's smile is warm and natural, and we watch the stunt drivers ply their trade like kids with the world's best toys. For a few minutes, the movie flickers with a party spirit. It's too little and too late. PETER TRAVERS (Posted Aug 04, 2005)

Bubba.... What I wouldn't give to see it at the Badin Road Drive-In......That sounds awesome. Do they still play bingo between movies? ... Have fun Saturday night.. Darrell

Bubba.... What I wouldn't give to see it at the Badin Road Drive-In......That sounds awesome. Do they still play bingo between movies? ... Have fun Saturday night.. Darrell

On to the "Brickyard" this weekend...... Can't wait for it. Would love to see if Tony can do it as this is THE track for him to try to win on..... http://www.optonline.net/Sports/Article/Feeds?CID=type%3Dxml%26channel%3D33%26article%3D15413124 Stewart Would Give Up All to Win at Indy Tony Stewart isn't kidding when he says he'd trade every win and every trophy for just one victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a budding young racer growing up in Indiana, it was the only track that really mattered. Now 34 years old, that hasn't changed for Stewart. He's won championships in sprint cars, stock cars and an open-wheel series, but he's never kissed the bricks at Indy. He's come plenty close in 14 appearances, winning two poles and leading tons of laps. But he's always come up short in the end. Indy, his shrine, is also Stewart's demon. He would give anything to change that, and will try to again this Sunday in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. "Take the one thing in your life that you're the most passionate about and you'll have a good understanding of what Indy means to me," he said. "If I could give away my championship and just get one win at Indy, I would do it in a heartbeat." This season might be his best shot at ending his curse at Indy. He heads into the race on a roll, winning three of NASCAR's last five events. His team is clicking and the temperamental Stewart has never been more at peace. Everyone around him attributes his relaxed approach this season to Stewart's decision to leave North Carolina and move back into the home he grew up in Columbus, Ind. There he's not a famous race car driver, he's just a regular guy in the community. "The neighbors on both sides and across the street and behind me are all the same neighbors, they're just older now," he said. "They don't treat me any differently than they did when I was a kid. I'm still the kid who used to hit the baseball through their windows." All grown up now, Stewart says he joined the Moose Lodge and the Eagles Lodge to gain a sense of community. He has keys to the neighbors' homes and can be counted on to take care of their pets. They all return the favor. Stewart now blends in at the local restaurants, goes unnoticed at Dairy Queen, and is just another guy out bowling with his buddies on a weeknight. Everyone around him has noticed the calming effect it's had on Stewart. "He's very comfortable in that element and that's probably the most important thing," crew chief Greg Zipadelli. "He's relaxed during the week. He doesn't get bothered by a lot of people and just gets to hang out with people who were friends with him before he got to where he is today." But Zipadelli knows that when Stewart pulls into Indy for Friday's first practice, everything will probably change. The calmness will likely be gone and Stewart will be on edge, ready to snap at the slightest thing. "You just know he's going to be at wit's end with people and with our guys and everything else because of the pressure and stress that he feels," Zipadelli said. "It's hard for me to understand." That's just how it is with Indy and Stewart. The track always gets the best of him. He's led a total of 122 laps in his five Indianapolis 500 starts, but never at the end. Mechanical failures ended his day twice, including the time his engine blew right after he took the lead in 1998. The NASCAR races haven't been any smoother. He challenged for the win late in 2001, only to hit the wall as he raced for the lead. "I was just trying too hard," he said at the end. He started from the pole in 2002 and led four times for 43 laps, but he faded at the end and finished 12th. Frustrated as he left the track, he punched a photographer in the lowest moment of his career. He came back to challenge again in 2003, leading three times for 60 laps, but a slow final pit stop and a late caution combined to give him another 12th place finish. His struggles don't yet rival the heartbreak that Michael Andretti has suffered at Indianapolis _ he failed in 21 years to score a win there as a driver. Stewart only has to look to Andretti's cruel breaks to feel better about his own shortcomings. "No race track ever owes you anything. I've heard that from drivers, but Michael Andretti was the one who straightened a lot of people out on that one," Stewart said. "He said that all those years that he led laps at Indy 500s and didn't win _ it's a place that you have to earn victories. They're not given to you. Indy doesn't owe me anything." © Copyright 2005 CSC Holdings, Inc. #20 - Tony Stewart

On to the "Brickyard" this weekend...... Can't wait for it. Would love to see if Tony can do it as this is THE track for him to try to win on..... http://www.optonline.net/Sports/Article/Feeds?CID=type%3Dxml%26channel%3D33%26article%3D15413124 Stewart Would Give Up All to Win at Indy Tony Stewart isn't kidding when he says he'd trade every win and every trophy for just one victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. As a budding young racer growing up in Indiana, it was the only track that really mattered. Now 34 years old, that hasn't changed for Stewart. He's won championships in sprint cars, stock cars and an open-wheel series, but he's never kissed the bricks at Indy. He's come plenty close in 14 appearances, winning two poles and leading tons of laps. But he's always come up short in the end. Indy, his shrine, is also Stewart's demon. He would give anything to change that, and will try to again this Sunday in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. "Take the one thing in your life that you're the most passionate about and you'll have a good understanding of what Indy means to me," he said. "If I could give away my championship and just get one win at Indy, I would do it in a heartbeat." This season might be his best shot at ending his curse at Indy. He heads into the race on a roll, winning three of NASCAR's last five events. His team is clicking and the temperamental Stewart has never been more at peace. Everyone around him attributes his relaxed approach this season to Stewart's decision to leave North Carolina and move back into the home he grew up in Columbus, Ind. There he's not a famous race car driver, he's just a regular guy in the community. "The neighbors on both sides and across the street and behind me are all the same neighbors, they're just older now," he said. "They don't treat me any differently than they did when I was a kid. I'm still the kid who used to hit the baseball through their windows." All grown up now, Stewart says he joined the Moose Lodge and the Eagles Lodge to gain a sense of community. He has keys to the neighbors' homes and can be counted on to take care of their pets. They all return the favor. Stewart now blends in at the local restaurants, goes unnoticed at Dairy Queen, and is just another guy out bowling with his buddies on a weeknight. Everyone around him has noticed the calming effect it's had on Stewart. "He's very comfortable in that element and that's probably the most important thing," crew chief Greg Zipadelli. "He's relaxed during the week. He doesn't get bothered by a lot of people and just gets to hang out with people who were friends with him before he got to where he is today." But Zipadelli knows that when Stewart pulls into Indy for Friday's first practice, everything will probably change. The calmness will likely be gone and Stewart will be on edge, ready to snap at the slightest thing. "You just know he's going to be at wit's end with people and with our guys and everything else because of the pressure and stress that he feels," Zipadelli said. "It's hard for me to understand." That's just how it is with Indy and Stewart. The track always gets the best of him. He's led a total of 122 laps in his five Indianapolis 500 starts, but never at the end. Mechanical failures ended his day twice, including the time his engine blew right after he took the lead in 1998. The NASCAR races haven't been any smoother. He challenged for the win late in 2001, only to hit the wall as he raced for the lead. "I was just trying too hard," he said at the end. He started from the pole in 2002 and led four times for 43 laps, but he faded at the end and finished 12th. Frustrated as he left the track, he punched a photographer in the lowest moment of his career. He came back to challenge again in 2003, leading three times for 60 laps, but a slow final pit stop and a late caution combined to give him another 12th place finish. His struggles don't yet rival the heartbreak that Michael Andretti has suffered at Indianapolis _ he failed in 21 years to score a win there as a driver. Stewart only has to look to Andretti's cruel breaks to feel better about his own shortcomings. "No race track ever owes you anything. I've heard that from drivers, but Michael Andretti was the one who straightened a lot of people out on that one," Stewart said. "He said that all those years that he led laps at Indy 500s and didn't win _ it's a place that you have to earn victories. They're not given to you. Indy doesn't owe me anything." © Copyright 2005 CSC Holdings, Inc. #20 - Tony Stewart

8 of 10 this morning.......I forget to answer 2 questions . I haven't had my coffee yet ( that is my excuse for today) I'm gone Darrell

8 of 10 this morning.......I forget to answer 2 questions . I haven't had my coffee yet ( that is my excuse for today) I'm gone Darrell

Best thing to do .........GO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF...... The movie porbably won't be a critics favorite. But it probably will be one heck of a moneymaker. I have said over and over to give this movie a chance . Go see it with an open mind as a different take on our beloved show . I really didn't expect the characters to be exactly the same as in the TV show, which some of ya'll seem to want. This is someone else's interpretation of the Dukes, not ours. This is the same discussion that has been going on since the movie was starting to be filmed. Many of you on here came aboard because of the movie and expressed your opinions about it. How many of you will still be around after the movie comes out and it dies down ? That remains to be seen. Right now the DOH is at it's most popular with everything going on - movie, specials, CMT airing the show, DVD's, etc... The movie opens tomorrow. Who knows I might not like it at all. But then again I might. I have been waiting to see it for myself. . I'm gone Darrell

Best thing to do .........GO SEE IT FOR YOURSELF...... The movie porbably won't be a critics favorite. But it probably will be one heck of a moneymaker. I have said over and over to give this movie a chance . Go see it with an open mind as a different take on our beloved show . I really didn't expect the characters to be exactly the same as in the TV show, which some of ya'll seem to want. This is someone else's interpretation of the Dukes, not ours. This is the same discussion that has been going on since the movie was starting to be filmed. Many of you on here came aboard because of the movie and expressed your opinions about it. How many of you will still be around after the movie comes out and it dies down ? That remains to be seen. Right now the DOH is at it's most popular with everything going on - movie, specials, CMT airing the show, DVD's, etc... The movie opens tomorrow. Who knows I might not like it at all. But then again I might. I have been waiting to see it for myself. . I'm gone Darrell

10 for 10 in 88 seconds.....I went over my answers before I submitted it( that's the excuse I will use for now ) Pretty fun.Thank you for sharing that with us on here I'm gone Darrell

10 for 10 in 88 seconds.....I went over my answers before I submitted it( that's the excuse I will use for now ) Pretty fun.Thank you for sharing that with us on here I'm gone Darrell

Saw this from my homepage......Pretty good article on Jonny Knoxville. A bit strange but interesting...... http://www.optonline.net/Entertainment/Article/Feeds?CID=type%3Dxml%26channel%3D31%26article%3D15390616 Knoxville a Southern Mix of Contradictions During a recent interview with Johnny Knoxville, the "Dukes of Hazzard" star suggests drinking a round of tequila shots "stuntman"-style, which entails snorting the salt and squirting the lime juice in your eye. That's what you'd expect from the guy who created "Jackass," the MTV reality series that made self-induced pain fashionable and made the charismatic Phillip John Clapp from Knoxville, Tenn., an instant star. Only he's not that guy _ not all the time. He looks like that guy, with the trademark smoked aviator sunglasses, faux-hawk hairstyle and facial scruff. But sitting in a hotel bar, the 34-year-old Knoxville is unerringly polite, addressing a waiter as "sir" and his interviewer as "ma'am" in a low, slow voice with a slight twang that emerges now and again. He speaks earnestly about the forces that shaped him growing up (the music of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, the writing of Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson) and those that influence him now (his wife, Melanie, and their 9-year-old daughter, Madison, whose name is tattooed over his heart). His iPod also contains entire sections of Broadway show tunes and Barbra Streisand songs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. This combination of contradictions _ rowdy party boy coupled with sensitive romantic _ has prompted comparisons to a number of Hollywood icons. "Dukes" director Jay Chandrasekhar likens Knoxville to Burt Reynolds, or a "funny Steve McQueen." John Waters, who directed Knoxville last year in the sex comedy "A Dirty Shame," says he's both "a movie star and a great actor," and expects him to carve out an eclectic career similar to Johnny Depp's. Knoxville's acting coach in Los Angeles is reminded of Jack Nicholson. "They're both inappropriate men who are honest about themselves, and that's extraordinarily appealing," said Cameron Thor, whose clients include Sharon Stone, Drew Carey and Cameron Diaz. Knoxville's reaction to such comparisons? "Wow," he says, taken aback. "That's a really cool thing to say." After graduating from high school, the son of a tire company owner and a homemaker was inspired to move to Hollywood _ he named himself after his home town while writing freelance magazine articles _ by a copy of Kerouac's "On the Road." It was given to him by his cousin, country singer-songwriter Roger Alan Wade, at age 14. The location for this momentous event: a bar, which Knoxville had entered with a fake ID. "Jackass" came about by accident. He'd planned to try out self-defense equipment on himself _ pepper spray, Taser, etc. _ then write about the experience. His editor, Jeff Tremaine, suggested videotaping the stunt. A phenomenon was born. Skateboarding mishaps, intentional paper cuts, nipple-biting baby alligators _ Knoxville and his buddies did it all, both on the TV series, which ran from 2000-2002, and the movie, which Tremaine directed. He chose "Jackass" over the offer of a cast spot on "Saturday Night Live" because "I either say yes to my friends, where we had all the control, or yes to `Saturday Night Live' where none of my friends were really going to be there and I had no control." A series of supporting movie roles followed, including "Big Trouble," "Men in Black II," in which he played Lara Flynn Boyle's two-headed alien sidekick, and "Walking Tall" with The Rock. Earlier this year, he played pimped-out skateboarding promoter Topper Burks in "Lords of Dogtown." Whatever Knoxville does, though, some people still assume he's that "Jackass" dude, 24/7. Guys at bars have come out of nowhere and bashed him in the head (which has led to a few fights). Girls have burned him with cigarettes and lighters. "I kind of brought it on myself, so ..." he trails off. "Worse things could happen." When asked how he plans to show he's capable of more than "Jackass," he grows slightly defensive _ but remains polite. "I don't want to distance myself from `Jackass' at all. I'm proud of 'Jackass,'" he says. "It got me here and opened up all kinds of doors. It's something me and my friends did. I'm very, very proud of it." But his previous attempt at a meatier role was the little-seen and critically trashed dark comedy "Grand Theft Parsons" from 2003. Knoxville stars as Gram Parsons' road manager, Phil Kaufman, who steals the singer-songwriter's body to set it ablaze in Joshua Tree National Park. "After that movie _ I wasn't very proud of my performance _ I got an acting coach," Knoxville said. "He's just helped me a lot, so much, and the past five or six films I feel like I'm getting better with every film." Thor calls Knoxville "a natural actor _ he just didn't know it." But Katrina Holden Bronson, the writer-director of "Daltry Calhoun," believes she's already seen what he can do. In the movie, scheduled for fall release, Knoxville stars as the estranged father of a 14-year-old music prodigy. "I saw a depth and sensitivity to him that runs so deep," Bronson says. "... I just saw this reservoir of talent that I think is really going to blow people away." A big reason Bronson wanted Knoxville for the film was because he's a father in real life. And talking to Knoxville about his wife and daughter, he's clearly and understandably protective of them, especially when it comes to the rampant tabloid rumors about an affair with "Dukes" co-star Jessica Simpson. "I love the tabloids except for when I'm in 'em. Especially with the stuff they wrote about Jessica and I _ it's obviously not true," he volunteers without being asked about specific allegations. "They write these things and, you know, I've got a daughter and a wife and she's got a husband and it affects the families involved." Thor says, "For all the stuff he likes to get printed about himself _ he very carefully nurtures the image of the hard-drinking, (expletive)-all, who-gives-a-(expletive) ... he's extraordinarily considerate." In December, Knoxville will also star in "The Ringer," a comedy in which he poses as a contestant in the Special Olympics. The Farrelly brothers are the executive producers. Knoxville says it's not what you'd expect. © Copyright 2005 CSC Holdings, Inc.

Saw this from my homepage......Pretty good article on Jonny Knoxville. A bit strange but interesting...... http://www.optonline.net/Entertainment/Article/Feeds?CID=type%3Dxml%26channel%3D31%26article%3D15390616 Knoxville a Southern Mix of Contradictions During a recent interview with Johnny Knoxville, the "Dukes of Hazzard" star suggests drinking a round of tequila shots "stuntman"-style, which entails snorting the salt and squirting the lime juice in your eye. That's what you'd expect from the guy who created "Jackass," the MTV reality series that made self-induced pain fashionable and made the charismatic Phillip John Clapp from Knoxville, Tenn., an instant star. Only he's not that guy _ not all the time. He looks like that guy, with the trademark smoked aviator sunglasses, faux-hawk hairstyle and facial scruff. But sitting in a hotel bar, the 34-year-old Knoxville is unerringly polite, addressing a waiter as "sir" and his interviewer as "ma'am" in a low, slow voice with a slight twang that emerges now and again. He speaks earnestly about the forces that shaped him growing up (the music of Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson, the writing of Jack Kerouac and Hunter S. Thompson) and those that influence him now (his wife, Melanie, and their 9-year-old daughter, Madison, whose name is tattooed over his heart). His iPod also contains entire sections of Broadway show tunes and Barbra Streisand songs. Not that there's anything wrong with that. This combination of contradictions _ rowdy party boy coupled with sensitive romantic _ has prompted comparisons to a number of Hollywood icons. "Dukes" director Jay Chandrasekhar likens Knoxville to Burt Reynolds, or a "funny Steve McQueen." John Waters, who directed Knoxville last year in the sex comedy "A Dirty Shame," says he's both "a movie star and a great actor," and expects him to carve out an eclectic career similar to Johnny Depp's. Knoxville's acting coach in Los Angeles is reminded of Jack Nicholson. "They're both inappropriate men who are honest about themselves, and that's extraordinarily appealing," said Cameron Thor, whose clients include Sharon Stone, Drew Carey and Cameron Diaz. Knoxville's reaction to such comparisons? "Wow," he says, taken aback. "That's a really cool thing to say." After graduating from high school, the son of a tire company owner and a homemaker was inspired to move to Hollywood _ he named himself after his home town while writing freelance magazine articles _ by a copy of Kerouac's "On the Road." It was given to him by his cousin, country singer-songwriter Roger Alan Wade, at age 14. The location for this momentous event: a bar, which Knoxville had entered with a fake ID. "Jackass" came about by accident. He'd planned to try out self-defense equipment on himself _ pepper spray, Taser, etc. _ then write about the experience. His editor, Jeff Tremaine, suggested videotaping the stunt. A phenomenon was born. Skateboarding mishaps, intentional paper cuts, nipple-biting baby alligators _ Knoxville and his buddies did it all, both on the TV series, which ran from 2000-2002, and the movie, which Tremaine directed. He chose "Jackass" over the offer of a cast spot on "Saturday Night Live" because "I either say yes to my friends, where we had all the control, or yes to `Saturday Night Live' where none of my friends were really going to be there and I had no control." A series of supporting movie roles followed, including "Big Trouble," "Men in Black II," in which he played Lara Flynn Boyle's two-headed alien sidekick, and "Walking Tall" with The Rock. Earlier this year, he played pimped-out skateboarding promoter Topper Burks in "Lords of Dogtown." Whatever Knoxville does, though, some people still assume he's that "Jackass" dude, 24/7. Guys at bars have come out of nowhere and bashed him in the head (which has led to a few fights). Girls have burned him with cigarettes and lighters. "I kind of brought it on myself, so ..." he trails off. "Worse things could happen." When asked how he plans to show he's capable of more than "Jackass," he grows slightly defensive _ but remains polite. "I don't want to distance myself from `Jackass' at all. I'm proud of 'Jackass,'" he says. "It got me here and opened up all kinds of doors. It's something me and my friends did. I'm very, very proud of it." But his previous attempt at a meatier role was the little-seen and critically trashed dark comedy "Grand Theft Parsons" from 2003. Knoxville stars as Gram Parsons' road manager, Phil Kaufman, who steals the singer-songwriter's body to set it ablaze in Joshua Tree National Park. "After that movie _ I wasn't very proud of my performance _ I got an acting coach," Knoxville said. "He's just helped me a lot, so much, and the past five or six films I feel like I'm getting better with every film." Thor calls Knoxville "a natural actor _ he just didn't know it." But Katrina Holden Bronson, the writer-director of "Daltry Calhoun," believes she's already seen what he can do. In the movie, scheduled for fall release, Knoxville stars as the estranged father of a 14-year-old music prodigy. "I saw a depth and sensitivity to him that runs so deep," Bronson says. "... I just saw this reservoir of talent that I think is really going to blow people away." A big reason Bronson wanted Knoxville for the film was because he's a father in real life. And talking to Knoxville about his wife and daughter, he's clearly and understandably protective of them, especially when it comes to the rampant tabloid rumors about an affair with "Dukes" co-star Jessica Simpson. "I love the tabloids except for when I'm in 'em. Especially with the stuff they wrote about Jessica and I _ it's obviously not true," he volunteers without being asked about specific allegations. "They write these things and, you know, I've got a daughter and a wife and she's got a husband and it affects the families involved." Thor says, "For all the stuff he likes to get printed about himself _ he very carefully nurtures the image of the hard-drinking, (expletive)-all, who-gives-a-(expletive) ... he's extraordinarily considerate." In December, Knoxville will also star in "The Ringer," a comedy in which he poses as a contestant in the Special Olympics. The Farrelly brothers are the executive producers. Knoxville says it's not what you'd expect. © Copyright 2005 CSC Holdings, Inc.

It also had this as a little side article within the main article.... http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ffmov4360661jul31,0,3433260.story?coll=ny-television-headlines 1982 was a bad year KEVIN McDONOUGH July 31, 2005 If there is one thing that unites "Dukes" fans of every stripe, it is their outrage at the producers' decision to recast the show in the fall of 1982, replacing Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) with their cousins Coy (Byron Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer). The change, which resulted from a salary dispute with Wopat and Schneider, was reversed the very next season, and the cousins were sent packing. Chris Nelson doesn't even want to talk about the faux "Dukes" season, but as vice president of CMT's promotional Dukes Foundation, he has his professional obligations. Nelson thinks Cherry and Mayer were chosen for their stylish ability to slide off the hood of the General Lee. "It's by far the best thing they did that season. Their acting was not so great. But a sweet hood slide...they nailed it every time." And the cousins controversy continues to make waves. Obliged to air every "Dukes" episode in sequential order, CMT recently re-entered the fateful 1982-83 season. "The first time we saw our ratings decline was when the cousins came on," says CMT executive James Hitchcock. "Our message board lit up: 'Who are these guys?'" But Hitchcock saw a silver lining even in this passing crisis. "It showed us we were attracting viewers who hadn't watched the show the first time. And once people were informed that Bo and Luke were returning, our ratings bounced back." "It just proves," says Hitchcock, "just how passionate people are about 'The Dukes.'" Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

It also had this as a little side article within the main article.... http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ffmov4360661jul31,0,3433260.story?coll=ny-television-headlines 1982 was a bad year KEVIN McDONOUGH July 31, 2005 If there is one thing that unites "Dukes" fans of every stripe, it is their outrage at the producers' decision to recast the show in the fall of 1982, replacing Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) with their cousins Coy (Byron Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer). The change, which resulted from a salary dispute with Wopat and Schneider, was reversed the very next season, and the cousins were sent packing. Chris Nelson doesn't even want to talk about the faux "Dukes" season, but as vice president of CMT's promotional Dukes Foundation, he has his professional obligations. Nelson thinks Cherry and Mayer were chosen for their stylish ability to slide off the hood of the General Lee. "It's by far the best thing they did that season. Their acting was not so great. But a sweet hood slide...they nailed it every time." And the cousins controversy continues to make waves. Obliged to air every "Dukes" episode in sequential order, CMT recently re-entered the fateful 1982-83 season. "The first time we saw our ratings decline was when the cousins came on," says CMT executive James Hitchcock. "Our message board lit up: 'Who are these guys?'" But Hitchcock saw a silver lining even in this passing crisis. "It showed us we were attracting viewers who hadn't watched the show the first time. And once people were informed that Bo and Luke were returning, our ratings bounced back." "It just proves," says Hitchcock, "just how passionate people are about 'The Dukes.'" Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

My local paper had this piece mainly about the original show . I thought it was a pretty good article. It was from the entertainment section as the front cover of section was the pic ofrom the first season DVD... http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ffmov4360660jul31,0,3040043.story?coll=ny-television-headlines Southern Comfort The movie comes out this week, but on TV, reruns of the original 'The Dukes of Hazzard' have already found new fans attracted to the simple, down-home pleasures of the show BY KEVIN McDONOUGH Kevin McDonough is a freelance writer. July 31, 2005 Friday's release of the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie will certainly remind America of the good old boys from Hazzard, the gravity-defying General Lee and the censor-skirting outfits of the curvaceous Daisy Duke. But what about the original CBS show (1979-85), a goofy hour-long showcase for slapstick comedy, fast cars and easy-to-follow stories and lessons? Critics never shined to it, but "The Dukes" attracted a passionate fan base that still frequents annual reunions. The most recent DukesFest, held in June in Nashville, attracted a reported 30,000 fans, and "Dukes" reruns are popular on cable. CMT (Country Music Television) airs "The Dukes" twice nightly, at 7 p.m. and midnight, and has attracted a surprisingly strong audience. Back in February, when CMT introduced the "Dukes" to its lineup, the channel spent an unprecedented hour on top of the basic cable ratings heap, tops among adults 18-to-49 and males 18-to-49. James Hitchcock, CMT's vice president of marketing, doesn't mind admitting that he has been completely amazed by the audience for the show. "The Dukes" reaches a far younger audience than CMT anticipated, and to the delight of advertisers, many of them are male. A really dedicated fan Among those male viewers is Chris Nelson, the official vice president of the Dukes of Hazzard Institute, a promotional vehicle created by CMT. The network hired Nelson in June after an extensive "talent search" attracted more than 1,900 applicants. According to Hitchcock, Nelson stood out from the pack with his blog interview of the show's star car, the General Lee, in the style of James Lipton's "Inside the Actor's Studio" on Bravo. Nelson also began a petition to place a pair of Daisy Duke's original short-shorts in the Smithsonian Institution. For his "work" of watching every "Dukes" episode and maintaining a colorful blog, Nelson will be paid $100,000 for a year. Not bad for an unemployed writer who had just come to Manhattan from his native Texas. Born in 1976, Nelson says he was virtually raised by television and calls "The Dukes" a formative experience. "'The Dukes' had something for everybody," Nelson says, pining for the days when networks created shows for the whole family. "For kids like me, there were fabulous cars that crashed all the time, there were lessons for Mom, and Dad could watch Daisy and the other foxy ladies. You also had these wacky scene transitions and freeze frames and a bit of wisdom from Waylon." (Outlaw country music star Waylon Jennings provided the show's cracked narration and sang the theme song.) Nelson adds, "There's nothing like it on TV today." Perhaps that's because "The Dukes" is such a product of a particular time. When the show premiered Jan. 26, 1979, the passions of the civil rights, antiwar and women's movements were cooling. Still, in its own corny way, "The Dukes" reflected the era's antiauthoritarianism, pitting Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat), a couple of good old boys and amateur moonshiners, against three main antagonists: Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane (James Best); his deputy, Enos (Sonny Shroyer), and the town's extraordinarily powerful and corrupt politician, Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg (Sorell Booke). Clearly inspired by the popular 1977 car-chase moonshine comedy "Smokey and the Bandit," "Dukes" - which ran for seven seasons - is a far cry from today's television landscape. Just where would two goofy outlaws without legitimate sources of income fit in a prime-time environment dotted with product placements, money-grubbing reality stars, yuppie comedies and police dramas in which forensics technology can capture crooks decades after the fact? If somebody tried to act like "modern-day Robin Hoods" (as the theme song described Bo and Luke) in today's landscape, they might end up on a slab on "CSI." The show's popularity (it was often in Nielsen's top 10 and finished No. 2 in 1980-81) also reflected the ascendancy of the South in American politics and pop culture. When "Dukes" debuted, Jimmy Carter was president, Dixie rock bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers were still popular nationwide, and a Georgian named Ted Turner was revolutionizing cable television. Speaks to the American spirit Ironically, the show celebrated the joys of stock-car racing and muscle-car culture at a time of gasoline rationing and when Detroit's position as the world's motor city was under siege. The General Lee (a 1969 Dodge Charger) may have been flying high in 1979, but that very year Chrysler Corp. was facing bankruptcy and asking for a federal bailout. To some, the appeal of "The Dukes" transcends any one period and speaks to something vital in the American spirit. "From 'L'il Abner' to 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'The Andy Griffith Show,' America has long had a love affair with the country bumpkin," says Paul Levinson, chairman of the department of communications and media studies at Fordham University. "It's part of our heritage, part of our culture. The more we move into cities, the more cool we try to be, the more we miss the part of ourselves that's simple and country." Bill Engvall, one of the stars of the "Blue Collar Comedy" shows on both the WB network and Comedy Central, finds "The Dukes" both confounding and irresistible. "What you have is basically a dysfunctional family," Engvall says. "No parents. You have Uncle Jesse, forever in overalls. Then there's Bo and Duke. What do they do? I never saw them working for food or gas money. You can only kill so many possum." And while Engvall admits to spending hours in front of the cornball comedy, "I don't remember laughing out loud." Nor does he recall any memorable stories or plot. "Unlike 'Andy Griffith,' where you can argue about your favorite episode, I couldn't tell you what any single 'Dukes of Hazzard' episode was about. But I watched it." Perhaps the very appeal of "The Dukes" is a surreal nature that transcends linear narrative. "Apparently, there was just one road around Hazzard County," Engvall observes. "Because if they were chasing Boss Hogg, or whoever, they had to spin out around that one oak tree." CMT's Hitchcock revels in the show's absurdity. "You had 48,000 car crashes, and nobody got hurt. You know the cousins are going to come out OK and never get caught." But some things confuse even a happy TV executive. "Why do they have all these chase scenes? They know where Bo and Duke live. Just go to their house!" "Dukes" maven Nelson considers Bo and Luke "basic cartoon heroes" with strong appeal to young men. But not everybody thinks it's quite so simple. Mike Lazzo, a senior vice president of programming for the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network and architect of the hip and wildly successful "Adult Swim" animation block, admits that "The Dukes" has some cartoon elements. He cites the "Flintstones"- like way Bo and Luke climb in and out of the window of the General Lee without ever opening the doors. But as a native of South Carolina, Lazzo sees something more. "I went to school with guys like Bo and Luke," he says. I think it was a very real portrayal of the South at that time." A hint of the wild West Like Lazzo, Perry Turner, vice president of original programming for Turner South, a regional cable network, sees the enduring resonance of "The Dukes" as part of an ongoing myth about the South as a place apart, a bit beyond the law, "a kind of newer wild West." While Lazzo admits to not liking the show when he was growing up in the South, he has grown fond of it, particularly its celebration of high-octane high jinks. "The whole car culture was very important down here," he recalls. "I watched my cousin spend a whole summer rebuilding a 1971 Barracuda. It was one of the greatest summers of my life." Expectations for the "Dukes" movie range from wait-and-see to ambivalent. "It's 'Dukes of Hazzard' movie. How can you mess it up?" Engvall quips. And the recent efforts by Ben Jones (who played Cooter the mechanic) to protest the film's supposed profanity and immorality received tepid, diplomatic responses. "As an original cast member, that's his right," Hitchcock says. But Engvall smells sour grapes. "Give it up man. They didn't cast you. It's time to let it go." Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

My local paper had this piece mainly about the original show . I thought it was a pretty good article. It was from the entertainment section as the front cover of section was the pic ofrom the first season DVD... http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ffmov4360660jul31,0,3040043.story?coll=ny-television-headlines Southern Comfort The movie comes out this week, but on TV, reruns of the original 'The Dukes of Hazzard' have already found new fans attracted to the simple, down-home pleasures of the show BY KEVIN McDONOUGH Kevin McDonough is a freelance writer. July 31, 2005 Friday's release of the "Dukes of Hazzard" movie will certainly remind America of the good old boys from Hazzard, the gravity-defying General Lee and the censor-skirting outfits of the curvaceous Daisy Duke. But what about the original CBS show (1979-85), a goofy hour-long showcase for slapstick comedy, fast cars and easy-to-follow stories and lessons? Critics never shined to it, but "The Dukes" attracted a passionate fan base that still frequents annual reunions. The most recent DukesFest, held in June in Nashville, attracted a reported 30,000 fans, and "Dukes" reruns are popular on cable. CMT (Country Music Television) airs "The Dukes" twice nightly, at 7 p.m. and midnight, and has attracted a surprisingly strong audience. Back in February, when CMT introduced the "Dukes" to its lineup, the channel spent an unprecedented hour on top of the basic cable ratings heap, tops among adults 18-to-49 and males 18-to-49. James Hitchcock, CMT's vice president of marketing, doesn't mind admitting that he has been completely amazed by the audience for the show. "The Dukes" reaches a far younger audience than CMT anticipated, and to the delight of advertisers, many of them are male. A really dedicated fan Among those male viewers is Chris Nelson, the official vice president of the Dukes of Hazzard Institute, a promotional vehicle created by CMT. The network hired Nelson in June after an extensive "talent search" attracted more than 1,900 applicants. According to Hitchcock, Nelson stood out from the pack with his blog interview of the show's star car, the General Lee, in the style of James Lipton's "Inside the Actor's Studio" on Bravo. Nelson also began a petition to place a pair of Daisy Duke's original short-shorts in the Smithsonian Institution. For his "work" of watching every "Dukes" episode and maintaining a colorful blog, Nelson will be paid $100,000 for a year. Not bad for an unemployed writer who had just come to Manhattan from his native Texas. Born in 1976, Nelson says he was virtually raised by television and calls "The Dukes" a formative experience. "'The Dukes' had something for everybody," Nelson says, pining for the days when networks created shows for the whole family. "For kids like me, there were fabulous cars that crashed all the time, there were lessons for Mom, and Dad could watch Daisy and the other foxy ladies. You also had these wacky scene transitions and freeze frames and a bit of wisdom from Waylon." (Outlaw country music star Waylon Jennings provided the show's cracked narration and sang the theme song.) Nelson adds, "There's nothing like it on TV today." Perhaps that's because "The Dukes" is such a product of a particular time. When the show premiered Jan. 26, 1979, the passions of the civil rights, antiwar and women's movements were cooling. Still, in its own corny way, "The Dukes" reflected the era's antiauthoritarianism, pitting Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat), a couple of good old boys and amateur moonshiners, against three main antagonists: Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane (James Best); his deputy, Enos (Sonny Shroyer), and the town's extraordinarily powerful and corrupt politician, Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg (Sorell Booke). Clearly inspired by the popular 1977 car-chase moonshine comedy "Smokey and the Bandit," "Dukes" - which ran for seven seasons - is a far cry from today's television landscape. Just where would two goofy outlaws without legitimate sources of income fit in a prime-time environment dotted with product placements, money-grubbing reality stars, yuppie comedies and police dramas in which forensics technology can capture crooks decades after the fact? If somebody tried to act like "modern-day Robin Hoods" (as the theme song described Bo and Luke) in today's landscape, they might end up on a slab on "CSI." The show's popularity (it was often in Nielsen's top 10 and finished No. 2 in 1980-81) also reflected the ascendancy of the South in American politics and pop culture. When "Dukes" debuted, Jimmy Carter was president, Dixie rock bands such as Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Allman Brothers were still popular nationwide, and a Georgian named Ted Turner was revolutionizing cable television. Speaks to the American spirit Ironically, the show celebrated the joys of stock-car racing and muscle-car culture at a time of gasoline rationing and when Detroit's position as the world's motor city was under siege. The General Lee (a 1969 Dodge Charger) may have been flying high in 1979, but that very year Chrysler Corp. was facing bankruptcy and asking for a federal bailout. To some, the appeal of "The Dukes" transcends any one period and speaks to something vital in the American spirit. "From 'L'il Abner' to 'The Beverly Hillbillies' and 'The Andy Griffith Show,' America has long had a love affair with the country bumpkin," says Paul Levinson, chairman of the department of communications and media studies at Fordham University. "It's part of our heritage, part of our culture. The more we move into cities, the more cool we try to be, the more we miss the part of ourselves that's simple and country." Bill Engvall, one of the stars of the "Blue Collar Comedy" shows on both the WB network and Comedy Central, finds "The Dukes" both confounding and irresistible. "What you have is basically a dysfunctional family," Engvall says. "No parents. You have Uncle Jesse, forever in overalls. Then there's Bo and Duke. What do they do? I never saw them working for food or gas money. You can only kill so many possum." And while Engvall admits to spending hours in front of the cornball comedy, "I don't remember laughing out loud." Nor does he recall any memorable stories or plot. "Unlike 'Andy Griffith,' where you can argue about your favorite episode, I couldn't tell you what any single 'Dukes of Hazzard' episode was about. But I watched it." Perhaps the very appeal of "The Dukes" is a surreal nature that transcends linear narrative. "Apparently, there was just one road around Hazzard County," Engvall observes. "Because if they were chasing Boss Hogg, or whoever, they had to spin out around that one oak tree." CMT's Hitchcock revels in the show's absurdity. "You had 48,000 car crashes, and nobody got hurt. You know the cousins are going to come out OK and never get caught." But some things confuse even a happy TV executive. "Why do they have all these chase scenes? They know where Bo and Duke live. Just go to their house!" "Dukes" maven Nelson considers Bo and Luke "basic cartoon heroes" with strong appeal to young men. But not everybody thinks it's quite so simple. Mike Lazzo, a senior vice president of programming for the Atlanta-based Cartoon Network and architect of the hip and wildly successful "Adult Swim" animation block, admits that "The Dukes" has some cartoon elements. He cites the "Flintstones"- like way Bo and Luke climb in and out of the window of the General Lee without ever opening the doors. But as a native of South Carolina, Lazzo sees something more. "I went to school with guys like Bo and Luke," he says. I think it was a very real portrayal of the South at that time." A hint of the wild West Like Lazzo, Perry Turner, vice president of original programming for Turner South, a regional cable network, sees the enduring resonance of "The Dukes" as part of an ongoing myth about the South as a place apart, a bit beyond the law, "a kind of newer wild West." While Lazzo admits to not liking the show when he was growing up in the South, he has grown fond of it, particularly its celebration of high-octane high jinks. "The whole car culture was very important down here," he recalls. "I watched my cousin spend a whole summer rebuilding a 1971 Barracuda. It was one of the greatest summers of my life." Expectations for the "Dukes" movie range from wait-and-see to ambivalent. "It's 'Dukes of Hazzard' movie. How can you mess it up?" Engvall quips. And the recent efforts by Ben Jones (who played Cooter the mechanic) to protest the film's supposed profanity and immorality received tepid, diplomatic responses. "As an original cast member, that's his right," Hitchcock says. But Engvall smells sour grapes. "Give it up man. They didn't cast you. It's time to let it go." Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

Also look at the all the promotion this movie has gotten . 1. Specials on CMT & MTV. 2. Numerous articles in papers and magazines. 3. CMT showcasing the original DOH on it's schedule in primo time slot 4. The release of seaons on DVD quickly For a relatively small budget movie($50 mil as it has been stated) the marketing has been in full force for it. I'm gone Darrell