MonacoMan

I have region free Blu-ray players in my living room & bedroom. But, the basement family room TV still has an old DVD/VCR combo hooked up...so I can watch some old VHS tapes down there for the fun of it, if I want.

Definitely not!! I was born in the 70s, but not only grew up with current shows of that time & beyond, but I got to grow up with shows from the 50s & 60s too—thanks to Nick-at-Nite & TBS back in the-day. I do not like a lot of current shows...as they’re purposely created with anti-American, anti-moral, racial, divisive, and woke/cancel culture themes.

The DVDs are fine, and I’m grateful for them. But, especially with older shows, there is a definite difference between DVD & Blu-ray quality! From Knight Rider, Charlie’s Angels, Miami Vice, Magnum p.i., etc...the colors & picture quality are amazing on Blu-ray, even compared to the original DVD sets! But, how I do remember taping episodes of shows like mad, on VHS to try and get the whole show! It was fun at one time, but then became a huge pain in the butt...especially if whatever network took the show off before I got all the episodes—it took me almost 10 years & at least 2-3 different cable networks to finally get the entire Charlie’s Angels series on tape... and around that time they then started to release it to DVD, lol! Plus, if one tape got “eaten” by the VCR, or wouldn’t play right after so many years of viewing...then you were screwed! So, I am very happy with digital home video products. But, I still have my VHS tapes of my shows boxed up...I can’t get rid of them, too sentimental to me I guess.

The only time I usually get is at night. I do have an interesting & even somewhat eclectic collection of shows from all decades (50s-Present), as well as tons of movies, both old & new. I usually have something to watch.

I binge watch whatever show I’m going through (and I have tons—I want my own copies, so other than Netflix I don’t do much streaming) every night before bed. But, I’m a night-owl, so I can sometimes go through a disc a night. I’m actually currently going through Knight Rider, as a while back I got the Blu-ray set. But, DOH is always around in my house...and I watch episodes of it fairly regularly, too. I usually watch DOH in my basement family room, as that’s where I have all my memorabilia set up. I grew up with both shows, and are 2 of my all-time favorites! I really wish DOH would get a remastered Blu-ray release...but with the whole woke cancel-culture garbage over the rebel flag, I doubt it’ll ever happen. But, I’m grateful for the DVDs!

Yeah, it was discovered that the original Dukes house was actually at some point built around a Civil War era cabin, and when the people that owned the land wanted to tear it down there was a “movement” for a while to try and stop it. Some even tried to explain that the first part of “Dukes” was filmed there...but none of it was any use. All of it was torn out, except one of the old stone chimneys. I don’t know if that’s even still there or not anymore? Depending on when you were there to get those boards, most of the rest of the buildings on the property could’ve already been torn down, and so those other little houses/quarters could have already been gone. I’d post a picture of the scene I mean, but this site will never let me post photos...they always claim they’re too big. So, you’ll probably have to watch the beginning of the episode to see what I mean.

I figured the first filmed jump was the college one, but was shown later in the episode.

Yeah, the real-life Georgia locations gave a more realistic, southern, down-home charm to the beginning of the show. But, I guess they could control background & what needed to happen in each episode better on a studio lot. I too love the original Georgia locations, but I did love the Duke farm & The Boar’s Nest at Warner Bros. The town square was cool, too and worked for the chases & ripping around.

The woods/moonshine still scenes are hilarious & classic! This was also the last episode to be filmed in Georgia before production was moved to Hollywood.

I love “High Octane”...fun & awesome plot, we’re introduced to Black Tilly, moonshine, still in Georgia, etc...!

True, I know when they moved production from Georgia to the Warner Bros lot in California, they decided to “soften” the show even more, as they had discovered it was so popular with kids. Originally I think they were trying to aim towards an audience of perhaps late teens to 30s. But, they ultimately gained an audience & fans of all ages!

Love this episode, and I wish Jerry Rushing had had a recurring role as Ace, and shown up in more episodes...considering he basically was DOH, as they created the show mainly based off his real-life story! But, the supposed Richard Petty wreck that Bo & Luke buy from Ace, is said to have been referred to as “Lee 1”...as it was originally a Charger turned into the General Lee—and was supposedly the very first jump on the show, in the Pilot. Which is said to be the jump over Rosco, in front of the Oxford College in Georgia, and forever included in the show’s opening. It totaled the car (obviously ) and later was repainted & used as the wreck in this episode. The car was later found & rescued from a junk yard. The remains were sold multiple times over the years. However, the current owner is the one who finally had it totally restored to a General Lee. But, in my opinion this is somewhat inaccurate...it wasn’t the very first jump on the show! The very first jump was literally in the opening scene as the show premiered, and the General & Rosco jump over the railroad tracks. The “college” jump was later in the episode. However, perhaps it was the very first jump filmed, and that’s what they mean?

In reality I’m sure they were part of that actual farm land...perhaps real-life farm hand’s houses/sleeping quarters at one time? But, the original farm house used for the Dukes in the first few Georgia episodes was already abandoned when they used it for filming...so the rest of the farm & buildings probably were too. There was probably no way to get around having them in the background when they filmed the scene...we were just not supposed to care or know...just go with it, which we did!

I’m watching the 2nd episode “Daisy’s Song” at the moment. I love rewatching things that I’ve seen a ton of times, and still finding aspects I’ve never really thought about or noticed before! But, at the beginning when Daisy rushes out of the farm house (the original Duke farm house) to tell the family that her song is on the radio, there’s these other houses or sheds/cabins up behind them—and/or on the same property! I wonder whose those were...and what purpose did they serve? The Dukes didn’t have farm hands that I know of (they couldn’t afford them). How big was the Duke farm (all this pretending Hazzard world was real )? Just fun new questions that I know probably don’t have real answers, lol!

What I find interesting about the Pilot, is that it’s so different than the rest of the show...even some of the other real-life Georgia episodes! Rosco is a lot more with-it & intelligent, and even has a potty-mouth & uses his gun! Cooter on the other hand is dumber than a box of rocks ...I like how they “smarten” him up not too far down the proverbial road. Cooter’s awesome! But, it’s like after the Pilot they decided to literally switch it. Also, I’ve never really noticed or paid that much attention to this before...but tonight I realized that the first place Bo & Luke install the slot machines has these gaudy, grotesque looking purple posts/poles—what was up with that?? Lol!

“One Armed Bandits”, the Pilot episode that started it all, premiered 44 years ago today: 1/26/1979! 44 years later DOH is stronger than ever—yee haw! I’m thinking about watching the Pilot later this evening...along with the Boar’s Nest Special.

True, many times actors who have played a certain type of character on a show that becomes immensely popular have a hard time getting other types of roles later on...they become typecast. So, if they get chances to play the opposite and/or something completely different than what they’ve played before, they’ll usually do it. But, sometimes it’s very difficult seeing an actor you’ve loved in one role suddenly playing something completely opposite. Other times it’s kind of fun & interesting. I’ve seen a couple of the “Dukes” actors, Angela Lansbury herself from MSW, the ‘Angels’ from Charlie’s Angels, Raymond Burr from Perry Mason, etc...all play bad guys/gals in other things. It’s strange...but kind of cool to see them do completely different things. I’ll be honest though and say I’m not an Andy Griffith fan, as from what I understand he was not that nice in real life...but, again I have to remind myself that these folks are not really the characters they play. They were/are actors. Arnold Schwarzenegger is hilarious in Kindergarten Cop (1990) , by the way. But, I usually prefer his more serious action roles.

Sometimes it’s shocking or strange seeing an actor that’s so engrained in our minds as one type of character, play a totally different one. But, to me that’s what makes them more interesting & proves versatility with their craft. As much as we love certain “characters”...we have to remember that the actors are not usually like them in real life. That’s why they call it “acting”. However, I would think that an actor would bring a certain amount of him or herself to a character the longer they play it.

He definitely did in this...or some bad beer at the Boar’s Nest! It was fun seeing him play a totally different kind of character.

Possible Spoiler Alert: I watched an episode of Murder, She Wrote a while ago from the last season (Season 12) called “Kendo Killing”, from January 1996. I don’t remember seeing this one when it originally aired, although I saw the majority of the show during its original run. But, it guest starred Tom Wopat, was set in Japan, and dealt with a lot of Japanese traditions—including sword fighting. However, Tom isn’t exactly the honest, trustworthy ‘Luke Duke’ in this! I’m not even going to try and post pictures of him from the episode here, as I can never get this site to allow me to do it. It always claims they’re supposedly too big no matter what I do. But, for those interested & have never seen the episode, it is kind of wild & fun to watch!

“Days of Shine and Roses” is one of my favorites!!

It’s Friday night again...this time it’s Friday the 13th! But, watching “Dukes” on my 70s couch in the basement family room, covered up with my “Dukes” blanket, with all my “Dukes” memorabilia displayed, and enjoying an adult beverage myself—little “German soda”! Now...if only Daisy could bring it to me... Anyway, pinning a little tail on the Dukes as I sip!

Anywhere else I can save or copy a pic & then post it on whatever site. This is the only site that I’ve ever had problems. I’ve not been able to figure it out, either.

Exactly!

Murder, She Wrote was a very good & enjoyable murder-mystery show! Angela Lansbury was superb as Jessica Fletcher! Just because this one episode was goofy, doesn’t mean the whole show was like that. MSW tied the original Hawaii Five-0, as being the longest running crime drama, in 1996...as both shows were on for 12 years/seasons (H5-0: 1968-1980 & MSW: 1984-1996)! MSW also had 4 reunion/TV movies from 1997-2003. But, in 2003, the original Law & Order passed them both up with its 13th season. It went on to have 20 years...tying Gunsmoke as the longest running TV drama, period (Gunsmoke: 1955-1975 & L&O: 1990-2010). Now the L&O spin-off SVU has surpassed them all. Personally I don’t care for the L&O shows...but, to each his or her own. Anyway, just some useless but interesting TV trivia. I grew up with “Dukes” and MSW...both were awesome & wholesome shows in their own ways, and have become icons of television (and both have huge cult-followings today)!