P.J. Gathergood

I still have my three reels of "Pin the Tail on the Dukes", but can't think of a way to try and capture the images to share here. (BTW, the actual story titles weren't given anywhere, just "Set 1" (Carnival of Thrills) and "Set 2" (Pin the Tail)). I'm stating the obvious, but a behind the scenes shot, as John and Tom are wearing coats.

Yet another classic Hazzardnet thread (that I've just sat and read all 14 pages of)! Having watching Dukes over and over since a boy, I've noticed many bloopers over the years (so many that I've since forgotten half of them). In my youth when I spotted the second General Lee parked in the Georgia Hazzard town square in "One Armed Bandits" I was so excited to spot something that I thought no-one else in the world had seen. All these years later... its a famous nit-pick! Anyway, off the top of my head, here are just a few random bloopers and things of note to spot that I can recall off the top of my head. * At the end of s2's "Follow that Still", when the tank plows into Boss's office at the Boar's Nest, notice that the office is suddenly extremely narrow. It is a mock up of the regular set constructed purely for the tank to 'destroy' in this sequence. * In s3's "Duke Vs. Duke" (one of my all-time favourite episodes BTW), although Luke is driving Cooter's green car (model anyone?) during the race, interior shots, filmed on the sound stage, appear to be of a Dodge Charger sprayed green - notice the different window shape to the exterior shots. * Near the start of "The Fugitive" (produced s3, broadcast s4), the truck that Luke and Daisy are following Bo on the motorcycle in, has lights on the roof. The number and configuration of the lights changes in different shots. * I've recently mentioned this one in another thread, but in s4's "Double Dukes", Luke unusually wears a one colour, very pale blue shirt (almost white), unusual in itself - aside from most of s2, where he wore a plain blue shirt, he always wears a blue plaid one. Either way, the Luke imposter also wears a similar shirt - except in some close up shots, Luke / imposter suddenly has his usual plaid shirt on! Cut back to the far off shots, and the pale blue shirt is suddenly back. * This one seems to depend on the size screen you're viewing on (TV / computer monitor, etc.), but in s5's "The Hazzardgate Tape", when Boss Sharky and his men are meeting in the condemned farm planning to bump off Boss Hogg, in an over-head shot of the meeting, a sound boom can be briefly seen to fall into the picture top-center. Mirroring was done very occasionally. One brief instance that always stood out to me was in the s1 finale, "Double Sting". When Cooter is chasing the escaping bank robber's wagon, with Daisy on the roof, when one of the robbers shoots out Cooter's truck's tyre, the shot of Cooter struggling to keep the truck on the road is mirrored - notice that the steering wheel is on the wrong side of the truck. As the next shot shows Cooter's truck veering off of the road, I'd image the shot was mirrored due to Cooter attempting to steer one way in the close-up and the truck being seen to veer in the other direction in the next shot. (Did that make sense? Explaining these things in text is so hard sometimes!) Another one is in the second episode, "Daisy's Song". After Bo and Luke escape from Rosco and Enos (by dynamiting the patrol car), Luke is driving the Roadrunner with Bo in the passenger seat, but the (external) shot before the act break is mirrored - making it look as if Bo is driving. The final act of the episode also has weather continuity goofs - rain appears and disappears, especially in internal shots of Bo and Luke in the Roadrunner, and again during the climatic sequence at the pirate recording site; rain comes and goes between shots, and in one shot the Roadrunner's windshield wipers can suddenly be seen to be moving, only from them to be static again in the next shot of the car. Off the top of my head, this sounds like s4's "The Law and Jesse Duke". I do recall this sequence to have Bo and Luke "reverse positions" during it. The driver's door on the General doesn't seem to be closed properly, proving they're not really welded shut! This was and wasn't a blooper. Although the episode title is "Return of the Ridge Raiders", a number of times in the series Jesse and Boss would refer to the old moonshiners as Ridge Runners although there is the odd instance of "Ridge Raider". Both variations seem to be an alternative name for each other - although I did notice this myself watching the episode in my teens; almost as if the working title was "Return of the Ridge Runners" and it was tweaked to "Raiders" during production (to try and make it more exciting sounding??) I may be off on this one, but if memory serves, this shot originated from the season 2 episode "Jude Emery", filmed up on the roof at the same time the villains were looking down over the town square. It became a common "scene setting" shot used in later episodes. I'll have to try and sit down with my DVDs to fully research this sometime, but I wonder if some of these shots are recycled from the first season episode "The Big Heist", when the General drives up on two wheels around Hazzard Square for the first time. It's quite possible that they late filmed another "two wheels" sequence and then used shots from this earlier instance to fill the sequence during editing later. Ahh (snigger) the DVD subtitles, often unintentionally hilarious. The subtitles were compiled with speech recognition software and I've found a number of instances where they're clearly off, not even making any sense in one or two cases. It's one of the threads that I've been meaning to start - comical "wrong subtitles on DVDs" thread! Ahh, the old "Roscoe with an E" goof, discussed many times over the years. The famous instance is, of course, in "One Armed Bandits" - where it was presumably noticed mid-way through the sequence and the offending "E" covered up with a balloon in a close-up shot! But the occasional spelling error continued, and occurs several times particularly during the third season. One of the best instances is during "Mrs. Rosco P. Coltrane", when in the sequence with Cletus and Rosco outside Rosco's office before we meet his bride-to-be, it is clearly spelled "Roscoe". When Rosco enters the office, the "E" disappears in some shots, and reappears in others. (That's from pure memory - maybe Hoss can dish up some screengrabs to illustrate this) Uncle Jesse infamously gained an "I" in his name a few times too. If memory serves correctly, one instance is at the start of s5's "Welcome Back, Bo N' Luke", when his judging stool during the beauty contest at the Boar's Nest says "Jessie Duke". Right, that's enough nit-picking for now...

Another terrific thread. You know, back in my teens and early 20s, before the dawn of the internet, I thought I was the only nerd who collected / studied such things. I feel more reassured knowing there are other such dedicated fans out there! I collected many TV trading card sets as a boy, though (as Hoss has said) a Dukes set was never released in the U.K. I got a complete set of the first wave at a collector's fair about 16 years ago now. As far as I know there were two, possibly three, waves released, each reflected with a slightly different colour / design border. The images are all taken from seasons 1-4 (in terms of the timeframe). Seasons 3 & 4 seem to be represented the most extensively, possibly due to them being in production at the time these cards were prepared. There are some shots from seasons 1 and 2, 'though many of these are of General jumps and publicity shots over many cast images from episodes. This is from s4's "Double Dukes". Near the start of the episode Boss hurts his back and limps around (naturally to comedy effect) for the rest of the story, hence the cane. I'll have to check my DVDs to find out if these are actual shots taken during the episode, or from publicity / rehearsals. Isn't it strange, despite all my years of nit-picking, I always thought this was the same jump recycled! I also recall one of these jumps being recycled (complete with pursuing patrol car) at the start of "Jude Emery" later in s2. Either way, the mystery of the image's origins has been solved. That image was quite a common one to be used on merchandise, certainly stuff that reached the UK - however, a side-on still taken from the bottom of those two jumps was also a shot used occasionally, and appeared on the inside cover of one of the later Dukes annauls in the U.K.

I'm with you on that. On the whole season 5 Coy & Vance change, the show never felt to fully recover. Though Season 2 was very rocky with the many episodes with temporary Rosco and Cooter replacements, and by season 4 storylines were getting very generic.

Probably a very basic question that's already been done over the years, but what do you personally consider to the be the best season of the show? Mine would be the first season. I'm a huge fan of the original Georgia episodes, more dramatic and edgy, I've always wished that much of that had continued. Even after episode 5, the first season is a strong one for being experimental and not very generic, and with less slapstick than later seasons. Beyond season 1, which is so different it's sometimes hard to compare, I would definitely rate Season 3 as the show's best. The cast were well settled in their characters and clearly enjoying themselves, and the season saw some really good episodes, with far more hits than misses (of which every season had). What's yours? Vote in the poll and discuss! Note this is the best season overall, not just which one contains your favourite episode. (Also, if you vote for Season 1 in the poll, I'd be interested to hear your second choice in this thread - as I said above, S1 is so different it's sometimes hard to compare)

When my parents brought me a View Master in 1982(ish), I was allowed to go and choose one reel of slides to use with it. Despite all of the huge selection hanging on the display, naturally I went straight for Dukes. Even with other suggestions from my Dad. "How about dinosours?" "No, Dukes!" "Batman?" "Dukes!!"

I've been following this wonderful thread for a long time - long (several years) before I finally got 'round to joining the forums. In fact, it was one of the reasons I finally did so! Either way, just wanted to say excellent work Hoss, Roth, K-Duke (and any other regular contributors who I've forgot to mention). A *lot* of comments I have to make on these pages, I'll have to do each page one-by-one at some point (quite a few photos, for example, I can narrow down to season / episode / photo shoot), will have to work on that one For now, while I think of it, the two moving images up higher on this page are from the View Master sets. There were two stories released, #1 was shots & story "Carnival of Thrills" (from s2, broadcast s3), and a year or two later was #2 "Pin the Tale on the Dukes" (from s4), the latter which I had as a child and still do. Bearing that in mind, it likely is taken at Saugus.

Very true, Hoss - I nearly mentioned those (but worried that the list was getting too long already). Then of course there's the second General accidentally seen in shot in the Georgia Hazzard Square in "One Armed Bandits", I wonder if that counts! It's a fun-but-annoying blooper in "Double Dukes" regarding Luke's shirt. Unusually Luke/impostor wear a plain blue shirt in this episode (the only season where Luke regularly wore a plain blue shirt was during s2), but at other points of the episode wears his more standard s4 plaid shirt. However, on some shots (close-ups etc.) the shirt changes design back-and-forth from the longshots.

What do you folks make of s6's "How to Succeed in Hazzard", which seems to have been penned as the annual Hughie episode, but when Jeff Altman was available to appear, was adapted for another Hogg nephew, Louie (Robert Morse) in his only appearance in thie show. Personally I find it to be one of the weakest episodes. The whole fake "I'm dying" routine might have been mildly entertaining if it had been Hughie, but with Louie, who we have never seen before (and Robert Morse overacting like mad) the whole thing feels quite cold. Add to that the fact Bo is absent, and it's the weakest Hughie episode that isn't even a Hughie episode in my opinion!

Well, here's the comprehensive list of alter-egos (same character with severe personality change), impostors, and ancestors. Luke ----- "Goodbye, General Lee" (s4) - Boss has Professor Crandall hypnotise Luke to convince him to get get rid of the General Lee "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Duke" (s7) - Luke develops a nasty alter ego after drinking some intoxicated pond water "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Hank Duke, Luke's ancestor Bo ----- "My Son, Bo Hogg" (s3) - when Bo suffers amnesia after a blow to the head, Boss convinces him that Bo his his son "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Joe Duke, Bo's ancestor * Bo and Luke also had impostors who wore masks to look identical to then, in s4's "Double Dukes" Daisy ----- "Heiress Daisy Duke" (s6) - Boss has Prof. Crandall (from "Goodbye, General Lee") hypnotise Daisy to think she is wealthyVivian Stewart. "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Dixie Duke, Daisy's ancestor Jesse ----- "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Jeremiah Duke, Jesse's ancestor Cooter ----- "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Jeeter, Cooter's ancestor Rosco ----- "Too Many Roscos" (s6) - As Rosco and Rosco's impostor, Woody "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Sheriff Rufus Z. Coltrane, Rosco's ancestor Boss ----- "Baa, Baa White Sheep" (s3) - As Boss and Boss's clean-living brother, Abraham Lincoln Hogg "The Late J.D. Hogg" (s3) - Boss turns "good" after being mistakenly told he is dying "Nothin' But the Truth" (s4) - An accidental dose of truth serum sees Boss only able to tell the truth "Go West, Young Dukes" (s7) - Thaddeus B. Hogg, Boss's ancestor "No More Mr. Nice Guy" (s7) - A bump on the head once again tranforms Boss into a gentle, caring man Enos and Cletus did not have any such appearances; Sonny Shroyer did not appear in "Go West, Young Dukes" (either as Enos or Enos's ancestor), and Rick Hurst had already left the series in early s5. (Although everyone pretended to be Enos at the climax of s6's "Enos's Last Chance"). Maybe Boss and Rosco should get honorary mentions for their impersonations of Lulu and Daisy in s7's "Targets: Daisy and Lulu".

This is true - word has it that Sorrell had it actually written into his contract that Boss would never become involved in drugs, and requested that one episode (which turned out to be s2's "Mason Dixon's Girls") specifically stating that "even he" would not touch drugs.

I actually thought this too and nearly mentioned it in my original post. It would have made perfect sense - with Boss gone, Hughie would have been perfect to take his place, maybe mellowed over time into the more money-grabbing-but-no-real-harm nemesis that Boss was in the original series. Maybe in the first Reunion movie this would have arguably been too much to introduce all at once, but certainly by the second one, it would have been perfect. Especially as 'Hazzard in Hollywood' felt to be lacking in some areas, it could have done it a lot of favours. Really? That's quite an unusual choice, as that appearance was basically just "Hughie reading Rosco's lines". My personal favorite Hughie episode is s3's "The Return of Hughie Hogg", by far the strongest and best plotted episode, and shows Hughie at his most conniving.

I've always liked the episodes with Boss's maybe-even-crookeder nephew Hughie Hogg. He was always an enjoyable character, and was good to have a younger character of Bo / Luke / Daisy's own sort of age, but with Boss's cunning, for them to tackle once in a while. What is everyone's favourite (and least favourite) Hughie episodes? The episodes he appeared in are: * "Uncle Boss" (produced early in season two, but postponed until season three) introducing the character * "Arrest Jesse Duke" (s2) - an odd Hughie appearance in that Jeff Altman was brought in last minute to fill for Rosco when James Best boycotted the show, and as such mostly just reads Rosco's lines instead of being his usual cunning self (and actually the first broadcast with the character, see "Uncle Boss" above) * "The Return of Hughie Hogg" (s3) * "Hughie Hogg Strikes Again" (s4) * "The Revenge of Hughie Hogg" (s5) * "When You Wish Upon a Hogg" (s7, the fourth from last episode made) Also, Altman was seemingly unavailable for the character's annual appearance in season 6, so in "How To Succeed in Hazzard", Robert Morse appears as a Hughie-alike (except dressed all in black), Dewey Hogg. Favourites? Least favourites?

Ha, no, I didn't mean that the series might have ended with the Dukes leaving Hazzard and the whole country being destroyed. Can you imagine the series ending like that It would have always been written with the same outcome as we see on-screen; I meant it was likely conceived as one 'final, ultimate challenge' to the Dukes, with them literally fighting to save everything they love dearly. Also the show thankfully ran for two more seasons, I think that "Farewell, Hazzard" in terms of design would make a really good final episode.

Haha, maybe they were! But even when allowing for Coy and Vance (and I do actually seem to be more forgiving of the clone Dukes than many fan), the series really needed a few serious, more solid plots to engage viewers. Both during the C&V stint, and even after Bo and Luke's return. It has to be said that even after the original's return, many of the plots in the last two seasons were not exactly the greatest. In fact, many of them seemed rather child-orientated and not very engaging.

Don't forget 'Magnum, p.i.' - as well as playing British Jonathan Quayle Higgins, Texan John Hillerman also played Higgins' half-brothers: rodeo rider Elmo Ziller in the second season's "The Elmo Ziller Story", Irish priest Father Paddy McGuiness in season three's "Faith and Begorrah" (who also made a brief cameo after Higgins had been posing as him in the later "Echos of the Mind"), and Latino freedom fighter Don Luis Higgins in s6's "Who Is Don Luis Higgins?..., ...and Why Is He Doing These Terrible Things to Me?" (the weakest of the trio of episodes), as well as Higgins' father at the end of s6's "Déjà Vu". In terms of relations playing unrelated characters on screen, Dwight Schultz (Murdock)'s wife Wendy Fauton played vet Dr. Kelly Stevens opposite Murdock in the fan favourite 'A-Team' s3 episode 'Bounty' (Dirk Benedict (Face)'s future wife Toni Hudson appeared in the s4 episode "Blood, Sweat and Cheers" though they weren't yet married). Dick Van Dyke played a twisted genius villain in "Malduke", part of the infamously terrible Canadian-produced season of 'Airwolf' (one of the only vaguely watchable episodes of that season IMO). This is very true, though of course it might be said that 'The Dukes' recycled a number of plots even without alter-ego based episodes I was kinda thinking more along the lines of did so many episodes that slightly stretched what 'believablity' do the overall show good or now. As I say, I enjoyed some examples, but particularly in the later seasons, really did want some more solid, perilous plots mixed in.

Has anyone else ever considered / noticed that season five's "Farewell, Hazzard" may have been conceived as a possible finale to the show? Think about it. After the show had Coy and Vance in place of Bo and Luke for most of the season (as well as slowly declining script quality), ratings were seriously down on the previous seasons. So it was uncertain for a time if the series would be renewed for another season. As such, "Farewell, Hazzard" can really be seen as a bookend finale to the show. Boss finally succeeds in taking the Duke farm from the Dukes, leaving them homeless and forced to leave town. Meanwhile, a dodgy property developer is conning him and plans to obliterate much of the whole county for strip mining. It really does have a "(possible) final episode" feel to it. Even the unusual General Lee engine sound effects being used with the closing credits kind of feels to be a "send off" of sorts. Not to mention the episode title itself! It's a very strong episode with a real challenge to the Dukes and one of my personal favourites; The final few minutes, with the General Lee vs. the villains in the helicopter, is one of the most exciting climaxes to an episode of the entire show's run. Of course, the show was renewed (helped in no small part by the return of Bo and Luke), and it was shown prior to "Daisy's Shotgun Wedding" as the penultimate episode of season five. (It's not uncommon for an episode of such a show to be held back in case of a writer's strike or need of an additional episode in the schedule). Has anyone else ever noticed or felt this? It's great that the series was renewed, it would have made a terrific show finale.

I do generally agree, but it was the likes of this and a few other very silly (and somewhat childish) episodes from the final two seasons that contributed to running the show into the ground ("Robot P. Coltrane" is another example that springs to mind, and episodes such as s6's "The Fortune Tellers" are pretty dire too). Sure it's fun to have a wacko episode occasionally, but at a time where viewers were or had deserting the series, especially when considering the Coy and Vance era in season 5, the series needed a few more serious, toughed up storylines to really challenge the Dukes.

Personally I think if they brought back Abraham Lincoln Hogg it would have watered-down a one-joke idea too much. If they had, I think they would have been wise not to do it too often (Booke was wonderful in the dual role, but I felt the whole concept only really stretched to one episode). I've heard it commented over the years that season 5's "Big Daddy" would have been a better episode (allowing for Coy and Vance, of course) if Sorrell Booke had been aged with make-up to play the role of Boss's father, similar to him playing Abe Hogg in "Baa, Baa White Sheep". As it was, the actor had little real resemblance to Booke and - again even when allowing for Coy and Vance - ended up a rather flat and unmemorable episode. What are people's views the number of alter-ego episodes done on the show? From the third season onwards, it was a frequently used plot device from an episode, usually with several such episodes appearing each season (Season 5 is the only following season not to have one). Personally I think it is a very fun concept to use once in a while, but I always felt that they over-used the idea and it is one of the things that started to strain the concept of the series. This is true, although it was always "Hannibal playing someone else". For me in the 'Team it just didn't work with a character in dual roles, it didn't work within the context of the series. Dukes and A-Team are my two all-time favourite TV series, and whilst they have a lot of in common, as I boy I always used to pick out the different "rules" of what could and couldn't happen within each programme. Just thank goodness they didn't do a "Strange Visitor to Hazzard" A-Team style! (Nerdy fact: A few years ago when I ran my A-Team site, I made a list of every Hannibal disguise, as well as Face disguise, ever used in the series. I really did waste most of my life!!)

I think "Baa, Baa White Sheep" is one of the best twin/alter ego episodes, s6's "Too Many Roscos" maybe being it's closest rival for best episode in this category. Boss was the character that had the most alter egos seen through the series (anyone care to try and list them all before I do?) I totally agree that it would have stretched the idea to have brought the character back. (Also, on a side note bit of trivia, "Baa, Baa White Sheep" was actually the first episode to be filmed for the third season; and to me it always felt like that half the cast wasn't back from vacation yet! Bo is absent (one of the real down points of the story), as is Cletus (though maybe he wasn't officially added to the cast yet when this was filmed). Also note that, after the whole Ben-Jones-leaves-over-Cooter-growing-a-beard incident during the second season, notice that here Cooter has a fully beard, the thickest ever seen in the series. This would be a one-off; the character was clean shaven for the rest of the show's run). The Garthe episodes of 'Knight Rider', "Goliath" and "Goliath Returns", are two of the best installments of that show's run - "Goliath" in particular is in my top three favourite episodes. David Hasselhoff announced on 'Returns that it would be the last time he played the character, due to the extra time for make-up and filming both "halves" of a scene. They also tried a similar concept in 'The A-Team's fourth season opener "Judgement Day", when George Peppard plays both a Mafia villain, and Hannibal (who disguises himself as the villain). For that series, the idea just didn't work, and "Judgement Day" is one of my least favourite episodes of that show's entire run.

What is everyone's feelings on the episodes, of which there were quite a few, where a cast member would either play an identical twin of a character, or the character would have an "alter ego" change of personality? Did you like them, or did you feel they were too silly an stretched the credibility of the series; and what was the best and worst of such episodes? About a year ago I made a definitive list of all such episodes, but I though I'll let other members try to name the episodes before I give the list.

I apologise, I feel so ashamed! Coy and Vance's car does have a white stripe... over the top; I was thinking about down the sides! Well, if any luggage did survive, I think we can at least agree that Coy and Vance's underwear will be just a little more toasty warm after this!!

Actually, you'll likely right. In that episode, the General is at least said to be driving at night, though will have to check it to refresh my memory if what external shots of the car there are, and if the headlights are shown lit. (Considering the 'bottom of the barrel' nature of that episode, it's not one I've often watched and so aren't the most familiar with, though I do confess there are a couple of other episodes that I enjoy even less).

The episode was filmed before / whilst the dispute was still being solved. Episodes were filmed on a tight schedule (7 days, occasionally just 6 or 5), so there probably wasn't logistical reason to "hold out in hope". Also bear in mind that the broadcast order is often quite different from the production order - in fact, when we last see Coy and Vance in the opening act of "Welcome Back, Bo and Luke", Wopat and Schneider had already filmed two other episodes prior to this. Regardless of the general regard of Coy and Vance, "Witness: Jesse Duke" is surely their best episode (though I think "The Great Insurance Fraud" is strong and unusually dark) and, if it could be said about a Coy & Vance story, a classic episode. It would no doubt be held in even greater esteem if it had been Bo and Luke in place of their carbon copy cousins. It is one of the episodes that most made an impact on me as a child and on that stuck most firmly in my head all those years until I began collecting / trading off-air recordings of the series in the later 1990s. I remember after it had finished being shown (the series was ran in the U.K. on BBC1 on Monday evenings at that point), closing my eyes, stretching my arms around and trying to feel my way around the house a la Uncle Jesse, until my mother told me off for risk of having an accident! The lack of time and last minute arrangements probably also accounts for the swift departure of Coy and Vance at the start of "Welcome Back, Bo and Luke". Which always greatly disappointed me - surely even the most loathsome of Coy and Vance viewers would have liked to see both Duke boys team up for one adventure before the clones exited.

Thanks for all the kind words and warm welcomes In the dark ages between the end of the original run and the dawn of the internet era, I often thought I was the lone Dukes fan left on the planet, especially in the U.K. It's really good to see there are so many other fans out there and how it is loved just as much now 35 years later.