Brian Coltrane

Given the information / lack thereof at the time, we had plenty o' reason to freak out. A couple years ago, special interest groups and political forces succeeded in making the State of Georgia remove all traces of the Confederate stars n' bars from their state flag. And during the making of the second Dukes reunion movie, these same groups attempted to pressure CBS / WB into removing the flag from the General Lee. I expect there will be some hue n' cry from these groups once they realize that the Confederate flag is going to be "celebrated" on the big screen. Or maybe...just maybe...folks will realize that the Dukes of Hazzard is about down-home fun, and no political offense need be taken. We'll see how it unfolds. In the meantime....we're all going to enjoy this movie much more, with the General Lee in full uniform. The faces of our favorite characters will look different...Hazzard itself is going to look different....but if this film captures the true spirit of the show, the movie will succeed beyond all expectations. Brian

Rebel, we've got a new spy-witness report from "Beanie" under the "Filming Starts Today" topic, saying that the flag was actually seen on the General Lee. We've had a long-running debate ( ok, screaming fit ) over the prospect of no-flag for at least a year. Of all the topics to ever rile the HazzardNet faithful, this was the number one issue. Maybe some of that ranting and raving did some good...I'd like to think that somewhere out there, somebody was paying attention to the fans instead of the political groups. And it appears, by recent reports, that the General is in full uniform. To which I give a hearty Yee-HAAA! Brian

Yo, Beanie! Welcome to HazzardNet! And thanks for your spy-witness report on the filming! That's a fantastic bit of information. I think that's the most encouraging report we've heard yet about the feel of the movie. No doubt about it, Louisiana folk have been terrific about sharing the scoop with all of us. Keep the spy-witness reports coming! Brian

Brian was mere seconds from firing when MaryAnne abruptly halted her horse. Just in time, he moved his finger away from the trigger, or MaryAnne's sudden change of posture might have resulted in disaster. "@#$%&*!!" He yelled in surprise, reining in Damascus to a sliding stop. With his own horse just a few feet away from MaryAnne's, he stared at the possee as if all of them were crazy. MaryAnne, in particular, had confounded him. Brian kept the gun aimed for the moment and vented his feelings. "Ah've heard of ree-verse psychology," he drawled, "But this takes the cake. MaryAnne, has it occurred to you that the law don't raise it's hands when makin' an arrest?! What kind of a posse is this?! " The astounded looks coming back at him only perplexed Brian further. His dark eyes glanced from Alex to Chance. "Y'all might be new to this possee thang, but trust me, when you got the bad guy outnumbered three to one, that's not the time ya give up." He then looked back at MaryAnne, who had kept her hands raised. There was something in her blue eyes that spoke louder than any words she might have offered.... (Cue MaryAnne....thanks for the rest of y'all's patience, we'll have an open cue soon)

Brian glanced over his shoulder to see MaryAnne hefting her rifle. His heart immediately felt like it was galloping ahead of the horse. There was no doubt in his mind, now....the law was after him and it meant business. He had a choice. He could pivot Damascus around, and fire upon his kin....or...be fired upon. With his left hand, Brian pulled Damascus's reins hard to the left, and pressed in with his leg. The big horse cut direction, turning and kicking up dirt with powerful hindquarters. Brian gave a yell and urged Damascus on towards the posse...."HYAAAAH!!" His right arm was leveled and the pistiol aimed. If he was lucky, he could squeeze off a shot and shoot the rifle from MaryAnne's hand... ...unless she blew him out of the saddle first. (Cue MaryAnne!)

GAH!!! I'm not sure whether I'm offended or flattered. Heh heh! I'll try and be there. But be warned, this turkey shoots back. Brian

Luke-Duke, welcome to HazzardNet. You're right, KITT was reincarnated as a Chevy, but I thought it was a '57. Anyhoo, you made an excellent point, and I'm gonna expand on that. Basktqase, Hollywood is dumber than ya think. In the example of the tv Knight Rider movies, KITT was reinvented dramtically...and there was nothing controversial about Pontiacs to warrant it. Hell, they went so far as to kill off Devon in the 2nd movie, just to really piss off the fans. Back to the General Lee and yer statement. Yeah, the car is shown on the movie set, I recognize the junk in the background too. But before anybody decides the flag is there as a sure bet, consider this: Anything can end up on the cutting room floor. Or in this day and age, edited, graphically altered, photoshopped. ( Nothing says we'll see a lot of shots of the car roof in any case.) I think WB will use the flag in the movie if they think they can get away with it. But I also think the minute they get big pressure from special interest groups, they might edit that flag out. I'm skeptically optimistic that the flag will still be there. I'm bankin' on the counter-culture strategy tipping the scales. Namely, if there is hue and cry about the flag from special interest groups and the politically correct crowd, then that will translate into free advertisement for the movie. So then, seeing the movie would be the most politically insensitive thing an enlightened person could do, which would send plenty of folk skittering to the box office. Brian

After convincing Damascus to gallop away from the cluster of riders, Brian hunched low in the saddle and leaned forward, urging his horse to hurry. Damascus, however, thought the whole chase was nothing more than a game of Keep Away From Phoenix, and repeatedly whinnied back at his appaloosa herdmate. Brian gritted his teeth and realized that even if he did outrun MaryAnne's posse, he'd eventually be found because Damascus wasn't going to shut up. Brian glanced over his shoulder and saw the riders gaining ground. He recognized Alex and the lady gambler, Chance, riding with the law. With the grim paranoia that came from being an outlaw too long, Brian reasoned that Alex had turned against him, in order to save his own neck. And there was the lady gambler, with him. It all fit like a pair of old boots. "A setup," Brian muttered to himself. "They get me buyin' that Alex is in trouble, so I run right into their arms! He's probably been workin' with that gamblin' woman from the get-go....and now I'm probably framed for eveythin'! Damn, ah'm a fool!" Brian turned forward to try and coax Damascus into more effort. The black horse didn't have his heart in the escape, and had a tired gallop going. No amount of kicking to the flanks was making an impression. For the first time in his life, Brian regretted not wearing spurs. "@#$%!" Another glance over the shoulder showed that precious ground was shrinking between him and the posse. He would have to make a stand, soon....or he'd be dragged back to town and strung up. Unless, of course, MaryAnne just shot him outright. It all depended on the mood she was in. Brian figured on making her think about it first. He reached down and furled back the right side of his long black coat. His hand flashed down to his holster....and in a smooth, fluid motion, he withdrew the gun and spun the weapon in his hand, arm extended high in the air, sunlight gleaming from the barrel. (Cue MaryAnne!)

Welcome to HazzardNet, Basktqase. In regards to us "havin' a fit for no reason".... that's what the forums are for. Heh heh. Really, tho', we've been debating whether or not the flag would be present for several months. And now, I gotta point out a little twist o' logic. The flag might be on the car, on the photos we've seen here. However, this may not be the same car used in many of the shots in the movie. This could be a proverbial stunt double they're usin' for drivin' practice only. Don't get me wrong, I'm hopin' the flag is on the car. I'm just not gonna take anything at face value. Brian

How to upload pictures....hmmm. I ain't the resident technical expert, lemme admit that right up front. I'm the same moderator who put three PC's outta commission in 8 months. The net effect of that bein', our monthly newsletter which comes out quarterly, is now gonna be produced about twice a year. All that bein' said, from the homepage, click on "Gallery" in the upper right. Once yer in the Gallery section, make sure you're logged in with yer HNet ID. Then click on 'Upload Photos" in the upper right. ( It's at the near-top of the page, somewhere just above the category columns and right below the patrol car.) From there, just use the Browse thang to upload yer photo. Pick the category you wanna put it under. From there, one of our friendly moderators/editors/ lackeys / indentured servants will review the photo to make sure it's not objectionable by our infamously arbitrary standards. We usually approve n' post a photo within a day of it's upload. Brian

It was by sheer Coltrane luck that Brian rode into Hazzard without crossing paths with Chet, or with the gang of rustlers. Feeling as if his luck would hold, Brian guided Damascus towards the jailhouse. The black Percheron-Arabian suddenly gave a shrill, happy whinny, bellowing a greeting to a herdmate. Damascus pulled on the bit, wanting to head towards the riders who were approaching. Brian looked where Damascus was trying to go, and saw sunlight glance off a silver badge. "Oh hell...no, Damascus! You don't wanna go say hello to Phoenix right now! Turn around, boy! Come on, move!!" (cue MaryAnne!)

A turkey shoot?? Okay, I can't wait to see who tops the guest list for THAT honor....bahahahaha!

Go right ahead with your bad self and put pics in the Gallery. We're glad to be witness to such an auspicious occassion. Brian

You can bet the Duke farm, there's gonna be movie merchandise. This is all my personal guess, but I'd venture that posters will be among the first items marketed. The movie soundtrack will be heavily promoted. Die-cast cars will probably hit the shelves before the movie itself is in theatres. A fast-food chain will sponsor a promo in the form of a McHazzard meal. (Though they might name it somethin' else. Heh! ) It also wouldn't surprise me if "retro" Dukes merchandise, featuring the original cast, went into new production. This possibility depends on the type liscensing agreements that WB plans to make available to manufacturers. Another possibility to ponder...WB might choke off the "old" Dukes of Hazzard liscensing agreements, in order to make sure the movie merchandise gets full opportunity. I hope they don't go this route, but ya nevah know. Anybody following the "with or without rebel flag" threads concerning the General Lee, realizes where I'm goin' with that. At the least, bootleg merchandise will be widely available. That hasn't stopped in over 20 years, so no change there. Brian

You might have espn, as you put it.... either way, you might need an asprin and a glass of water.

Thought it might be handy to have a section for the newer Dukes of Hazzard products that are currently available in stores. I'll add stuff as I find it for ya. As mentioned in a previous thread elsewhere in the Forums that I'm too lazy to go look up - ERTL has relased a new 1/18 scale diecast General Lee for 2004. They are proclaiming it as thier most detailed General Lee ever produced. For more info, do a search under "Entertainment" diecasts on thier website, http://www.ertltoys.com

DixieCop, thanks for posting the pic! And welcome to HazzardNet, while I'm at it. I was looking at the roof of the General to see whether or not the flag was there...and I really can't tell. There's too much reflection on the roof from stuff in the background. Kinda feels weird to see the new faces around the General Lee. Just like when anybody sees a "Coy and Vance" episode for the first time. Heh. Brian

Yep, someone else does have a 1/18 die cast General Lee with Florida plates and a black interior and rollbar and dual exhaust, ect. Me! In fact, let's run a make on the plates, and see if they match. Mine has red Florida plates, with a small-digit prefix of " 10 " and then 072069. There are a couple more tiny details on the plates, but I didn't wanna go cross-eyed tryin' to read it. This was the year 2000 issue of the ERTL 1/18 General Lee diecast. Maybe we have the Coltrane model?? I dunno...but you ain't alone! Brian

( Pardon my cut, I can't stop myself from takin' the opportunity here...) Meanwhile, a long, black Chevy Impala made it's way along the same remote highway, cutting through the rain. The dark sky and the wet asphalt kept the black car from being easily noticed. Which is exactly how the driver of the car wanted it. The personal forays into Atlanta were made for purposes best left unknown; and they often called for a backroad and an alibi. Therefore, Diablo's headlights were left off, and the travel was slow by necessity. The windshield wipers squeaked to the music pouring from the radio, which was accompanied by full-throated song from the driver.... "Gimmie three steps, give me three steps mister, give me three steps towards the door! Gimmie three steps, gimmie three steps mister, and you'll nevah see-a-me no more!" Occupied with his own sing-along, Brian almost missed the sight of the motorcycle parked alongside the road. He caught it out of the corner of his eye and hit the brakes, causing the tail of the black Chevy to skid a little. "Well, now. That's a nice bike to be sittin' out in the rain..." Brian pulled the Chevy over. His curiosity was up, and like a doomed cat, he had to investigate. He got out of the car, zipped up his leather jacket against the rain, and walked over to the bike. It was, in fact, a very nice motorcyle. Too nice to be left out in the rain, where it could be clipped by an unattentive motorist, or stolen. After looking around for the possible owner and seeing no one, Brian made a decision. He'd take the bike somewhere safe. The owner should be smart enough to ask the cops about the missing bike; and the cops were just where Brian was going to take it. In moments, Diablo's large trunk was open, and Brian was pushing the motorcyle up to it. Carefully, he turned the handlebars and balanced the bike on it's front wheel, lifting up the rear over the trunk ledge. From there, it was just a trick of balancing the bike on the trunk ledge, then using the leverage to lift up the front wheel, and scoot the bike inside. The front wheel and handlebars hung outside of the trunk, turned towards the bumper. A quick tie-down with a bungee cord, and the motorcyle was ready cargo. "Khee! That's that." Brian wiped his hands on his black jeans, got back in his car, and fired the big Chevy up. He took off down the road, resuming his duet with the radio. He traveled a little less than a mile when he saw Chet Duke standing by the road, yakking it up with somebody. Brian rolled down the window just far enough to stick his hand out and offer what passed for a usual salutation between them. The Chevy sped off, and Brian chuckled to himself as he headed for Hazzard. (Cue Blackjack.....we'll find out soon if yer payin' attention!)

Malchus, I shoulda welcomed you right off the bat - I got so wound up in answerin' your post, the courtesies got overlooked. Whups! A belated Welcome from me, too! A quick note for ya'll followin' the thread on the die-cast Double Zero car... I checked www.ertltoys.com to see if I could find any more of these. No luck. The Double-Zero 1/18 seems to be hard to find. I know they came out in 2001; but ERTL's archives for the American Muscle series only goes back to 2002. But I got good news, good news. There's another General Lee 1/18 scale diecast being produced by ERTL this year. ERTL, in their own words, say this about it: Perhaps the most popular screen vehicle of all time, the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazzard received thousands of daily fan letters during the show’s run. The 1:18 scale die cast is painted General Lee Orange and wears authentic tampo-printed graphics. More than 25 secondary paint operations make this the most detailed General Lee we've ever produced. It includes a detailed 426-Hemi engine, a fully detailed interior, an opening hood and functional steering and authentic "Dukes of Hazzard" graphics. Package features exclusive graphics from the TV show "Dukes of Hazzard." Time to go shoppin'! Brian

Dude, you outta see a speech therapist about that drawl. Brian

A big, loud THANK YA to all our Louisiana cousins for the info they've passed along. *round of applause* Brian

I don't think it matters much as to what the police vehicles look like, as all of them will be smashed beyond recognition in every car sequence imaginable. As a new joke, it might be interesting to actually see Rosco's vehicle make it through the movie unscathed....with a ton of near-misses, and then you'd be holding your breath for a crash. Which naturally, wouldn't come until the end of the movie, where Rosco finally parks the car on the wrong side of a cliff or something. A long, whistling drop, and then....*SMASH!! KABOOM!!* ( We'll assume ol' Rosco gets out of the car first. )

Not that I can think of. When I saw the first reunion, and heard the Double Zero being billed as the "only car to beat the General Lee" I was like, "????" It was probably a script ploy to add interest to the show. Kinda like how in one of the Star Trek movies, we find out that Spock has a half-brother who somehow was never mentioned before and is nevah mentioned again. For that matter, Dukes of Hazzard played the same tactic in the episode "Brotherly Love" where Luke's half-brother shows up in only one episode. I don't know about y'all, but that kinda thing just bugs the heck outta me. In real life, you can't get rid of long-lost relatives that easily. Brian

Rock on, man.