Brian Coltrane

Congrats CD! I have no doubt you'll get your truck someday. You tend to accomplish what you put your mind to!

Yes, the flag can be added afterwards with a sticker, but it's doubtful any die-cast manufacturers are going to produce a flagless General Lee at all. It's not likely to be a big seller. People who weren't already into the Dukes of Hazzard or the General Lee, aren't going to suddenly rush out to get a version without the flag. Conversely, longtime fans sure as bleep aren't going to rush out to buy one without the flag either. My problem with this whole thing is that it's selective censorship and hypocrisy at the highest level. A corporation will cry freedom of speech all day long when it comes to producing violence-ridden movies and expletive-laden music...but suddenly, the rebel flag, my gosh we don't want any part of that. Who ya kiddin'? On one hand public morality isn't the responsibility of a corporation, but on the other...well, let's not take the chance on offending anybody with the design on this toy car. Anyway. Add to all this the fact that CMT appears to be cutting off the Dukes again. They've removed any reference to the Dukes from ther current TV show page. Coincidence? Or does WB's license ban on the rebel flag extend to the very airing of the show? I'm going to buy another entire set of the Dukes DVD's the first chance I get, just in case they stop production of those too. At the minimum they'd have to change the cover art on most, if not all, the boxes, because it looks like that flag is showing...

Yes, Happy Birthday to the original Deputy dipstick!! We have a birthday message rolling on our Facbook page. Can't believe Sonny is 77, he doesn't look it! That's what clean livin' does for ya.

I'm creeped out by the whole thing. We sent very specific inquiries, to real people at WB Consumer Products division, who approve the licensing. No reply as of yet. (not surprised.) We also sent very specific questions to Johnny Lightning, the die-cast manufacturer, as some of their reps were named as sources as we chased this thing down. Nobody seems to be in a big rush to answer us. I know that big companies see The Dukes of Hazzard as a tiny niche of their overall operations, so I don't expect them to give us a real quick answer. But if they dodge this issue altogether and don't give us the courtesy of a reply, I'll be tempted to put the exact email addresses, names, and titles on public display and let them deal with whatever they get. Out of professionalism and couresty we NEVER do that at HNet, but playing nice doesn't always get us real far. (CMT being an example.)

Good example, Darrell. And I agree with you GBH. This seems like a "1984" thing, where media and government compel you to believe something to be other than what it really was. We've sent inquries to Johnny Lightning and to WB directly regarding the GL diecast issue. What we're looking for at this stage is the truth. Everything we've got so far has been passed from diecast manufactuer sales reps to the diecast collector community, to us. We have no reason to doubt the sources we have, but at the same time, it's only proper to get clarification from the source. Meanwhile, I'm watching the HobbyTalk forums for any further news. I found this recent post by "Motorhead" interesting. For ease of reading I just copied and pasted the highlights, but you can click here for the complete post: "Guys, they just won't produce it (the General Lee diecast) anymore. They aren't going to do the regular version of the General Lee and delete the flag, it wouldn't sell." "The truth of the matter is Warner Bros has changed the policy when writing licenses. Warner Bros. will no longer endorse the license for anything that has the Confederate flag on it. Therefore, if you are a die-cast manufacturer your license will not be approved if your sample has a Confederate Flag on it, (such as the General Lee, Hazzard County Patrol cars, Cooter's tow truck and so on.)" "If the sample is produced without a flag then it will be issued, but no one is going to do a General Lee with just the 01s and General Lee lettering, it would look silly. When we were doing the Auto World 1/18 Authentics General Lee we saw a clue of this happening because Warner Bros. requested the flag not be seen when it was on a store shelf. A removable, body colored cling was attached to the roof of the car to cover the flag until purchase. I knew when this happened that things would be changing soon."

All I found so far for the Medina County show is this short clip of the jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ln1MDcS2RBo This next one is back from the Clark County Fair, but it's such an awesome "bad guy" car jump I had to share it. Bonus points for the fire!

Here's what I found on YouTube so far. The whole show from Vinton County Fair is right here, the General Lee jump is at about 28 min. Ray did a great job on this flight. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKNDIJLYl_g

As posted on our Facebook page. We really hope this one ain't true, but we've had too many reports to ignore it: Warner Bros forbids flag on General Lee diecast cars effective Jan 1, 2013! This info has been reported by the diecast collector community, at sites like hobbytalk.com and Supercar Collectibles. Mopar Muscle Magazine shared the Supercar Collectibles report on their blog on July 19. We've been hoping that this was only a vile rumor, but the reports can't be ignored. We are attempting to get confirmation from Warner Bros. All we know so far is what we're picking up from the diecast crowd. Hobby Talk: http://www.hobbytalk.com/bbs1/showthread.php?t=371387 Mopar blog: http://blogs.moparmusclemagazine.com/6783994/miscellaneous/dukes-of-hazzard-general-lee/

Just a reminder, the Dukes of Hazzard Reunion and Car Show in Livingston Parish, LA will be on Sat, Sept 29! As we've seen varying press releases and promo materials for the above event, we're simply gonna refer ya'll to the official Facebook page for the shindig: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dukes-of-Hazzard-Family-Reunion-Car-Show-in-Livingston-Parish-Louisiana/280562798675696 Per the event poster that markjvanwoert shared with us, Tom is on board - though Tom's own site doesn't confirm it. But Ben Jones will not be there, despite his image being on the semi-trailer being used for event advertising. So! Please direct any questions to the officials at the page above. Any way you slice it, the majority of the cast will be there!

Can't resist butting in on this one. If you truly love writing, which I know ya do - just quitting isn't realistic. You can try to quit, but I'm willing to bet your characters, muses, what have ya would never leave you alone. And you never know where your writing will take you. I've said it before but for those who don't know, one of our fanfic writers from years ago went on to get short stories published by a magazine. She changed the names in the story, changed the name of the town, but it was basically a girl-meets-Duke romance series. If not for her family obligations, she would have went pro and had novels published, I've no doubt. I believe she could have went pro regardless - had she just believed in herself a little more. In the last couple years, I've started to draw regular income from writing. I write business articles, professional blogs, ect. I'm a ghost writer so I don't get the public credit, but I do get paid like clockwork. In the future I hope to see income from some original fiction. Meanwhile I appreciate every penny I earn since I'm doing something I enjoy. Even if I'd never made a dime, I'd never regret the time I've spent writing fanfic or hanging out on AIM or the Forums. You can't put a price on friendships. Nor can you place a dollar value on the creative process and the sharpening of your reasoning skills. If writing is simply an escape for you, it's still priceless. If you enjoy writing, that's reason enough to continue.

Howdy! As far as we can tell, from the multiple press releases and the advertising that is being done by the promoters, as of today... All the surviving cast members of the show will be there, EXCEPT for Tom Wopat. We had previous info that said he was going to be there, but then after correlating it with Tom's info, it does not sound like he's going. Yet the FB page said he's going to be there...and we have a press release saying he is not, due to a schedule conflict. Tom's site also does not make any mention of the event. We will do our best to sort this out! Press release saying No Tom Press release saying Tom will be there Tom's official website with appearance schedule does not include this event We do our best to give ya'll accurate info, so we apologize for the confusion - but you can see why we're confused! Meanwhile, the only "official" website for this Livingston shindig seems to be the Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dukes-of-Hazzard-Family-Reunion-Car-Show-in-Livingston-Parish-Louisiana/280562798675696 This shindig is being heavily advertised locally, and it's a FREE event. They have a Dukes-decorated semi-trailer parked across from the Walmart to help advertise, and they are running ads in the Sunday paper. The crowd here could be enormous. So, if you're going, book your hotel now, and show up early - like, really early, to the event. We will pass along more info as we get it!

Rick "Cletus" Hurst done and got himself a Facebook page! Go say howdy to 'em! Rick is very kind to Dukes fans and appears at Cooter's Place often. He also "Liked" our Facebook page and we certainly appreciate that. http://www.facebook.com/rickcletushurst

You done with the script yet?

I've been looking around and haven't seen a whole lot of photos online yet. Hopefully somebody from the HazzardNet crowd will report in soon! Meanwhile, there's a pretty good video on YouTube of the stunt show with Tom and John. It's on our homepage as of tonight, but to make it easy on ya, here it is again! http://youtu.be/Fl3jcXNql6s

Practice makes perfect. J.R. ages like a good cheddar cheese - the older he gets, the sharper he is.

Great pictures, Redneck Girl! Thanks for sharing. Though someday it'd be nice to see your whole face there.

Howdy Hobie! Been awhile, ain't it! Welcome back!

Welcome back, good to see you again!

Good for you on the agent! Lessee, characters...I'd have to say Caleb, after giving them all another look. He's got that edgy quality that opens a lot of storyline possibilities. Duke-ish, yet a shade darker.

I've got some new stuff in the works, we'll see how it goes. I also plan to finish some Dukes stories based on the original series and original characters. Just to kinda keep things going. Besides, the world needs more car chases.

Dukes ain't been on CMT at midnight for about three months. Instead, CMT was running Dukes marathons on Thursdays, starting at noon and going until 4 p.m. or 8 p.m. This too, has been inconsistent. Sometimes they'd skip a week. As of right now, I don't see The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT's schedule for the next couple of weeks. When trying to pin down Dukes airings, I check CMT's website against the TV listings on IMDB and also TVGuide.com. Despite all that, CMT still surprises us. Bottom line is: CMT has used Dukes as patch programming for a long time, and I don't expect that to change. Keep an eye on your local listings, and we'll do the best we can to keep you informed.

You're welcome King! About the sig - it's taken from the Supernatural "metallicar", but waaaaay before there was that show, somebody else had used a '67 Chevy Impala in a few stories and it was part of a character identity. And then Supernat comes out. Coincidence, but now I can't use the car in anything I'd like to offer commercially without looking like a copycat...such is the irony. I also own a '67 Impala, so I enjoy describing how the car moves, how the heavy tail slides around a turn, how the chassis bears down on the frame when you accelerate. Sadly, what Supernatural seems to do the most to the Impala in the show, is show it parked, or getting smashed. Just once, I'd like to see them launch that beast over creek, ala Dukes of Hazzard. Anyway! Protect your work. You just never know.

Congrats go to Carlos-Argentino, our Fan of the Month for August 2012! Carlos-Argentino joined us in December of 2010, and if you don't already know, he hails from Argentina! The language barrier has never stopped him from participating in the Forums. He is friendly, outgoing, and always quick to welcome new members to HazzardNet! Carlos-Argentino is fine example of a good Hazzard County neighbor and HazzardNet member. We're long overdue for recognizing our International Dukes fans, so join us in congratulating Carolos-Argentino! SAL-UTE!

I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for J.R. He sets the kind of bad example we can look up to.

Val, I'm sorry to hear you've been victimized. Can you tell us a little more about what happened? Meantime, let me say that while fictionally I've represented the criminal mind, I don't advocate breaking the law. I do, however, have a mixed moral background and mixed life experiences, but that's of the past. Frankly, life treats you better when you play by the rules. And there is such a thing as karma, cosmic justice, whatever you want to call it. I have seen it for myself. Peer groups, friends and family can make all the difference in someone's life. Unfortunately negative influences come too easily in this world. In the course of your career, you may provide a good influence to somebody and help turn their life around. Or you may be dealing with incorrigible jerks who never get the message and worse - attack you in some way to show their scorn for the system. They may seem to get away with it, for the moment. Eventually though their habits and attitudes catch up to them and bring them down. Sooner or later everybody reaps their own reward for their actions. Don't let hate take you over, Val.