Dukes Tie-in with Name of UK Pub Chain

[HossC]

There's a well-known pub chain in the UK that's commonly known as Wetherspoon's. They have nearly 1,000 premises, and many occupy unusual buildings such as old banks, post offices and cinemas. What I didn't know until a few minutes ago is that there's a Dukes tie-in with their name. The full name of the company is JD Wetherspoon, and, according to their own website, the name Wetherspoon comes from a teacher of the chain's founder (who reportedly told him he'd never amount to anything), while the "JD" part comes from a certain J.D. Hogg. You can see the about page from their website here.

From Wikipedia, here's an ex-cinema building in Liverpool:

I guess it's true that you learn something new every day.

[RogerDuke]

Awesome Hoss! Stuff like this is really cool!

Is this the pub where Duke Gaylord Duke hangs out?

[Roth Potter]

Awesome, but why no JD in the name on front of the pubs?

[HossC]

Awesome, but why no JD in the name on front of the pubs?

I haven't been to one for a while as they don't have any here, but it looks like they just put "Wetherspoon" in big letters on the outside and save the "JD Wetherspoon" name for window signs, menus etc.:

[HossC]

Awesome Hoss! Stuff like this is really cool!

Is this the pub where Duke Gaylord Duke hangs out?

When he's not at his apartments in Los Angeles :

Built in 1924, they still stand at 3355 Wilshire Boulevard.

[RogerDuke]

Sadly the only Roger to ever be on the show ended up being a bad guy.

I'm not sure what the real name of the actor was but Duke Gaylord was only pretending to be a royal Duke. His "real" name was Roger Blevins as I recall.

[HossC]

Sadly the only Roger to ever be on the show ended up being a bad guy.

I'm not sure what the real name of the actor was but Duke Gaylord was only pretending to be a royal Duke. His "real" name was Roger Blevins as I recall.

Sadly, one of the only Englishmen to ever be on the show ended up being a bad guy. That episode also included dialog like this:

"He's Duke Gaylord Duke, an Englishman."

"Foreigner?"

"Yeah, from England."

"That's a foreigner."

and

"Cousin Gaylord is an Englishman."

"Well, we all can't be perfect."

Maybe Dukes was a racist show after all .

BTW. Although Iggins (from 'Southern Comfurts') was meant to be a stereotypical English butler, Bernard Fox was actually born in Wales.

Roger Blevins was played by Simon MacCorkindale. After the previous post I decided to Google the name "Roger Blevins", and quite a few police department mug-shots showed up in the image search. I also found a band from Austin, TX called 'Mingo Fishtrap' that has members named Roger Blevins Jr. and Roger Blevins Sr.

[RogerDuke]

Sadly, one of the only Englishmen to ever be on the show ended up being a bad guy. That episode also included dialog like this:

"He's Duke Gaylord Duke, an Englishman."

"Foreigner?"

"Yeah, from England."

"That's a foreigner."

and

"Cousin Gaylord is an Englishman."

"Well, we all can't be perfect."

.

This last quote certainly is accurate. We all certainly can't all be perfect and the writers weren't perfect with that one. .

Don't forget that the Dukes often made fun of city folks and sophisticated folks and many rural Americans stereotype British folks to be sophisticated. I'm not saying that they should. I'm just saying that they do.

I remember when Jesse said "And don't take advantage of them because they're from the city and don't know no better." As I recall that's from an original Georgia episode...maybe "Daisy's Song." I think that quote's funny but it is potentially offensive to a city person. Regardless of whether quotes like that are offensive or not, they accurately portray how country boys from Jesse's generation felt.

Also, the writers also seem to have forgotten that every American is a foreigner of sorts......unless they're a Native American.

So, in the spirit of international diplomatic relations, my apologies as an America Hoss. Even though we can occasionally be rude (like making July Fourth jokes) those of us Americans who are of European decent know very well our roots. Sincerely, Cousin Roger

[HossC]

So, in the spirit of international diplomatic relations, my apologies as an America Hoss. Even though we can occasionally be rude (like making July Fourth jokes) those of us Americans who are of European decent know very well our roots. Sincerely, Cousin Roger

Thanks Roger, but I have a thicker skin than to be offended by jokey comments like the ones in Dukes (hence the smiley). It was not uncommon for US shows in the '80s to make similar comments eg. the 'Cheers' episodes surrounding John Cleese's English psychiatrist or the crooked English businessman called Robin. If you guys watched more of our shows instead of remaking them, I'm sure you'd see that it works both ways. At least the writers of 'The Big Bang Theory' have finally got it right. The following exchange comes from the episode called 'The 43 Peculiarity' when Leonard finds that Penny has an English study partner:

Penny: Would you stop? Look, he just moved here from London, okay? He doesn’t really know anybody.

Leonard: Oh, good, an English accent, the sexiest accent you can have.

Penny: No. That’s not true. There’s French, there’s Italian. No, you’re right, it’s the best.

BTW. I never understood why you guys still celebrate the Fourth of July and commemorate rejecting the best rulers your country's ever had .

[RogerDuke]

If you guys watched more of our shows instead of remaking them, I'm sure you'd see that it works both ways.

BTW. I never understood why you guys still celebrate the Fourth of July and commemorate rejecting the best rulers your country's ever had .

What are you saying? Do you mean that there's folks in other countries who make fun of Americans? How shocking! I thought everybody loved us.

Regarding your second quote listed here, it seemed like a good idea in 1776 but I think there are enough Americans who are so disappointed with our current political system that.....

on second thought I'll save political views for different websites. This one is too perfect to ruin with politics.....not to mention risking the wrath of the moderators who do a great job of keeping it perfect.