P.J. Gathergood Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 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. ncDukeBoy01 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roth Potter Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 I didn't notice this. But Generally I don't notice anything like that, i just watch the story and have emotions with it. TheGhostOfGeneralLee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted March 11, 2014 Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think it's more likely that the storyline was conceived to make viewers think that it might be the end of the line for the Dukes living in Hazzard, but the intention was always to get them back in the farm. Can you imagine the reaction from fans if the series had ended with Boss owning the Duke Farm and Hazzard being strip-mined?The idea of pseudo series-ending episode was pulled off very well in the Red Dwarf season 5 finale 'Back to Reality'. I watched it when it first aired, and was convinced it was going to be the last ever episode until a couple of minutes from the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P.J. Gathergood Posted March 11, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2014 I think it's more likely that the storyline was conceived to make viewers think that it might be the end of the line for the Dukes living in Hazzard, but the intention was always to get them back in the farm. Can you imagine the reaction from fans if the series had ended with Boss owning the Duke Farm and Hazzard being strip-mined?The idea of pseudo series-ending episode was pulled off very well in the Red Dwarf season 5 finale 'Back to Reality'. I watched it when it first aired, and was convinced it was going to be the last ever episode until a couple of minutes from the end.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. ncDukeBoy01 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinpcoltrane Posted March 7, 2016 Report Share Posted March 7, 2016 They should have ended the season on a cliffhanger and made "Farewell, Hazzard" a two parter, then in the next season resolved it with another two parter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie Hartkins Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 I hate two parters! It makes me want to know what's happening right away and not wait until the next episode. TheGhostOfGeneralLee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HossC Posted April 4, 2016 Report Share Posted April 4, 2016 1 hour ago, Hobie Harkins said: I hate two parters! It makes me want to know what's happening right away and not wait until the next episode. I don't remember how the episodes were originally shown, but, according to IMDb, it looks 'Carnival of Thrills' and '10 Million Dollar Sheriff' were screened back-to-back, but the two parts of 'Undercover Dukes' were shown a week apart. Now that we have DVDs, it doesn't make much difference as there's no waiting. The two-parters also let us have slightly deeper storylines. Roth Potter and Hobie Hartkins 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobie Hartkins Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 This is true. If we didn't have our own copies of the episodes, though ( VHS, DVD), it would suck waiting for the next one to come out! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinpcoltrane Posted April 5, 2016 Report Share Posted April 5, 2016 It would have sucked then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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