dukes of hazzard Archives - Page 4 of 11

Thank You Veterans!

HazzardNet salutes our Veterans for their service to our country. The greatest act of patriotism, the greatest love for freedom, is demonstrated by those who have been in our Armed Forces.

To the generations who have served before us, thank you. To those who currently serve, thank you. Your valour has preserved our nation, and continues to protect us all.

HazzardNet would also like to give a personal salute to Dukes of Hazzard cast member James Best, who enlisted in the Army Air Corps during WWII. He became an M.P. while stationed in occupied Germany, courageously facing many ordeals.

Our sincere thanks to you, Jimmie, for your service.

Dukes of Hazzard “General Lee” Is #1 Iconic Car

Or maybe that should be “#01” most iconic car! The General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard has been named by Edmunds “Inside Line” site as “The Greatest TV and Movie Car of All Time.” This is no surprise to Dukes fans, but for an outfit like Edmunds to endorse the opinion is pretty cool. They considered 100 popular TV and movie cars for this honor.

Hot Rod Magazine had already crowned the General Lee as king in their November 2011 issue, as a result of their reader poll. But hey, the more on the bandwagon, the merrier!

Hot Rod’s runner-up, The Bandit Trans-Am, came in at #4 on the Edmunds Inside Line list. The Knight Rider 1982 Pontiac Trans Am placed in the top ten at #7.

You can read Inside Line’s Top 100 list here. Meanwhile, let’s give a 21-Dixie horn salute to our favorite car, The General Lee! You can also share your opinions on the rest of the Inside Line 100 List in our Forums.

BREAKING NEWS: Hazzard Homecoming in 2012!

Details are few, but the news is good for Dukes of Hazzard fans: there will be another Hazzard Homecoming in 2012! The announced dates are August 11 & 12. The location for the 2012 Hazzard Homecoming is the same as before, in Sperryville, Virginia. While the cast line up is unknown at this point, we can tell ya this much…this is about as fast as Ben Jones has ever announced the gig for the following year. So he must have somethin’ good cookin’!

While August 11 & 12 of 2012 seems like a long time from now, it pays to make your travel plans early. Sperryville is a small town and you’ll have to find your lodgings in nearby communities; hotels book up fast. On the plus side, the area is very scenic, and it’s worth allowing more time so you can enjoy Skyline Drive and the beautiful mountain scenery.

We will update our home page with more 2012 Hazzard Homecoming details as they become available. Meanwhile, you can follow the buzz in our Forums!

Adopt-A-Dipstick!

Despite appearing in 47 episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, we’ve noticed that Rick Hurst doesn’t have his own website. At least not one that we can find! This seems an injustice, even for Hazzard County.

Now, we know that Deputy Cletus Hogg was the low man on the totem pole in the Hazzard County Sheriff’s Department. He was ranked somewhere below Rosco’s basset hound in terms of authority. We also know that as a relative of Boss Hogg, Cletus didn’t get any automatic sympathy. His I.Q. was pegged to be somewhere between dipstick and lug nut. Cletus also lacked the innocence of his predecessor, Deputy Enos Strate.

All in all, Cletus was clumsy, dense, easily distracted, and possessed questionable driving skills. Naturally, he fit right in with the Hazzard County Sheriff’s Department.

Rick Hurst’s talent for physical comedy and comedic timing made Cletus a memorable part of The Dukes of Hazzard. Cletus had his first appearance in the episode “Money to Burn” as an armored car driver. Cletus appeared in later episodes as a reserve Deputy, filling in for the temporary absence of Enos in “The Meeting” and “Road Pirates.”

BiteOuttaCrime — Cletus takes a bite out of crime in “The Meeting”

During the third season, Sonny Shroyer was offered his own show in the spin-off series Enos. The translation in Hazzard County was that Boss fired Enos, prompting Enos to accept a position with the L.A. police department. Cletus, already trained in the skills of automotive snorkeling and landscaping with cop cars, threw himself bodily into the position of full-time Deputy.

Rick Hurst’s reliable portrayal of Cletus would eventually earn him the spotlight in the fourth season episode, “Cletus Falls in Love.” Watching Cletus stumble his way through his newfound feelings while Daisy becomes more and more flustered is hilarious. When Daisy said, “We need to talk,” Cletus spoke for men everywhere when he responded with, “I’d rather smooch!”

Alas, the good times for Cletus wouldn’t last. During the fateful fifth season, when Coy and Vance temporarily replaced Bo and Luke, the Enos series was cancelled. Deputy Enos Strate subsequently returned to Hazzard County. Cletus would remain part of the Hazzard County law for only a few more episodes, sharing an awkward co-dipstick duty with Enos.

After receiving an offer in another series, Rick Hurst bowed out from the Dukes of Hazzard. In Hazzard County, Cletus’s abrupt absence was explained once as a “vacation” and then never mentioned again. Enos returned to prominence as Hazzard’s only honest lawman and dipstick extraordinaire.

Cletus did find his way back to Hazzard for the TV reunion movies. And while Rick Hurst has had other roles since his Dukes days, he remains fond of The Dukes of Hazzard and its fans. Rick has made many personal appearances at DukesFest and Cooter’s Place.

All this being said, it’s incredible that Cletus looks homeless out there on the internet. So we’re gonna keep a place for him here on HazzardNet! You can view Rick’s upcoming appearances in our Forums. We’ll also beef up (Hogg up?) our cast and character pages and give this wayward son of Hazzard County his share of attention.

Happy Halloween, Hazzard Style!

Do you believe in ghosts? How about The Ghost of General Lee? This is a great time of year to enjoy some Dukes of Hazzard episodes that feature ghosts, haunted houses, caskets, and spook-talkin’ mediums! Of course, nothing is quite what it seems in Hazzard County, so there’s got to be a rational explanation behind all the spookifyin’. Well, almost rational.

The Ghost of General Lee gives us the greatest premise of the entire series. What if, Bo and Luke died during a chase from Rosco? We know Rosco would feel pretty bad about it, despite his long-running animosity with the Dukes. We also know ol’ Boss Hogg would find some way to try and take advantage of it.

We also know, that cars might be able to die since batteries do. And cars become spook-talkin’ mediums, especially when their not-so-deceased owners play the shuck n’ jive of a lifetime.

Seeing Rosco get treated to a haunting by the General Lee is a moment in Dukes of Hazzard history that never gets old. If you haven’t watched this episode lately, it’s time you saw it again. You can download it from Amazon for a mere $1.99. Also check out this Ghost of General Lee model kit.

The writers of Season Two must of had a morbid streak in ’em, because they also gave us R.I.P. Henry Flatt, an episode that was pretty much a casket-and-carry gag from start to finish. Bo and Luke have been accused of a lot of things by now, but…body snatchers? The coffin and mortal remains within gets passed between vehicles like a game of hot potato. Turns out the General Lee makes a lousy hearse.

James Best gets credit for a good ad-lib during this episode, when Rosco quips a one-liner over the CB to Enos. Not surprisingly, Enos doesn’t have a comeback for it.

Another good choice for this time of year is The Hazzardville Horror. This was the Dukes answer to a Scooby-Doo episode, complete with a spooky old house, weird shenanigans, secret panels, and criminals trying to scare off the locals. Of course, with locals like Bo, Luke, and Daisy, you’re more liable to draw them in than send them running away. They got time on their hands, after all, and snooping around is irresistible to them. Will curiosity kill the cat?

Maybe not, but in the case of the Dukes, it doesn’t do ’em any favors. They manage to incriminate themselves even while solving the mystery of the haunted house and cracking the latest crime spree in Hazzard.

You’d have to agree that on the average, the Dukes made good use of things like coffins, hearses, funerals, and so on. From “Money to Burn” in the first season, to “Ding Dong, The Boss is Dead” in the fifth season, the Dukes didn’t shy away from things that some of us would find just a little creepy.

So, this Halloween, pour a big glass of apple cider, sit down with a bowl of Halloween candy, and treat yourself to some of your favorite Dukes of Hazzard episodes!