Repo Men

Title screen

Season 1, Episode 4
Original Air Date: 16 February 1979
Directed by: Ron Satlof (as Ron Satloff)
Written by: Bob Clark
Created by: Gy Waldron

Plot Summary

The sought-after Rolls Royce

"Ace Parker is the number two used car dealer in Hazzard. Twern't no others. But ol' Ace just couldn’t be first at anything." Except maybe being unreliable. Boss wanted to get his wife Lulu the Rolls Royce that Ace had. Ace sold it to a group of folks who turned out to be counterfeiters. Boss tells him to get the car back, and when Bo and Luke spot a wrecked car that Richard Petty used to film a commercial, Ace sees his opportunity. He tells the boys he'll let them have the car for $200 if they'll repossess the Rolls for him. Easier said than done when the boys are nearly killed trying to take the car back, and then get tangled up in trumped up charges from Rosco. So with the help of Uncle Jesse, the boys manage to outwit Boss, Rosco, the counterfeiters and Ace.

Commentary

Just goes to show ya that you can have Daisy wear pants and have the General never leave the ground and you can get a good story. This episode also offers us some insight into Rosco’s decision to go crooked, as he explains to Enos. In his explanation tho’, it seems Rosco doesn’t like the path he’s chosen to take.

Another slice of Rosco as a competent lawman comes at the very end of the episode, when everybody sees the crushed cars inside Ace’s garage. The counterfeiters see what was the Rolls Royce and Rosco spots the counterfeit plate that had been crushed with the car. He eyes them suspiciously and says, “Now I’m just a country Sheriff, and I got problems of my own. But I could swear that was a counterfeit plate. Only who would make a plate yay long and yay narrow and if you’re not outta my county in thirty minutes, I’m calling the FBI.” Well, they leave and Enos gives his superior officer a grin.

The Dukes demonstrate their philosphy of retaliating against property, not people with using Cooter’s tow truck and plow teeth to pull the counterfeiters car apart. They demonstrate it again when they crush all of Ace’s used cars, including the Rolls. As Jesse calls it, “dirty pool.”

The chase scene between Bo in Cooter’s altered pickup truck and the counterfeiter’s cars is classic Dukes. What fun to watch a car be pulled apart at 45 miles an hour!

Cooter and Luke’s ride in the Rolls gives us some classic dialogue. “Hey, Luke?” Cooter asks, “I wonder what ol’ Burt Reynolds would do in a situation like this?” “I don’t know,” Luke replies, “But he’d probably be doing it with somebody a lot prettier than you.”

Trivia

The wrecked Richard Petty car

• The Richard Petty car is actually "LEE 1", the General which makes the jump in the opening credits. After the jump, it was stripped of anything useful before being repainted and put on Ace’s lot. Years later, the wreck was found in a junkyard in Georgia. It was subsequently restored and changed hands a few times before being bought by pro golfer Bubba Watson in 2012.
• Ace Parker is played by Jerry Rushing, whose experiences in moonshining were the basis of the 1975 movie Moonrunners and later The Dukes of Hazzard.

Counterfeit plate (mirrored)

• The counterfeit plate being worked on in the house appears to be for an Estado de Sonora Diez (10) Peso note dating from 1915 (the middle of the Mexican Revolution). Although they now sell for well above face value, it seems an odd choice for forging.
• This is one of only two credited acting roles for Rod Amateau (Manny). He's better known as a producer and director, where his work includes many episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard.
• Claude Humphrey (Big John) played in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014.

Regular Cast

• Tom Wopat as Luke Duke
• John Schneider as Bo Duke
• Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke
• Denver Pyle as Uncle Jesse
• James Best as Sheriff Rosco Coltrane
• Sorrell Booke as Boss Hogg
• Ben Jones as Cooter
• Waylon Jennings as The Balladeer (voice)

Guest Cast

• Sonny Shroyer as Enos
• Larry Bishop as Joey Sugalo
• Judith Baldwin as Female Criminal
• Peggy Rea as Lulu
• Rod Amateau as Manny
• Claude Humphrey as Big John
• Jerry Rushing as Ace Parker

• 
  Rod Amateau as Manny
  and Larry Bishop as Joey Sugalo
• 
  Judith Baldwin as Female Criminal
  and Claude Humphrey as Big John

• 
  Peggy Rea as Lulu
• 
  Jerry Rushing as Ace Parker

Crew

• Supervising Producer: Joseph Gantman
• Co-Produced by: Gy Waldron and William Kelley (as Bill Kelley)
• Executive Producers: Paul R. Picard and Philip Mandelker
• Associate Producer: Skip Ward
• Director of Photography: Robert C. Jessup (as Robert Jessup) A.S.C.
• Art Director: Charles L. Hughes (as Charles Hughes)
• Title Song Composed and Sung by: Waylon Jennings
• Music Performed by: The Waylors
• Music Produced by: Richie Albright
• Unit Production Manager: Albert J. Salzer
• First Assistant Director: Bill Baker
• Second Assistant Director: Fred Wardell
• Second Unit Director: Paul Baxley
• Second Unit Director of Photography: Allen Facemire (as Alan Facemire)
• Second Unit First Assistant Director: Scott U. Adam (as Scott U. Adams)
• Film Editor: Albert P. Wilson, A.C.E.
• Music Editor: Abby Marable
• Sound Editors: Angel Editorial, Inc.
• Sound: Don Sanders
• Set Decorator: Joanne MacDougall
• Property: Ernie Sawyers
• Special Effects: Charles Spurgeon (as Charlie Spurgeon)
• Atlanta Casting: Stratton Leopold (as Stratton P. Leopold)
• Makeup: Guy Del Russo
• Hair Stylist: Irene Aparicio
• Wardrobe: Paula Lynn Kaatz (as Paula Kaatz)
• Additional Music by: Fred Werner
• Archery Equipment and Program Consideration Furnished by: Martin Archery
• Consultant: Fred Weintraub
• Casting: Linda Otto Associates
• Los Angeles Casting: Vivian McRae
• Location Facilities Provided by: The Burbank Studios
• Paul R. Picard Productions and Piggy Productions, Inc.
  in Association with Warner Bros Television

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