Witness for the Persecution

Title screen

Season 2, Episode 9
Original Air Date: 16 November 1979
Directed by: Hollingsworth Morse
Teleplay by: William Raynor and Myles Wilder
Story by: Paul Savage
Created by: Gy Waldron

Plot Summary

Old lawman Tom Pryor wants Jesse's help providing a safe house for a government witness in an upcoming trial in Savannah. What Jesse doesn't know is that the witness is Boss Hogg, who's hoping his testimony might help him into the Governor's mansion. Boss moves in complete with his barber chair, and expects to be waited on hand and foot.

As (bad) luck would have it, Bo and Luke accidentally run into the guys looking for Boss, and nearly get shot in the process. When Bo asks "Who the heck could be shooting at us?" Luke replies "Any one of the number of them fathers of the girls you've been dating." Their escape is complicated by the General's engine cutting out intermittently.

Enos hears that "a couple of city dudes" are looking for Boss, and since he doesn't know where Boss is hiding, he heads out to the Duke Farm to discuss it with the Dukes. Boss tells them that Enos is "a bigger blabbermouth than my wife, Lulu", so he gets Bo and Luke to drive him away. Back in town they swap the ailing General for Cooter's pickup truck. In the meantime, Rosco has adopted the role of temporary Boss, and is smoking Boss's cigars, driving his car and wearing a white suit. In fact, he's so convincing that the bad guys nearly shoot him before Bo steps in and drenches him in old motor oil.

Eventually they get Boss to safety, only to find that the racketeer has changed his plea to guilty. For his troubles, Jesse gets a certificate of valor, although they misspell his name.

Trivia

Tunnel

• The tunnel used by the Dukes to escape from the bad guys also featured in the Steven Spielberg movie Duel.
• This is Robert Hastings' first of three appearances in the show. He returns as Slick in Coltrane vs. Duke and Taylor in Sky Bandits Over Hazzard.

Regular Cast

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

Guest Cast

• R. G. Armstrong as Tom Pryor
• L. Q, Jones as Warren
• Robert Hastings (as Bob Hastings) as Barnes

Crew

• Supervising Producer: Rod Amateau
• Co-Produced by: Gy Waldron and Ralph Riskin
• Executive Producer: Paul R. Picard
• Executive Story Consultants: William Raynor and Myles Wilder
• Story Editor: Bruce Howard
• Associate Producers: Skip Ward and Albert J. Salzer
• Director of Photography: Jack Whitman
• Art Director: James Martin Bachman (as James-Martin Bachman)
• Title Song Composed and Sung by: Waylon Jennings
• Music by: Fred Werner
• Unit Production Manager: Albert J. Salzer
• First Assistant Director: Kurt Baker
• Second Assistant Director: Nicholas Batchelor
• Second Unit Director: Paul Baxley
• Second Unit Director of Photography: Arthur R. Botham (as Bud Botham)
• Second Unit First Assistant Director: Kelly A. Manners
• Supervising Editor: Russell Livingstone (as Russ Livingstone)
• Film Editor: Martin J. Bram (as Marty Bram)
• Music Editor: Jay Alfred Smith
• Sound Editors: Ed Scheid and Richard Taylor
• Sound: Victor Goode
• Set Decorator: Rochelle Moser
• Property: Daniel Stoltenberg (as Dan Stoltenberg)
• Special Effects: Michael Wood
• Makeup: Ray Brooks
• Hair Stylist: Virginia Darcy
• Men's Costume Supervisor: Bob Christenson
• Women's Costume Supervisor: Darlene Engle
• Casting: Vivian McRae
• Creative Consultant: Philip Mandelker
• Location Facilities Provided by: The Burbank Studios
• A Lou Step Production in Association with Warner Bros Television

Own Witness for the Persecution

Witness for the Persecution
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