Read KSiteTV’s review with “Sheriff Rosco” James Best about this DVD release
Sometimes undeservingly dismissed as low-brow, The Dukes of Hazzard was the first “favorite TV show” in my life. I was about three when I started watching, when the show was already in its third season. I still have childhood memories of the night Bo and Luke returned to the series, I had the action figures, and I had at least a few variations of General Lee miniatures.
One thing I had forgotten as time passed was that The Dukes spawned a cartoon series! Imagine my surprise over a decade ago, when going through an old videotape my family had, that I had recorded an episode of said series. I honestly thought it would be the only episode I’d ever get a chance to see.
I’ve made so many posts here about how awesome the Warner Archive is for bringing out TV rarities, so I hope I don’t sound like a commercial for them here, but I do have to say I’m impressed with what they were able to dig up and hope to have more things like this in the future. Now, I’ll have to put the Archive even higher on my list as they have now released all 20 episodes of The Dukes cartoon to DVD.
The Dukes cartoon premiered at a time when Tom Wopat and John Schneider were on strike — so, Coy and Vance Duke, the infamous replacements of Season 5, are the Dukes in question for the first season of 13 episodes of the show. They and Daisy race Boss Hogg around the globe for prize money to pay off the farm. Uncle Jesse (usually) stays at home, reading letters from Daisy to narrate the story, alongside a raccoon named Sparky. Uncle Jesse narrating reminds me of that one Bugs Bunny movie that was narrated by Denver Pyle.
The series was silly. I’m sure, if I could remember me, 5-year-old me ate it up. From a quality standpoint, I think the stories actually get better in the show’s second year, the 7 final episodes which also bring back Bo and Luke. Thankfully, although the series is silly, it’s still engaging, and I still enjoy them as much at age 33.
Being older makes me notice things I might not have as a kid, however. There are some points – particularly after Wopat and Schneider return – that the dialogue doesn’t actually sound like them speaking; almost as if the lines were added after recording was done. Speaking of additional voices, though, I did catch an episode called “The Dukes in Hollywood” where it was driving me crazy how familiar a movie producer’s voice was. I looked at the credits and who did I see listed among the many voice actors? Future SNL and Newsradio star, the late Phil Hartman.
If you know anyone who grew up watching The Dukes of Hazzard, this is a fantastic Christmas gift that is sure to bring back some memories of Saturday mornings gone by. As Rosco P. Coltrane would say, “I love it, I love it!” Now if only I could get the theme song out of my head… hooey, hooey, I’m gonna have some fun…. and hopefully sales will be good enough that the Archive will release the rarely-seen Dukes spin-off, Enos.
The Dukes: The Complete Series can be found EXCLUSIVELY at WarnerArchive.com – it is not available in stores. The first 400 orders will be signed by James Best (“Rosco”) and if you check the site, there may be some holiday shipping deals!
