Basics
Title: The Dukes of Hazzard
Creator: Gy Waldron
Years on air: 1979-1985
# of episodes: 145 episodes for 7 seasons
Genre: Action / Adventure / Comedy
Synopsis
The Dukes of Hazzard followed Bo and Luke Duke, two cousins living in an unincorporated area of the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia, racing around in their modified 1969 Dodge Charger, The General Lee, evading corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept county sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Bo and Luke had been sentenced to probation for illegal transportation of moonshine - Uncle Jesse usually made the run, but had fallen ill, and on the very occasion that Bo and Luke had taken his place, they were caught. Jesse made a plea bargain to stop brewing moonshine in return for the boys to forgo jail time and instead be placed on probation. As a result, Bo and Luke were not allowed to carry firearms (they often used compound bows) or leave Hazzard County (although the exact details and jurisdiction of their probation terms often varied from episode to episode; sometimes, for example, it was implied that they would be jailed for merely crossing the county line; Other occasions it was shown that they may leave Hazzard as long as they were back within a certain time limit), usually granted by Boss Hogg.
Corrupt politician Boss Hogg, who either ran or had fingers in just about everything in Hazzard County (and whose exact powers, much like the terms of Duke boys' probation, often varied in different episodes) was forever angry with the Dukes, in particular Bo and Luke, for eternally foiling his crooked scams and was always looking for ways to get them out of the picture so his plots had a chance of succeeding. Many episodes revolved around Boss trying to engage in an illegal scheme with criminal associates. Some of these were get-rich-quick schemes, though many others affected the financial security of the Duke farm, which Boss had long wanted to acquire for nefarious reasons. Other times, Boss hired known criminals from out of town to do his dirty work for him, and often trying to frame Bo and Luke for various crimes such as bank robbery (thus, resulting in probation revocation and allowing Boss easily to acquire the Duke farm). It was up to Bo and Luke to uncover the schemes and foil the criminals.
Due to their fundamentally good natures, although Boss Hogg continually tried to frame them, the Dukes always wound up helping him out albeit begrudgingly. More than once Boss was targeted by former associates who were either seeking revenge or had turned against him after a scheme unraveled in any number of ways: Boss' greedy nature, Rosco's bumbling, the criminals simply outsmarting the two or their consciences came to the surface. Sometimes criminals who were even more crooked and ruthless than Boss came to town. Sheriff Rosco also found himself in trouble more than once. On such occasions, Bo and Luke usually had to rescue their adversaries as an inevitable precursor to defeating the bad guys; these instances became more regular as the series went on.
Cast
Tom Wopat... Luke Duke
John Schneider... Bo Duke
Catherine Bach... Daisy Duke
Denver Pyle ... Uncle Jesse Duke
Sorrell Booke... Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg
Ben Jones... Cooter Davenport
James Best... Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane
Sonny Shroyer... Deputy Enos Strate
Rick Hurst... Deputy Cletus Hogg
Peggy Rea... Lulu Hogg
Waylon Jennings... The Balladeer
Byron Cherry... Coy Duke
Christopher Mayer... Vance Duke
Theme Song
Just the good ol' boys
Never meaning no harm
Beats all you never saw
Been in trouble with the law
Since the day they was born
Straightenin' the curves
Flattenin' the hills
Someday the mountain might get 'em
But the law never will
Making their way, the only way they know how
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow
Making their way, the only way they know how
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow
I'm a good ol' boy
You know my mama loved me
But she don't understand
They keep a showin' my hands
And not my face on TV
Good Ol' Boys by Waylon Jennings