Confession - I was a huge DUKES OF HAZZARD fan. From season one, I never missed an episode on Friday nights. I had a poster on my wall. I had the 45 single of the theme song. Even today, I have all the season sets on DVD. While I was never a car guy, whenever I see a Dodge Charger, especially one painted like the General Lee, I still think it is pretty cool.
That said, if I was aware of the animated series, I had forgotten it. By 1983, when the show aired, I think I had outgrown it.
The series which aired on CBS in 1983 features Coy (voiced by Byron Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer), the Season five cousins who stepped in when Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) were on a salary dispute. Bo and Luke joined THE DUKES in the second season, with episode 14.
The rest of the Dukes cast is present. Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle), and my favorites Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best) and Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) are all here with their original voices.
The premise is sort of WACKY RACES meets SCOOBY DOO. The Dukes are racing Boss Hogg and Rosco around the world. The boys want to use the money to save their farm. Told in letters back home to Uncle Jesse, each episode has the teams in a different country. From Australia, Africa, Venice, Morocco, London, India, Hong Kong, Switzerland, they travel the globe.
The show is typical of the “limited animation” of the early 80’s Hanna Barbera cartoons. Storywise, it is like SCOOBY DOO, with different evildoers in each episode out to get the gang.
One note about the transfer, while the episodes look fine, I don't know if all the copies are like this, but I found that the sound effects track on the episodes were louder than the dialogue and music, making it sometimes a bit difficult to hear. This could have been my copy, or TV, but thought I would mention it.
Is this a great series? No. But if you grew up watching it, you should enjoy the set.
THE DUKES is available now from the Warner Archive
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