Dukes of Hazzard

shemps#1 · **on:** March 11, 2011, 04:21:15 AM

I recently caught reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT while stoned. I mention being stoned because if I wasn't high I would have most definitely changed the channel after three minutes instead of watching three shows in a row. I had never watched this show before, by the way. For the three hours I sat there wondering why anyone not under the influence of marijuana would watch such a terrible show. I get that the Dukes are studly and all that and Daisy is hot (although she has hardly any screen time) but good looking people do not make for a good show.

Each of the episodes were pretty much the same: Boss Hogg is out to get the Dukes arrested meanwhile there is a bigger crime going on, lots of driving on dirt roads, the Dukes eventually help out Boss Hogg when he gets tied up with the bad guys and they get away at the end. The acting is terrible, the plots are the very definition of formulaic and the show seems to have been shot in next to no budget. This is not uncommon for late 70's - early 80's TV shows but it is never more transparent during the chase scenes on Dukes of Hazzard when they show a close-up of someone in a car and the passing background shot on green screen looks like it was shot on 8 MM.

Are there any fans of this atrocity on this site? If so, what is the appeal?

Dog Hambone · **Reply #1 on:** March 11, 2011, 09:28:40 AM

I'd venture to say being stoned didn't make the Dukes of Hazzard better in any way. Watching 3 episodes in a row amounts to the same thing as watching the same episode 3 times in a row.

It was the pinnacle of white trash television. I want to say the show was made to appeal to pubescent teenagers, especially boys, but somehow it managed to appeal to rednecks (and redneck wannabes, if there is such a thing) of all ages.

If memory serves, this show was on before the advent of cable, when your only choices were the 3 networks, a PBS station, and maybe a UHF station; when it aired, it may possibly have been the best thing on. Doesn't say much for television in that era, does it?

In case you didn't get enough, here's the show's opening theme:

[youtube=425,350]uGhQcnuhOk4[/youtube]

By the way, when I was looking this up on YouTube, I learned there are little redneck Woodstocks called Dukesfests held every year!

Curly4444 · **Reply #2 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:24:42 AM

When i was a kid, i was addicted it. It was just fun a TV show to watch. If you watched it from the start, you fell in love with the characters. So every week you loved to see what shit they would get into next.

Just because it involved country people didn't mean it was white trash television. The people on the show were good people, not white trash. Just had less money and lived in a tiny town.

The acting on the show wasn't bad. I thought they did a good job. It was the silly writing that gave you the impression they were acting bad. It it weren't for the characters and the car chases, the stupid story writing would have killed the show.

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If memory serves, this show was on before the advent of cable, when your only choices were the 3 networks, a PBS station, and maybe a UHF station; when it aired, it may possibly have been the best thing on. Doesn't say much for television in that era, does it?

Actually cable was around when it was on. It started in 1979, and cable was in some areas then.

I still love this show. I think its because of nostalgia. If i just watched like shemps#1, i would probably hate it too.

metaldams · **Reply #3 on:** March 11, 2011, 10:29:39 AM

While I am culturally aware of the show, I've never seen an episode.

vomit · **Reply #4 on:** March 11, 2011, 01:57:41 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on March 11, 2011, 04:21:15 AM

Are there any fans of this atrocity on this site? If so, what is the appeal?

God help me, but I watched this show as a kid. My family loved it. And, I could not understand why.....a good friend and I would always rip on the show the day after it aired. Hated it, yet we still watched it! And I was 9, 10 or 11 years old. I always have been a little masochistic. This is some evidence of that tendency.

I could definitely see being "smoked up" would make the show semi-tolerable. But, under no circumstances could I see myself ever watching this without some serious chemicals coursing through my veins! Awful show, awful acting. AWFUL!

Curly4444 · **Reply #5 on:** March 11, 2011, 02:50:04 PM

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I could definitely see being "smoked up" would make the show semi-tolerable. But, under no circumstances could I see myself ever watching this without some serious chemicals coursing through my veins! Awful show, awful acting. AWFUL!

What you don't like good ol fashioned car chases and Daisy dukes? Ill admit the acting wasn't the best, but it was up to par for shows like these in the late 70's and 80's. It wasn't meant to be Shakespearean theater, it was just a silly comedy sitcom. It wasn't meant to be taken too seriously.

shemps#1 · **Reply #6 on:** March 11, 2011, 03:00:13 PM

Quote from: metaldams on March 11, 2011, 10:29:39 AM

While I am culturally aware of the show, I've never seen an episode.

Turn on CMT practically any time of day: there's a 50/50 chance it will be on.

Quote from: Dog Hambone

It was the pinnacle of white trash television. I want to say the show was made to appeal to pubescent teenagers, especially boys, but somehow it managed to appeal to rednecks (and redneck wannabes, if there is such a thing) of all ages.

"Redneck Wannabes" certainly do exist. I grew up in the South...of New England and in high school there was this kid who waved a Confederate Flag from the back of his pickup truck. I also have a cousin who now lives in South Carolina and speaks with a southern accent, nevermind that he too grew up in CT.

Quote from: Curly4444

The acting on the show wasn't bad. I thought they did a good job. It was the silly writing that gave you the impression they were acting bad. It it weren't for the characters and the car chases, the stupid story writing would have killed the show.

I thought the acting was horrible and I was high off my ass. I have to agree with Dog, once you've seen one episode you've seen every episode. I thought the car chases were monotonous and probably the worst part of the show.

Curly4444 · **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2011, 03:34:41 PM

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I thought the acting was horrible and I was high off my ass. I have to agree with Dog, once you've seen one episode you've seen every episode. I thought the car chases were monotonous and probably the worst part of the show.

Compared to what, a well written/acted drama like all in the family? If the actors/actresses had better scripts, it would have been better. It was the bad writing/directing that caused the bad acting. Even with that, the acting wasn't that bad, its better than that shit on the Sci-Fi channel. Now thats some bad acting.

shemps#1 · **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2011, 05:03:53 PM

While the thought of replacing Carroll O'Connor with Sorrell Booke is intriguing I don't think the comparsion is apt. A more apt comparison would be with some of its other contemporaries such as Incredible Hulk or Six Million Dollar Man, both of which had much better acting. I would say with confidence that Bill Bixby was a far superior actor to say...Tom Wopat.

Curly4444 · **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2011, 05:09:52 PM

Well maybe so, but i still enjoyed it. BTW, im no redneck.

JazzBill · **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2011, 06:40:34 PM

Quote from: shemps#1 on March 11, 2011, 04:21:15 AM

I recently caught reruns of The Dukes of Hazzard on CMT while stoned. I mention being stoned because if I wasn't high I would have most definitely changed the channel after three minutes instead of watching three shows in a row. I had never watched this show before, by the way. For the three hours I sat there wondering why anyone not under the influence of marijuana would watch such a terrible show. I get that the Dukes are studly and all that and Daisy is hot (although she has hardly any screen time) but good looking people do not make for a good show.

Each of the episodes were pretty much the same: Boss Hogg is out to get the Dukes arrested meanwhile there is a bigger crime going on, lots of driving on dirt roads, the Dukes eventually help out Boss Hogg when he gets tied up with the bad guys and they get away at the end. The acting is terrible, the plots are the very definition of formulaic and the show seems to have been shot in next to no budget. This is not uncommon for late 70's - early 80's TV shows but it is never more transparent during the chase scenes on Dukes of Hazzard when they show a close-up of someone in a car and the passing background shot on green screen looks like it was shot on 8 MM.

Are there any fans of this atrocity on this site? If so, what is the appeal?

Most of the same people who think Burt Reynolds should of won an Oscar for "Smokey And The Bandit" and "Convoy" is the best song ever recorded liked to watch "The Dukes Of Hazzard". There ain't no weed good enough or any alcohol strong enough to get me to sit through three hours of that slop. (unless I was passed out)

Curly4444 · **Reply #11 on:** March 11, 2011, 06:52:49 PM

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Most of the same people who think Burt Reynolds should of won an Oscar for "Smokey And The Bandit" and "Convoy" is the best song ever recorded liked to watch "The Dukes Of Hazzard". There ain't no weed good enough or any alcohol strong enough to get me to sit through three hours of that slop. (unless I was passed out)

Man, we have a bunch of city slickers on this forum.

I love Smokey And The Bandit and Convoy. Should he have won an Oscar, and was convoy the best song ever? No And No!!

JazzBill · **Reply #12 on:** March 11, 2011, 07:28:16 PM

Quote from: Curly4444 on March 11, 2011, 06:52:49 PM

Man, we have a bunch of city slickers on this forum. I love Smokey And The Bandit and Convoy. Should he have won an Oscar, and was convoy the best song ever? No And No!!

But you still loved Smokey and Convoy, which is the point I was making.

Dunrobin · **Reply #13 on:** March 11, 2011, 07:56:04 PM

I remember seeing the show at times, back in the day before I had cable. There weren't a lot of choices and I could tolerate the show if someone else wanted to watch it. (Fortunately I have the ability to get totally engrossed in a book and able to ignore stuff going on around me, so most of the time I'd just read during the show. I spent a lot of the '70s with my nose in a book.)

Final Shemp · **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2011, 10:12:48 AM

I remember the last time I got a little on the stoned side (which was a while ago, I don't make a habit out of it), myself and my girlfriend were flipping through the channels and we landed on Lavern & Shirley. While it's a fun show sober, when you're not in your right frame of mind, it is the funniest thing ever. I just couldn't stop laughing.

Never seen the Dukes. Nothing about it just ever appealed to me.

metaldams · **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2011, 11:08:47 AM

I have never tried pot, and considering things are starting to go well at my job, I'm not about to start now in case they want me to pee in a cup. Perhaps when I'm retired.

That said, I did have my wisdom teeth taken out in October, and to deal with the pain, the gave me some oxycodone, which is some pretty strong stuff. Needless to say, I felt pretty good, no physical pain at all and I never felt so relaxed in my life. I kind of regret not watching something cheesy when I was high, it would've been interesting to see how I'd react.

FineBari3 · **Reply #16 on:** March 13, 2011, 10:45:23 AM

I think about all of the crappy shows that I absolutely hated, yet still watched, when I was a little kid growing up in the '70's. I think that having only 6 or so channels is the reason.

Hee Haw, The Dukes of Hazzard, any crime show, Lawrence Welk....yuk! But, I still remember watching them! Then we got cable, and had 13 channels of crap.

shemps#1 · **Reply #17 on:** March 13, 2011, 08:02:57 PM

Nowadays we have 200+ channels of crap. It's funny you mention Hee Haw and Lawrence Welk; my Dukes research lead me into the Rural Purge when the networks got rid of the "country" and older skewing shows to try to appeal to younger, "urban" audiences. Welk and Hee Haw moved on to syndication and enjoyed success while shows like All In The Family proved to be hugely successful as well. Perhaps there is a happy medium somewhere.

vomit · **Reply #18 on:** March 24, 2011, 02:39:58 PM

I had the misfortune of seeing the 1st few minutes of a DoH show the other day. It was actually WORSE than what I remembered....and I remembered it being pretty fucking terrible.

Hideous.

Curly4444 · **Reply #19 on:** March 24, 2011, 05:30:43 PM

You guys are so picky.

shemps#1 · **Reply #20 on:** March 25, 2011, 12:38:42 AM

Ha! C'mon Quad 4's, you know that show is terrible. Everybody has a tv movie, movie, music that while they may enjoy they know is terrible.