A duke rarely comes alone

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Television series
German title A duke rarely comes alone
Original title The Dukes of Hazzard
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1979-1985
length 50 minutes
Episodes 145 in 7 seasons ( list )
genre Action series
idea Gy Waldron
music Waylon Jennings
First broadcast Jan 26, 1979 on CBS
German-language
first broadcast
December 30, 1988 on Sat.1
occupation
synchronization

The Dukes of Hazzard (original title: The Dukes of Hazzard ) [loosely translated in German: The Dukes of Hazzard ] is a television series from the United States , which was produced and 1979-1985 successfully broadcast. In addition to numerous merchandise items, it has resulted in a spin-off series, an animated series , two television films , four video games and a movie .

action

The cousins ​​Bo and Luke Duke are in constant arguments with Boss Hogg, the district administrator and patriarch of their homeland, Hazzard County , a cozy little southern county in the immediate vicinity of the metropolis of Atlanta . Against the charming, mischievous outlaws, Hogg and his subordinates, the idiot eccentric Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane and the also less well-off deputies Enos Strate and Cletus Hogg, always lose out.

The Dukes are constantly accused of smuggling illegally distilled alcohol and various other offenses. As a result, there are chases in every episode through the sandy and bumpy local roads of the district, which are very often crowned by a jump in the car of Bo and Luke, the "General Lee". This running gag is often portrayed as such by the narrator (in the English original Waylon Jennings , who also composed and played the theme song Good Ol 'Boys ) ( "... General Lee still has wings ..." ).

The "Duke Boys" get help from their cousin Daisy, their uncle Jesse and the workshop owner Cooter Davenport. Since Bo and Luke are not allowed to use firearms , they occasionally use bows and arrows , which, in addition to their appearance as outlaws, allows a comparison to Robin Hood not only in the title song .

Another great location besides the family farm, town and country roads is “Boar's Nest”, the hangout for the Dukes and many residents. It is not only Daisy's workplace, but also the scene of various local brawls, which are mostly instigated by Bo and Luke.

Due to the distances between each other and the attacks by Hogg and his law enforcement officers, the family is constantly in radio contact via CB radio. Under the nickname “Shepherd”, Jesse Duke serves as the coordinator between the “lost sheep” (Bo and Luke) and the “Bo-Peep” (Daisy) in their open jeep.

Episode list

More people

In addition to these main characters, there were other people in the series who were more or less involved in the plot. Probably the most important role in the truest sense of the word had Peggy Rea , who played the role of Lulu Hogg. She was the wife of Boss Hogg and the sister of Sheriff Rosco at the same time, which also explains why Boss and Rosco almost always stuck together like bad luck and brimstone. In contrast to her husbands, she is thoroughly honest and active in many clubs and organizations in the city. She also sees the Dukes as good friends.

Boss also has two nephews, brothers Hughie ( Jeff Altman ) and Dewey Hogg. Hughie tries to win over the entire city and JD's fortunes every time he's in town, and he sometimes succeeds. Whenever he's in town, the Dukes are a prime target of his wickedness, so not only do they have to put him in his place, but they also have to help Boss save his skin and kick Hughie out of town. Dewey has only appeared once, but has proven to be no less mean and devious than his younger brother.

Besides Rosco there were a number of other sheriffs. During the time when James Best was unavailable, a different replacement for Rosco was hired in each episode, all of whom were no less dumb than Rosco himself. Then there were the sheriffs of the surrounding districts, such as Emmet "Spike" Loomis, the He'd been chasing Uncle Jesse all his career. Later, the sheriff Big Ed Little ( Don Pedro Colley ) was introduced in the neighboring county "Chickasaw County" , who appeared again and again for several years and in between even pushed Hazzard's service once. And unlike Rosco, he even succeeded in arresting the Dukes because he could drive.

Another recurring character was postmistress Emma Tisdale, who ran Hazzard's post office. It was played by Nedra Volz . In the third season the basset hound "Flash" was introduced, henceforth Rosco's constant companion in the patrol car. Besides sleeping and eating, his favorite pastimes were barking at Boss Hogg and destroying bogus evidence against the Dukes.

synchronization

The German dubbing was carried out on behalf of Arena Film GmbH & Co. Synchron KG at that time in Berlin-Lankwitz , Edgar Ott and Klaus von Wahl were responsible for the dialogue direction, and Michael Nowka was responsible for the German dialogue book .

role actor speaker
teller Waylon Jennings Jochen Schröder
Luke Duke Tom Wopat Sven Hasper
Bo Duke John Schneider Charles Rettinghaus
(Uncle) Jesse Duke Denver Pyle Arnold Marquis (1st voice)
Helmut Müller-Lankow (2nd voice)
Daisy Duke Catherine Bach Sabine Sebastian
Lulu Hogg Peggy rea Evelyn Meyka
Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg Sorrell Booke Gerd Duwner
Sheriff Rosco Pervis Coltrane James Best Norbert Gescher
Deputy Enos Strate Sonny Shroyer Christian Toberentz
Deputy Cletus Hogg Rick Hurst Frank-Otto Schenk
Cooter Davenport Ben jones Hans-Jürgen Dittberner

Guest stars

There were also repeated appearances by prominent people. In the course of the series, mainly country stars were invited more or less voluntarily in Hazzard County to hold an appearance in the "Boar's Nest". Mostly in the form of Rosco's fake speed traps, or by exploiting laws from the early days of horseless carriages. The following stars made an appearance in Hazzard:

Some of these stars only had short musical appearances, while others like Loretta Lynn, Cale Yarborough and Waylon Jennings were involved in the respective plot, or were even the reason for the plot.

background

In 1975 the film Moonrunners by Gy Waldron was released . It is considered the forerunner of the "Dukes", as it already contained practically all elements of the later series, including an Uncle Jesse, car chases, the "Boys" with bow and arrow and Waylon Jennings as the narrator. Waldron advanced the plot, and Warner Bros. Television produced the pilot One armed bandits (dt .: slot machines ) located on 1979 CBS aired. Contrary to the bad reviews, the series became a success and was among the top ten television series in the United States.

In season five, Tom Wopat and John Schneider, who played Bo and Luke, were replaced by Byron Cherry (“Coy Duke”) and Christopher Mayer (“Vance Duke”) due to financial disputes ; the producers of the series assumed that the "General Lee" alone would make the success and the cast would be interchangeable. However, a slump in the ratings allowed those responsible to give in, so that Wopat and Schneider - now with a better fee and participation - returned to the series in the same season.

A total of 145 episodes were produced in seven seasons. The last episode ("Opening Night at the Boar's Nest", "Hokuspokus Verschwindibus") was first broadcast on August 16, 1985.

Waylon Jennings sang the song Theme From The Dukes Of Hazzard (Good Ol 'Boys) for the original version The Dukes of Hazzard , which has appeared on various Greatest Hits albums by Waylon Jennings. His hand with his steel guitar can be seen in the opening credits of the series. He also acted as the narrator for the US version of the series.

Leading actors Tom Wopat, John Schneider, Denver Pyle, Sorrell Booke and James Best directed several episodes of the series.

Spin-offs

In 1980 the spin-off series Enos appeared , which told of how Hazzard Countys Deputy Enos Strate spends a time with the Los Angeles Police Department . As early as 1981, the series was discontinued after 22 episodes, and Enos returned to Hazzard, or Sonny Shroyer played his most famous character again in the "Dukes" series.

In the animated series, which was created in 1983, the "alternative characters" Coy and Vance Duke were seen in the first 13 episodes in order to convince viewers of the two. When it became clear that the two were not enjoying great popularity, the last seven episodes were "cast" with Bo and Luke. The series was about a world tour of the Dukes, so mostly did not play in Hazzard, and despite the original voices fell through with the audience.

TV films ("Reunions")

The first film, Reunion! (German title: Family Reunion of the Chaoten ), was broadcast in 1997. It was about a reunion of the Duke family to save Uncle Jesse's farm, which is to give way to an amusement park. The cast stayed loyal to the series, except for Boss Hogg. Its actor Sorrell Booke died of cancer in 1994 . The scriptwriters therefore promoted Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane to "Boss". Furthermore, Waylon Jennings was no longer available as a narrator and was replaced by Don Williams .

The second film (original title: Hazzard in Hollywood , German title: Hillbillies in Hollywood ) was first broadcast in 2000. This time Mac Davis was the narrator. Since Denver Pyle, who played Uncle Jesse, had also died of cancer in 1997 (shortly before his death, he was given another star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ), this character was no longer featured. The film was about the trip of the rest of the Dukes to Hollywood to raise money to build a hospital in Hazzard.

Video games

The 1999 title Racing for home for the PlayStation was a technically immature game, which, however, opened a new storyline from Uncle Jesse's youth as a smuggler. He was followed by Daisy Dukes it out (2000, also PlayStation), Dukes of Hazzard (2001, Game Boy Color and IBM-PC ) and Return of the General Lee (2004, PlayStation 2 and Xbox ).

More movies

2005: A Duke Seldom Comes Alone (film)
2007: A Duke Seldom Comes Alone - How It All Began

General Lee

The 69 Dodge Charger "General Lee"

The car is a Dodge Charger , built in 1969. There are different sources about the engine , not least because many chargers were "used" for the series (the figures vary between 150 and 309 vehicles, another 28 for the movie) . In the few episodes in which you get a glimpse into the engine compartment, you can see that it is a Hemi engine ; an 8- cylinder - V engine , as it is not uncommon for the Chargers this year of construction. This generates 425 SAE horsepower and 490 pounds / feet (662 Newton meters) of torque from a displacement of 426 cubic inches (just under 7 liters). As in many US cars, the General Lee has an automatic transmission built in, in this case a Torqueflite A-727. Externally, the General Lee at the finish in "Hemi Orange" and the big "01" on the doors and the flag of the Southern States (or the later as "southern flag" called on the roof Gösch the Confederate War navy ), which flanked by "General Lee" -Schriftzügen, a tribute to the Confederate General Robert E. Lee .

The front of the vehicle has a front protection bar ("push bar"), similar to those of US police vehicles, and the "General" has aluminum racing rims and a 5-tone fanfare that blows the first notes of the Confederate anthem . A roll cage and welded doors provided stability and made it difficult for Uncle Jesse to get into the back seat. The last major difference to the standard condition of a Dodge Charger is the radio in the cockpit and the associated antenna on the rear of the General Lee.

For the numerous jumps, the vehicles were only superficially transformed into General Lees and provided with counterweights in the trunk, otherwise the weight of the engine would have let the car land on its nose. For further stunts , the braking force of some Charger was shifted exclusively to the rear axle to make drifting around the bends easier. Vehicles with perfect paintwork and all details were only available for close-ups.

In a poll of the most popular TV vehicles in the USA, General Lee came in at number 2. Only the Batmobile from the 1960s series Batman (TV series) was more popular, with KITT from Knight Rider coming in third .

General Lee's jumps are so popular to this day that allusions to them can be found in numerous cinema and TV productions: A muscle car completes a jump, often accompanied by the excessively celebrated "Yeee-haaaw" scream by the Dukes (as An example would be the final jump with a Chevrolet Camaro in 2 Fast 2 Furious ).

Johnny Cash sang the song The General Lee for the original series The Dukes of Hazzard , which was only released on the original soundtrack LP.

The other vehicles

General Lee, of course, wasn't the only motorized actor. In the course of the series, various other vehicles were introduced and some were also retired. The most frequent changes were made to the Hazzard Sheriff's Department patrol cars. Rosco and Enos drove various models from Ford Crown Victoria , Dodge Monaco , Plymouth Fury , Plymouth Satellite and AMC Matador throughout the series . Since at least one patrol car suffered a total write-off in almost every episode, the constant change of vehicle model was not a continuity error in production. The tow truck of the local mechanic Cooter Davenport was exchanged just as often, although there is no explanation in the form of an episode plot in the case. Probably the most expensive vehicle in the series was definitely the Cadillac DeVille Convertible, which was owned by County Commissioner JD Hogg; of course, like his suit in a brilliant white and one of the few vehicles that did not suffer any major body damage. The most striking feature is a double cow horn, which was mounted on the bonnet instead of the Cadillac logo. Daisy has owned two vehicles over the course of the series. On the one hand there is a yellow Plymouth Road Runner with black decorative stripes, which the Duke Boys drove over a cliff in the episode "The Runaway". In this episode, she also got the successor car, which she kept until the end of the series. A white Jeep CJ-7 "Golden Eagle". This remained largely in its original condition. Only the doors were removed and the Golden Eagle lettering was replaced by the Dixie lettering decorated with flowers. The Jeep survived the series without any major wounds.

Otherwise there were various other cars that were only used in one episode. A black Chevy Nova , with which Uncle Jesse had transported the whiskey in Schwarzbrennertage, one or the other Ford Mustang and of course a lot of muscle cars from all possible manufacturers, which competed against General Lee in the official races that take place every now and then. Particularly noteworthy is the "Green Mean Machine", an armored car with flamethrowers, oil nozzles and spiked rims, which Boss Hogg had built in season 5 to commit raids. The car was used in two episodes and was destroyed by Coy and Vance Duke each time. But both times he disappeared without a trace at the end of the episode.

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