Tonight, on "The Dukes"

In which the General Lee is finally given a rest, and the boys get a new car… So my wife was telling me about an ad she heard on the radio featuring the Dukes of Hazzard. I was intrigued, and took to the internet to find it. I never did find the radio ad, but I did come across what is probably the visual portion of the same campaign. We open with the General Lee being chased by some modern cop cars, being piloted by a much older Bo and Luke, returning to the roles for the first time since 2000’s “Hazzard in Hollywood” TV movie (which I’ll get around to reviewing much, much later). Bo remarks that they’ve still got it, implying (to me, at least) that they once again returned to their non-Hazzard professions of NASCAR driver (Bo) and Smokejumper for the US Forest Service (Luke), as established in 1997’s “Dukes of Hazzard Reunion’ TV movie (again, more on that in the future). I’m thinking they’ve both retired, and returned to Hazzard to live out their days doing as they please, w...

In which there’s a demolition derby, and my spell check does not care for the name of the villain… We open at the Boars Nest, where Bo and Cooter are drooling over the new waitress, Bessie Lou, while Luke looks on in disgust, remarking “She walks like a trucker!” Afterwards,  Rosco is searching a truck and trailer full of junked cars, under suspicion that the driver’s boss, Augie Detweiller, is smuggling something. The Balladeer pipes up and fills us in on who Augie Detweiller is, and that he steals fancy racing engines and then puts them into junked car bodies, so he can then smuggle them out of the county and sell them. Wouldn’t it be easier to just operate somewhere closer to a city, which is certainly full of chop shops and the like? Back at the farm, Bo and Luke are waiting for Cooter to help them repair something, and he’s late, because Cooter is a jerk. Daisy comes outside and tells the boys that Cooter just called from Colonial City, and wants them to come pick up s...

In which the Dukes meet Cale Yarborough… We begin this tale with Rosco chasing Bo and Luke (and Luke is driving! That’s pretty rare, you guys!) over some unknown infraction, while Bo wonders why, as they haven’t done anything wrong today. Geez, Bo, maybe he’s chasing you for any of the other times you broke the law in previous episodes that you haven’t paid for? The boys accidentally break their probation by crossing the state line, because Rosco had previously removed the conveniently labeled sign indicating they were about to do so. Firstly, Conyers, Georgia (main filming location of the first five episodes , and where I place Hazzard County when I do these insane bits of research) is some 75 miles from the closest state border, which is Alabama. Secondly, knowing that, Rosco is well outside his jurisdiction, having to go through at least four counties to get to said border. And finally, if crossing the state border violates their probation, don’t you think the Dukes woul...

In which the reports of death are greatly exaggerated… We open, like most times, with Rosco chasing Bo and Luke. Bo remarks that they didn’t even do anything, they’re just testing out the General Lee’s new camshaft. Rosco radios Enos the Dukes’ location, and his reply is garbled, due to what seems to be a faulty radio. Luke bets Bo that he can fool Rosco into losing them using his Enos impression over the radio. He does, and we are treated to a shot of Tom Wopat lip synching over an audio track of Enos-type phrases. As a result of this, they lose the police. Meanwhile, over in Sweetwater County, Chief Lacey (who used to be chief of police in Springville County back in season 1 ; I guess maybe he took a different job? Or, more likely, the continuity is non-existent) drops a couple of con men off at the Hazzard line, methodically naming off, and then destroying, their tools for fixing games of chance. He then tells them that if they ever come back, they’ll be going away for 10 ye...