The Dukes (TV series)


The Dukes is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series based on the live-action television series The Dukes of Hazzard which aired on CBS from February 5 to October 29, 1983. The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with Warner Bros. Television, producer of the original series. 20 episodes were produced.

Plot

The series features the Duke boys and their cousin Daisy in an automobile race around the world against Boss Hogg, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, and Rosco's dog Flash in a duel for the prize money which the Dukes hope to use to keep the family farm from being foreclosed by Boss Hogg. Actually, Boss Hogg wants the money and the land for himself so he, Rosco, and Flash plans various schemes to keep the Dukes from winning. Most of the adventures are read from a post card by Uncle Jesse Duke to his pet raccoon Smokey.
The first season took place during the period of the live-action series' replacement of the original actors with similar characters, Coy and Vance Duke, after Tom Wopat and John Schneider walked out over a dispute about royalties from related merchandise. Thus, the first season of this animated series featured Coy and Vance. Bo and Luke eventually replaced Coy and Vance in Season 2 Episode 1 : "Boss O'Hogg and the Little People" after Tom and John simultaneously returned to the live series following the end of the dispute near the end of the fifth season. This episode also featured a new introduction and voice over that reflected the change in characters.
The series followed no particular logical geographic path; for instance, consecutive episodes feature appearances in Venice, Morocco, the Arctic Ocean, London, Greece, India, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong and Scotland. Furthermore, another inconsistency was that one of the original premises of The Dukes of Hazzard was that Bo and Luke were on probation, which would seemingly preclude them from leaving the state of Georgia, much less the United States itself. In the live-action series, the boys were prevented from leaving Hazzard County and Boss Hogg waived their probation only twice due to extenuating circumstances. Once for the Boys to join the NASCAR circuit and another for them to go into Tennessee in the episode "Daisy's Shotgun Wedding" to rescue Daisy from the Beaudry family.

Cast

Note: Live-action co-stars Waylon Jennings, Ben Jones, Sonny Shroyer, and Rick Hurst did not appear in this cartoon version.

Additional voices

Season 1 (1983)

Season 2 (1983)

Starting in the very first episode of this season, Tom Wopat and John Schneider return as Luke and Bo in the regular Dukes of Hazzard series, and take over for Coy and Vance in the cartoon.

Home media

On December 7, 2010, Warner Archive released The Dukes: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection.