Drawings of Bo Duke Cartoon

Yeeeee-Haaaw!

"Just the good ol' boys, Never meanin' no harm
Beats all you never saw, been in trouble with the law since the day they was born
Straightenin' the curves, flattenin' the hills
Someday the mountain might get 'em, but the law never will

Makin' their way the only way they know how
That's just a little bit more than the law will allow
Just the good ol' boys, Wouldn't change if they could
Fightin' the system like a-two modern day Robin Hoods."

An American action/comedy series that ran on CBS from 1979 to 1985.

The show follows the adventures of "good ol' boys" Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) Duke, two paroled ex-moonshiners who live with their Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach) in the fictional Hazzard County, Georgia. The boys spend their time tweaking the nose of corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg (Sorrell Booke), who always has his eye on acquiring the Duke family farm. Hogg retaliates by keeping the incompetent Sheriff Rosco Purvis Coltrane (James Best) always on the Dukes' trail in the hopes they'll violate their probation and get sent back to prison.

The series is remembered for its wild car chases, charming Southern setting, and Catherine Bach's near-criminally short shorts, which subsequently acquired her character's name as a generic term: "Daisy Dukes."

A theatrical motion picture version of the series was made in 2005 starring Seann William Scott as Bo, Johnny Knoxville as Luke, Jessica Simpson as Daisy, Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse, and Burt Reynolds as Boss Hogg, with a 2007 made-for-TV prequel. Two made-for-TV reunion movies with the original cast were also made, in 1997 and 2000. (What's often forgotten these days is that the original series was itself a loose adaptation of a 1975 theatrical film called Moonrunners , which featured essentially the same premise and the same characters under different names... or, in the cases of Uncle Jesse and Sheriff Rosco Coltrane, the same names!)

Besides adding to the desirability of 1968-69 Dodge Chargers, the show is also a major contributor to their rarity, having used up (variously wrecked and / or demolished) over three hundred over the course of the series (reportedly: 309).

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This show provides examples of:

• Absentee Actor:
  • James Best and Ben Jones each boycotted parts of season 2 due to disputes with the producers, while John Schneider and Tom Wopat missed most of season 5 as contract holdouts. Catherine Bach doesn't appear in season 3's "To Catch a Duke".
  • Even the General Lee is missing from one episode! Granted, that episode ("Mary Kaye's Baby") was only the third episode of the show's first season, so the car probably wasn't established enough as a "star" in its own right for its absence to have been noticed by many viewers at the time.
  • Averted by John Schneider and Tom Wopat when the whole cast offered to join their boycott of season 5. Catherine Bach mentioned offering to walk off with the two of them, but they told her not to. According to one source, they said that the reason they left was "man's work," but another simply said that they felt that if all three of them walked, there'd be no show to come back to. Also averted by Denver Pyle and Sorrell Booke, the only cast members to appear in every episode.

• Actor Allusion:
  • Rosco is occasionally shown with a fishing pole. Apparently he is an avid fisherman, just like the actor portraying the role (James Best).
  • In the reunion movies in the 90s, Cooter Davenport went into politics and became a Congressman, as did his actor Ben Jones.
  • Morgan Woodward parodies his most famous role, Boss Godfrey, in "Cool Hands, Bo and Luke".
  • In one of the Bandit Action Pack Made For TV Movies (based on the Smokey and the Bandit films) John Schneider plays a sheriff going after Bandit who seems to have gotten a passing grade (though not all As) from the Rosco P. Coltrane driving academy.
• Affectionate Nickname: Rosco often addresses his dog Flash as "Velvet Ears".
• The Alleged Car: Every Hazzard County patrol car eventually ends up as this after chasing the Duke Boys.
• And a Diet Coke: Happens in "Ghost of General Lee":

  Enos: A double order of catfish, hush puppies, pickles and onions, large order of fries, and extra thick chocolate milk and two slices of pecan pie. Is that right?

  Enos: You want that pie a la mode?

  Rosco: No, Enos, I don't want it a la mode. I gotta watch my calories!

• And Starring: The opening credit roll ends with "and Waylon Jennings as the Balladeer".
• Animated Adaptation: The Dukes, a Saturday Morning Cartoon series from 1983.
• Anti-Villain:
  • Enos is never really portrayed as corrupt or evil, and despite his Designated Villain role (by default by being on the same side as Boss Hogg) he becomes quite sympathetic and likable over the course of the show. Enos is plagued by a strong sense of duty. He's a deputy, and sworn to uphold the law. Unfortunately for him, Boss Hogg controls the law. At times, one has to wonder if his goofing up isn't at least somewhat intentional as a way of helping the Dukes. Especially considering that he was able to become the head of the Los Angeles SWAT team. What's more, Enos is never viewed by the Dukes themselves as being one of Boss Hogg's cronies. They realize that he's just doing his job and is simply too honest to be a part of anything crooked that Boss has come up with. Even when he's chasing them, they hold no malice towards him. In fact, they consider him to be probably the most honest man in the County and -they say it out loud more than once- the only real law in Hazzard. Whenever they need actual help from the law, it's Enos that they turn to. The fact that Enos grew up with Bo and Luke and has a huge crush on Daisy also means that he's very reluctant to harm the Dukes, and makes it hard for them to view him as an enemy.
  • Enos' successor, Cletus, isn't quite so incorruptible — he's a Hogg, after all — but he too harbors no real ill will toward the Dukes and mostly goes along with Boss and Rosco to preserve his job rather than out of any actual enthusiasm for their schemes.
• Artistic License – Economics: In one episode, Boss Hogg makes a deal to get any money in a trunk, while the local museum gets everything else. The money turns out to be Confederate money, which Boss and the show treat as if it were worthless. While of course genuine Confederate currency is no longer legal tender, it can in good condition be highly collectable and very valuable, and if Boss were careful in his selling, he would make several times the face value of the bills.
• Artistic License – Law: Frequently, it is implied that the fleeing bad guys will get away scot-free if they can make it over the county line, leading to a high-stakes car chase at the end. Simply fleeing Hazzard would not put them in the clear by any means — the fleeing criminals would still be in Georgia, over a thousand miles away from the Mexican Border. Certainly the HPD could call neighboring jurisdictions to catch any fleeing criminals.
• Artistic License – Physics:
  • As cool as the jumps look, a car is not an airplane. First of all, there is not enough weight in the back to keep the car flying in the shown trajectory. Second, the landing wreaks absolute havoc on the car, especially to its suspension and frame. This is why you almost never see The General Lee land after a jump... and if you do, you can often see the car's frame bending. Each jump usually wrecked a Charger.
  • Several of Rosco and Cletus' goofy, cartoonish car crashes would in fact seriously maim (if not kill) a driver in real life. Naturally, they always emerge unscathed.
• Ascended Extra: Cletus makes a few guest appearances in the first two seasons before becoming a regular as Enos's replacement deputy in season 3.
• The Bad Guys Are Cops: Rosco, who tries his darndest to arrest Bo and Luke, and often goes along with Boss in his illegal schemes. Although Rosco isn't really that bad.
• Badass Adorable: Daisy. Hit one of her Berserk Buttons, and she'll kick your ass. Particularly useful against female villains.
• Berserk Button: Several.
  • The normally mild-mannered Enos is less so if Daisy is in danger.
    • Not to mention that Bo and Luke will be very, *very* angry when their cousin or uncle is threatened.
  • Rosco may be a bumbling goofball, but woe be to anyone who is out to hurt Flash.
  • As much as he complains about her, Boss Hogg will absolutely not tolerate anyone endangering his wife Lulu.
  • Boss absolutely HATES for Rosco to pinch his cheek.
  • Endangering and exploiting either children or the elderly is a good way to get on Bo and Luke's bad side, really quick.
• Beauty Contest: "Miss Tri-Counties"
• Big Bad: Boss Hogg. While he is not really evil, just greedy and corrupt, his constant scheming is behind most (though not all) bad things that happen in Hazzard County.
• Big Bad Wannabe: Rosco, in "The 10 Million Dollar Sheriff".
• Big Eater: Boss Hogg (and how!). We often see Boss Hogg at a table heaped with food, and often he's eating even when not seated.
  • To a lesser degree, Cletus is often shown stuffing his face, even while on duty. He is a Hogg, after all.

• Bizarre Taste in Food: Boss Hogg is not only a Villainous Glutton, he has some odd tastes in food. His favorite breakfast is raw liver with coffee.
• Borrowed Catchphrase:
  • When Jesse gets appointed temporary Sheriff of Hazzard County he cackles into the CB "I'm in Hot Pursuit! I love it I love it!"
  • One time when Rosco gets a phone call Boss Hogg says "Say hello from Boss Hogg," which Rosco does.
• The Boxing Episode: "In This Corner, Luke Duke": A boxer named Catfish Lee and his crooked promoter and manager, Billy Ray, pick a fight with Luke so they can trick him into a boxing match and make a killing on tickets. When Catfish knocks Luke into Boss Hogg's new $3,000 mirror at the Boar's Nest, Boss demands that Luke fight Catfish in a match to pay for the mirror, or Jesse might be forced to sell the Duke farm in order to come up with the money. Luke, a former boxer, reluctantly agrees, but Catfish, Billy Ray, and their boss, Mr. Culpepper, set out to make sure Luke never gets to the match, so they can automatically get all the gate money without Boss Hogg getting any of it.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In "Goodbye General Lee" and "Heiress Daisy Duke" respectively, Luke and Daisy get hypnotized as part of Boss's scheme of the week.
• The Bus Came Back: Enos returns to Hazzard at the start of season 5, while Bo and Luke do so later that season.
• Buxom Is Better: Daisy. Part of what makes her so good at using Distracted by the Sexy.
• Canine Companion: Flash, for Rosco.
• Car Hood Sliding: Many consider Bo to be the Trope Codifier of this maneuver,it was often a given for him to perform a hood slide before a Car Chase would start.
• Car Porn: General Lee, of course, but other Cool Cars abound.
• Car Skiing: Done regularly on the show. One time a film crew is in town, happens to see Bo and Luke doing it, and hires them to do it on film.
• Catchphrase:
  • Boss Hogg: "You dipstick!" (Also used by Rosco, toward Enos and/or Cletus.)
  • Rosco:
    • "I'm in hot pursuit!"
    • "Good news, good news!" (Or, "Bad news, bad news!")
    • "Aw, tiddly tuddly!"
    • "Oohh, you see, that there's a naughty-naughty!" (indicating grounds to charge)
    • On the police radio: "This is Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane."
    • "Freeeeeeeeze!!!"
    • And his giggling "Oh Goo-goo-good! I love it! I love it!"
    • "Say Hello from Rosco" said to Boss Hogg every time Hogg gets a telephone call in his presence, without even knowing who is on the other end.
  • Enos: "Possum on a gum-bush!"
  • Cletus: "Buzzards on a buzzsaw!" or "Flapjacks on a Ferris Wheel!"
  • Bo and Luke: "Yee-Haw!"
  • Jesse Duke: "J.D., I ain't ever asked you for anything before, but..." (oddly he says this many, many times in the series)
• Celebrity Star: Although multiple episodes have the "Celebrity Speed Trap" gag at the end (usually for shows that run short), three episodes are framed entirely around the Special Guest Star – Loretta Lynn ("Find Loretta Lynn"), Mickey Gilley ("The Sound of Music – Hazzard Style") and – in his only onscreen appearance – Waylon Jennings ("Welcome Waylon Jennings").
• Chase Scene: The show's signature is its wild car chases, featuring as many jumps and wrecks as budget would allow.
• Chronically Crashed Car:
  • The General Lee doesn't count in-universe, but in reality they had to use 300 different cars to shoot it, including a number of 1968 and 1970 Dodge Chargers for the stunt work because they couldn't get enough of the proper 1969 model. ^note In the final seasons, even the later model Chargers became scarce, and the producers were forced to use miniatures for the jumps.
  • The police cars are straight examples. Many of the car chases end up with one or two crashed police cruisers.
  • In the MAD magazine parody of the show, Boss Hogg is shown as having the franchise for new police cars for the county, which is why he tolerates the constant destruction of the police department fleet.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Cletus Hogg in the fifth season. Boss's chauffeur Alex somewhere in the third season, *all* the other members of the Hazzard County sheriff's office after the first episode.
• Cigar Chomper: Boss Hogg, often.
• Clothesline Stealing: In one episode, the Duke boys are skinny dipping when their famous car gets stolen. With their clothes inside. Fortunately, there's a home nearby with laundry hanging out to dry.
• Clueless Deputy: Enos and especially Cletus.
• Code Name: The characters CB radio callsigns. Bo and Luke are "Lost Sheep", Daisy is "Bo Peep" (or occasionally "Country Cousin"), Jesse "Shepherd", Rosco "Red Dog", Enos "Blue Fox", and Cooter is "Crazy Cooter".
• Coffin Contraband: A first-season episode haw Boss Hogg hiding stolen money in a coffin. It's revealed in that episode that he regularly has moonshine smuggled in them as well.
• Commercial Break Cliffhanger: Applied inconsistently in season 1 before combining it with the now-famous freeze-frame format from season 2 onwards.
• Confirmed Bachelor: Rosco, Cletus, and Cooter are all lifelong bachelors.
  • Cooter was once married, albeit briefly (a disapproving father in law had it annulled). The liaison produced a daughter, Nancy Lou, who appears in the sixth season ep 'Cooter's Girl'.
• Cool Car:
  • The General Lee, a 1969 Dodge Charger stock car with welded doors, a proudly Confederate paint scheme, a horn that plays a bar from "Dixie," and the uncanny ability to do multiple long jumps with the Dukes never worrying about having its structural integrity irreparably damaged. Several other characters also have signature vehicles, including Daisy's yellow Plymouth Roadrunner (and later her white Jeep CJ), Uncle Jesse's rusty old Ford pickup, Cooter's tow truck, and Boss Hogg's white Cadillac convertible with bull's horns on the hood.
  • The General was more or less turned into a Southern version of the Mach 5 in the Animated Adaptation The Dukes.

• Cops Need the Vigilante: The movie actually did this mostly right. The Duke cousins all broke the law, but they did so not only without permission, but in the face of police antagonism.
• Corrupt Hick: Boss and Rosco.
• Courtroom Episode: "Coltrane vs. Duke," from Season 4. With Boss' support — and also sensing an opportunity to finally help his little fat buddy foreclose on the Duke farm — Rosco files a Frivolous Lawsuit in Hazzard County Court to the tune of $50,000, claiming that his latest failed chase of the Duke boys and resulting crash resulted in critical injuries. (Rosco is perhaps shaken up but otherwise unhurt.) While mainly played for laughs, such as Rosco demanding that Boss cater to his every whim and read Jack and the Beanstalk to him, and the Courtroom Antics (Boss hiring one of his lackeys to play a doctor claiming that Rosco's injuries were legit), there is also high drama as Jesse — tearfully conceding defeat, when Rosco and the fake doctor play their parts perfectly — actually has his nephews and niece pack everything up. Of course, in the end, the Dukes manage to outwit Rosco with a few surprise witnesses of their own.
• Criminal Doppelgänger: A frequent trope in several episodes, and a particular favorite trick used by Boss Hogg and Rosco in their never-ending quest to frame the Duke boys:
  • "Double Dukes", where Boss hires two men to rob Hazzard Bank, and to make the heist convincing to the community and most importantly the authorities, has the men wear clothing, wigs and masks resembling Bo and Luke. Boss even has a Dodge Charger painted to resemble the General Lee. Of course, Bo and Luke are able to prove their innocence and expose their doubles.
  • "The $10 Million Sheriff", where a vicious bounty hunter paints a stolen Dodge Charger as the General Lee, fooling Bo and Luke.
  • "Too Many Roscos", where an experienced bank robber named Woody has surgery so he can exactly resemble Rosco. He does this as he and his two associates run the patrol car driven by the real Rosco off the road and into a lake, kidnap him and allow the community to believe that the real Rosco to be presumed drowned. After the community begins mourning the presumably dead sheriff, "Rosco" reappears, much to the joy of the community. Although there are obvious clues that this man is an imposter—namely, by bungling simple facts while remembering in detail an expected armored car delivery to Hazzard Bank — the community is fooled, and this allows Woody and his friends to pull off a seemingly easy bank robbery. But they can't leave well enough alone, leading to a physical showdown between Rosco and Woody.
  • "Twin Trouble", where twin jewel thieves use this to their advantage by having one of the sisters pull off the robberies and the other be somewhere else, claiming complete innocence and non-involvement in the crime. Bo is dating the "innocent" sister while Luke saw the other one pull off the robbery, naturally leading to conflict before the Duke cousins realize what is actually happening.
• Crossover: Boss and Enos make a guest appearance in an episode of Alice. It's revealed in the episode that Jolene is Boss Hogg's cousin.
• Cryptid Episode: In one episode, The Greys are hiding in Hazzard County.
• Damage-Proof Vehicle: As the countless cars totaled over the show's run to keep up the illusion reveal, the General Lee is borderline indestructible.
• Darker and Edgier: Boss and Rosco in the film. While they have their moments of comedy, they are legitimate threats rather than the bumbling comic-relief characters of the series.

• Deceased Parents Are the Best: Word of God said that all three sets of Duke parents (Luke's, Bo's and Daisy's) were killed in a car wreck, hence their children were living with Jesse.
• Deep South: The show features an exaggerated depiction of the Deep South, filled to the brim with Civil War-obsessed moonshiners, yokels and corrupt officials.
• De Fictionalization: The only permissible place to display a Confederate flag in this day and age? The roof of a Dodge Charger. Subverted in the movie; see Setting Update.
• Digital Piracy Is Evil: Actually had two episodes featuring this trope: "Daisy's Song" (S1, EP2) and "The Sound of Music Hazzard Style" (S4, EP14). Both episodes involved bootleg tapes instead of digital files and in both Boss Hogg was the vilain.
• Distracted by the Sexy: Daisy's specialty. If necessary, she'll change into a bikini, or wear a very skimpy top together with her short shorts.
• Doesn't Like Guns:
  • In the pilot, one of the Duke boys explains that they don't carry any firearms because they're on probation. Later mentioned by the narrator early in the actual series. Fortunately, they have dynamite arrows.
  • Jesse and Daisy are exempt from this. Daisy in particular is good with guns, having put 6 bullets from a revolver though the same hole during her testing to become a deputy.
  • Boss Hogg, despite his dishonesty, hates violence and won't go in for violent schemes where someone could get hurt.

• Double Unlock: A twist that Boss Hogg hopes to invoke. In its most basic sense, by having Bo and Luke arrested, making them stand trial and sending them to prison, he hopes that Uncle Jesse will be forced to sell the farm to Boss, who plans to use it for his own nefarious schemes or to make a large profit.
• Drives Like Crazy: Well, yeah. More or less everybody does this, but especially the Dukes are quite competent at it.
• Driving a Desk: Frequently, scenes taking place in moving cars are filmed in this way.
• Early Installment Weirdness: The first few episodes of season 1 have a bit of this, due to a somewhat more "adult" tone (see Lighter and Softer, below) as well as the fact that they were shot on location in Georgia, so the countryside looks completely different as do such locations as the Duke farmhouse, Cooter's garage, the courthouse and jail, etc.
• Economy Cast: The Hazzard County Sheriff's Department consists of Rosco along with Enos and/or Cletus. Averted in the pilot episode, where we actually see a whole staff of deputies.
• Embarrassing First Name: Beauregard Duke most definitely prefers going by just Bo.
• Enemy Mine:
  • The occasional episode has Boss and/or Rosco forced to team up with the Dukes against an outside foe. Also, episodes where one of the cronies working with Boss will violently turn against him, usually after the villain thinks that Boss is secretly working with the authorities (or the Dukes, if the bad guy is aware of them) to bring him to justice.
  • Boss used to be Jesse's best friend. And Rosco used to be an honest lawman.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Boss Hogg never actually physically hurts anyone. In one episode, he refuses to get involved in selling drugs, despite his history as a moonshiner. And he will in fact often sacrifice tremendous profits, and even betray his partners in crime, when he sees that the scheme is endangering someone's life.
  • Even Low-Level Crime Has Double Standards: Jesse Duke is a former moonshiner, and has only stopped after signing an agreement with the US government in exchange for Bo and Luke being put on probation rather than imprisoned for running the illicit booze. He blows his stack, however, when they show up with a water heater box filled with marijuana.
  • Another example of this: when a rich asshole from Savannah with a stick the size of Texas up his ass tries to wrest custody of his grandson from the child's mother simply because she happened to grow up in backwater Hazzard, Boss is as pissed off as the Dukes.
  • One episode spells it out plainly, where the Balladeer intones that while Boss is totally crooked he will NOT tolerate violence and will not get involved in any scheme where someone could get hurt. Boss is greedy for money, but will not have anyone physically hurt to get it.
  • When Bo and Luke are mistaken for dead and Rosco thinks he's responsible, he takes it harder than anyone else, including Daisy and Jesse. He says that more than a few times, he's let them go on purpose and that mostly, he was just in it for the thrill of the car chase.
  • James Best has described his portrayal of Rosco's mentality as "A big kid who likes car chases".
  • Cletus may be willing to play along with Boss Hogg's corruption, but he will bust any Drunk Driver he spots with firm professionalism.

• Evil Minions: Boss Hogg has the entire Sheriff's office under his command. Of course, this consists of two men, both pretty incompetent. And Enos definitely isn't evil or corrupt. He's always in the dark about Boss' schemes — as he would probably arrest Boss if he knew the truth — and is just following orders from Rosco.
• Evil Twin: Inverted in Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg's good twin Abraham Lincoln Hogg, who drives a black Cadillac and dresses ◊ in black.
• Expository Theme Tune: "Good Ol' Boys (Theme from The Dukes of Hazzard)", performed by Waylon Jennings. A version with slightly altered lyrics topped the Billboard country chart in 1980.
• Fanservice
  • If you're into gals: Daisy Duke and her eponymous shorts, with some bikini scenes thrown in.
  • If you're into guys: Bo and Luke, with various Shirtless Scenes and some instances of Skinny Dipping.
  • If you're into cars: the General Lee, and lots of other Car Porn.
• Fallen Hero: Rosco before the beginning of the series was an Honest Cop. Until his pension was vetoed, leaving him two choices: retire without a penny to his name, or help Boss Hogg with his scheming.
• Farmer's Daughter: Daisy Duke.
• Fat, Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit: Boss Hogg. Possibly the Trope Codifier.
• Fictional Province: The show takes place in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia.
• The Film of the Series: Several films have been made based on the series.
• Fixing the Game: The Duke boys once rig the roulette wheel of a traveling casino.
• Flanderization: In the first season, Rosco is portrayed more sympathetically and intelligently (well, barely), himself a victim of Boss Hogg's manipulations due to the loss of his pension. Later seasons show him as a willing accomplice in Boss's schemes, and far more idiotic.
• Framing the Guilty Party: In the 2005 movie based on the series, Boss Hogg takes the Duke Farm from the Dukes by framing them for moonshining. As Daisy puts it, the cops had to do this because they were too stupid to find the real moonshine still in their home.
• Friendly Enemy: Despite Boss and Rosco repeatedly harassing the Duke family and conspiring to frame them for crimes they did not commit (in an effort to cover up Boss' own criminal activities), the two sides are old friends by episode's end. While one has to wonder if it's all a screwed-up way to lure criminals to Hazzard and send them to prison, others wonder if having Boss was a better alternative to possibly having someone more vicious and corrupt ... and yet others believe that there would simply be no show without the Duke vs. Hogg storyline each week.

• Gadgeteer Genius: Downplayed, but one of Rosco's few talents is rigging devices for speed-traps, such as a stop-light popping out of nowhere on a country road right after the boys drive past. Also, Boss employs a few more ambitious example of this trope on occasion, such as a man who rigs a remote control to drive a car by itself as part of a train heist.
• Giggling Villain: Rosco, frequently. ("Kew-kew-kew-kew!")
• Go-Karting with Bowser: The Dukes are all generally on good terms with Boss Hogg and Rosco, despite Hogg and Rosco actively trying to make life difficult for them.
• Gone Swimming, Clothes Stolen: Happens at least twice to Bo and Duke. In the second case, General Lee is stolen with their clothes inside it. It doesn't help that they don't wear swimsuits.
• Good Counterpart: Boss Jefferson Davis Hogg's brother, Abraham Lincoln Hogg.
• Good Old Fisticuffs:
  • The bad guys never get away with it and are always arrested, but not before Bo and Luke go a few rounds with them.
  • Rarely the Duke boys themselves will tussle. Luke, the former Marine and boxer, almost always wins.
  • Cooter is ready, willing and eager to trade punches with baddies as well.
• Great Escape: the boys pull one from the Osage road gang in Cool Hand Bo and Luke.
• Grey-and-Gray Morality:
  • As the theme song says, the Dukes have "been in trouble with the law since the day they was born", however with that said, none of them are bad people. They can be very friendly, polite, and likable. They are still a family so they genuinely care deeply about each other.
  • Sheriff Rosco is a Type IV Anti-Villain. He is really a Hero Antagonist.
  • The shows main antagonist, Boss Hogg, may be greedy and sometimes dishonest but he really doesn't wish to hurt anyone and is just after the Dukes due to their law problems.

• Hilarity Ensues: In the real world, the characters' various antics would have troublesome consequences:
  • The Duke boys would likely be jailed, or at least barred from driving for breaking about every traffic rule in existence and eluding a law enforcement officer (even if Rosco had no legit reason to stop them).
  • Boss Hogg would long have been sent to prison for consorting with counterfeiters, bank robbers, mobsters, racketeers, con artists and so forth, all with the goal of defrauding Uncle Jesse out of the Duke farm. He may have been the law in Hazzard County, but the county wouldn't be totally isolated from the rest of the country and the feds and IRS would have their eyes on him.
  • Rosco would be de-certified as a law enforcement officer, not only with consorting with Boss Hogg in his illegal schemes, but because of general incompetence.
  • The Duke boys aren't able to carry guns as a restriction of their probation, but dynamite requires a permit, too, and two felons on probation aren't likely to get one—particularly since Boss Hogg would be the one to issue it!
• Hillbilly Moonshiner: Uncle Jesse & Boss Hogg both used to be moonshiners. The Duke boys are permanently "on probation" for running Jesse's moonshine.
• Hollywood Police Driving Academy (former Trope Namer, "Rosco P Coltrane Academy Of Police Driving"). The police aren't really bad drivers, it's just that Bo and Luke are much better and provoke their opponents to drive beyond their ability.
• Hood Hornament:
  • Boss Hogg has a pair of giant horns on his white Caddy convertible.
  • Boss Hogg's Polar Opposite Twin Abraham Lincoln Hogg has a pair of horns on his black Caddy convertible.
  • Boss Hogg's nephew Hughie has a pair of small horns on his white VW Beetle convertible.
• Horns of Villainy: Not on any of the characters, but the Texas longhorn horns on Boss Hogg's car symbolize his bullish, ornery nature.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Enos is considered by the Dukes, and pretty much all of Hazzard, to the only 'real' law enforcement in Hazzard County. Despite his inherent innocence, Enos is very serious about being a good deputy and when the chips are down he can be counted on. He's good enough to have distinguished himself on the LAPD and was able to take down Frank Scanlon, a professional hitman, unarmed. And if someone should ever threaten Daisy, that will definitely hit his Berserk Button (Scanlon was holding Daisy hostage when Enos laid a beating on him).
• Iconic Outfit: Daisy Duke's Daisy Dukes, Boss Hogg's white suit, and Uncle Jesse's overalls.
• If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!:
  • Word of God has it that Uncle Jesse has instilled in his nephews, Bo and Luke, that for as wily as Boss is and for as much grief and trouble as he and Rosco have caused the Duke family through the years — simple harassment to outright framing the Duke boys for various crimes to trying to illegally foreclose on their property — they have a moral obligation and duty to protect, rescue and aid Hogg (and/or Rosco, when necessary) whenever their lives are threatened. It is implied that Jesse has told Bo and Luke that, if they were ever to allow Boss or Rosco to die at the hands of criminals, they would be disinherited and disowned as they would be just as responsible for allowing their deaths to happen as if they had pulled the trigger themselves.
  • In the Season 2 episode "Grannie Annie," it is Rosco who employs this trope when he has trouble convincing Bo and Luke to go after a counterfeiter and his bodyguard who have kidnapped Boss Hogg and plan to kill him (believing Boss double-crossed him). The Duke boys eventually relent and end up saving Boss Just in Time.
• I Gave My Word: Boss Hogg is as crooked as the day is long, but if he "spits and shakes" with you, he'll stick to his word no matter what.
• I'll Take Two Beers Too: Happens in "The Ghost of General Lee":

  Enos: A double order of catfish, hush puppies, pickles and onions, large order of fries, and extra thick chocolate milk and two slices of pecan pie. Is that right?

  Rosco: Yeah, and get something for yourself, Enos.

• Ironic Echo: In "Cool Hands Luke and Bo," Bo and Luke, and later Boss Hogg and Rosco, make the mistake of entering Osage County, ruled by the feared Colonel Claiborne and Sheriff Cathcarte. All four are captured and sent to Claiborne's roadside chain gang on trumped-up charges. When Rosco protests, "You can't arrest me, I'm an officer of the law!", Cathcarte smugly replies, "We can do anything we want! This is our county now!"
  Then, in the climax of the episode, the four escape and race toward Hazzard, with Claiborne and Cathcarte in pursuit. The chase ends in a car crash. As everyone tries to clear their heads, Bo and Luke grin and point out - to Boss Hogg and Rosco's thrill and Claiborne and Cathcarte's horror - that they've crossed the county line, and are now in Hazzard. As Boss Hogg and Rosco gleefully arrest their former tormentors, Cathcarte protests, "You can't arrest me, I'm an officer of the law!" and Rosco smugly replies, "We can do anything we want! This is our county now!"
• Jiggle Show: The show is often called a Jiggle Show because of the abundance of Fanservice. Actual jiggling, however, is usually averted — Daisy wears a bra most of the time and usually doesn't show much cleavage. But there are exceptions, such as Daisy running in a bikini.
• Jurisdiction Friction: Rosco Coltrane and Boss Hogg are not on the best of terms with the sheriffs of the neighboring counties, and friction arises whenever the common car chases take the Dukes across the county line.
• Lemming Cops: When the General Lee is chased by Rosco Coltrane and his deputies, the Dukes will usually try to shake their pursuers by driving down narrow dirt tracks, through cow pastures (and sometimes even through barns) and performing increasingly dangerous stunts. The Sheriff seems to enjoy this just as much as the Dukes and does a remarkably good job of keeping up with the General, until the stunts exceed his driving skills and he ends up with a totalled car.
• Lighter and Softer:
  • The first few episodes of the show have a decidedly more adult tone, with occasional mild cursing, references to sex, pot, booze, etc., and more serious corruption from Boss and Rosco. When it was discovered that the show was becoming popular with children, the producers toned that stuff down and turned the show and its characters into something more broadly comedic and harmless.
  • The whole show can be seen as a Lighter and Softer version of the Moonrunners film.
• Light Is Not Good: The villainous Boss Hogg always dresses in all white.
• Limited Wardrobe: With the exception of Daisy, most of the main characters wear the same outfits day in and day out, except for when the story calls for something else:
  • Bo wears yellow button-front long-sleeved shirt (cuffs rolled up) over a blue T-shirt and jeans.
  • Luke's trademark is a blue button-front shirt (cuffs rolled up) and jeans. In season one, the shirt is plaid under a Levi's jean jacket. From season two, he takes to wearing just a plain blue shirt, buttoned only halfway.
  • Uncle Jesse is identified by his beige/off-white button-front long-sleeved shirt with dirty bib overalls.
  • Cooter often had a khaki work shirt, jeans and a ballcap.
  • Boss Hogg is rarely seen without his white continental suit and cowboy hat.
  • The sheriff's department – Rosco, Enos and Cletus – are almost always seen in uniform, even in social, off-duty situations. (More than once, Rosco is seen with a beer in his hand... while wearing his sheriff's uniform!) And even when out of uniform, Rosco is rarely without his black cowboy hat.
• Local Hangout: The Boar's Nest, where Daisy works as a waitress and the rest of the cast go for drinks. Boss Hogg has his headquarters in the back room.
• Locked in a Freezer: An episode has Uncle Jesse and Boss Hogg locked in a bank vault.
• Manchild: Rosco Coltrane thinks and acts like an eight-year-old, even though he does take his law enforcement duties seriously.
• A Man Is Always Eager: Part of the reason Daisy is so good at using Distracted by the Sexy
• Master of Disguise: syndicate assassin Frank Scanlon. Hughie Hogg, in his fourth appearance.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Jefferson Davis Hogg and his good twin, Abraham Lincoln Hogg.
  • Enos Strate (straight), about the only non-crooked member of the police force.
• Monochrome Casting: Although Georgia has a large African-American population, the show features all of one Black character (Sheriff Little). Though this may be Truth in Television. Forsyth County in north Georgia infamously became all-white in 1912 and stayed that way through most of the 20th Century. As late as 1997, African-Americans numbered just 39 in a population of 75,739.
• Morality Pet: Later in the series, the Sheriff's Office gets a K-9 unit which consists entirely of Flash, a Basset Hound whose main purpose is for Rosco to be a googly-eyed, sweet talking daddy to...oh, and to bark up a storm whenever Boss Hogg gets near.
• Morton's Fork: One episode has Lulu Hogg lose her bag while at an airport with Daisy, and coincidentally a bag with a stolen necklace inside happens to exactly resemble it. When she tries to take it from the leader of the thieves and he insists that it's his, he's presented with a choice between either giving up the necklace, or opening the suitcase to see whose belongings are inside (with police nearby investigating the theft of the necklace). He's forced to "realize" that it isn't his suitcase after all and give it to Lulu, but then begins scheming to steal it back, and kill Lulu and Daisy for having seen his face. Naturally, he fails at both.
• Mr. Fanservice: Bo and Luke, on both sides of the Fourth Wall.
• Ms. Fanservice:
  • While she is portrayed as a strong, independent young woman, Daisy also provides a lot of fanservice in almost every episode, to the extent that short, tight jean shorts were called "Daisy Dukes" for quite a while.
  • Taken up to 11 in the 2005 film where Daisy no longer has to wear pantyhose under her shorts to appease network censors who felt that she was showing too much skin. The film version of Daisy is also very aware of her sex appeal and uses it to manipulate men (notably Enos) into doing her bidding.
• Multiple Demographic Appeal: The show features two hunky guys as its main characters as well as a hot chick in short shorts. The Deep South setting is constructed to appeals to Northerners and Southerners alike. The characters are all unapologetic about their way of life, including Confederate sympathies and illegal moonshining, but everything is taken to such cartoonish levels that Northerners can laugh at the silly rednecks. And once they realized that even kids were getting attracted to the car chase scenes, they worked themselves just a little softer to keep parents from complaining.
• Murder by Remote Control Vehicle: Season 7 brought "Danger on the Hazzard Express," where Boss schemes with two robbers plan to steal the General Lee and, after placing a remote-control device in the engine and steering gear, use it to crash into a train carrying $2 million to the state's reserve. The trope kicks into effect when the robbers – realizing that Bo and Luke will come after them – plans to kidnap the Duke boys, restrain them inside the car and then crash the car into the train. (Boss, knowing what this means, immediately turns against his associates when they refuse to back down. And of course, the Duke boys do manage to regain control of the car and eventually defeat the bad guys.)
• Narrator: "Balladeer" Waylon Jennings, who also sings the title tune. Also counts as a Greek Chorus.
• Nephewism: Bo and Luke live with their uncle.
• New Neighbors As The Plot Demands:
  • The Season 2 episode "Good Neighbors Duke", where the Duke family assist never-before-seen and never-seen-again neighbors (and friends) Adam and Esther Veneable in evading Boss Hogg and a pair of crooked bounty hunters in a search for $2 million in cash supposedly hidden on the property.
  • During the Dukes' peak of popularity in the early 1980s, several coloring books were issued. One of the stories has the Dukes meeting and visiting (for the evening) new neighbors, who were never seen on the live-action show. Highlights included a large country-style dinner and — of course, what Dukes' story wouldn't be complete without it — a story about Rosco and how the Dukes ended one of their cat-and-mouse chases by driving through an old barn and eventually locking the sheriff inside for the night.
• No Party Given: Both Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. Justified in that Boss Hogg is only running a county (in the US, political parties usually only care about state and federal elections), and Rosco is appointed, not elected.
• Non-Fatal Explosions: The Dukes are always blowing things up, but, being the good guys, never hurt anyone.

  Jesse Duke: "The Dukes revenge on property, not people."

• Not So Stoic:
  • The rare instances when Boss Hogg — or a bit more commonly, Rosco — have a loved one close to them that is in genuine trouble by a particularly dastardly villian. This use of the trope reminded fans that, despite their outright lack of ethics, beneath it all Boss Hogg and Rosco did have morals and were decent people who were truly concerned about the safety of everyone, even their sworn enemies the Duke family.
  • Much rarer, but Bo and/or Luke have cried when someone was in grave danger. The most blatant example is in "Too Many Roscos"... when Rosco is thought to have driven his car into a lake and doesn't re-emerge (he has actually gotten out of his police car safely, but is kidnapped by a gang of bank robbers).
  • Even rarer, with Uncle Jesse... although there have been instances where he was genuinely saddened by a development or rift in his family (most notably used in the two-part premiere of season three).
• OOC Is Serious Business: In "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Duke," Luke falls victim to a toxin that alters his personality. He becames a complete bastard (even by the standards of the show's worst villains), from being rude, disrespectful and petty to being a masher, a thief, a vandal and willing to (literally) kill Bo for getting in his way.
• Permanent Elected Official: Boss Hogg. Nothing he does seems to jeopardize his chances for re-election
• Poor Man's Substitute: James Roday did a Ben Stiller role in the movie.
• Poorly Disguised Pilot: "Enos Strate to the Top", "Jude Emery" and "Mason Dixon's Girls". Only the first one actually became a series.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Sometimes used as a plot device. In one episode Jesse and Daisy are left tied up by a pair of crooks, get free and warn the boys about where the two armed robbers will be. We cut to those two armed robbers and one of them is confused about why they left them tied up when it increases the risk they'd get loose and tell someone, and his partner replies that the prison sentence for kidnapping combined with armed robbery would be the rest of their lives (that they didn't just shoot the two could be another example of this or just Even Evil Has Standards).
• Pre Cap: Most episodes start with a montage of action scenes from the episode. It usually doesn't give away too much of the plot.
• Precision F-Strike: mild but after the series gets Lighter and Softer there's still an episode in one of the final scenes, with helicopter-using armored car robbers, where one of them, upon losing his watch, says that the damn strap broke, and they have to get it back because it has his initials.
• Punch-Clock Villain: Cletus and (especially) Enos, who are quite friendly with the Dukes (and especially Daisy) when off-duty.

  Daisy: [after Enos warns the Dukes that he'll have to try to help capture Bo and Luke] Why'd you stop by to warn them?

  Enos: What I do on my lunch hour is my own business. The rest of the day, my soul belongs to the law.

• Put on a Bus:
  • Enos leaves Hazzard for the LAPD (and his own spinoff show) early in season 3.
  • Bo and Luke go off to "join the NASCAR circut" at the start of season 5; once they return midway through that season, replacements Coy and Vance are sent off to "tend to a sick relative"... and never seen, heard from, or spoken of again.
  • Cletus also disappears without a trace a few episodes into season 5, although he later shows up for the reunion specials.
  • Rosco also leaves "to be re-trained" for a while in season 2 (due to James Best's boycotting the show; see Absentee Actor). He is replaced by several Sheriffs of the Week until they settle on Grady Byrd, played coincidentally enough by the original Other Darrin (Dick Sargent), to replace him during the rest of his absence. Rosco eventually returns.
• Quip to Black: The narrator regularly does this on an action sequence freeze-frame. (The Dukes jump a chicken house: "Looks like the boys have flown the coop." Cue dramatic steel-guitar lick.)
• Racing the Train: In at least one episode, the villains barely make it across a railroad crossing with a train coming, to escape pursuit by the Duke boys and the General Lee. Bo simply uses a convenient ramp to jump over the train in eventually catching the baddies.

• Really Gets Around: Both boys tend to have plenty of luck with the ladies, but Bo has girls coming out of his ears. Before the show was toned down for kids, it was often mentioned in passing that he's probably responsible for half the bastards in Hazzard.
• Recurring Extra: Boss Hogg spends the first three seasons being driven around by a chauffeur named Alex, who is the subject to the occasional gag, and can be a low-key Badass Driver at times, but is not once named in the closing credits, and to this day most to all fans of the show don't even know the name of the actor who played him.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Both the Duke Boys are red to Jesse's blue. Between them, Luke tends to be blue and Bo is as red as they come.

• Required Spinoff Crossover: Uncle Jesse, Daisy and Rosco all managed to make their way to California for guest appearances during Enos's brief run.
• Reunion Show: Two reunion movies were made with most of the original cast (Sorrell Booke passed away before the movies were made, and Denver Pyle's final performance was in the first one).
• Rhyming Names: Luke Duke.
• Robin Hood: Thematic elements, underlined by the Duke Boys' use of dynamite-laden hunting arrows as one of their preferred weapons. It's even lampshaded in the theme song.
• Running Gag: Cletus and his patrol car sure seem to end up in lakes a lot.
• Scarecrow Solution: When the Dukes are mistakenly declared dead, they fake a haunting by coating the General Lee with glow-in-the-dark paint and spook Boss Hogg into abandoning an attempt to frame them for a theft.
• Scary Black Man: Sheriff Little, who is scary even to Sheriff Coltrane.
• Setting Update: In the film, the Unfortunate Implications of the General Lee's roof-flag in the 21st century are confronted head-on. Since in the reality of the movie, there was never a TV show, emblazoning a Confederate flag on an orange 70s-era Charger does NOT get a pass.
• The '70s: Downplayed, since the show takes place in a rural, rather backwards area that isn't very influenced by then-current fashions, design, or cultural trends that would have made it an Unintentional Period Piece. Most characters wear either timeless fashions like jeans and T-shirts, or stereotypical outfits that fit with their roles. Still noticeable in the cars (at least the newer ones) and in the fashions worn by visiting city people. Hairstyles are all fairly '70s, though.
• The Sheriff:
  • Rosco P. Coltrane.
  • Also Sheriff Little, of neighboring Chickasaw County.
  • And for a while, Sheriff Grady Byrd.
  • And Sheriff Emitt Ragsdale, of Choctaw County.
• She's Got Legs: Daisy. Part of her talent with using Distracted by the Sexy, and of course emphasized by her short shorts.
• Shoo Out the New Guy: Coy and Vance, yet again.
• Sleazy Politician: Boss Hogg.

• Smoking Is Cool: Boss Hogg regularly smokes cigars; he is the only character (aside from several extras in first-season episodes, and the rare villian thereafter) to light up.
• Special Guest:
  • Usually a country-music star who got caught in Boss's "celebrity speed trap" and dragooned into giving a free concert at the Boar's Nest in lieu of jail time.
  • While Waylon Jennings appeared in one episode ("Welcome, Waylon Jennings" - he narrated as well), he did not get caught in the trap.
  • Every so often, other guest stars appear such as race car driver Cale Yarborough.
• Spin-Off: Enos had the deputy moving out West and working for the LAPD.
• Stripperiffic: Daisy Duke, at least halfway. Unlike her shorts, most of her tops were rather modest.
• Stripping the Scarecrow: In "The Ghost Of General Lee", two men steal the General Lee while Bo and Luke are Skinny Dipping. Unfortunately, Bo and Luke's clothes are left in the car, so they have to take the clothes off a scarecrow. Bo takes its shirt, while Luke gets its pants.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Coy and Vance (for Bo and Luke), Cletus (for Enos), and occasionally Grady (for Rosco) and B.B. (for Cooter).
• Sweet Home Alabama: While this version of the Deep South is replete with caricatural characters, the heroes are proud Southerners and their values and way of life are portrayed positively.
• That's All, Folks!:
  • Rosco's trademark chuckle ("kew-kew-kew!") is played over the WB logo at the end of most episodes.
  • For the Season 2 episodes in which James Best doesn't appear (see Absentee Actor above), the logo is accompanied by a clip of Boss Hogg moaning, "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!"
• Theme Park Version: Of the rural South. Not only is it largely populated by stereotypical southerners, but the social and racial tensions from the real world are very much downplayed.
• Tights Under Shorts: A very notorious, if subtle, example with Daisy Duke in the TV incarnation. Catherine Bach has said in an interview that she didn't wear panties as they would show under her short shorts, and the censors couldn't accept the risk of part of her cheeks (or something even more inappropriate) showing if she had gone commando.
• Token Minority: Sheriff Little is the only African-American character of any importance on an otherwise monochrome cast. It should be noted that he is quite a respected character, and probably the only officer of the law (other than Enos) that the Dukes respect. He is honorable, if strict, and an all-too-rare non-stereotypical black person on TV. Not to mention that he is a black man occupying a position of authority such as Sheriff in the south.
• Took a Level in Badass: Enos. It was implied somewhat throughout the series if Daisy was in trouble, but in his spinoff show he's the head of the LAPD SWAT team; and in the first reunion movie he throws The Dragon though the window!
• Tricked into Another Jurisdiction: Happened once when Bo and Luke were captured, followed by Boss Hogg and Rosco, in neighboring Osage County, by Boss' rival Colonel Claiborne (and his Rosco equivalent, Sheriff Cathcarte). After escaping Cathcarte's chain gang, the inevitable car chase — and subsequent crash — ensues. When the dust clears, our heroes realize they've crossed the county border and are now in Hogg and Rosco's jurisdiction; the latter two jump at the chance to get back at the assholes who chained them up.
• Tyrannical Town Tycoon: Corrupt businessman Boss Hogg owns most of the property and businesses in Hazzard County, and while he doesn't have any official connection to the sheriff's office the sheriff always takes orders from him.
• The Unfought: Occasionally a tough villain will be taken without one of the shows trademark fistfights, usually after a car chase.
• Vehicular Sabotage: Happens quite often in Hazzard, occasionally even to the General Lee. The good guys (mostly Bo, Duke or Cooter) do it to the bad guys to thwart their schemes, while the bad guys do it to the good guys (or the police, who don't quite count as "good guys" here) to get away.
• Villainous Glutton: Boss Hogg sure loves to eat a lot.
• Virginity Makes You Stupid: Enos is described in the pilot as being "the oldest virgin in Hazzard County", and while he's not dumb, exactly, he is rather naive and easily duped.
• We Used to Be Friends: Uncle Jesse and J.D. Hogg were best friends (and fellow moonshine-runners) in their youth.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: The very prominent Confederate flag on the roof of the General Lee.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: "Luke Duke"? Once or twice on the show his name elicited comments by strangers. In his mostly positive review of the series, TV Guide's Robert McKenzie ended with the statement "You don't expect much wisdom from a boy named Luke Duke." His name was actually "Lucas" and "Luke" was just a nickname.
• Who Wears Short Shorts?:
  • Daisy wears short-shorts. And even today, cut-off shorts are called "daisy dukes." They were very short for the time, but compared with the almost microscopic shorts worn by some 21st century celebs they look almost modest.
  • In the TV version, she wears flesh-colored tights underneath due to TV censorship rules; see the entry for Tights Under Shorts above.
• Witness Protection: One episode featured a newcomer whose land Boss Hogg wanted to buy. The problem was that the newcomer was under witness protection.
• Written-In Absence: Both in Season 2. Sonny Shroyer (Enos) was missing for two episodes due to appendicitis (they gave Enos appendicitis as well), while James Best (Rosco) left for a while due to a contract dispute (so they shipped Rosco off to the academy for re-certification). Also, John Schneider was absent for an episode because he was filming a TV movie (this was before the great merchandising dispute in season five), so Bo spent a weekend with the Marine Corps. In season five, it's explained that Bo and Luke left to join NASCAR.
• Wrongful Accusation Insurance: All those car chases, and the Duke Boys are never arrested for resisting arrest. Of course, by the end of the episode they usually have evidence of some sort of wrong-doing that could nail Boss Hogg, so it tended to be "forgotten".
• You Meddling Kids: Boss Hogg generally regards the Dukes as these.

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...G-gyuh-gyuh-gyuh-gyuh...!

Drawings of Bo Duke Cartoon

Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TheDukesOfHazzard

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