The Dukes of Hazzard Series History, Episode Guide, Characters, Vehicles and more!

History

The story of The Dukes of Hazzard is a heart-warming one. When it was first pitched and produced, critics hated it, and the network that produced it not only didn't understand it, but also were loath to air it. However, when it did air on January 26th 1979 as a mid-season replacement, the wider audience was captivated by it, and it was thanks to Dukes that Friday evenings belonged to CBS for the six years that the show ran.

Each episode was loaded with morals, explosions and car chases, and all who watched it loved each and every character (and of course, the General Lee) as if they were old friends. The episodes themselves centered around the Duke family, consisting of Bo, Luke, Daisy and Uncle Jesse, and their racing car, the General Lee, a souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger. The plots usually involved the family trying to avoid either arrest by the local 'sheriff' Rosco Coltrane and his deputy Enos, or falling foul of plots hatched by the half-baked, money grabbing J.D. "Boss" Hogg.

Simple as it was, it was a roaring success, and even after the final season aired, the nineties saw a slew of reruns, two cartoon series, and two TV movies were also made in 1997 and 2000, although we won't say a thing about the latest (2005) Dukes movie.

Characters

Full name: The Balladeer

Actor: Waylon Jennings

Waylon Jennings is a country music legend, and he provided the 'voice' of the Dukes' capers, or as he called them, 'legends'. Friends of the Duke family since Jesse gave him the money to buy a new guitar (his original one was stolen shortly before a professional show), the narrative he provides in the show is warm, affectionate, and much of the time, downright funny.

Full name: Beaureguard "Bo" Duke

Actor: John Schneider

Bo is the youngest, most impressionable, and most headstrong of the Duke cousins. Additionally, he is known for being a bit of a ladies' man, but if you've got it, why not flaunt it?

Bo was particularly successful at high school, although his successes came from playing football on the Hazzard High team, rather than in the classroom, and once he graduated, he pitched in with Uncle Jesse's family moonshine operation until he and Luke were caught running a batch in 1978.
While this might have halted the family business, it didn't deter his interest in racing (being an ex stock car racer), and he could be found throwing the General Lee around Hazzard like a pro. When Bo finally left Hazzard County in 1986, it was to pursue his racing career.

Full name: Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg

Actor: Sorrell Booke

Once a friend of Jesse's, and a fellow moonshiner in his own vehicle, the Gray Ghost, Boss Hogg eventually succumbed to his own lust for power and money, making an enemy of Jesse. As crooked as a witch's nose, Boss has become one of the richest men in Georgia, owner of The Boar's Nest bar, and effectively the boss of Hazzard County (having the local law in his pocket helps).

Apart from accruing as much wealth as he can, his main goal now is to take Jesse's farm from him, and see Bo, Luke and Daisy behind bars, although he would never see any of them physically harmed, which goes to show that something good still remains.

Boss Hogg always wears white, and loves to smoke cigars. He can usually be found running dodgy operations from his office in The Boar's Nest.

Full name: Cooter Davenport

Actor: Ben Jones

Cooter is a whiz under a bonnet, and the owner of Hazzard's only garage. Whenever the boys are in a scrape, Cooter is always on hand to help, not to mention keep the General Lee looking good and running well. Despite not having a drop of Duke blood in him, he is practically family, and his goofy grin can very often be seen poking out of the General's rear window as Bo and Luke screech away from Boss Hogg and Rosco.

Full name: Cletus Hogg

Actor: Rick Hurst

Cletus Hogg is, you guessed it, related to Boss Hogg. In fact, he's J.D's third cousin twice removed, and acted as Hazzard County's reserve deputy until Enos left, when he took on full deputy status. Although he was always involved Boss and Rosco's later schemes to catch the Dukes, Cletus more often than not saw sense enough to help the Dukes give them the slip.

Full name: Daisy Duke

Actor: Catherine Bach

Daisy is the beautiful cousin of Bo and Luke, and like them, Uncle Jesse took her in after her parents were killed. She has all the boys in Hazzard County wrapped around her finger (especially Enos Strate), and is most famous for wearing those short shorts.

Daisy works for Boss Hogg as a waitress at Hazzard's most popular bar, The Boar's Nest (after agreeing to take the job so that Boss would loan Jesse the money for Bo and Luke to buy what became the General Lee). Like Bo and Luke, she is a brilliant back road driver, having done a stint as a pro herself, and it isn't uncommon to see her running rings around the local law.

One of her greatest goals is to find a man to settle down with, and being that she has the pick of any man she wants, one would think that would be any easy task.

Full name: Enos Strate

Actor: Sonny Shroyer

Enos is Rosco's deputy, and while his boss is totally crooked, Enos has a heart of solid gold, and always tries to do the right thing, even if his simplicity sometimes stops him from succeeding. He is absolutely head-over-heels in love with Daisy Duke, and in fact, he grew up with Bo and Luke (his father, like Jesse, ran moonshine).

Enos joined the police department after leaving high school and he is now known for his honesty, not to mention his naïveté. His bond with the Dukes very often sees Enos sabotaging any plots that Boss Hogg and Rosco cook up to get them put away, although, being a strict upholder of the law, he is prepared to do his duty should he catch them doing anything illegal.

Full name: Lucas K. "Luke" Duke

Actor: Tom Wopat

Luke is considered to be the more sensible of the two Duke boys. After graduating from high school, Luke became a marine, achieving the rank of Sergeant, and also became a divisional boxing champion. After his parents (along with Daisy's and Bo's) were killed in a car accident, he went to live with Uncle Jesse in Hazzard County, and like Bo, became involved in Jesse's moonshine business, until he and Bo were caught running a batch in 1978. After Jesse struck up a bargain with the government, both were confined to Hazzard County unless they had permission from their probation officer to leave it, and so they stayed on Uncle Jesse's farm to help him run it.

During this time they also became racing legends after fitting out a 1969 Dodge Charger, which they named the General Lee. Luke was the mechanic most of the time, whilst Bo did most of the driving. Luke was also the one who came up with the plans to get them out of any trouble they happened to get into, which happened with alarming regularity. Rather than using firearms, Luke and Bo use a bow and arrow (often loaded with dynamite).

Full name: Rosco Pervis Coltrane

Actor: James Best

Sheriff Rosco was once a straight-laced man of the law, having done his duty for twenty years, but in 1987 all things changed when his pension was dropped, and it was then that he sold his soul to his brother-in-law, Boss Hogg. Ever after he dutifully (and most of the time incompetently) carries out Boss' plans to catch the Dukes, land him more money, or both, although he still retained a glimmer of a conscience, as he would never involve himself in activities that would hurt himself or others.

Rosco loves nothing more than to chase the Dukes around Hazzard, often going to ridiculous lengths to catch them doing something illegal. His trademarks are that goofy laugh, and of course, his catchphrase: 'Enos, you got your ears on?'

Full name: Jesse "Uncle Jesse" Duke

Actor: Denver Pyle

Jesse L. Duke is uncle to Bo. Luke and Daisy, and had once been the most famous and prolific moonshiner in Hazzard County, making runs in Black Tillie, his beloved car. The Dukes' family moonshine business had run for two hundred years - Jesse having run it for forty of those. However, the business was brought to a skidding halt when Bo and Luke (whom he took in, along with their other cousin, Daisy after their parents were killed in a car accident) were caught running a batch. To save his nephews from prison, Jesse made a deal with the government to shut down the business and resort to simply running the farm in return for keeping Bo and Luke on probation.

Uncle Jesse was a once firm friend of J.D. "Boss" Hogg, however, the two fell out, and Jesse is now constantly fighting to keep his farm away from Boss, being that it is he who holds the mortgage to the farm.