The Dukes (TV series)
Animated spin-off of The Dukes of Hazzard featuring a global race.
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The Dukes is a 30-minute Saturday morning cartoon that spun off from the live-action series The Dukes of Hazzard. It aired on CBS from February 5 to October 29, 1983, and was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions alongside Warner Bros. Television, which made the original show. A total of 20 episodes were produced.
Plot
In the series, the Duke boys and their cousin Daisy race around the world in a car competition against Boss Hogg, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, and Rosco’s pet basset hound Flash. The prize money is what the Dukes need to stop Boss Hogg from foreclosing on their family farm. Boss Hogg, however, wants both the cash and the land for himself, so he, Rosco, and Flash cook up various schemes to stop the Dukes from winning, with comical results. Most of the adventures are narrated by Uncle Jesse Duke as he reads a postcard to his pet raccoon, Smokey.
The series only had one season of 20 episodes. The first 13 episodes featured Coy and Vance Duke, voiced by Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer, following a dispute over merchandise royalties in the live-action series. The final 7 episodes saw the return of Bo and Luke Duke, voiced by Tom Wopat and John Schneider, after they returned to the live show near the end of its fifth season. The episode “Boss O’Hogg and the Little People” introduced a new opening and voice-over to reflect the character swap.
The series didn’t follow any logical geographic route. Consecutive episodes, for instance, visit Venice, Morocco, the Arctic Ocean, London, Greece, India, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, and Scotland.
The voice cast included Byron Cherry as Coy Duke (first 13 episodes), Christopher Mayer as Vance Duke (first 13 episodes), Tom Wopat as Luke Duke (final 7 episodes), John Schneider as Bo Duke (final 7 episodes), Catherine Bach as Daisy Duke, Denver Pyle as Uncle Jesse Duke, James Best as Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, Sorrell Booke as Boss Hogg, and Frank Welker as Flash, Smokey, and the General Lee. Live-action co-stars Waylon Jennings, Ben Jones, Sonny Shroyer, and Rick Hurst did not appear in the cartoon. Many additional voice actors contributed across the series.
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 Classic Collection.
Background
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 pet basset hound Flash for prize money the Dukes hope to use to keep the family farm from being foreclosed by Boss Hogg. Boss Hogg wants the money and the land for himself, so he, Rosco, and Flash plan various schemes to keep the Dukes from winning with comical results. Most of the adventures are read from a postcard by Uncle Jesse Duke to his pet raccoon Smokey. The series ran for a single 20-episode season: the first 13 episodes featured Coy and Vance Duke, while the final 7 episodes featured Bo and Luke Duke.
The Coy/Vance to Bo/Luke Transition
The animated series was directly shaped by a real-world dispute in the live-action show. During the period when Tom Wopat and John Schneider walked off the Dukes of Hazzard set over a royalties disagreement concerning related merchandise, the live series temporarily replaced them with similar characters named Coy and Vance Duke. This casting change carried over into the first season of the cartoon, where Byron Cherry voiced Coy and Christopher Mayer voiced Vance.
The situation reversed when Wopat and Schneider simultaneously returned to the live-action series near the end of its fifth season. Their return was reflected in the animated show starting with Season 2, Episode 14, titled "Boss O'Hogg and the Little People," where Wopat and Schneider took over as Luke and Bo. That particular episode also introduced a new opening sequence and voice-over to acknowledge the character swap, making the transition a visible and documented part of the show's history.
Voice Cast & Home Media Legacy
The animated series benefited from the participation of several original live-action stars. Catherine Bach reprised Daisy Duke, Denver Pyle returned as Uncle Jesse, James Best voiced Sheriff Rosco, and Sorrell Booke brought Boss Hogg to life in animated form. Frank Welker handled multiple roles, including Flash, Smokey, and The General Lee.
Notably, several supporting cast members from the live show—Waylon Jennings, Ben Jones, Sonny Shroyer, and Rick Hurst—did not appear in the cartoon. The additional voice cast included a wide range of actors, some appearing only in Season 1 and others only in Season 2. In terms of home media, Warner Archive released The Dukes: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1 on December 7, 2010, as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection, making the full 20-episode run available to collectors and fans decades after its original broadcast.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: The Dukes (TV series) (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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