RD80s Celebrates the 45th Anniversary of the Dukes of Hazzard

 

Today marks the 45th anniversary of the original air date of The Dukes of Hazzard!  This pop culture classic continues to draw fans in worldwide with replica General Lees, police cars, Jeeps, and various other show cars.  This grand television show began filming in the area of Covington, Georgia, which was used as the county seat of Hazzard, along with the outlying areas for the dirt road ventures.  Only the first five episodes were filmed there before corporate studios relocated the entire production to the Burbank Studios of Warner Brothers where the remaining seven year run occurred.

 

Most of the fans know much about this well enjoyed television show and the subsequent movie sequels and the two reboots that were filmed.  However, Rediscover the 80s will focus on our fond love of this television show to mark this awesome day.

 

The very man who played Cooter Davenport, Ben Jones, opened three Cooter's museum and store businesses for the fans to salivate over the exhaustive merchandise that every child dreamed of owning.  He even holds regular events to draw the fans back to listen to tales, witness jumps, and meet the remaining cast.  Our very own Wyatt Bloom traveled to the Luray, VA location back in 2017 at the Cooter's Last Stand and our founder Jason Gross had the grand opportunity to meet and take a photo with John Schneider/Bo Duke at Retrocon 2023.

 

The Rediscover the 80s duo visited the Nashville location of Cooter's during their Road Trip to 40, taking a grand tour of that museum which baffled them with the diverse collection of merchandise that was available for we customers.

We fans dreamed of being one of the characters and racing through our streets with either our themed merchandise such as the Dukes of Hazzard Big Wheel or bicycle, mimicking the antics of the local government characters such as Boss Hogg, Rosco, Enos, or Cletus, or in our teenage years and attempting to do the stunts in our vehicles (✋ Guilty!).

The sheer fun of this television show as it drew us into the devious plot of Boss Hogg while the Duke family had to "fight the system" to free themselves of the wrongful accusations was truly entertaining.  Weekly, we fans sought after their adventures as we were captivated as the journey played out, mostly, as vehicle chases and stunts, the occasional rooftop escapes, and even the water logged misjudgements of both the good ol boys and the fuzz.

What are your fond memories of The Dukes of Hazzard?  Do you have a replica you'd like to share?  Memories of meeting the cast members?  We welcome your stories!