The Dukes

CMT has been airing Dukes of Hazzard reruns, and I've been watching them faithfully. There are some things I never noticed in my childhood, that are starting to bother me now that I'm older.

1) The police cars are different; not just slightly, but noticeably different. It's not a big deal from episode to episode; it can be explained by the fact that Rosco and company wreck them so often. However, they recycle many of the stunts. In one chase scene, you can see up to three different kinds of cars, that only resemble each other by the fact that they are white, and have lights on them.

2) Enos left the show for awhile to work for the LAPD in his short lived spin-off show. His stated reason was that he was tired of doing unethical things that Rosco and Boss made him do. Yet, when he returns to Hazzard, he goes right back to work for them. Then in the Reunion Special in 1997, you learn that he at some point, went back to the LAPD.

3) We go from one generation having many children, to a generation having few children. Bo, Luke, Daisy, Coy, and Vance are all cousins; and Jesse is the uncle for all of them. Given that they all have the last name Duke, this means that Jesse had at least five brothers. Jesse has no children, and each of his brothers apparently had only one child each (except for Luke's parents, as there was a long lost brother of Luke's in one episode.)

3b) In a flashback episode to the 1800's we are introduced to Hank, Joe, and Dixie Duke. Hank is Luke's great great grandfather. Joe is Bo's great great grandfather. Dixie is Daisy's great great grandmother. I suppose this means that Dukes we know aren't all first cousins, which could satisfy my previous complaint. However; they all refer to each other as "cousin" from time to time. I would think that this would only be done for first cousins; since in a town the size of Hazzard, if you did this for second and third cousins, you would likely end up calling everyone "cousin."

4) Daisy falls in love with every man that comes to town. They always end up being a bad guy. Bo and Luke always discover this, and have to tell Daisy. She then passionately defends the stranger that she has known for a day, against her cousins that she has grown up with all her life.

5) Why are Coy and Vance never talked about before or after their brief time in season 5? They supposedly, according to the show that introduced them, grew up on the farm and left just prior to the show's beginning. Yet, they never seem to mention them. I can understand prior to season 5, since the writers didn't even know about them, but they could have at least mentioned them after then.

6) Does Boss actually have the authority to fire Rosco? Isn't Sheriff an elected position? Regardless of Boss's obvious Mob-type power, and his County Commissioner status, I would think that it would take more than Boss tearing Rosco's patches off his sleeves and taking his badge, to actually remove him from that position.

7) Why did they wait until the last minute to make their mortgage payment, when they knew that Boss was going to put obstacles in the way? They should be able to make the payment a day early, if they can make it at all.

8) Why do they always donate the reward money for the criminals they capture to the orphanage, or some other good cause. I understand the need to do good deeds, but the Dukes were poor too. Why not pay off your dang mortgage?

9) Why was Daisy the only one who had a job? She had to clean, cook, do laundry, and work for a living. And she seemed to do just as many "farm chores" as Bo and Luke did. Of course maybe her waitress money went to clothes, since she was obviously the only one that owned more than one outfit.

10) Sometimes the Dukes talked on the same CB channel as Rosco, and sometimes they didn't. How did they know which channel to use to reach the ones they wanted to talk to? And how come some of the people they talked to with a CB were talking on a phone? I didn't know you could use a CB to call a phone.

11) Bo and Luke couldn't carry guns because of their probation. This also meant they couldn't leave the county; could leave the county as long as they were back within 20 minutes; or couldn't leave the state; depending on the episode. Yet, they went on the NASCAR circuit, leaving the show for most of a season with no problems. Then, when they came back, they were locked down to the county again.