By David Flynn
A happy and light-hearted comedy-drama tv series that was popular on both sides of the Atlantic in the early to mid-1980s featured two wild male characters who liked fast cars, and were always trying to keep on the right side of the law.
Actor Denver Pyle had finished up playing mountain man Mad Jack, on The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams, when he agreed to play a similar role, Uncle Jesse in the new series, The Dukes of Hazzard.
Uncle Jesse was the paternal figure in the lives of his nephews, Bo and Luke Duke, played respectively by John Schneider and Tom Wopat, and niece Daisy Duke, played by Catherine Bach.
The Duke family lived on a farm in the US south, and the three orphans seemed to have been brought up by their uncle. Bo and Luke had been previously arrested and charged with importing illegal moonshine, but they were freed and put on probation after their uncle pleaded their case in court. The boys drove around in an orange stock car, popularly called the General Lee.
Boss Hogg, (played by Sorrell Brooke) a corrupt local businessman, and the harmless Sherriff Roscoe (James Best) were usually run into a tailspin due to the antics of the Duke boys. Bo and Luke keep a close eye on Boss Hogg, and with the help of their friends and family, and the General Lee, they managed to thwart the kangaroo lawmakers at every turn.