DAVID DePATIE DEAD AT 91

 

You can read the full story here.

He co-founded studio DePatie-Freleng Enterprises with Friz Freleng after having been the last executive in charge of the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, of which he was the last surviving member. DePatie also helped the transition into the early years of Marvel Productions when they sold their studio to Cadence Industries. The breakout property of his career was when DFE provided the opening titles for The Pink Panther, leading to a series of cartoons based around the popular character spawned from it and jobs in producing similar title sequences for other productions.

 

Programs he had a hand in include The Pink Panther Show, Here Comes the Grump, Doctor Dolittle (1970), The Barkleys, The Houndcats, Bailey’s Comets, an episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movies, Return to the Planet of the Apes, Baggy Pants and the Nitwits, What’s New Mr. Magoo?, The Fantastic Four (1978), Spider-Woman, Spider-Man (1981), Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends, Pandamonium, Meatballs and Spaghetti, The Incredible Hulk (1982) and Pink Panther and Sons with Hanna-Barbera.

1990s SATURDAY MORNING ADS

             It wasn’t until the late 60s that Saturday mornings were beginning to get into full swing. Content with airing primetime reruns and a few new shows here and there, that all changed in 1966 when CBS revitalized its schedule with an action-heavy slant. When CBS showed massive success, the other networks followed and Saturday morning suddenly became good business. So, how would the networks advertise to their targeted audiences to tune in every week? Simple: advertise in comic books! For almost every Saturday schedule for decades, there was an artfully designed cartoon representing the networks’ schedules in every major publication. They even made sure to cover their bases with ads in TV Guide and newspapers so that parents would be aware shows for their kids would be on. However, as Saturday mornings began to lose importance to viewers and networks alike, and as they moved away from traditional Saturday morning programming, the ads became fewer and far between.

                Below are some of the ads that ran for the 1990s:

ABC

1990.

1991.

1992.

1993.

1994-95.

1998.

1999.

CBS

1990.

NBC

1990.

1991.

1991.

1991.

THE WB

1995.

1996.

1998 (folded & unfolded).

1999.

WELCOME TO THE SENSATIONAL 60s

            With the second decade of Saturday mornings came some significant changes.

Ad for an RCA color television.

Televisions were now in the majority of American households and people were watching; supplanting radios as the main source of entertainment. TV also replaced newspapers as the main source of news; with events like the first televised presidential debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon, the civil rights movement, Kennedy’s assassination, the Vietnam War, and man’s first landing on the moon. Westerns and sitcoms dominated the airwaves, but science-fiction was gradually carving out a niche for itself. Although the DuMont Network didn’t survive the 1950s, ABC, CBS and NBC were still going strong and were soon to be joined by PBS. While destruction of recorded programs still happened, it began decreasing in frequency as a greater thought was given to archiving as the costs of materials lessened. Animation, once regarded as a serious risk, became the preferred format for kids’ shows when it was realized that a cartoon episode could be produced much cheaper than a live-action one (a circumstance that would repeatedly flip-flop over the years). Networks decided to stop hemming and hawing over the concept and finally began broadcasting in full-color, allowing these cartoons to be seen as their creators intended. And, most importantly to us, Saturday mornings began to be taken more seriously.

Comic book ad for CBS' new action-oriented Saturday morning line-up.

             Network executives realized that on weekend mornings when parents tended to want to sleep in, kids would be at home without little distractions like school and homework—meaning there was an entire demographic they could cater to and get advertising revenue for. Fred Silverman was among the first; establishing a long-standing relationship with Hanna-Barbera and giving Filmation Associates their start, allowing both studios to practically dominate the network schedules for years. By the middle of the decade, the Saturday schedules were mostly animated. By the end of the decade, those schedules were full of original cartoons; edging out the prime-time reruns that were used to fill out the time. Saturday mornings were drawing big ratings, and as a result, were turning out to be very profitable for the networks.

Ad for ABC's 1977 preview special.

             To promote their new line-ups, the networks began airing Saturday Morning Preview Specials. These were annual specials aired typically the Friday night before the debut of the new seasons. Hosted by cast members from one or more of the networks’ more popular shows with special guests, they highlighted the offerings that would be hitting the airwaves that Saturday. Sometimes they were done in a variety show format, other times they were given a storyline that would lead the special’s stars to encounter each new show.

Hanna-Barbera becomes a dominating force on Saturday mornings.

Of course, this decade marked the births of some long-running franchises. Hanna-Barbera created their flagship program, The Flintstones, which became a prime-time success and spawned a spin-off Saturday morning franchise in the decades to follow. They also introduced the ever-enduring Scooby-Doo franchise, which continues to this day with new shows, new direct-to-video movies, and the occasional theatrical release. Filmation would begin their Archie franchise based on the comic book characters, as well as introduce the first African American animated character on Saturday mornings in The Hardy Boys. Warner Bros. packaged their theatrical shorts into The Bugs Bunny Show, which would find itself running for the next 40 years under various names.

Peggy Charren in front of her group's logo.

             Unfortunately, with more exposure came a greater chance of criticism. Silverman, inspired by the success of ABC’s Batman series, loaded up the CBS schedule with action-adventure programs while ABC and NBC were showing mostly comedies. When CBS pulled ahead in the ratings because of them, ABC and NBC switched gears and churned out their own action offerings. Original heroes, licensed heroes, pulp heroes, comedic heroes—the only black sheep in the bunch was American Bandstand. All of this action drew the ire of some people like Peggy Charren, Lillian Ambrosino, Evelyn Kaye Sarson and Judy Chalfen who founded the child advocacy group Action for Children’s Television. Their mission was to improve the quality of children’s television, encourage diversity, and to discourage over-commercialization (such as toy-based cartoons). They targeted the action-heavy Saturday morning programs, leading the networks to cancel all of those shows by 1969 and replace them with more light-hearted comedic fare.

THE HISTORY OF LOONEY TUNES

The 1930s Warner Bros. logo.

            When Walt Disney struck a hit with his Mickey Mouse shorts in 1928 and his music-based anthology series Silly Symphonies, Warner Bros. was looking for a way to compete, as well as promote the sales of music from their recent acquisition of Brunswick Records and four music publishers. WB hired Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons using that music, and he in turn hired Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising to create cartoons for his studio to sell to WB after seeing the test reel of their creation, Bosko.

Bosko character model.

            Bosko, a young “Negro boy”, was conceived by Harman while he was still working for Walt Disney Studios as a way to capitalize on the new “talkie” craze in cinema. He was meant to serve as a version of Al Jolson’s character from The Jazz Singer (1927) while being neither human nor animal. Bosko’s appearance was based on Felix the Cat, but his personality was taken from the popular blackface characters in minstrel and vaudeville at the time. With Ising’s help, he produced a short pilot cartoon in 1929 called Bosko, the Talk-Ink Kid. The short showcased their ability to animate and synchronize to sound and became the first in history to feature synchronized speech. Bosko was voiced mostly by Carman Maxwell with Johnny Murray taking over for three years in 1930.

Title card for the Bosko cartoon with Bosko and Honey.

            At WB, Bosko became the lead character for the cartoon series Looney Tunes beginning in 1930. He had a girlfriend named Honey (Rochelle Hudson) and kept company with orphaned cat, Wilber. Over the course of 39 cartoons, one of which wasn’t released, the stories favored music, singing and dancing over any real semblance of a plot. Audiences were enamored with talking cartoons and the shorts had a large library of music to play with. With the success of Looney Tunes, Schlesinger sold another series to WB called Merrie Melodies. Melodies, a play on Silly Symphonies. was pitched as advertising for the studio’s films by using their soundtracks and animating to them. The concept was soon expanded to also include the rest of WB’s musical library in the same manner as Tunes. Launching in 1931, Melodies proved to be as popular as Tunes, although it did so without any recurring character. In 1932, the Melodies short It’s Got Me Again! was the first animation to be nominated for an Academy Award, and by 1934 the series was produced in color.

Buddy, the new star of Looney Tunes.

            In 1933, Harman and Ising left WB over a budget dispute with Schlesinger and took all their creations with them, having held onto their rights. Schlesinger had to negotiate to keep the use of the Melodies name and the ending tag-line, “So long, folks!” (which would be replaced in 1936 with the Tunes slogan of “That’s all, folks!”). Desperate to maintain his contract with WB, Shlesinger hired animator Tom Palmer away from Disney and had him create a new star: Buddy, who was described by animator Bob Clampett as “Bosko in whiteface.” WB rejected the first two Buddy cartoons, resulting in Palmer being replaced by Friz Freleng. Freleng was tasked to re-edit the shorts into a single entry called Buddy’s Day Out. Buddy (Jack Carr), like Bosko, was accompanied by a flapper girlfriend named Cookie (Bernice Hansen) and his dog, Towser.

Porky Pig and Beans the Cat.

            It wasn’t until 1935 when the two series would begin to be populated by the stars most well-known today. The Melodies short I Haven’t Got a Hat saw the debut of Beans the Cat (Billy Bletcher) and Porky Pig (initially Joe Dougherty, later Mel Blanc). Eventually, Porky’s popularity outgrew Beans’ and Beans was phased out, leaving Porky Schlesinger’s only star.  Other characters followed, with characters intended to be exclusive to the Melodies series including Egghead (predecessor to Elmer Fudd, voiced by Blanc), Inki (also Blanc), Sniffles (Margaret Hill-Talbot) and Bugs Bunny (Blanc again), while Tunes saw the debut of Daffy Duck (still Blanc).

The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies titles over the recognizable bullseye background.

In 1936, Melodies began using the familiar bulls-eye opening and closing titles, which Tunes would adopt in 1942. By 1937, Tunes gained its recognizable opening theme of “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, while Melodies’ was “Merrily We Roll Along” by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor.    In 1943, Tunes began to be produced in color once Disney’s exclusive rights to the Technicolor process expired. By 1944, Tunes and Melodies became virtually indistinguishable, especially when characters began to cross over, ending their alleged “exclusive” status to one series or the other. That same year, Schlesinger sold his interest in the studio to WB and retired. WB would continue producing the shorts until 1969 when they would shut down their animation studios for a second time (the first being in 1963) and outsource all future production to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. 1969 was also the last new Melodies short, Injun Trouble, as the studio focused on producing strictly Tunes from then on.

Ad for CBS' 1981 Saturday morning schedule, featuring Looney Tunes.

In the 60s, the shorts began airing in syndication on television, although many of them were edited over time to remove what had become more questionable content as society’s views changed; namely portrayals considered racist and particularly violent gags. Other edits included new opening and closing title sequences and Melodies being given Tunes’ title song. While it was the name of the series of shorts, Looney Tunes became the designation for the cast of characters it produced and is how they are collectively known. And, while dozens of characters have emerged from these shorts, there is an elite grouping that has managed to keep their popularity as well as transcend the various forms of media:

Bugs Bunny is a highly intelligent, wise-cracking, carrot-chewing rabbit whose popularity led to him becoming the official mascot of WB. His first official appearance was credited as A Wild Hare (1940) by Tex Avery, although Bugs prototypes did appear in four shorts prior until various directors had him redesigned into the version we know today (however, it took two shorts following Hare for the new design to stick). Mel Blanc’s initial voice for Bugs was closer to his portrayal of Woody Woodpecker until settling into a New York accent. Charlie Thorson, one of Bugs’ designers, had wrote “Bugs’ Bunny” on his model sheets after director Ben “Bugs” Hardaway (one of Woody’s co-creators, incidentally), and press material would come to adopt that as Bugs’ official name.

Daffy Duck is a glory-seeker who is jealous of the attention and fame Bugs gets over him (since, in reality, Bugs DID replace Daffy as WB’s biggest star). First appearing as a bit player in Porky’s Duck Hunt (1937) by Tex Avery, audiences were taken with the assertive and combative protagonist. Initially resembling a real duck, Daffy was altered over time into a more anthropomorphic form. Daffy was originally zany and insane, bouncing all over the place. He was gradually toned down, portrayed as good or villainous as a role required, with varying levels of narcissism. For a time, he was paired up with Porky as his rival, and later his straight man, until settling into the rivalry with Bugs. Also portrayed by Blanc, he was given a lisp due to his belief that the large mandible would make it hard for Daffy to pronounce certain words. The voice was the only constant in Daffy’s evolution, with the lisp steadily gaining more prominence.

Porky Pig was the original Looney Tune, first appearing in 1935’s I Haven’t Got a Hat by Friz Freleng and named after the nicknames of two of Freleng’s childhood classmates: “Porky” and “Piggy”. Porky evolved from a shy little boy to a fat adult to a slimmer, sweeter-looking, cuter young adult. After a brief stint as an antagonist, Porky became an innocent traveler of the world taking in all its wonders, serving as the straight man for more wacky and zany characters such as Daffy. Porky’s stutter was incorporated into the character when Joe Dougherty was cast in the role as he had a stutter himself. However, his inability to control that stutter started making his recording sessions expensive, necessitating his replacement with Blanc. Blanc kept the stutter, but used it for comedic effect; typically by using it to give Porky trouble with a simple word and forcing him to replace it with a more complicated one. Porky’s most prominent role was appearing at the end of many shorts, bursting out of a drum and saying the tagline “Th-th-that’s all, folks!”

            Elmer Fudd is a hapless huntsman who most often goes after Bugs with a double-barrel shotgun. However, depending who you ask, Elmer didn’t start out as Elmer. He appeared as Egghead in Egghead Rides Again (1937) by Tex Avery; sporting a bulbous nose, an egg-shaped head with a bowl haircut, and eccentric clothing. In fact, the name “Elmer Fudd” first appeared on the side of a scooter Egghead rode in A Feud There Was (1938). Eventually, Egghead began a design transition in Chuck Jones’ Elmer’s Candid Camera (1940) that gave way to his more familiar appearance in A Wild Hare; with a slimmer body, rounder bald head, smaller nose, and always wearing hunting gear (unless the plot provided him some other occupation). Initially voiced by Danny Webb in an imitation of Joe Penner, he was eventually replaced by Arthur Q. Bryan who introduced Elmer’s milk-sop voice and penchant to replace the “r” and “l” in words when he spoke with a “w” sound. In fact, for a brief time in the early 40s, Elmer was rendered fatter after Bryan’s appearance, but the change proved unpopular with audiences and the slimmer Elmer returned for good. Beginning in the 1970s, Blanc, who had performed the role sporadically during Bryan’s tenure, would permanently assume the character until his death.

Yosemite Sam is the other prominent male human Looney Tune and the anti-Elmer; exhibiting a fierier temper and violent tendencies, especially towards Bugs. First appearing in Hare Trigger (1945) by Friz Freleng, after an early version appeared the year before in Stage Door Cartoon, Sam is defined by his diminutive height and long red mustache and is often depicted as a cowboy (although he has had other professions when the need arose). Freleng created Sam to be a more worthy adversary for Bugs, exhibiting slightly more intelligence than Elmer but still managing to be a dimwit. Blanc had a hard time coming up with a voice for Sam, until he was inspired by an incident of road rage to try yelling at the top of his lungs. The bigger voice fit Sam, but left Blanc sore, necessitating recording all his lines at the end of a session. Unable to continue performing the role in his advancing years, Blanc handed it off to Joe Alaskey, making it one of the rare instances where a character Blanc originated was done by someone else within his lifetime.

Foghorn Leghorn is a large Southern rooster created by Robert McKimson, first appearing in Walky Talky Hawky (1946). Inspired by the radio character Senator Beauregard Claghorn (Kenny Delmar) from The Fred Allen Show, Foghorn shared all Claghorn’s blustering traits. Blanc patterned Foghorn’s accent after another radio character called The Sheriff from Blue Monday Jamboree. Typical plots involved a bored Foghorn initiating a prank war with a canine nemesis on a farm, or tricking a weasel into helping him against the dog. Foghorn also sought to woo widowed hen, Miss Prissy (Bea Benaderet, who also starred in Jamboree), by babysitting her brilliant son, Egghead, Jr.

Sylvester is a black and white cat determined to catch and devour one Tweety Bird, created by Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett. From 1941-44, prototypes of Sylvester appeared before he made his first official appearance in 1945’s Life With Feathers. In 1950, Sylvester gained the additional role of father when his son, Sylvester Jr., was introduced in Pop ‘im Pop! and was taught in the ways of being a mouser. Blanc used a variation of Daffy’s voice for Sylvester, but without the post-edit speeding up of his recording. Blanc also voiced Sylvester Jr. A frequent gag involved saliva flying out of Sylvester’s mouth as he talked, sometimes drenching anyone nearby.

Tweety is a small yellow bird who often uses his smarts to outwit and stay ahead of cats who want to eat him, particularly Sylvester. Created by Bob Clampett in 1942’s A Tale of Two Kitties, Tweety was originally a wild, featherless bird named “Orson.” He was also decidedly more aggressive, maliciously taking down any foes. Once Friz Freleng took over Tweety’s shorts, he made Tweety cuter and sweeter (although still with moments of maliciousness), and added yellow feathers. Blanc provided Tweety’s voice, sped up in post-production. Tweety, like Elmer, features a speech impediment where certain letters sound like others, most notably in his catchphrase “I tawt I taw a puddy tat!”

Tasmanian Devil is a lean, mean, ravenously hungry spinning machine. Taz is ferocious and dim-witted, always driven by finding more food to feed his never-ending hunger. He travels by spinning in a tornado-like fashion, which allows him to bore through almost any surface. Created by Robert McKimson in Devil May Hare (1954), Taz’s character traits were based on the real-life animal for which he was named. However, his appearance featured references to various kinds of devils; such as his horned hair in regards to the horns the mythological Devil is always depicted as having and his spinning modeled after a dust devil whirlwind. Taz’s career was almost cut short when head of WB Edward Selzer shelved the character, believing him too violent for children. Later studio head Jack Warner had the decision reversed upon receiving tons of requests for more adventures with the character. However, his popularity would only come from television appearances as the WB animation studio closed after producing just five Taz shorts. Blanc provided Taz’s voice through 1983, which mostly consisted of intelligible sound effects with brief moments of savage-like dialogue. Taz’s next appearance wouldn’t come until after Blanc’s death.

Pepe Le Pew is a French skunk always looking for love. Created by Chuck Jones, he loosely based the character of fellow WB staffer Tedd Pierce, who was a self-styled “ladies’ man” that believed his interests were always reciprocated. As a result, Pepe’s shorts usually featured him chasing after a female skunk (or another animal who was accidentally given a white stripe to resemble a skunk), professing his undying love. Also, there’s Pepe’s obliviousness to the fact that, as a skunk, he stinks. Jones described Pepe as a bit of wish fulfilment on his part, being that he was always shy with women. Pepe first appeared as Stinky in Odor-able Kitty (1945). Blanc based Pepe’s voice on Charles Boyer’s Pepe le Moko from Algiers (1938), which was also a variation on his “Professor LeBlanc” voice from The Jack Benny Program.

Speedy Gonzales is the fastest mouse in Mexico. Initially created by Robert McKimson for Cat-Tails for Two (1953), Speedy was more of a generic-looking mouse character; sporting a crop of black hair, buck-teeth and a red t-shirt. The name came from a joke about a Mexican man named “Speedy” because of his tendency for premature ejaculation or quick copulation. Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt redesigned Speedy in 1955’s Speedy Gonzales to further resemble a Mexican archetype, giving him white clothing, a neckerchief, and a sombrero. Originally, Speedy’s rival was Sylvester, but eventually became Daffy in the 1960s. Blanc provided the voice, utilizing a Mexican accent and some Spanish phrasing. Over the years, criticism about Speedy’s embodiment of offensive stereotypes have resulted in the character’s diminished use, and the lack of rotation of his shorts on television.

Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, debuting in Fast and Furry-ous (1949), are a pair of rivals created by Chuck Jones as a parody of the cat-and-mouse series of cartoons. Wile E. always pursues the extremely fast Road Runner in order to eat him, using a variety of contraptions and gadgets (which usually malfunction) provided by the ACME Corporation. Jones based Wile E.’s appearance on the description of a coyote from Mark Twain’s Roughing It as an allegory of want, and early model sheets had his name as “Don Coyote” after Don Quixote. Road Runner’s appearance was based on animator Ken Harris. Traditionally, Wile E. is always silent, sometimes communicating by holding up a sign, while Road Runner says only “Beep, Beep!” There have been instances where Wile E. has talked, voiced originally by Blanc.

Granny is the third prominent human in the franchise. She is often depicted as the owner of Tweety, and occasionally Sylvester. After several prototype characters had appeared in earlier shorts, Granny was formalized in 1950’s Canary Row by Friz Freleng. She often foils Sylvester’s plots to get Tweety, although she has made appearances in shorts without either of them. Initially voiced by Bea Benaderet, June Foray assumed the role in 1955 and had been her primary voice for the next six decades. Despite Granny’s advanced age and sweet nature, she was deceptively spry and clever.

With the rise of television, the Looney Tunes gradually made the transition; first in rebroadcasts of their theatrical shorts in syndicated packages, and eventually in their own all-new programs. And some of those programs ran on Saturday mornings…

THE DUKES

THE DUKES

(CBS, February 5-October 29, 1983)

Hanna-Barbera Productions, Warner Bros. Television

MAIN CAST:

Byron Cherry – Coy Duke (season 1)

Christopher Mayer – Vance Duke (season 1)

Tom Wopat – Luke Duke (season 2)

John Schneider – Bo Duke (season 2)

Catherine Bach – Daisy Duke

Denver Pyle – Jesse Duke

James Best – Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane

Sorrell Booke – Boss Hogg

Frank Welker – Flash, Smokey, The General Lee

            From the 1970s through the early 1980s, popular pieces of Americana included C.B. Radios, car chases, trucking, and an infatuation with Southern culture. Hollywood was quick to capitalize on this trend with projects such as Smokey and the Bandit, Convoy, Breaker! Breaker!, B.J. and the Bear and Every Which Way But Loose. Of particular note was Moonrunners, written and directed by Gy Waldron and based on the exploits of ex-moonshiner Jerry Rushing. The film was released in 1975 by United Artists and attracted the attention of Warner Bros., who approached Waldron about turning the movie into a TV series.

The Dukes of Hazzard cast: Rick Hurst, Booke, Schneider, Pyle, Wopat, Bach, Ben Jones and
Best with Flash.

            That series was The Dukes of Hazzard, which utilized many of the same character and location names while toning down some of the cruder elements of the film to make it more suitable for television. Dukes centered on the Duke family—cousins Bo (John Schneider), Luke (Tom Wopat), Daisy (Catherine Bach) and their uncle, Jesse (Denver Pyle)—who lived in the fictional Georgia county of Hazzard. They were in the moonshine business until revenuers caught up to them and Jesse made an agreement to keep his boys out of jail by giving it up. Now a family of farmers, the Dukes earned supplemental income from Daisy’s waitressing at bar called The Boar’s Nest while Bo and Luke competed in local races with their seemingly indestructible car, an orange 1969 Dodge Charger dubbed The General Lee. Often, the Duke family found themselves at odds with corrupt county commissioner Jefferson Davis “J.D.” Hogg (Sorrell Booke), and his dimwitted brother-in-law, Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best). Country singer Waylon Jennings was brought on to serve as the show’s balladeer as he had in the film, as well as compose the show’s theme and serve as an uncredited script consultant to add an air of authenticity to the dialogue.

The General Lee racked up a lot of frequent flyer miles.

The Dukes of Hazzard debuted on CBS on January 26, 1979. Originally a mid-season replacement, only 9-episodes were ordered. The first five episodes were filmed on location around Georgia before production went on a Christmas break. Impressed by what they saw, Warner Bros. decided to order a full season’s worth of episodes and moved the production to their lot in Burbank, California to cut down on costs, simplify production, and enlist a larger workshop to produce Generals and police cars to replace ones destroyed by the many stunts in each episode. The Georgia episodes were noticeably grittier and more adult in tone, closer to that of Moonrunners. Given the timeslot CBS aired the program, which was typically the time families tuned in, Best led the cast in a lobby for the show to become more family-friendly. As a result, the comedy element of each episode was increased and Boss and Rosco became more inept and softer villains.

The show proved immensely popular, ranking second only to the nighttime soap opera Dallas that followed it. The show became so big that by the start of the fifth season, Schneider and Wopat entered into a contract dispute over their salaries and merchandising royalties they felt were owed them. The studio refused their demands and they walked off the show (Bach also felt this way, but she was convinced that her leaving as well would likely result in the show just being outright cancelled). Believing the real star of the show was The General Lee and the impossible stunts it did, Warner Bros. recast their roles with lookalike actors. Bo and Luke were written out, said to be racing on the NASCAR circuit, and replacing them were new Duke cousins Coy (Byron Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer) to help watch over things in Hazzard. 

"Thanks for coming. We got it from here. Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

The rest of the cast, Waldron, and fans did not take to the change well. Coy and Vance, rather than being made their own characters, were fundamentally carbon copies of Bo and Luke. Helping that perception was the fact that early scripts had Bo and Luke’s names scratched out and their replacements’ penciled in. The ratings sank, forcing Warner Bros. to renegotiate with Wopat and Schneider. Ultimately, a deal was struck and they returned before the end of the season. Bo and Luke thanked Coy and Vance for their help and the latter pair drove off, largely forgotten within the show.

It was during this tumultuous time that Warner Bros. was looking to further expand and diversify the Dukes franchise. With the toys selling well, they decided to attract even more of the child audience by commissioning a Saturday morning cartoon. Partnering with Hanna-Barbera, The Dukes hit Saturday morning airwaves. The cartoon featured Coy, Vance and Daisy in a race against Boss Hogg, Rosco and Rosco’s dog, Flash (Frank Welker), around the world for prize money they needed to save their farm from Boss. Because it was a cartoon, the General (Welker) was able to do a lot more in terms of stunts and contained an array of gadgetry, as well as some semblance of a personality. Each episode was told in flashback via a postcard Uncle Jesse read to his new pet racoon, Smokey (also Welker), back on the farm in Hazzard. All of the live-action stars reprised their roles for the series. 

The Dukes character models for season 1 (top) and season 2.

 

The Dukes debuted on February 5, 1983, likely due to the 1982 animators strike causing a delay in its production. The series was written by John Bradford, Benny Ferman, Clive Ferman, O. Gordy, John Graham, Orville Hampton, Tom Ruegger and David R. Toddman, with Ray Parker serving as story editor. Characters were designed by Floro Dery, Curtis Cim, Jesse Santos, Mel Keefer and Gabriel Hoyos, with music by Hoyt Curtin and Paul DeKorte. When the series was renewed for a second season, Schneider and Wopat were brought in and their character models were used to replace Coy and Vance. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled at the end of the season meaning the real Duke boys only got to appear in a mere seven episodes. In 2010, Warner Archive released the complete series to DVD as part of their Hanna-Barbera Classics Collection.

Them Dukes boys ain't causin' no trouble, but that flag sure is.

Despite the return of Bo and Luke, The Dukes of Hazzard never reclaimed its former glory; aided in part by increasingly inferior and formulaic scripts and cost-cutting measures of using models for many of the growlingly absurd stunts (like jumping over an entire building). With ratings plummeting, the show was cancelled at the end of its seventh season. The legacy of the show would live on, however, as the cast reunited for two reunion movies and several video games. There have been annual conventions attended by members of the cast and many replicas of the cars, as well as Cooter’s Place, a museum and store in Tennessee dedicated to the Dukes run by Ben Jones (Duke friend and town mechanic Cooter Davenport). In 2005, Warner Bros. attempted to relaunch the franchise with a feature film and potential series pilot television movie, but neither took off. While merchandise related to the show has had relatively continuous production and the show itself has been seen on streaming services, debate about the symbolism of the Confederate battle flag (which adorned the General Lee’s roof and front license plate as it had been a symbol of “southern pride”) has caused Warner Bros. to reconsider licensing Dukes products going forward and even the very airing of the program.

EPISODE GUIDE:

Season 1:

“Put Up Your Dukes!” (2/5/83) – The Dukes race Boss Hogg and Rosco around the world, their first stop taking them to Australia to visit a Duke who is a boxer.

“Jungle Jitters” (2/12/83) – In South America, Boss steals the Dukes’ extra gas and volcano-worshiping natives try to sacrifice the General Lee.

“The Dukes in Venice” (2/19/83) – The Dukes recover the General Lee from robbers who used it to escape the law, but Boss uses the incident to frame the Dukes for the crime.

“Morocco Bound” (2/26/83) – A series of mix-ups allow Aladdin’s lamp to fall into Daisy’s hands, making her the target of the thief who originally stole it.

“The Secret Satellite” (3/5/83) – The racers head after a satellite that crashed in the Arctic Circle, the Dukes doing so for their country and Boss for the hefty reward.

“The Dukes of London” (3/12/83) – Flash is accidentally mixed up with the Queen’s dog, Regina, and the Dukes get arrested for kidnapping when they wind up with Regina.

“The Greece Fleece” (3/19/83) – Boss uses a man named Big Nick to frame the Dukes while plotting to marry his daughter in order to receive a lot of money.

“The Dukes in India” (3/26/83) – Boss teams up with the Grand Vazir to slow down the Dukes so Boss can win the race.

“The Dukes in Uzbekistan” (4/2/83) – The Dukes help an English archaeologist find her father who went missing looking for a diamond mine.

“A Hogg in Hong Kong” (4/9/83) – Pirates capture the racers, and it’s up to the Dukes to save everyone.

“The Dukes in Scotland” (4/16/83) – Billy Bob and June Stewart from Hazzard have inherited a haunted castle.

“The Dukes Do Paris” (4/23/83) – A man gives a rare stamp to Daisy, whom he believes is working for Boss, putting the Dukes in trouble with the law.

“The Dukes Do Switzerland” (4/30/83) – An inventor and his daughter seek to protect their gas formula from the Slavonia Secret Police, only to have it stolen by Boss and Rosco.

Season 2:

“Boss O’ Hogg and the Little People” (9/17/83) – Boss and Rosco steal gold from leprechauns and the Dukes have to save them from being thrown over the rainbow.

“The Tales of Vienna Hoods” (9/24/83) – Thieves kidnap the Dukes and Boss’ niece Cindy Sue for a million dollar ransom.

“The Kid from Madrid” (10/1/83) – When the General Lee is run off the road, Pepino and his race horse come to the Dukes’ aid.

“A Dickens of a Christmas” (10/8/83) – Boss attempts to break the rules and continue the race on Christmas, sending him into his own “A Christmas Carol.”

“The Canadian Caper” (10/15/83) – Boss buys illegal furs from the Bouchard Brothers, who capture animal-loving Suzzette that the Dukes must rescue.

“The Dukes in Hollywood” (10/22/83) – The Dukes are hired as stunt drivers by a crooked producer who tricks Boss into investing in the film so he’ll be blamed when the payroll is stolen.

“A Hogg in the Foggy Bog” (10/29/83) – Jesse finds a treasure map and joins his kin in the Philippines to race Boss and Rosco in finding the treasure.

Originally posted in 2014. Updated in 2023.