HISTORY

THE DUKES OF HAZZARD: A (VERY) CONCISE TIME-LINE.

1975 Gy Waldron writes and directs 'Moonrunners', a tale of Moonshine runners in Kentucky evading the law and trying to destroy

various competitors. It is moderately successful at the Box Office.

1977 'Smokey and the Bandit' becomes a hit.

1978 Phil Mandelker of Warner Bros. sees 'Moonrunners' and thinks it has potential to become a 'Smokey and the Bandit' type TV

Series. Waldron adapts his own Movie and makes many additional changes to make it TV friendly. The first five episodes

are filmed in and around Covington, Georgia.

1979 The series begins on CBS, to almost unanimous critical disdain. Production moves to Hollywood.

The second season goes into production. The tone is lightened and the show is now family friendly.

1980 Dukes of Hazzard becomes one of TV's most popular programs. James Best (Rosco) and Ben Jones (Cooter) both

temporarily leave the show due to various disputes.

1981 The show is now leading the TV ratings; all the cast are happy and the series can do no wrong.

1982 John Schneider (Bo) and Tom Wopat (Luke) grow unhappy with the poor quality of the stories (among other things) and

leave the show. They are replaced by Coy (Bryon Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer). The ratings plummet.

1983 Bo and Luke return. The series becomes slightly more popular, the stories are improved, but the damage has been done.

1984 In attempt to win back the viewers and make the show more spectacular, Warner Bros. decide to use miniatures instead of

vehicles for the action sequences. No-one likes this idea, least of all the viewers.

1985 Dukes of Hazzard is cancelled.

1996 Dukes of Hazzard is syndicated in the USA and becomes a hit once again.

1997 Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion is made. It becomes an instant hit.

2000 The second Movie,'Hazzard in Hollywood' is filmed.

2005 A big-budget Cinema film 'The Dukes of Hazzard' goes into production with a completely different cast; including (ironically)

the star of 'Smokey and the Bandit'..the film that made the TV series possible in the first place.