History YMMV / TheDukesOfHazzard

* TearJerker: In the 1997 tv-movie, we're shown now-county commissioner "Boss" Rosco's office, which has a large portrait of Boss Hogg behind his chair. Rosco at one point goes up to the portrait and laments that "I sure miss you, [[EmbarrassingNickname little fat buddy]]", while almost breaking down crying. Best and Booke were close friends, and his show of emotion is genuine.

** Ditto in Mexico, when the series [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was very popular]], and it's not so unusual to find someone who has a identical (or similar) replica of the General Lee in Mexican streets. It does help most Mexicans don't get the historical nuance behind the Confederate flag and many Mexicans thought that flag is simply a modification of the regular American flag just for making the car to look really {{Badass}}. In fact, the Confederate flag is so deeply associated in Mexico with the series, that many Mexicans end ''really'' disturbed when they find the truth behind the historical meaning of it.

** Ditto in Mexico, when the series [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was very popular]], and it's not so unusual to find someone who has a identical (or similar) replica of the General Lee in Mexican streets. It does help most Mexicans don't get the historical nuance behind the Confederate flag and many Mexicans thought that flag is simply a modification of the regular American flag just for making the car to look really {{Badass}}.

* UnfortunateImplications: Inverted, since this show became a big hit the Confederate flag can only be put on the cars made to look like the General Lee. Anywhere else [[InsaneTrollLogic makes you look like a racist slave owner.]]

* UnfortunateImplications: Inverted, since this show became a big hit the confederate flag can only be put on the cars made to look like the General Lee. Anywhere else on the other hand [[InsaneTrollLogic makes you look like a racist slave owner.]]

** "New Deputy in Town," from Season 4. In a case that also fits BadCopIncompetentCop, Rosco – told that a federal inmate in custody on bank robbery and murder charges will be staying overnight at the Hazzard County Jail – fails to follow up on an FBI advisory that also alerts about his partner in crime: a shapely young woman named Linda Mae Barnes, also wanted for bank robbery and murder. Not long thereafter, after Rosco again bungles an arrest of the Duke boys, Barnes shows up, impersonating a state trooper and easily arrests Bo and Luke. Boss is so impressed (and turned on by Linda) that he hires her on the spot, also acting like an idiot and failing to conduct a background check.
** Enos – along with the others, who are far more intelligent than Boss or Rosco – fall prey to the WhatAnIdiot trap in "Too Many Roscos," when they fail to notice obvious clues about a criminal posing as Rosco, due to his exact resemblance. The phony had bungled simple facts about Bo and Luke, two men he had known since they were young boys, but yet recalled in exact detail facts about an expected armored car delivery at Hazzard Bank. Nothing arouses their suspicion, as everyone chalks it up to "amnesia" the real Rosco had suffered in yet another accident.

* WhatAnIdiot: Several of the series most memorable (if not critically acclaimed) episodes have played upon the premise of Boss and Rosco being so naive and stupid – Sorrell Booke and James Best convincingly portrayed their respective characters as gullible individuals with the mentality of 10- and 7-year-old boys – that dangerous criminals are able to easily able to get them to help accomplish their goals. Perhaps the best example of this is "When You Wish Upon a Hogg," where Boss' corrupt nephew, Hughie, uses his insight into his uncle and right-hand stooge to convince them that an old, antique oil lamp contains a genie that can help them get rich and put the Duke boys in prison forever. When Trixie (Hughie's beautiful girlfriend) plays her part perfectly, Boss and Rosco – both adults who, even with their mentality should know that the "genie in a lamp" idea is just fiction – take the bait. Bo and Luke, naturally, know that the "genie in a lamp" scheme is fraudulent but Boss and Rosco refuse to reason. Several other examples:

* TheWeirdAlEffect: The show was very popular in the UK, and largely displaced any previous knowledge of [[AmericanCivilWar what the Confederate flag signified]]--as far as British people are concerned, it's that flag that was on top of the General Lee, and you put it on your car or lorry if you also enjoy driving around thumbing your nose at 'the law'. Naturally this can lead to ValuesDissonance.
** Ditto in Mexico, when the series [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff was very popular]], and it's not so unusual to find someone who has a identical (or similar) replica of the General Lee in Mexican streets. It does help most Mexicans doesn't get the historical nuance behind the Confederate flag and many Mexicans thought that flag is simply a modification of the regular American flag just for making the car to look really {{Badass}}.
* WhatAnIdiot: Several of the series most memorable (if not critically acclaimed) episodes have played upon the premise of Boss and Rosco being so naive and stupid – Sorrell Booke and James Best convincingly portrayed their respective characters as gullible individuals with the mentality of 10- and 7-year-old boys – that dangerous criminals are able to easily able to get them to help accomplish their goals. Perhaps the best example of this is "When You Wish Upon a Hogg," where Boss' corrupt nephew, Hughie, uses his insight into his uncle and right-hand stooge to convince them that an old, antique oil lamp contains a genie that can help them get rich and put the Duke boys in prison forever. When Trixie (Hughie's beautiful girlfriend) plays her part perfectly, Boss and Rosco – both adults who, even with their mentality should know that the "genie in a lamp" idea is just fiction – take the bait. Bo and Luke, naturally, know that the "genie in a lamp" scheme is fraudulent but Boss and Rosco refuse to reason. Several other examples:
** "New Deputy in Town," from Season 4. In a case that also fits BadCopIncompetentCop, Rosco – told that a federal inmate in custody on bank robbery and murder charges will be staying overnight at the Hazzard County Jail – fails to follow up on an FBI advisory that also alerts about his partner in crime: a shapely young woman named Linda Mae Barnes, also wanted for bank robbery and murder. Not long thereafter, after Rosco again bungles an arrest of the Duke boys, Barnes shows up, impersonating a state trooper and easily arrests Bo and Luke. Boss is so impressed (and turned on by Linda) that he hires her on the spot, also acting like an idiot and failing to conduct a background check.
** Enos – along with the others, who are far more intelligent than Boss or Rosco – fall prey to the WhatAnIdiot trap in "Too Many Roscos," when they fail to notice obvious clues about a criminal posing as Rosco, due to his exact resemblance. The phony had bungled simple facts about Bo and Luke, two men he had known since they were young boys, but yet recalled in exact detail facts about an expected armored car delivery at Hazzard Bank. Nothing arouses their suspicion, as everyone chalks it up to "amnesia" the real Rosco had suffered in yet another accident.

* HeyItsThatVoice: The narrator (and performer of ExpositoryThemeTune) is legendary country singer Music/WaylonJennings.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** No one seems to notice or care that the "General Lee" has a Confederate Battle Flag on the roof. Or the idea that naming the car the "General Lee" means anything [[MyCountryRightOrWrong other than honoring a skillful soldier]]. Slavery? What does the [[TheAmericanCivilWar War Of Northern Aggression]] have to do with that?
*** TruthInTelevision: Many Southerners are blissfully nostalgic about the Civil War and Deep South pageantry while being supportive of African American rights. Whether you find this to be understandable, mystifying, or monumentally hypocritical is up to you.
*** The Rebel Flag is also a widely adopted symbol of rednecks throughout the USA, regardless or race. As with many symbols througout history, the meaning is different to them than it is to non-rednecks. It's more of a symbol of rebellion against TheMan or "the system". They've turned it into something that can be a unifying symbol, instead of a negative symbol of segregation and racism.
*** Symbolism changes with time. Some gay pride symbols used to be strictly Christian symbols, much to the dismay of many a Christian.
**** Likewise the swastika, which was known for thousands of years across many cultures as a good luck symbol before ThoseWackyNazis got hold of it.
*** Also a bit of ValuesDissonance coming into play here, as the Confederate battle flag wasn't nearly as controversial in the late 1970's as it is today.
** Can anyone name an African-American character who appeared on the show (usually just one episode per character) who ''wasn't'' an antagonist?
*** No, but there was a Chinese couple who ran the bait shop.
*** I vaguely recall an African-American dentist who operated out of a rolling office in a Winnebago.
*** What about Brodie, a character from the first and fifth episodes and one of the Duke boys friends? Played by Rocky Laidler.

** "New Deputy in Town," from Season 4. In a case that also fits BadCopIncompetentCop, Rosco – told that a federal inmate in custody on bank robbery and murder charges – fails to follow up on an FBI advisory that also alerts about his partner in crime: a shapely young woman named Linda Mae Barnes, also wanted for bank robbery and murder. Not long thereafter, after Rosco again bungles an arrest of the Duke boys, Barnes shows up, impersonating a state trooper and easily arrests Bo and Luke. Boss is so impressed (and turned on by Linda) that he hires her on the spot, also acting like an idiot and failing to conduct a background check.

* FridgeLogic: It's mentioned repeatedly that the Duke boys can't have guns as a condition of their probation. So, how are they getting ''dynamite'' and ''blasting caps'', both of which require a permit in most jurisdictions?

* HeyItsThatVoice: The narrator (and performer of ExpositoryThemeTune) is legendary country singer WaylonJennings.

* EverybodyRemembersTheStripper: Many people only know the series because of Daisy's short shorts. Tiny short shorts are still occasionally referred to as Daisy Dukes to this day.

* GannonBanned: There is no "e" in Rosco.

* MissedMomentOfAwesome: While fans are fairly universal in their dislike of Coy and Vance, fans generally didn't like their treatment once Bo and Luke returned (in the episode where Bo and Luke returned, they leave to take care of a sick relative, were gone before the first commercial, and are never mentioned again,) and a lot of fans felt like it would have been interesting to see all six Dukes trying to defuse a particularly dastardly scheme.

* UnfortunateImplications: No one seems to notice or care that the "General Lee" has a Confederate Battle Flag on the roof. Or the idea that naming the car the "General Lee" means anything [[MyCountryRightOrWrong other than honoring a skillful soldier]]. Slavery? What does the [[strike:Civil War]] [[strike:War Between The States]] [[TheAmericanCivilWar War Of Northern Aggression]] have to do with that?