The Dukes of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion

by David Hofstede

Book Overview

Following in the successful wake of The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres, The Dukes of Hazzard debuted in January 1979 and quickly became a staple of CBS-TV's Friday night lineup. With its wild mix... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580630383
• ISBN13: 9781580630382
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: Renaissance Books
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 1.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The Dukes Of Hazzard ride again in this book about the show!

The Dukes Of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion is an excellent, thoroughly researched book on the classic TV series of 1979-1985. Everything you wanted to know about this show is all here: from cast and crew interviews, pictures, various behind-the-scenes information, an episode guide with critical comments (including a section on the 1997 TV reunion movie), a merchandise listing of every Dukes of Hazzard product made at the time, as well as a list of various fan websites on the show (although some of these links listed in the book may now be defunct), this book just has it all! Author David Hofstede did a wonderful job on this book about one of the greatest TV shows of the 1980s. This book also includes a foreword written by one of the show's regular stars, actress Catherine Bach, Daisy Duke herself! To all fans of the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, I highly recommend this book to your reading collection! You will not regret it.

More like the OFFICIAL companion to the Dukes Of Hazzard!

The Dukes Of Hazzard: The Unofficial Companion is an excellent, well researched book on the classic TV series of 1979-1985. Everything you want to know about the show is all here: from cast and crew interviews, along with bundles of information, and great pictures, this book has it all. It also includes a section on the 1997 TV reunion movie, and even has a section on how to build your own General Lee, the Dukes' trusted 1969 Dodge Charger! Author David Hofstede did a wonderful job on this book which I think should have been called The Official Companion, because it really reads like one. It even includes a foreword written by Daisy Duke herself, actress Catherine Bach. For an Unofficial Companion, this book is just a great read page by page! To all fans of the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, I highly recommend this book! There's also the upcoming second reunion TV movie, "The Dukes Of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood" on the CBS network to be aired on May 19th, so don't miss it! I wonder if they'll publish an updated edition of this book to include this new TV reunion film?

One of the best TV books

David Hofstede did an excellent job on his look back at the Dukes. From the history behind the scenes before the show premiered all the way to what the cast members are doing now, David leaves no stone unturned and no creek unjumped.Most every living cast member from the series was interviewed (well, the important ones at least). The book also features interviews with the late Denver Pyle and a fun foreword with anecdotes from Daisy Duke herself, Cathy Bach.

Dukes is the best theatrical prod. everThis is the best book

The Dukes of Hazzard is the greatest theatrical production of all time and this is the greatest book of all time! There! Only the maximum praise can be given to this incredible tome! This book is not only a must have for Dukes of Hazzard fans, but a must have for the human race! We are not advancing properly as a species if Renaissance Books does not translate this great work in to ALL languages, so that every human culture of the world can properly enjoy and digest the story of the greatness, no, awesomeness, no, HUMAN PERFECTION THAT IS THE DUKES OF HAZZARD! Hofstede tells tales that any fan of years gone by or the ever developing new fans that follow the show on TNN had to have wondered when they watched the show from 1979-85 or over six months in re-runs. The dumbing down of Rosco Pervis Coltrane. The change of the show from what I honestly believe were the five greatest episodes of television ever in the very beginning to the eventual dumbing down. There are so many tales around the Dukes. Hofstede explains almost all of them.First up, there is the Jerry Rushing/Gy Waldron feud. Waldron, the writer credited for saving One Day at a Time and the guiding force behind "Billionare Boys Club" created the show, and relied heavily on many stories told to him by Rushing, a North Carolina bootlegger in the '50's and '60's who made an appearance in the Dukes' third episode as Ace Parker. If you listen to Rushing, many of the show's characters were taken from his own life. Waldron, however, did meet with 12 bootleggers. I have enjoyed great conversations with both gentlemen. Waldron does admit he used Rushing's stories, but not to the extent Rushing believes. Rushing claims that Waldron couldn't sell his stories until meeting with him, and doesn't respect Waldron's writing ability. Norman Lear, the driving force behind television comedies of the 1970's, believes Waldron is a good writer. If you think this is a difficult tale to weave, you're right. And Hofstede does it with class and accuracy, reporting not a "he said, she said" story, but an accurate tale that leaves both men coming off well, as they should. You read how Dukes went from being a show based on Waldron's life experiences and research of moonshiners, to a Hollywoodized version of a country comedy written by the driving force behind such unfunny "think pieces" as Gilligan's Island, McHale's Navy, Good Times, and McDuff, the Crime Dog. After a gradual dumbing down of the show for the first four seasons, we learn how talented the actors and actresses on the show really were. For it was Waldron's characters and the foundation that the actors created for them in the early episodes that carried the show, and Hofstede accurately reveals the writing staff's lack of respect for the show and for Waldron's creation, and how the cast hated them for it. By the time Coy and Vance came in, the Scab Duke Boys, the foundation Tom Wopat and John Schneider laid out was