Customer Reviews

The Dukes of Hazzard: The Complete Fifth Season

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yes, 5 stars. There has simply never been another show on television like THE DUKES OF HAZZARD...and I doubt we will ever see something in its style again. But just because John Schneider and Tom Wopat ("Bo and Luke Duke") are absent on just about every episode of this season, doesn't mean that I will wait longer to purchase it.

In hindsight, the introduction of "Coy and Vance Duke" into the storyline wasn't the great disaster it was in 1982. Schneider and Wopat walk off the show to strike over issues related to merchandise royalties, and the show clamors to hire two new individuals to fill the huge gap. Granted, the replacement cousins were no Bo and Luke, but hey, the character of Coy (played by Byron Cherry) was quite likeable and down-home like, and the change in roles allowed the show to experiment a little.

Rick Hurst ("Deputy Cletus") stayed on the show as Sonny Shroyer ("Deputy Enos") returns from his failed spin-off series, and it's great that we have both deputies on several of this season's early shows until Hurst finally departs. Secondly, the comedic talents of "Boss Hogg" (Sorrell Booke) and "Sheriff Rosco" (James Best) are second to none in the fifth season, as the two really stepped it up to ease the absence of Schneider and Wopat. The two really carry the weight of the season, and they do it hillariously!

Not only that, but one of the best episodes of the show's entire run, "Witness: Jesse Duke", shows the great talent of Denver Pyle ("Uncle Jesse"), and the chemistry of the "new Dukes" finally gels within the storyline and with the rest of the cast, only to be gone in the next episode.

Otherwise, the stories found in this season are very good, and afterall, Bo and Luke do return towards the end. In fact, another unique element here is the episode "Welcome Back, Bo & Luke", which features Bo, Luke, Coy and Vance on screen all together in this episode only.

A big thanks to Warner Brothers for continuing to release THE DUKES OF HAZZARD sets on DVD. Another thanks to Warner for making these single-sided discs (at an unbeatable price). Now if Warner would only re-release the first 3 seasons with the single-sided configuration!

Warner Bros. continues to do a GREAT job with these "The Dukes of Hazzard" season box sets. Each time the content and extras are great, the price point is VERY reasonable (especially now that the sets consist of 8-9 single-sided discs each) and the release schedule is surprisingly swift! As I'm sure all of you know, this is the season where Bo and Luke were temporarily replaced by Coy and Vance. I don't think anyone seriously thought that Warner would skip this season for fear of it being less popular for that very reason, but anyone who really was concerned about there being a gaping hole in their collection can now lay those fears to rest.

I remember seeing some of these episodes first-run, and as I recall there were some good ones thrown in the lot despite the absence of Schneider and Wopat. Besides, they both returned to the show for the last few episodes of the season, so it is not totally devoid of them. Any Coy and Vance haters had best remember that, as boycotting this season will cost them a few Bo and Luke episodes.

Only two more seasons remain before we will be able to own the entire series in its' original, uncut format! That will all but render the chopped-up CMT airings obsolete.

This is the 5th installment of the Dukes Of Hazzard season series on dvd in which Bo And Luke Persue an oppurtinity of a life long dream to race the Nascar circuit (Actually a contract dispute with Warner Brothers) Enter Coy and Vance Duke to save the 5th Season from going down the toilet. I Have to admit that i'm more of a Bo And Luke fan myself but,if not for the Coy And Vance Episodes this season might have ended the running of the series.As for the Episodes they are actually pretty good and worth the purchase and would watch them several times each, The Season 5 package consists of 22 episodes on 8 dvd's with lots of extras & includes episodes #87 through #108 with Bo And Luke returning for the final 4 episodes of season 5 #105 through #108. Here below is the episode list for season 5 w/original airdates found on tvtome.com #87 The New Dukes 9/24/82 #88 Dukes Strike It Rich 10/1/82 #89 Lawman Of The Year 10/8/82 #90 Coy Meets Girl 10/15/82 #91 The Hazzardgate Tape 10/22/82 #92 Big Daddy 10/29/82 #93 Vance's Lady 11/5/82 #94 Hazzard Hustle 11/12/82 #95 Enos In Trouble 11/19/82 #96 The Great Insurance Fraud 11/26/82 #97 A Little Game Of Pool 12/3/82 #98 The Treasure Of Soggy Marsh 12/10/82 #99 The Revenge Of Hughie Hogg 12/17/82 #100 The Return Of The Mean Green Machine 1/7/83 #101 Ding Dong.The Boss Is Dead 1/21/83 #102 Coy Vs Vance 2/4/83 #103 Comrade Duke 2/11/83 #104 Witness Jesse Duke 2/18/83 #105 Welcome Back Bo n Luke 2/25/83 #106 Big Brothers Duke 3/4/83 #107 Farewell Hazzard 3/11/83 #108 Daisy's Shotgun Wedding 3/25/83

Why no interviews with the actors who played Coy or Vance. I knocked this set down a star because of it. I know the "Replacment Dukes" are not exactly popular with the fans but that doesn't mean they didn't do the best job they could. To their credit they didn't try to be Bo and Luke copies but carved out personalities of their own. When Bo and Luke return in episode 19, Coy and Vance are dumped a little too quickly. I would of liked to see the four cousins team-up at least once. After this episode you never hear of Coy and Vance again. I guess they got banned to "TV Limbo" with Richie Cunnigham's brother Chuck. I don't think this boads well for a future DVD release of the "Dukes" cartoon, which as Coy and Vance as the main charecters in the first 13 of the 21 episodes in the series. In episode 21 of this season, the main villian is a woman named "L.S. Pritchard" from Dallas, TX. Think a female J.R. Ewing. She wants to strip-mine Hazzard for coal. I wonder if this wasn't an aborted attempt for a Dallas-Dukes crossover. Did this charecter ever show up on Dallas? After all, the Dukes did crossover with "Alice" in October of 1983 (I hope that episode of Alice is included as an extra in the Dukes season six DVD realease). Anyway this season wasn't as bad as some people remember. At least Enos returns (but Cleatus is banished to the same TV limbo as Coy and Vance.)

Season 5 episodes are:


(#1) "The New Dukes"
As the Dukes' fifth season begins, cousins Coy and Vance (Byron Cherry, Christopher Mayer) join the fold and Deputy Enos Strate returns to Hazzard after a stint in the big city. With Bo and Luke off racing on the NASCAR circuit, Boss gleefully unveils a James Bondian vehicle and a bizarre robbery scheme, unaware he'll have to contend with a new pair of Dukes.

(#2) "Dukes Strike it Rich"
When Hogg sells a worthless piece of land to a newlywed couple, the Dukes turn the tables on him by sowing the ground with a few strategically placed gold nuggets.

(#3) "Lawman of the Year"
Rosco becomes Mr. Nice Guy in a bid for Lawman of the Year, leaving Coy and Vance with their hands full trying to thwart a jewelry-store robbery masterminded by Hogg.

(#4) "Coy Meets Girl"
The Dukes' truck gets hijacked, along with its cargo: a friend's priceless antiques - and a runaway teen-ager who went unnoticed by Coy and Vance.

(#5) "The Hazzardgate Tape"
The Dukes have to save Hogg's hide from the vengeance of three other county bosses when he refuses to share the bonanza he reaped through hijacking, stolen cars and bootlegging made possible by a new state highway that bypassed their counties.

(#6) "Big Daddy"
Big Daddy Hogg (Les Tremayne) puts his son on his most-wanted list until the General Lee is commandeered as a getaway car for a robbery by Big Daddy's chauffeur.

(#7) "Vance's Lady"
Vance's former flame is being followed by a crooked senator's aides who'll kill to keep her from talking to a crime commission about the pol's embezzling.

(#8) "Hazzard Hustle"
Boss Hogg opens a horse betting parlor and fixes it so he gets the money and the Dukes get the blame.

(#9) "Enos in Trouble"
By the time Enos learns of the stolen emeralds in his footlocker, the thieves who stashed them are trying to retrieve the gems - and so is Boss Hogg, who needs funding for his fricasseed pig's feet fast-food chain.

(#10) "The Great Insurance Fraud"
The Dukes are caught up in a con artist's scheme to cash in on a bogus insurance policy he bought from Boss; the con man's car, rigged for a dive into Bottomless Lake, is side-swiped by the General Lee.

(#11) "A Little Game of Pool"
With the annual pool championship at hand, Boss talks Jesse into wagering the General Lee in a warm-up match Jesse can't possibly win.

(#12) "The Treasure of Soggy Marsh"
Boss gladly provides diving gear to an ex-con who's armed with a map of Soggy Marsh showing the location of $500,000 in negotiable bonds.

(#13) "The Revenge of Hughie Hogg"
Hughie Hogg (Jeff Altman) blackmails his uncle into switching his election support from Rosco to Hughie.

(#14) "The Return of the Mean Green Machine"
Boss resurrects his Mean Green Machine to heist a gold collection, but the crook who built the armored vehicle steals it back - and holds Cooter as insurance.

(#15) "Ding, Dong, the Boss is Dead"
Boss Hogg has to play dead in order to escape a pair of hired killers sent to Hazzard by a former associate.

(#16) "Coy Vs. Vance"
A pair of motorcycle stuntwomen who double as highway robbers may be headed for a fall when one of them falls for Coy.

(#17) "Comrade Duke"
A defector from a Russian gymnastics team seeks refuge from her pursuers with Coy and Vance.

(#18) "Witness: Jesse Duke"
An injured Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) is given unlikely refuge in Hogg's house after witnessing a robbery by two men who are now trying to silence him. Meanwhile, his uneasy host is trying to complete a crooked deal.

(#19) "Welcome Back, Bo 'n' Luke"
Bo and Luke roar into Hazzard from a triumphant tour on the NASCAR circuit, and not a moment too soon: Cooter faces eviction from his garage by Boss Hogg.

(#20) "Big Brothers, Duke"
As members of a big-brothers organization for underprivileged kids, Bo and Luke take an orphan boy under the wing whose first act of gratitude is to embark on his own private crime wave.

(#21) "Farewell, Hazzard"
The Dukes try to save Hazzard from destruction when Boss Hogg joins forces with an unscrupulous speculator to buy up the county to use it for mining.

(#22) "Daisy's Shotgun Wedding"
Tired of her family's overprotectiveness, Daisy moves in with a friend - and is promptly kidnapped for a shotgun wedding with one of the Beaudry clan.

This season was not so great due to the sudden departure of DOH's original stars Tom Wopat and John Schneider in the spring of 1982. Wopat and Schneider were not gone for good,though. After failing to receive royalty payments for Dukes toys,games and other memorabilia that sold like hotcakes all over America and other countries as well,the pair walked off the DOH set,leaving Warner Bros.,the series' production company,to find two new Dukes to fill the places of Wopat and Schneider. WB held a nationwide hunt and and after screening 2,000+ applicants,they elected Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer. The Nielsen ratings were at an all-time low,due to the absences of Wopat and Schneider. In the first episode THE NEW DUKES,which aired on September 24,1982,off-screen narrator the late Waylon Jennings explains to viewers that Luke(Wopat) and Bo(Schneider) have left Hazzard to try their luck on the Nascar Racing Circuit. So two new Duke cousins named Coy(Cherry) and Vance(Mayer) return to Hazzard after a six-year residence in Detroit to help Uncle Jesse(the late Denver Pyle) run the farm. Daisy(Catherine Bach) said in one of the first scenes to Jesse,"I don't think I'll recognize my own cousins." J.D. "Boss" Hogg(the late Sorrell Booke) and Hazzard County sheriff Roscoe Coltrane(James Best) were celebrating(with champagne) the departures of Luke and Bo. "Luke and Bo are out of my hair!",happily sings Boss Hogg. That was before he and Roscoe learned about the arrival of Coy and Vance. Coy and Vance acted and did everything like Luke and Bo(climbing in and out of the General Lee,escaping the clutches of Boss Hogg,Roscoe and BH's deputy cousin Cletus and catching criminals). Viewers also witness Sonny Shroyer,who was the original Hazzard deputy Enos Strate,triumphantly returning to Hazzard after a brief stay in Los Angeles. So during this season,Hazzard had two deputies but Cletus would be gone for good after this season. Enos sorely missed the Hazzard gang,especially Daisy whom he always worshipped. In the opening montage,we notice Coy and Vance going "YEE HAH!" at the end just like Luke and Bo previously. Another change is Pyle's personal scene which had to be new so there would be no signs of Wopat and Schneider as it was in previous seasons. The highest-rated episode from this season is WELCOME BACK BO AND LUKE,which aired February 25,1983. In that episode,Wopat and Schneider triumpantly return(for good). Bo and Luke make a surprise entry in the Boar's Nest,a pub and short order restaurant owned by Boss Hogg and where Daisy works as a barmaid. That was the only episode which all four Duke boys were together. Luke and Bo missed Daisy,Uncle Jesse and service station attendant Cooter Davenport(Ben Jones). For that matter,all of Hazzard County. Cherry and Mayer were written out after that episode. In that opening montage,Wopat and Schneider regained their original star billing instead of being billed as special guest stars. Take note on the DVD package that only Bach appears(on the front photo). DOH got a fresh new start at the beginning of the 1983-84 season,for it was exactly the same,in the aspect of cast,as it was when the series premiered in January 1979.

With Bo & Luke gone for a big majority of this season we do see some pretty good Daisy Duke moments like her rescue attempt on "Coy Meets Girl" I always loved watching Daisy fight. I never thought Coy & Vance were as good as Bo & Luke but they were ok. Some of these shows are just as good as they were with Bo & Luke. Plus Bo & Luke are on this set towards the end of the season they return. One of my favorite episodes was "Daisy's Shotgun Wedding" which is on this set. I like the box cover art too. Daisy only. It makes up for the cover the previous set of Season 4 had where Daisy was not pictured at all.

Coy and Vance may have sucked in comparison to the real Bo and Luke, but the movie version of "Dukes" makes Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer look like Laurence Olivier and Orson Welles. I think of season 5 as "Diet Dukes," same flavor, lower octane, but still satisfying. If you find yourself tiring of Coy and Vance, just remember they're only in 22 episodes and repeat to yourself, "Bo and Luke are coming back." Kudos to Warner Brothers for not skipping this famous, yet infamous chapter of Dukes, and T.V., history.

KUDOS TO WARNER BROS. FOR HAVING THE GUTS TO RELEASE THE FIFTH SEASON OF THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, KNOWING IT PROBABLY WOULD NOT BE AS POPULAR AS OTHER SEASONS. I HOWEVER DO NOT MIND THE "COY AND VANCE ERA". THEY DID THE BEST THEY COULD UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES. WHATEVER WAS LACKING WITH THE ABSENCE OF BO AND LUKE WAS MORE THAN MADE UP FOR BY THE AMPED-UP COMEDY OF BOSS AND ROSCO. I HAD THE PLEASURE TO RE-ENJOY THESE EPISODES RECENTLY AS THEY AIRED ON CMT AND AM LOOKING FORWARD TO OWNING THEM VERY SOON. THERE WILL NEVER BE ANYTHING MORE MAGICAL THAN THE ORIGINAL DUKES OF HAZZARD EPISODES-ESPECIALLY NOT THAT PIECE OF CINEMATIC GARBAGE STARRING A JACK---, AN AMERICAN PIE IDIOT AND AMERICA'S FAVORITE DITZY BLONDE. TRUST ME, STICK WITH THE ORIGINAL. IT'S A JUMP AND A YEE-HAW BETTER.

Okay, let me start by saying, that as a kid, watching (and loving) The Dukes of Hazzard, this season killed me. Without Bo and Luke, in my mind, there was no Dukes of Hazzard and that feeling was reinforced by this DVD set.

With stars Tom Wopat (Luke) and John Schneider (Bo) in a contract dispute with the show's producers, the powers that be decided to go out and find a couple of replacement parts if you will, for the General Lee. What they came up with was Vance (Christopher Mayer) and Coy (Byron Cherry). It was obvious they were going for look-alikes to play the other set of Duke cousins, as opposed to finding the best actors, because these guys were certainly not the best actors. Then again, the Dukes of Hazzard was never known for being a showcase for Oscar-caliber acting.

As the fifth season began, viewers learned that Bo and Luke were heading off to race on the NASCAR circuit, at the time not nearly the juggarnaut it is today. Of course what seems strange to me watching now (though it didn't strike me as a little kid) is that the Duke boys were on parole, which meant they couldn't leave Hazzard County. Remember all those times with Sheriff Little chasing the boys for being parole breakers? If that's the case, how could they leave Hazzard to race and when they return still be on parole? A good question that never really gets answered.

With Bo and Luke gone, Vance and Coy show up and take over the 1969 Dodge Charger known as the General Lee. They move onto the Duke farm with Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach). And while the two main characters are different, many of the stories remain the same.

The Dukes find themselves in the middle of many of Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane's (James Best) sticky messes. The "law" of Hazzard County certainly isn't the fine upstanding type, but deep down, both the sheriff and Boss Hogg are decent people, as we see in an episode where Uncle Jesse is blinded while foiling a robbery and the pair are genuinely sympathetic.

Of course Vance and Coy have to find ways to spoil Boss Hogg's schemes and through 18 episodes, the "new" Dukes do just that, teaming with mechanic Cooter Davenport (Ben Jones), Daisy and Jesse to keep Hazzard County on the straight and narrow. Pretty much it's the same old thing in Hazzard County: Boss Hogg and Rosco try to swindle people and the Dukes put a stop to it. Of course Boss and Rosco always find bad guys to pin the blame on.

Then, in episode 19, Bo and Luke triumphantly return to Hazzard, fresh off a big win on the NASCAR circuit and ready to settle back into their lives in the sleepy Georgia county. And Boss and Rosco continue to try and swindle residents. Some things never change.

There was however another change in season five. Deputy Enos Strait returned from (failed) spin-off land in California and assumes his role with the police department, teaming with fellow deputy Cletus Hogg for the first part of the season. That is, until Cletus mysteriously disappears, with no real explanation given, except for a mention of a vacation in one episode. Again, another question that doesn't really get answered.

This should have been a great season for extras. It would have been nice to hear about what the cast thought of the changes around them, what the stars were looking for, how producers went about replacing them, how the fan reaction led to them returning. Unfortunately this is not discussed at all in the extras. There is a reunion of stunt personnel and a tour of Cooter's Place, a Dukes memorabilia store. These aren't bad extras, but it really would've been nice to have an inside look at just what happened in season five.

Overall, I can't give this too bad a rating, because there are extras, and the quality of the reproduction seems good, especially for an older show. And really, I can't rate anything that has Waylon Jennings too bad anyway.