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20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The final adventures of Hazzard County, October 17, 2006
The 1984-85 season,the seventh and final of CBS's The Dukes Of Hazzard is exactly the same,in the aspect of cast,as when it premiered in January 1979. Only Sonny Shroyer was not a regular at the time of premiere. The opening theme is exactly the same and the montage is exactly the same as seasons 4 and 6. The closing instrumental theme is exactly the same as seasons 4-6. Highlights from this season include a guest appearance by off-screen narrator,now-deceased country music artist Waylon Jennings. The composer and performer of the DOH theme plays himself. Deputy Enos Strate(Shroyer) was bodyguarding Jennings' trailer while Jennings was in Hazzard County for a concert or two. In HAPPY BIRTHDAY GENERAL LEE,Luke(Tom Wopat) and Bo(John Schneider) flashback to about a decade earlier when they first obtained the 1969 Dodge Charger that was named "The General Lee". Luke and Bo were falsely accused of some felonious crime and were taken to a penetentiary,much to the delight of Sheriff Roscoe Coltrane(James Best) and his brother-in-law Hazzard County Commissioner Jefferson Davis "Boss" Hogg(the late Sorrell Booke). A sick,hospitalized boy meets his idol,race car driver Cale Yarbrough,as himself. In ENOS & DAISY'S WEDDING,the second to last episode,Enos finally marries the woman he always loved,Daisy Duke(Catherine Bach). The wedding was never seen or subsequently mentioned. Two criminals are about to ruin the wedding but Luke and Bo thwart the criminals' plan and bring them to justice. Enos ends up with the measles toward the end of the episode. In the series finale,oddly entitled OPENING NIGHT AT THE BOAR'S NEST,which was written and directed by Schneider(credited as John R. Schneider),Luke,Bo and Daisy simulate Peter,Paul & Mary via two acoustic guitars played by Luke and Bo respectively. The trio provide entertainment at the Boar's Nest,the pub and short order restaurant owned and operated by Boss and where Daisy always worked at throughout the series. This obviously was a fund-raising event and in fact,the Dukes were given moral support by service station attendant Cooter Davenport(Ben Jones). The Dukes' Uncle Jesse(the late Denver Pyle) still had his farm and Roscoe still had his female basset hound Flash("velvet ears"). Wopat and Schneider are country music artists themselves,each having recorded several albums of their own. The other episodes are great. CBS pulled the plug on two other hit series in 1985,those being Alice and The Jeffersons. Like the latter sitcom,DOH never had a special farewell episode because cancellation was never planned after this season. I'm sure Warner Bros.,DOH's production company wanted to continue for an eighth season but the cancellation decision was not made until summer 1985. DOH was killed by NBC's The Cosby Show and ABC's Who's The Boss(1984-85 was the first season for both series). Even ABC's Three's Company's not-too-successful spinoff Three's A Crowd was given the Nielsen axe after its only season in 1984-85. Also,NBC evicted Diff'rent Strokes from its prime-time roster and was moved to ABC. Post-DOH,Wopat and Schneider focused on their musical careers. Wopat had a recurring role on Cybill Shepherd's short-lived CBS sitcom,Cybill,as her ex-husband. Bach had one or two short-lived series of her own. She married and still is to Peter Lopez and they have two children together. Booke passed away in March 1994 of cancer. Jones became a politician,moved to Virginia and opened a store/nightclub called Cooter's. Best moved to Florida and became a college professor. Pyle succumbed to lung cancer at age 77 on Christmas Day 1997. He lived to appear in the first reunion movie,DUKES OF HAZZARD REUNION,first aired by CBS in April 1997. Daisy is now red-haired and drives a motorcycle. Roscoe became Hazzard County Commissioner,succeeding his brother-in-law(it was written that Boss Hogg passed away,as did Booke). Enos,Daisy's husband,is sheriff and Boss's cousin Cletus Hogg is deputy(Rick Hurst,a DOH regular in seasons 3-5 and recurring his role previously,was needed to fill the deputy's shoes). A second reunion movie premiered in 2000,which was much like the season 7 episode,THE DUKES IN HOLLYWOOD. In the second reunion movie,it was written that Uncle Jesse had passed away as did his portrayer. Jennings passed away in 2002 of complications from diabetes. He continued his musical career,post-DOH. In 2005,a theatrical film was released and distributed by WB,starring Johnny Knoxville,Seann William Scott and Jessica Simpson. Simpson's role of Daisy was a blonde. None of the DOH series cast appeared in the film,though. Country star Willie Nelson was Uncle Jesse and performed the DOH theme in the final scene(he and Jennings were longtime friends). Oscar-winner Burt Reynolds was Boss Hogg,in spite of his moustache. I dedicate this item to the memories of Pyle,Booke and Jennings.
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15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
After 140+ episodes, there is a reason the series lost it's YAHOO..., December 31, 2006
It's 1985 and the series has finally ran out of steam. I'm a dukes fan, always will be and people will probably tear me down for what I have to say. But I can't get into the later seasons of Hazzard and season 7 certainly came to an abrupt end. When you run into episodes concerning little green men visiting Hazzard county, you can't help to laugh and say, this series should have been over at the end of Season 2. Some of the storylines in this series are so bad, you might find yourself wanting to skip it all together. My biggest pet peave is that the "realism" died clearly after Season 2 was over. Season 1, (well, the first 5 episodes at least is 5 hours of pure entertainment. Those first 5 episodes within season 1, filmed directly in beautiful Covington Georiga, not on a Hollywood backlot in California, simply has a better feeling at being at a real-time locale. The storylines, the writing, the realism of the show simply died and season 7 is clearly at the bottom of the barrel. And I am still annoyed by the projector screen backdrops in these later seasons. It's so fake it's almost laughable. Fans will clearly notice how it looked so much better when they were actually in the car with the camera on the hood of the car. It's those teeny added touches from Season 1 and 2 that are sorely missed and season 7 is no exception.
Rosco ruined it for me even moreso in season 7 as his character basically turned into a bumbling baffoon and his stupidity got worse from season to season. No longer a corrupted sheriff, rosco evolved into a crybaby with no seriousness at all. The comedic atmosphere in the final seasons are wy over done. Seeing aliens visit form outerspace was enough to make me puke. I missed the awesome storylines, they clearly ran out of ideas. I know they went for the "comedic" route as the seasons progressed and wanted to make the series more family orientated, but why not stick with what made the original series so great.
Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) basically got dumber too as the series has progressed. No longer a intelligent criminal politican, he's just another idiot by Rosco's side.
The series last episode is a decent farewell to the series, but it's still illfades in comparison to the orignal episode in 1979.
However, fans of the series should probably own every episode. Even though I'll probably watch this collection one last time, I always find myself going back to Season 1 where it all got started. The first 7 episodes are 7 hours of pure fresh fun from Hazzard and defintely shows how the show became so darn popular.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a ride!!!!, January 24, 2007
From One-Armed Bandits to Opening Night at the Boar's Nest, it's been a heck of a ride. It has been so much fun reliving the series through Warner Bros. DVD collection of the entire run of the Dukes Of Hazzard. Although season 7 had it's share of problems, it's still right up there with some of the best television you can find. There were a few episodes that were extra cheesy, such as "Robot P. Coltrane" and "Strange Visitor To Hazzard" and most of this season was riddled with the ridiculously cheap looking car stunts performed by miniature models of the General Lee and the Sheriff's patrol cars. However, I did find myself getting a little emotional on the final episode, knowing that this was the last time that The Duke boys would drive and jump the General Lee and this would be the last time that Rosco would cut loose with one of his patented coo coo coo's. The final scene of the last episode when a distraught Rosco was tearfully talking to his fat little buddy, after he believed he made him disappear permanently further convinces me that James Best is one of the best an most versatile actors I have ever seen. If you are any kind of Dukes fan, you must cap off your collection with this final season. The only thing that would make this ride sweeter is if they would release the 2 reunion movies on DVD and also if the Dukes got together for one more go-around. Thanks for the fun Dukes and keep it between the ditches.
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