In the series' pilot episode, cousins Bo and Luke Duke intercept Hazzard County Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane's illegal shipment of slot machines, then plan to use the proceeds to donate to the Hazzard County Orphanage in Rosco's name, to ensure his win in an upcoming election against a corrupt opponent.
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American action-comedy television series that was aired on CBS from January 26, 1979 to February 8, 1985. The show aired for 147 episodes spanning seven seasons. It was consistently among the top-rated television series in the late 1970s (at one point, ranking second only to Dallas, which immediately followed the show on CBS's Friday night schedule). The show is about two young male cousins, Bo and Luke Duke, who live in rural Georgia and are on probation for moonshine-running. The young men and their friends and their female cousin Daisy Duke, and other family (such as patriarch Uncle Jesse), have various escapades as they evade the corrupt county commissioner Boss Hogg and law officer Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane. The young men drive a customized 1969 Dodge Charger nicknamed the General Lee, which became a symbol of the show.
The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, about a bootlegger family which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts. The show was the basis for a film of the same title in 2005.
