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CBS (Fri., May 19, 8 p.m. ET)
Cast members may die – Sorrell Booke (Boss Hogg) in 1994, Denver Pyle (Uncle Jesse) in 1997 – but The Dukes of Hazzard seen weekly on CBS from 1979 to 1985, clings to life in TV movies. I’m not the sort who never tires of car-crash action combined with low comedy, but I rate this effort a marginal improvement over 1997’s The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion!
The General Lee – that’s the souped-up 1969 Dodge Charger with the Confederate insignia on the roof – seems slightly more fuel efficient when Bo Duke (John Schneider) and brother Luke (Tom Wopat) motor far from Hazzard County.
Pursuant to a silly plot concerning a fund-raising scam and stolen country-music tapes, the boys hit Hollywood along with Daisy (Catherine Bach), Sheriff Roscoe (James Best) and other Hazzardites. Enos (Sonny Shroyer), Roscoe’s ol’ deputy, is back with the Los Angeles Police Department, where he served in his failed 1980-81 spinoff. Only this time – hee-haw! – he’s a babe magnet.
But wait, our theme was what’s better about this Dukes movie. Well, Bo and Luke each have a pretty singer for a love interest. Though the relationships are phony, Patricia Manterola (as Bo’s squeeze) and Anita Cochran (as Luke’s ex-flame) do get to vocalize. And Daisy’s stint as a stuntwoman is sort of funny. Bottom Line: Hey, it’s a change of scenery