A "Dukes" museum update

There it is ... like a beacon shining in the distance ... the "Dukes of Hazzard" museum being built by Mr. Paul Harrington of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club. We've been posting photos now and then, to update you on the progress of the museum, and these photos are the latest.

"We have been kind of busy with the east wall," Paul said, "trying to get it all covered before it gets too cold. Well, here it is so far, now it's 40 outside. Last week it was 93; wow, what a difference."

And that was last month. There's a reason they call it the Great White North, ya know ... (of course, maybe now it'll be the Great Orange North!)

Photos courtesy of Paul Harrington

Terrific TV Toys: "Dukes of Hazzard" cup by Deka

You remember those fun little plastic dish sets with your favorite characters on them? Cup, bowl, matching plate? Great for cereal on a Saturday morning, or soup or what-have-you???? (Well, actually, they still make them to this day!) That sort of plastic dishware was part of the vast and varied volume of merchandise for "The Dukes of Hazzard" when it originally aired in the '80s. Lots of stuff like this hit the store shelves 'round about 1981 when the "Dukes" were in their heyday.

You've even seen this very dishware on past episodes of BRBTV, like the Terrific TV Toys episode highlighting the "Dukes" collection of T.J. in Michigan a few weeks ago, and even the walk through the "Dukes" museum at Cooter's Place from the week before last. This week's episode of T3 gets you up-close and personal with one of these "Dukes" dish items ...

Motor City Mania: An overview

Whew ... It was a fabulous start to a rockin' weekend at the Motor City Comic Con in Novi, Michigan. We saw thoroughly entertaining things that it wouldn't be right to post here, but we will post what we can, to kick off our full week of coverage of the event.


Mr. Felix Silla of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," the original "Battlestar Galactica" and many more fun shows, who also played the alien in the "Dukes of Hazzard" episode "Strange Visitor to Hazzard," stopped by our table to chat. He was at the show last year, too.


What would a con (any con?) be without Stormtroopers and the like? Here, they show their weaponry to our friend Krista ...

K.I.T.T. and the General Lee -- how can you go wrong? In fact, there are two Generals in attendance this weekend, plus the first ever appearance of one of the two original Monkeemobiles! Look for photos of that red beauty next week!

As always, BRB enjoyed the warm hospitality of Paul and Cheryl Harrington of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club and their "Dukes" museum display. Cheryl says it's the largest collection of fun "Dukes" stuff they've displayed at the Motor City show (and they've done quite a few of these shows!)


If you can make it to the Rock Financial Showplace this weekend, be sure to stop by BRB's table and say hello! She's signing not only "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!" but also the other two print BRBTV books, "Dynasty High" and the newly released "Destination: Dallas." She's also got CDs of all of the BRBTV products for a cool low price (see the BRBTV 10th anniversary page for a rundown of the AniPak and SuperPak). And hey, you can open up a big ole classic TV geek vortex at her table with the mere mention of "The Rockford Files," Erik Estrada, "The Secrets of Isis," Walter Koenig or any such stuff like that ...

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand!

Hello again, Covington! Plus, a few "Santa Barbara" tidbits

Aaaahhhh ... Covington ... birthplace of "The Dukes of Hazzard." It treats us so well, each time we visit it ... Last night's Hazzard County Cruise-In on the historic town square in Covington, Georgia, brought mostly locals around, curious to see this "Dukes" goings-on, as many of the hard-core "Dukes" fans that are traveling from out of state are still, well, traveling from out of state! Like right now, as you read!

But the evening -- amid the sunny Southern heat closing all around and showing us just why Cooter liked to call this Hot-lanta -- was still most enjoyable, with plenty of fun and chatting. Take the two young gentlemen in the top photo, for instance, all gussied up as those Hazzard County lawmen we adored even though we didn't want to, Rosco and Enos -- or was it Rosco and Cletus?! They came in from New Jersey in a modern Hazzard County Sheriff's car that they said was actually pulled over for speeding by the (real) police! The constables warned the guys not to be wearing those uniforms in the vehicle, also. They are rather convincing, ya know?

The Hazzard County Stunt Team was there, and will return tonight, and then Sunday night after DukesFest, along with Jon Holland and BRB herself, signing their "Dukes" books. The sweet, smiling Judy Bruce, who was one of the kids in the orphanage in the pilot episode, "One Armed Bandits," was there, and BRB was delighted to chat with Mr. Wayne Wooten, and JETT and friends all the way from New York. The below display of "Dukes" goodies was from reps of John Schneider.

If you're one of those in town, c'mon out and visit with us awhile tonight, 6 to 10, then on Sunday, same hours! Grab a soda at A Touch of Country and check in with that fab "Dukes" museum in the back. And yes, bring that beautiful car and park it along the square!

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

In completely unrelated news ...

OK, we've got to run it now, because we plan on jamming this blog up all of next week with lotsa DukesFest coverage, and it's good enough not to keep until after that. A few items related to our beloved soap "Santa Barbara" surfaced on the Net in the past few days.

- Did you know that Dame Judith Anderson, the original Minx Lockridge, actually was a Santa Barbara girl? She lived there many years. See the explanation of that, along with a nice bio of her by the Santa Barbara Historical Society, in the Santa Barbara Independent:
http://www.independent.com/news/2008/jun/24/how-long-did-famous-actress-judith-anderson-live-h/

- Oh, that Lane Davies, at that whole Shakespeare thing again. You just can't keep him away from the Bard. It's his "A Midsummer Night's Dream" set in the U.S. South again, at the Tennessee Shakespeare Festival, and Tennessee's Shelbyville Times-Gazette has more:
http://www.t-g.com/story/1439232.html

- And while we're roaming around in the Times-Gazette, here's another story about a "Santa Barbara" actor. This time it's Sam Dalton, who played a police officer from 1984-1986 and who is friends with Davies. Nowadays, he produces and writes for television. Read more at the paper:
http://www.t-g.com/story/1439554.html
And see more about Dalton at his site:
http://www.boomeradventurestv.com/

"Dukes" museum gets its floor joists

The "Dukes of Hazzard" museum in Ontario, Canada, continues to take shape. And winter weather is sure not a deterrent for this fine project ...

"We now have 12' feet of floor joists up, and another 8' to go to complete only half of the 40' feet for the overall floor space," says Paul Harrington of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club, who owns the property. "This section is 20' by 24' ."

Paul jokes that in the photo below, he's having his "first cup of tea up in the 'Dukes' room, lol, almost 14' off the ground."

He continues, "Each board is 24' long , and these are a true 9 1/2" by 2" boards, very heavy, and very hard to pull them up. We ended up using a boat winch on the ground with a pulley on a bar in the rafters, 20' in the air."

All in a day's work. Well, we're sure it was more than a day. "It is taking shape," Paul says, "with the help of Lance, and Tonya, and Cheryl making teas for us, and a great supper."

Photos courtesy of Paul Harrington

BRBTV News Blog Blip: Speaking of "The Dukes," Tom Wopat, our own Luke Duke, will fill in for Robert Cuccioli for the Cabaret Pittsburgh Riverview Series show at the Renaissance Hotel on February 15. Read more about it at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Catch the sights and sounds of Hair Dare Dukes Days 2010 at BRBTV's YouTube channel

You know, we really should've started doing this whole video thing years ago -- it's so much easier! In events past, we've brought you coverage on this news blog with photos and quotes and notes. Now, we can just link to the videos on YouTube and let our subjects do the talking -- no wading through our notebooks or processing a bunch of photos! Meow!

At any rate, BRBTV had a delightful time at this past weekend's Hair Dare Dukes Days, the eighth annual benefit event from Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club president Paul Harrington. In two cool, cool days in Comber, Ontario (yes, they thought BRB was crazy for wearin' her dazyduks!) this event served up cars and stars in the name of "The Dukes of Hazzard." It also raised scholarship funds for a student surviving cancer.

Some of the moments you'll see in this new set of three videos on BRBTV's YouTube channel:
- A chat with the owners of the "00" Mustang and the "Twilight" movie replica pickup truck.
- A few words from the amazing Zealand, a dear friend of BRBTV who travels to North America from New Zealand every year for a "Dukes" event.
- Paul Harrington getting his hair cut by Don Pedro Colley, Sheriff Little of "The Dukes of Hazzard." Paul raised $1,010 in pledges for this "hair dare," while Glenn Call of Massachusetts raised $700.
- Billie Rae Bates trying her hand at the smack-a-wreck (yes, you're allowed to laugh), as well as signing the inside of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard traveling museum trailer.

"Dukes of Hazzard" 40th anniversary celebration set for Cooter's in January

It's been quite a "Dukes" week here at BRBTV, between sharing the love from last weekend's Hazzard County Christmas event in Corunna, Michigan, and now seeing the details being released of the 40th anniversary celebration at Cooter's in January. Here's what Cooter's has sent around ...

 

Come Celebrate the 40th Birthday with us!

HAZZARD COUNTY’S 40TH BIRTHDAY TO BE CELEBRATED IN NASHVILLE’S MUSIC VALLEY JANUARY 26, 2019

On January 26, 1979, “The Dukes of Hazzard” premiered on CBS Television as an unheralded midseason replacement. Now, 40 years later, the cast and fans of the show will join together in Nashville, Tennessee, on Saturday, January 26, 2019 to celebrate “40 years of good times in Hazzard County.” Several events are planned, centered around “Cooter’s in Music City” on McGavock Pike off Briley Parkway.

The event will include “Meet and Greet plus pix and Autograph sessions” with cast members, a screening of the very first “Dukes” episode at The Troubadour Theatre, followed by a cast concert at The Nashville Palace, with Cooter’s Garage Band and very special guest Whey Jennings, the grandson of Waylon Jennings, who narrated “The Dukes” and wrote and sang the ever popular theme song, “Good Ol’ Boys.”

Cast members who plan to attend are Tom Wopat, who created the role of “Luke Duke,” Catherine Bach, known to the world as “Daisy Duke," Sonny Shroyer, who played “Deputy Enos,” and Rick Hurst, who portrayed “Deputy Cletus.” Ben “Cooter” Jones and Alma Viator, the proprietors of Cooter’s in Music City, the Dukes of Hazzard Museum and shop on McGavock Pike, are hosting the shindig.

“The amazing thing about our show is that it seems as fresh and new as ever,” says Ben Jones, who played the sidekick mechanic “Cooter” on the show. “All over the world, folks watch the 'Dukes' in different languages, and they watch it with their children. The kids who grew up watching it back in the early '80s are watching it with their own kids now. And some of them are watching with their grandchildren! That’s the greatest compliment our show could have.

“When we first came on the air, the television critic for the Los Angeles Times said, 'This show won’t last past the first commercial break,'” says Jones. “Just goes to show you, never pay attention to your critics!”

Hazzard County 40th Birthday Celebration is FREE to attend
@ Cooter's Place in Nashville!

10:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Special events will have VERY LIMITED AVAILABILITY and will require a ticket purchase to attend so get yours NOW!

TICKETS 

Rock on! Season 6 of "Dukes" on its way

Mark May 30 on your calendar, "Dukes" fans. That's the scheduled release date of Season 6 of "The Dukes of Hazzard," TVShowsonDVD.com reports. With a $39.98 list price, the set will include 22 action-packed thrill-rides with our Duke cousins.

And a BRBTV side note: One of the bonus features in this set will feature Ben "Cooter" Jones and Sonny "Enos" Shroyer, and it was filmed in historic downtown Covington, used in the original five episodes (which were all filmed in Georgia). Just a few weeks ago, in December, Jones and Shroyer popped in unexpectedly for a visit to Harold and Dianne Duren's A Touch of Country store in Covington, which houses a fabbo "Dukes" museum. Dukes historian and longtime "keeper of the shrine" Jo McLaney had the pleasure to chat with them, she told BRBTV. And that lovely downtown historic Covington, by the way, will be featured in the Hazzard County Car Club (www.dukesofhazzard01.com) "Roads Back to Hazzard" tour of the original Georgia filming sites in less than two weeks! Hope you're gonna be there! Click on that link to learn more! It's kinda like a new mini-DukesFest right here in Georgia!

Meanwhile ... we eagerly await the next-to-the-last season on DVD!

TGIF Toys: Mego's "Dukes" 8-inchers

Last week for our new feature TGIF Toys, we brought you Mego's smaller figure line from "The Dukes of Hazzard." This week, we take a look at the ever-popular 8-inchers. Above, Will "The Voice Man" Rodgers shows us the cast of Season 3 of the show, while the next photo you'll see below features the characters from Season 5.

But hold the phone, you're thinkin'? There weren't that many "Dukes" Mego 8-inchers! Yes, you are correct (and you must have been reading the extensive information our friends at the Mego Museum have so thoroughly researched on their site!). Well, folks, what we have here is some very loving custom work. Read on, in this articulate explanation from Will ...

The packaging for both the 8-inch and 3.75-inch figures had the illustration of the following: Small shots of the General Lee and the Hazzard Sheriff's squad car, full body shots of Boss Hogg and Sheriff Rosco and big head shots of Bo, Luke, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse. For the 8-inch line, as a little kid, I was led to believe that this is what we would get. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be the case.

Bo and Luke were the easiest to find. Bo had a white/yellow shirt with long sleeves and light blue jeans and black boots. Luke had a long-sleeve bluish shirt that reminded me of the plaid shirts he wore in the first three seasons of the show. He had dark blue jeans and black boots. In 1981, Bo sported a short-sleeved white/yellow shirt and Luke sported a light powder-blue shirt reminiscent of his plain shirt from season two. Daisy Duke was the only other Mego that was made initially. My favorite has the blue top and the Daisy Duke shorts. The other one had a green top and blue Daisy Dukes.

Over the years, I've had each of the variations. Later, Mego added one more character, Boss Hogg in his white suit and hat. Sadly, that was all they made. We never got 8-inch dolls of Uncle Jesse and Sheriff Rosco. Nor did we ever get any vehicles for the upscale Dukes. Even to this day, I would pay well for somebody to custom-make a General Lee for the 8-inch Duke Boys. There was one made for the skits on "Robot Chicken." I wish I knew who made it.

In 1982, when Tom Wopat and John Schneider walked off the show, Mego's final figures were Bo and Luke with slightly altered heads. These two figures are hard to find and worth a lot to collectors. While they are "Bo and Luke" technically, these figures are actually and unofficially "Coy and Vance," even though they do not resemble Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer.



CUSTOMS

My good friend Mike Barrett in Rifle, Colorado, who's a customizer of Megos, and I had talked for a long time about customizing the rest of the cast who were never made into 8-inch Mego figures. I came up with the recipes for most of the figures. First, I will say the only Megos I did nothing to are Daisy and Boss Hogg.

UNCLE JESSE: What 8-inch Mego "Dukes of Hazzard" collection would be right without the Duke patriarch? I would call it a sin. For his head, I bought an unpainted head of Blackbeard the pirate and he was smiling. His head was perfect for Jesse. Most of what I needed for Uncle Jesse came from the "Waltons" toyline by Mego. The Grandpa Walton Mego had most of what I needed. The body, the overalls and the same style boots worn by Bo and Luke. Mike painted the head and also gave it the twinkle in Denver Pyle's eyes. Mike custom-made the gray overalls with the red longjohn linings as well as the red cap.

SHERIFF ROSCO P. COLTRANE: It's a real shame we did not get a Rosco doll with all accessories! "Shame shame! Everybody knows your name, Mego!" But surprisingly, all the ingredients to make Rosco are available. It's just a matter of finding them and getting your materials together. On Dr. Mego's page, I found repro heads of the Robin Hood characters. The head of Will Scarlett looked to me like an exact replica of James Best along with the sideburns. All he needed was a repainting around the eyebrows. Of course, you need a basic male Mego body. Rosco's black sheriff's hat is available in Mego form. With their Western figures, it was the hat for Wild Bill Hickock. Dr. Mego has it listed as a reporter's hat, despite its Western look. While you could probably get the blue shirt, black tie, and black pants from Dr. Mego, my friend Mike custom-made Rosco's uniform and provided the sticker emblems for the shirt. My Rosco's shirt is a darker shade of blue since I wanted him to have the look of Season 1. My Rosco's hair is black, but maybe I should have had his hair painted salt-and-pepper.



COOTER: "Breaker one! Breaker one! Might be crazy but I am bummed!' That Mego didn't make a figure of Hazzard's number-one mechanic! At first, all I had in mind was Rosco and Uncle Jesse, but then I thought it would be cool to have customs of Cooter and Rosco's two dipstick deputies as well. For Cooter, the head that resembled Ben Jones the most was the head of John Walton (Ralph Waite) from the "Waltons" toyline. Of course, I used a regular male Mego body. For the blue jeans, either Bo or Luke's jeans and the Dukes boots work for Cooter. I'd say he's the easiest to make. Mike custom-made the sleeveless grey shirt and gave it and the jeans a greased look and even put a grease rag in the back of Cooter's pants pocket. Mike also made Cooter's cap. Mike painted the head to resemble Ben Jones and gave him the 5 o'clock shadow since I wanted this Cooter figure to resemble the Season 1 and 2 appearance. Someday, I'll make another Cooter that has him more clean-shaven. Mike also made the denim jacket Cooter wears. (The above photo shows the custom Cooter, along with Bo and Luke, inspired by the pilot episode "One Armed Bandits.")

CLETUS: "Flapjacks on a Ferris wheel! Buzzards on a buzz saw!" Why no Cletus?! Both Hazzard deputies proved to be a challenge for me and Mike. Using a male Mego body and making the clothes was no problem for Mike. For the head, the Mego who resembled Rick Hurst the most was Sgt. Getraer (Robert Pine) from "CHiPs." His hair was painted tan to resemble Cletus. The biggest challenge was the deputy hat. Mike had a real challenge and had to make a big one since the head was big.

ENOS: "Possum on a gum bush!' Mego's "Dukes of Hazzard" 8-inch line really needs an honest cop to keep everything straight. Well, speaking of straight, or should I say Strate, Deputy Enos Strate proved to be the hardest Mego to customize. All I could furnish was the basic male Mego body. Mike made the clothes, but Enos is the only Mego whose head had to be cast. There were no original Megos that resembled Sonny Shroyer. Also, the deputy's hat proved to be a challenge as was Cletus' hat.

HAZZARD LAW: For Rosco, Cletus, and Enos, the "CHiPs" line by Mego proved to be very helpful in that all three figures needed black boots, guns and holsters, and sticker emblems. Luckily, the "CHiPs" figures had all that, so I had to get extra, incomplete "CHiPs" figures to make the Hazzard Law Enforcement team's accessories complete.


COY AND VANCE: Very basic, simple thing. All I did was switch the shirts on the figures. After all, with the exception of the episode, "Dukes Strike it Rich" Coy wore the blue and Vance wore the white/yellow. (The above photo shows Coy and Vance, along with Bo and Luke and the rest of the characters, inspired by the episode "Welcome Back, Bo and Luke.")

THE VARIOUS APPEARANCES OF BO AND LUKE

To me, it was no wonder that there were toy action figures of "The Dukes of Hazzard," especially Bo and Luke since they always wore the same clothes in every episode as if they were uniforms or costumes. I am probably one of the very few people that's paid attention to Bo and Luke's appearances over the years. And I always wanted my Megos to resemble their early appearances, especially Season 1. So I used some extras.

In Season 1, Bo's yellow shirt was a beige yellow color. He also wore it in Season 2 and then on and off in Seasons 6 and 7. I used the beige shirt from the "CHiPs" line. Bo also sported a blue T-shirt underneath his shirt in Seasons 1 and 2 and part of Season 3. My friend Mike custom-made me three T-shirts: two shades of blue and the brown T-shirt John wore in the pilot episode, "One Armed Bandits." In Season 1, Luke sported a light denim jacket over his first plaid shirt. I discovered the Huggy Bear figure from the "Starsky and Hutch" toyline had a blue denim jacket that looked similar to Luke's , so I got a Huggy Bear figure and used the denim jacket for Luke, but sadly, I had to take his plaidish colored shirt and cut off the sleeves for a better fit. Luckily, I have a few more of those plaids.

-- Will Rodgers
Visit Will's "Super Friends" site and experience more of his geeky expertise!




Photos by Will Rodgers, too; please email before copying

Next week: The Mego vehicles!

Come say hello to BRB -- and some good "Dukes" friends -- at the Motor City Comic Con

The Motor City Comic Con is the place to be this mid-May, to find out whether that stern ole Sheriff Little ever did catch them Duke boys -- or at least one of 'em! Byron "Coy Duke" Cherry will be making his first trip to the Novi, Michigan, event, and he'll be joined by Don Pedro Colley, who portrayed the long arm of the law on "The Dukes of Hazzard."

And while you're there, give a holler to Billie Rae Bates, who will be returning to the event (and her highly beloved Detroit!) again this year to sign copies of the BRBTV reference guide, "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!"

Cherry, Colley and Bates will all be a part of Paul Harrington's "Dukes of Hazzard" museum display, a comprehensive trip back in time to the bright-orange hills of Hazzard County. Inside the traveling museum, you'll find all kinds of fab "Dukes" memorabilia, including lotsa props from the filming of the popular '80s CBS series. The display will include a General Lee, a Hazzard County Sheriff's car (maybe two!) and even a very rare Hazzard County Sheriff's boat!

The Motor City Comic con runs Friday, May 14 through Sunday, May 16. The event, jam-packed with comics industry professionals, will also feature a slew of other classic TV stars, such as Mark Goddard, Todd Bridges, Angie Everhart, Jenilee Harrison, Herb Jefferson Jr., Lindsay Wagner and more. Visit the event site for details, and keep your eye on the Events page of BillieRae.com for your guide to BRB's book signings.

See ya in the Motor City!!!! Yeeeee-haaaaa!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to the Hazzard County Car Club for a great event!

Holy-heckin'-cow it was a great time! The Hazzard County Car Club held its first "Roads Back to Hazzard" tour of original filming sites of "The Dukes of Hazzard" today in the Covington-Conyers-Oxford areas of Georgia. People showed up, people toured around the countryside and got to see how these familiar "Hazzard" sites look today, people had fun! After opening the day at the Holiday Inn in Conyers (where the cast and crew of the show originally stayed during filming in late 1978), the touring commenced, then we all met back at the hotel in the afternoon for the results of the silent auction. There was great merchandise like autographed cast photos, posters, "01" ballcaps and NASCAR parts! The East Coast General Lees club had a nice display of "Dukes" and confederate flag goodies ("heritage not hate" -- which is the way we like it!). BRB (that's me) signed copies of the new print edition of "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!," which really had its official debut at this event. I then relocated to the A Touch of Country shop in downtown Covington, keeper of the "Dukes" shrine museum, and was joined by "Hazzard" maven Jo McLaney and store owners and museum keepers Dianne and Harold Duren. Later on, over at the Conyers VFW hall, we watched some cool home videos (courtesy of John Schneider's mom) of the "Dukes" filming, outtakes and a couple original episodes, taped in 1979 with commercials. Folks gabbed, reminisced and had fun sharing the love of a great show.

A rousing thanks goes out to Jon Holland, his girlfriend (and "Hazzard" quick-study!) Amber, Grant Moroney, webmaster Jeremy and the rest of the crew of the Hazzard County Car Club. You might not know just how much goes into an event like this. These guys have been planning this special tour-down-memory-lane for two years! The proceeds went to the valuable Rainbow Ministries in Covington, reportedly "as close to a Hazzard County orphanage as you can get." The Hazzard County Car Club was able to deliver $1,100 to these good folks at the end of the evening.

Congratulations to Ed of North Carolina (yes, they drove from all over), who won the special raffle prize of the day, a beautifully hand-painted (not decals -- just ask Jon!) General Lee door signed by the mechanics who actually worked on the General Lees for the show. And thanks, also, to Jeff and Liz of East Coast General Lees who brought their own blazin' orange beauty to the event.

Look for photos from the event to be posted to the BRBTV News Blog early next week ...

Motor City Mania: And the award for the nicest celebrity goes to ...

... Mr. Michael Gross of the '80s sitcom "Family Ties," the "Tremors" movies and so much more! Mr. Gross was the absolute epitomy of friendliness to every soul he met at last weekend's Motor City Comic Con, stopping by other booths and tables to say hi and chat, smiling and complimenting BRB's "Dukes"-orange shirt and other all-around-good-guy stuff. He came to the "Dukes" display, chatted with Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club prez Paul Harrington, posed for photos and signed the "Dukes" museum trailer.

Gross' long TV career, by the way, includes voicework in the animated Batman universe; one of his roles was as Lloyd Ventris in the "See No Evil" episode of "Batman: The Animated Series."

There are certain kinds of people who seem to be made for show business because they're extremely good with people. Mr. Gross certainly valued each and every human being around him during the con, and for that, we bestow upon him the BRBTV award for "Most Congenial in Show" for the 2007 Motor City Comic Con.

Top two photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
Copying with credit is OK
Bottom photo courtesy of Paul Harrington

Cooter's Last Stand: A walk through the "Dukes of Hazzard" museum

If you didn't get a chance to take in the Cooter's Last Stand event this past weekend in lovely Luray, Virginia, and if you didn't get a chance to attend the grand opening of the new Cooter's Place location there earlier this year, well, here's your opportunity to walk through the cool "Dukes of Hazzard" museum that's stationed there.

You'll see all sorts of vintage "Dukes" toys and other goodies -- all that stuff you might recall being on the store shelves at the time the show was originally airing in the '80s, or all those great things you missed because you never saw them on store shelves!!! Behold "Dukes" puzzles, board games, dishware (and you'll see one of those dishes up-close-and-personal later this month in a Terrific TV Toys episode right here on this same BRBTV channel), clothing, signed photos, sleeping bags, and much, much more.

It's a "Dukes" mecca, so if  you can't make the pilgrimage there yourself, here's your walk-through! And we'll dedicate this one to our buddy Jason, who wasn't able to walk through it himself during the event ...

Covington cruises on, plus a few "Dallas" tidbits this time!

Our coverage of the Hazzard County Cruise-In in Covington, Georgia, continues here on the BRBTV News Blog. Last night it rained -- but it wasn't a wash! Lots of fans from all over the place came out to the square in Covington. Kansas, Ohio, Montana, New York -- even Holland and England! And after the sprinkles set in -- then the harder stuff -- many stayed on.

Just look at that sweet Miss Jo McLaney, wouldya? She's got the coolest ride in town, all decked out like the General Lee!


Here, author Jon Holland chats with attendees, accompanied by his wife, Amber.


You might recall, from our coverage of the last October's Hillbilly Woodstick 2 Dukes of Hazzard Cruise, that Judy Bruce starred in the pilot episode, "One Armed Bandits." Here she poses with her co-star in that episode -- sorta! In the episode, Judy is the little girl from the orphanage who climbs into Boss' Cadillac at the end and fiddles with his hat.


We had no idea our friend Jim Fullerton was so creative! This local resident, and dad of hard-core "Dukes" fan Chad Fullerton, actually created this wooden model of the Boar's Nest, complete with Matchbox-style cars. It even features Boss Hogg standing at the door, yelling at Daisy to come in and get to work! Wow! It's certainly a specialty item, a one-of-a-kind, and it's on display at the "Dukes" museum in the back of A Touch of Country on the town square.

Look for a full week's worth of coverage of this weekend's DukesFest, beginning Monday.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV
Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

In completely unrelated news ...

OK, can all this other juicy stuff just wait until after our weeklong DukesFest coverage? Good grief ... Sigh ... OK, we might be over it ... We've gotta post these goodies when we get 'em, or else they will age too much in the next week and a half ...

- Charlene Tilton, our own little Lucy Ewing of "Dallas," will help host a Fourth of July celebration at the CBS Studio Center in Los Angeles. It begins at 5 p.m. next Friday, if you happen to be in town. Read more: http://journals.aol.com/kdmask20/HollywoodandPAAve/entries/2008/06/25/hey-you-lucky-la-people/2038

- More on Charlene, who certainly has been generating some HTML and CSS lately, with receiving awards and all. “People still want to see me up in the hayloft in a bikini,” Tilton said during an appearance at the Home Media Expo this week. She was there with other classic TV stars, such as Don Most of "Happy Days," discussing their shows and the magic and wonder that is the DVD. Home Media Magazine has more:
http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/html/breaking_article.cfm?article_id=13021

- For the past few weeks, BRBTV has been indulging in "Step By Step" repeats on ABC Family at 9 a.m. each weekday, trying not to drool too much on the laptop as Frank Lambert and the Codeman chew up the screen, so we can only say that there's something about this YouTube classic clip that's strangely yummy ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1X9v9_fjGo

Join us in the Motor City in May

With all the guest additions posted on the official site in the past few weeks, the Motor City Comic Con is shaping up to be one surefire fabbo classic TV party! Erin Gray and Gil Gerard of "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" were just added (and hey -- Felix Silla was already there!). Lou Ferrigno of "The Incredible Hulk" and Erik Estrada of "CHiPs" are there. M.C. Gainey of "The Dukes of Hazzard," will be there, as previously reported on this blog. There'll be a good "Star Trek" presence, as usual, with Walter Koenig and Denise Crosby and Avery Brooks. And a buddy of BRB's has even managed to get the proud new owner of one of the two true original Monkeemobiles to bring his lovely crimson prize -- fresh off the Barrett-Jackson auction block -- to the show, to be reunited with one of the show's stars, Micky Dolenz! Meow! (or whatever high-pitched, shrill sound it is that a monkey makes!!!!)

BRB will be at the show for the third year, signing copies of "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!" at the display of the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club. You'll see the General Lee and a traveling museum of fab "Dukes" memorabilia, along with a host of other fun TV cars. And BRB will be bringing copies of the other BRBTV reference books. So if you can be at the Rock Financial Showplace in Novi on May 16, 17 or 18, you can snag yourself a signed copy of the new "Destination: Dallas," too. She'll also have CDs of the BRBTV anniversary year products such as the AniPak of BRBTV Reports / Shorts. Remember, it's the 10th year of BRBTV, and special anniversary stuff is offered all year long in 2008!

The Motor City Comic Con is always a smokin'-good pop-culture time! See the full guest list for the show here.

Check out an eye-popping "Dukes of Hazzard" collection at Jon Holland's new YouTube channel

Our buddy and fellow author Jon Hollard, a longtime "Dukes of Hazzard" collector and historian, has started up a new YouTube channel to share the love. You can schedule an appointment to see his "Dukes" museum in Williamsburg, Virginia. We've gotta swing out that way one of these days!

Chip Foose Braselton Bash: Part 2

Marvin Murphy of Florida, shown above with his son, Brian, who serves as the media relations rep for Lee 1, trailered his slice of "Dukes of Hazzard" history a long way to show at the Chip Foose Braselton Bash here in beautiful Georgia over the weekend. The second of our two parts on the Year One show continues with another tidbit from Mr. Murphy.

The famous Dodge Charger, which has changed hands a few times since it was recovered from a northern Georgia junkyard several years ago, also has called a few different cities home. But where does this original General Lee hang his hat nowadays, so to speak? The duPont Registry Museum in St. Petersburg, Florida, Marvin tells BRBTV. It's a private museum, he notes, and it contains many other celeb cars.

"They're very protective of it," he says of the museum's display of Lee 1. "There's not a single car around it. They have some pretty famous cars in there."

And speaking of famous cars, and speaking of General Lees, Marvin's car was not the only "01" at the show. Parked just a yard or two away was the beauty below, which bears a sign in the windshield stating it's a "movie car" from the 2005 and 2007 "Dukes" flicks.

You know it wouldn't be a car show without the Gran Torino from "Starsky and Hutch," right?

Also on show at the show was the special Burt Reynolds edition of the "Smokey and the Bandit" Trans Am, built by Year One themselves -- and in a very limited production. We can just picture "Smokey" fans -- which cross over, generally, with "The Dukes" -- goin' crazy over this one.

Photos by Billie Rae Bates / BRBTV

Copying with credit is OK; a link would be grand

Hair Dare Dukes Days offer a star-car paradise

Plans are shaping up for this year's Hair Dare Dukes Days in Ontario, sponsored by the Canadian Dukes of Hazzard Fan Club and benefiting the Canadian Cancer Society, as mentioned previously here in this very blog ...

One big part of the show, which is the fifth annual event and which has expanded to two days this year, is the star-car quotient. It's big, if the below list is any indication!

C'mon out on August 10-12, and you'll not only meet Byron "Coy Duke" Cherry, Christopher "Vance Duke" Mayer, Don Pedro "Sheriff Little" Colley, BRB herself and Paul Casey, Vegas (and DukesFest) performer extraordinnaire, but you'll also meet the following ...

**At least 15 General Lees!**
3 Hazzard County Sheriff cars from the series
Hazzard County Sheriff car from the 2005 movie
Hazzard County Sheriff boat
Daisy Duke "Dixie" Jeep
"Carnival of Thrills" two-part episode car
Chickasaw County Sheriff car
Double Zero Mustang
The Colonel car
"Dukes of Hazzard" memorabilia museum
K.I.T.T. car from "Knight Rider"
Batman boat from '60s series
"Lost in Space" robot
"Starsky & Hutch" Torino
"A-Team" van
"Mad Max" Falcon
"Blues"-mobile
"Smokey and the Bandit" Trans Am

And can we just note that a good share of these cars are owned by chicks! Yeee-haaaa!

Have you picked up that extra memory card for your camera yet?

Get a free fun-filled Archie Comic on Halloween

From Archie Comics

Over the past several years, Archie Comics has delighted comic shop customers with exclusive giveaway comics produced in conjunction with Diamond Distribution. In addition to Archie’s involvement in Diamond’s annual Free Comic Book Day program, Archie has also served up thrills and chills come Halloween-time. These full-color, 16-page, Halloween-themed comics have all-new stories and art and make the perfect “treat” for the goody bags of costumed revelers.

This year, Archie Comics is back with another fun-filled giveaway issue. Archie and Jughead take center-stage in a spooky, kooky spoof of a certain box office smash about museum exhibits coming to life. With a script by veteran writer George Gladir, author of countless Archie classics; and art by famed Little Archie artist Bob Bolling, this is sure to have appeal not just to children but adult collectors as well.

In “The Mystery of the Museum Sleep-in,” the museum is a scream for Archie and Jughead. Inspired by a favorite film, the pals decide to spend a night at the museum to experience maximum spookage. And experience it they do, as statues suddenly come towards them! Are these artifacts coming to life for real, or is somebody playing the ultimate Halloween “trick” on our unsuspecting teens? The answer will leave you scared silly!

Participating Comic Book Shops give a copy of this comic to customers on Halloween. If you would like to give these mini-comics out at your home for Halloween, you need to contact your local comic retailer and order them today. The mini-comics are bundled in groups of 50 and have to be ordered in July.

You can find a comic shop near you at
http://csls.diamondcomics.com/
or by calling toll free 1-888-COMIC BOOK (1-888-266-4226).

BRBTV News Blog Blip: Her foray into the world of BRBTV was brief, merely a role in the 2005 "Dukes of Hazzard" movie, but we like to keep track of Lynda Carter just because she's Wonder Woman. And that's pretty amazing in our book. Carter will be appearing at Feinstein's at Loews Regency at the Regency Hotel in New York on October 21-25. Read more here.

Branson offers up some great '80s TV-related toys

This author's friend Patrick Shawn Bennett, creator, along with Lisa Everetts, of the Pop Ninja podcast you've seen highlighted on this very blog, took a trip to Branson, Missouri, during the holidays and saw all kinds of '80s goodies (we bet it will lead to material on the '80s-themed podcast!) and a lot of it was related to the TV shows we know and love from that era and beyond. He shares these cool photos with us -- thanks, Patrick! He visited the toy store "80s World" that you see pictured first below, and a Hollywood wax museum (the "Star Trek" transporter room, with one photo of Patrick himself!), and a toy museum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are a few items shown above that you have seen on the Terrific TV Toys series, and there's one particular item (a set, if that's a clue) that you will see on an upcoming episode!

 

On New Year's Day, Patrick was at Cooter's Garage in Nashville, and he snapped this photo for us while he was standing at the register. Thanks so much, Patrick, and thanks, Cooter's, for continuing to carry "Them Dukes! Them Dukes!" along with these other great "Dukes" books. This author really appreciates it.

 

 

 

Photos by Patrick Shawn Bennett; please do not copy without permission.