Moonrunners - Connections To The Dukes of Hazzard

Connections To The Dukes of Hazzard

A number of names, places and situations went from the film Moonrunners to the series The Dukes of Hazzard with little or no alteration.

• Waylon Jennings is the "Balladeer" in both film and series.
• The Boar's Nest is a tavern in the film and the series.
• Although the crude elements are much toned down for the TV series, the relationship between cousins Bo and Luke Duke is much the same as cousins Bobby Lee and Grady in Moonrunners.
• Uncle Jesse is the family patriarch. In both he is a widowed, bearded moonshiner, with strong religious beliefs, raising his nephews. They also have similar costumes, with dungarees over a shirt.
• Both feature a corrupt county boss (Jake Rainey/Boss Hogg) who used to run moonshine with his old friend Uncle Jesse. In both, the county boss now owns the local tavern and many local businesses, and through bribery the local law enforcement. As with the television series, their opposing views and Jake's corrupt, dishonest ways make the Haggs and Rainey adversaries, just as the Dukes and Boss Hogg would become in the series.
• Sheriff Rosco Coltrane is a once honest officer, who turned to corruption with the county Boss after being cheated out of his pension. This theme carried over into the TV series, before fading away by the end of the first season. Much of the Balladeer's dialogue introducing Rosco in Moonrunners is identical or very similar to that used for Rosco's first scene in the opening episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. Also to note is that the name "Rosco Coltrane" followed directly over from Moonrunners to The Dukes of Hazzard with the character's middle initial of P. not being added until the start of the second season.
• A fellow stockcar driver in Moonrunners is named Cooter; There is little similarity between this Cooter and the TV series' character of the same name (in Moonrunners, Cooter even tries to sabotage Grady from winning a stock car race, whereas the TV Cooter was the Duke family's best friend), although the TV Cooter competed in stock car races on occasion. However it can be noted that in the very early episodes of Dukes, Cooter, while still a friend of the Dukes, was more of a rebellious wildman, who in one episode ("Mary Kaye's Baby") is even seen to be running moonshine for Boss Hogg just for the money, which is more in tone with the Cooter seen in Moonrunners.
• In both the film and series, the boys have a very talented mechanic friend. The film's unseen character of Virgil (Virg) can fix cars "...so even the factory wouldn't know." In the series this characteristic was given to Cooter Davenport.
• The boys are out on probation for running moonshine. In both the film and the series they use hunting bows tipped with dynamite, since they are forbidden to use firearms. Uncle Jesse however, is able to use firearms and is occasionally seen with a shotgun or rifle.
• Also to note is a connection that skipped the Dukes TV series but re-appeared in the 2007 TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: The Beginning, which followed on from the 2005 big-screen movie incarnation. In Moonrunners, Grady is having an affair with Jake's wife; In The Beginning, Luke embarks upon a liaison with Boss Hogg's flirtatious wife Lulu, albeit as a distraction while Bo searches the house. To note is that this movie and the 2005 one proceeding it used little source material from the TV show and its origins, so this "connection" is likely to be a coincidence.

Other names or roles were altered, while still keeping recognizable connections.

• In the film, Uncle Jesse and the boys have the surname Hagg. In the series their antagonist, the county boss, has the surname Hogg.
• In the film Beth Ann is an honest but slightly naive young woman in trouble taken in by the Haggs. The character has many similarities to Daisy Duke, who is an actual member of the family. (The casting call for Daisy even requested a blonde, a la Beth Ann; it wasn't until Catherine Bach won the part that the character was changed to brunette)
• The Hagg's stockcar is named Traveller (after General Lee's horse; and which was the name of Jerry Rushing's moonshining stockcar). The Dukes' stock car is named The General Lee; originally in pre-production, the General Lee was also planned to be called Traveller, until producers decided that General Lee had more punch to it.
• Jack Rainey is said to have syndicate connections, presumably with mafia contacts. In early episodes of the TV series (such as in the episode "Daisy's Song"), Boss Hogg is seen to be attempting to become aligned with such syndicate. However, as the show progressed and the character evolved, whilst still sometimes attempting such shady connections as part of his own crooked schemes, Boss would often become cowardly or concerned if he thought his cohorts were too dangerous and would seriously endanger anyone.
• Uncle Jesse's mule in the film is named Beauregard. This name would be given to Bo (Beauregard) Duke in the TV series.

Actors who appeared in Moonrunners and The Dukes of Hazzard

• Ben Jones appears as Fred—a revenue agent after the boys—in Moonrunners, and as their best friend Cooter Davenport in the series.
• C. Pete Munro appears as "Zeebo" in Moonrunners, and as "Willie" in the season two episode "Jude Emery".
• Bill Gribble appears as "Cooter" in Moonrunners, and as "Carson" in the second episode "Daisy's Song".
• Jerry Rushing appears as Jake Rainey's bodyguard in Moonrunners, and as crooked used car salesman Ace Parker in the fourth episode "Repo Men". Rushing understood the role of Ace in Dukes to be a recurring one, in return for him supplying creative ideas and content from his moonshining days (Rushing has stated that the character of Bo Duke is very much based on him); however the character only ever appeared in the episode "Repo Men", never to be seen or mentioned again in the series, leading to a legal dispute between Rushing and Warner Brothers for some years afterwards.