Stars from the iconic TV show The Dukes Of Hazzard stars have blasted woke warriors for their attempts to have them cancelled.
Eighties heartthrobs John Schneider, Tom Wopat and Catherine Bach have refused to be silenced by claims of the show’s links to confederate America.
They reunited to celebrate the show’s iconic red vehicle The General Lee being honored at the Iconic Rides Exhibit at the Hollywood Museum, Los Angeles on the weekend.
In recent years unhappy woke youngsters wanted the show pulled off air forever, because the 1969 charger, named after Confederate General Robert E. Lee, featured the Confederate flag on its roof.
Schneider, who played Bo Duke in the hit series which ran from 1979 to 1985, praised the Museum for having ‘the balls’ to exhibit the car despite the recent controversy which has seen the show removed from TV schedules and saw Warner Bros halt production of General Lee toy cars.
The sixty-year-old actor hit back against Gen Zers trying to cancel the show and for making him feel like a ‘persona non grata’.
The original Dukes of Hazzard gang got back together in Los Angeles for the special event at the Hollywood Museum on Friday (pictured: John Schneider, Catherine Bach and Tom Wopat)
Set in rural Georgia, the family-friendly show follows cousins Luke and Bo who are on probation but still look to get into scrapes with cousin Daisy (pictured: the cast in 1980)
He said: ‘The Dukes of Hazzard is a show that has been considered one of the greatest family shows of all time.’
‘And then for some reason it was like persona non grata. And I would very much like to applaud the Hollywood Museum for having the balls to celebrate it truly.’
‘I didn’t even want to say it’s one of the greatest television shows of all time, because I think The Dukes of Hazzard is the greatest television show of all time.’
‘They cast a thing called chemistry. It was magic. That’s the reason why we are here tonight. That’s the reason why The General Lee is here tonight and why people are celebrating this show, but maybe politics has tried to forget.’
‘And I am so honored that we have this car in this room at this crossroads because it means that it is the audience that matters.’
‘It’s the fan that matters. You don’t watch for us. We work for you.’
The Dukes of Hazzard was a stunt-heavy show, with car chases and crashes in every episode with The General Lee a favourite with TV viewers.
Schneider said: ‘They say General Lee received 30,000 fan letters a month — I happen to know for a fact that General Lee only got 28,000 fan letters.’
The General Lee (1969 Dodge Charger) is on display during a marriage celebration at the Watermark H๏τel
Catherine Bach, played cousin Daisy to the wild troublemaking Duke brothers in Hazzard county, and revealed she made her own outfits on the show
The duo (pictured) mainly aimed to foil the corrupt schemes of county commissioner Jefferson Davis ‘Boss’ Hogg
The model on display at the new exhibit was used in three TV movies after the series ended: The Dukes of Hazzard: Reunion! (1999), The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000), and the theatrical film The Dukes of Hazzard (2005), starring Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, and Jessica Simpson.
Tom Wopat, 73, who played Luke Duke in the comedy-action series, also spoke about his affection for the car.
He said: ‘Few people know that the General Lee was originally gray. They were going to paint it gray, as in the confederate gray. But when they started to film in the countryside of Georgia, “Where’s the car?” [Tom pointing and acting like he could not see the car].
‘So, they painted it orange, and then we got it into the air. I think it’s only fair to mention that the great preponderance of the action and excitement of the show should be credited to our stunt team.’
Wopat also directed five episodes of the show during its sixth and seventh seasons.
He added: ‘I can tell you that Dodge is beautiful from every angle – side, front, top, bottom, back. We sH๏τ every side we could, as much as we could. We had so much fun doing it.’
At the event Bach, 71, shocked the audience when she revealed that her Sєxy outfits came from her own thought process.
Bach, played cousin Daisy to the wild troublemaking Duke brothers in Hazzard county, who evade the law in a fictional town in Georgia, running their farm and selling moonshine.
Catherine, 71, played the original Daisy Duke in the popular comedy-action series The Dukes of Hazzard
Read More The Dukes of Hazzard star Catherine Bach looks incredible at 70 as she goes shopping in LA
She boasted she sewed her own outfits, including her famous short cut Daisy Duke mini shorts which won her millions of adoring male fans.
Bach said: ‘The show had this frat boy, cowboy, bad boy thing going on and there I was the only girl in the show. We had a fantastic time.’
‘And because they didn’t really know about women and it was just all guys, I got to do my wardrobe. I got to decide things.’
‘I made all of the women’s clothes on the show. I made the shorts. I sewed them.’
‘My mother always wanted me to have something that I could fall back on as a career if the acting didn’t work out.
‘So I went to design school for two years and I could sew anything. I made the pattern.’
Although reflecting on making her short shorts, she admitted: ‘There was not much fabric.’
The unique Iconic Rides exhibit features original screen props, costumes, and memorabilia from The Dukes of Hazzard, Scooby Doo, and Herbie: Fully Loaded.
The exhibit also features The Mystery Machine from the fan-favorite animated series Scooby Doo.