I was in a Rust Belt high school at the time of the show. It was wildly popular among my age group. The boys loved the fast cars and Daisy Duke,and the girls loved the Duke Boys, and dressed like Daisy Duke.
None of them were from the South. IF you missed this, it suggests a very inward looking circle of friends. Your weird belief that the audience was limited to the south, makes no sense. On many levels. I mean, really, your thinking makes no sense.
If what I am saying makes no sense to you, it is probably because your circle of friends and life was in a rust belt high school during the time of the show around people that identified with the characters.
It is not abnormal for people to identify with a program that they can relate to, in fact, people who like certain shows, usually do for that reason.
It is commonly referred to as a "target audience" in entertainment marketing, with producers and script writers considering who will most likely watch a given program that is on the air.
I was long past high school during that time and was on the west coast in a completely different kind of non rural environment, around people that DID NOT identify with that kind of show, or its characters.
It seems quite simple to me, and rather narrow minded of you, not to be able to understand that.
12 Types of Target Audience
Yes, I understand that. I addressed it several times with references to how in my peer group and family and friends there was fans and not fans.
You initially assumed it was a show with limited REGIONAL appeal. Now you are trying to down play it as one with a limited target audience appeal.
The Dukes of Hazzard - Wikipedia
The show topped out in it's third season as the SECOND highest show of the year, with over 21 million viewers.
It was a family friendly action comedy. With widespread appeal.
That your circle of friends didn't include anyone that liked it, is your circle of friends being limited.
You should read some of these. I only read the first couple. These are old fans remembering good clean fun stories. Not one mentions the Confederate flag or racism, that I saw. Many of them discuss how nice and good the characters were, and how nice it was to watch with family.
This fits my perception of the show. Your perception of it, not.
"And you could always appreciate the country values the Dukes always espoused ... be good to your neighbor, thank the Lord before meals, don't lie or cheat or steal.
"The Dukes of Hazzard" is not rocket science, it's not deep or profound or socially redeemable or whatever else. It's just plain heckin' fun!!!!"
"Eight years after Fred Silverman's infamous "rural purge", this show burst on the scene and instantly became a hit. Even though the show did get a lot of heat for the outlandish plots, simplistic characters and scantily clad women, especially Daisy, this show struck a chord with the American public during the late 70's/early 80's. Also, you could tell that this show was done very tongue in cheek and that the cast had a lot of fun doing it."
"I remember being eight years old when I started watching this show. I would anxiously await the Friday line up that included The Incredible Hulk, Dallas, Falcon Crest and this one. That was a great Friday line up, highlighted of course by the Dukes. What was so appealing about this show to so many people was it's virtue. I'm sure parents wanted their kids to watch it because you couldn't have a better show for their kids to watch. It was safe. The Dukes were polite, virtuous and church going. How could they not like that? How could a parent object to anything like that? But of course as kids we liked it for different reasons.
Stunts, fast cars, Daisy, Boss Hogg and Roscoe. The Dukes of Hazard was so absurd sometimes but it always entertained you and more often than not it made you laugh. Could you imagine what the script must have looked like when they first pitched it to studio? Could you imagine how silly Roscoe must have looked on paper? I mean how do you write in his ridiculous laugh? How do you write all of his idiosyncrasies? Or was that all James Best? I don't know, but it sure was funny."
"The Dukes of Hazzard is to me, a great southern series with comedy and adventure. It's actually nice to take a breather from all the dramas and shows where stories take place in either New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago. And this show delivered. Tom Wopat and John Schneider were excellent as Bo and Luke Duke and their real life friendship provided the perfect chemistry for their characters, which is why I felt the show was so popular and this friendship was established before they auditioned together.
Daisy Duke is truly a super beautiful girl and very nice in real life, since I've had the honor of meeting Catherine Bach as well as the other surviving cast members. Even I loved Daisy Duke and it's hard to imagine a guy growing up back then who didn't feel that way.
Denver Pyle as Uncle Jese was truly the backbone of the series. I also fondly recall watching him as Mad Jack on Grizzly Adams as well as Pa Darling on the Andy Griffith Show. He was also a good example of a Christian man since he was also the moral backbone of the series as well.
Sorrell Booke was what I call a comical villain. He wasn't even a real villain for that matter. Although he and Uncle Jesse were enemies, they were also old friends. Boss Hogg was hilarious in those ridiculous white outfits and all that eating he did. I couldn't even think about eating all that he had.
James Best. There's not enough complimentary words to describe him. He has to be one of the funniest and most talented actors in history. Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane made me laugh more than any other character. His sputtering and all those sayings of his like Cuff em and Stuff em! are now legend. Whoever heard of a stupid sheriff? Watch this show and you'll see him in action. I also loved his Bassett Hound Flash."
You should watch a few episodes. Or at least read a LOT of the reviews. Your view of the world, and the people in it, are just plain wrong.
This family friendly, fun, tone, and perception WOULD NOT BE POSSIBLE IF YOUR VIEW OF THE CONFEDERATE FLAG AND SOUTHERN PRIDE WAS CORRECT.
It is valid for you to hold the position, that the "rebranding" was wrong.
But for you to pretend it did not happen, and to judge people (or shows) as though it did not happen, is not reasonable.
Indeed, it puts you in the position of being an asshole.
You really want to call these people, like the one who was EIGHT when he was fan, watching the show with his dad, you want to call him out for being a fan of tv heroes that had a Confederate Flag on the roof of their car?
EVERYONE ELSE IN AMERICA KNEW IT WAS JUST A FUN TV SHOW. IF YOU AND YOUR FRIENDS DID NOT, THERE WAS/IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOU.