Rating: - The worst season of a great show
Okay, let me start by saying, that as a kid, watching (and loving) The Dukes of Hazzard, this season killed me. Without Bo and Luke, in my mind, there was no Dukes of Hazzard and that feeling was reinforced by this DVD set.

With stars Tom Wopat (Luke) and John Schneider (Bo) in a contract dispute with the show's producers, the powers that be decided to go out and find a couple of replacement parts if you will, for the General Lee. What they came up with was Vance (Christopher Mayer) and Coy (Byron Cherry). It was obvious they were going for look-alikes to play the other set of Duke cousins, as opposed to finding the best actors, because these guys were certainly not the best actors. Then again, the Dukes of Hazzard was never known for being a showcase for Oscar-caliber acting.

As the fifth season began, viewers learned that Bo and Luke were heading off to race on the NASCAR circuit, at the time not nearly the juggarnaut it is today. Of course what seems strange to me watching now (though it didn't strike me as a little kid) is that the Duke boys were on parole, which meant they couldn't leave Hazzard County. Remember all those times with Sheriff Little chasing the boys for being parole breakers? If that's the case, how could they leave Hazzard to race and when they return still be on parole? A good question that never really gets answered.

With Bo and Luke gone, Vance and Coy show up and take over the 1969 Dodge Charger known as the General Lee. They move onto the Duke farm with Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle) and cousin Daisy (Catherine Bach). And while the two main characters are different, many of the stories remain the same.

The Dukes find themselves in the middle of many of Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) and Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane's (James Best) sticky messes. The "law" of Hazzard County certainly isn't the fine upstanding type, but deep down, both the sheriff and Boss Hogg are decent people, as we see in an episode where Uncle Jesse is blinded while foiling a robbery and the pair are genuinely sympathetic.

Of course Vance and Coy have to find ways to spoil Boss Hogg's schemes and through 18 episodes, the "new" Dukes do just that, teaming with mechanic Cooter Davenport (Ben Jones), Daisy and Jesse to keep Hazzard County on the straight and narrow. Pretty much it's the same old thing in Hazzard County: Boss Hogg and Rosco try to swindle people and the Dukes put a stop to it. Of course Boss and Rosco always find bad guys to pin the blame on.

Then, in episode 19, Bo and Luke triumphantly return to Hazzard, fresh off a big win on the NASCAR circuit and ready to settle back into their lives in the sleepy Georgia county. And Boss and Rosco continue to try and swindle residents. Some things never change.

There was however another change in season five. Deputy Enos Strait returned from (failed) spin-off land in California and assumes his role with the police department, teaming with fellow deputy Cletus Hogg for the first part of the season. That is, until Cletus mysteriously disappears, with no real explanation given, except for a mention of a vacation in one episode. Again, another question that doesn't really get answered.

This should have been a great season for extras. It would have been nice to hear about what the cast thought of the changes around them, what the stars were looking for, how producers went about replacing them, how the fan reaction led to them returning. Unfortunately this is not discussed at all in the extras. There is a reunion of stunt personnel and a tour of Cooter's Place, a Dukes memorabilia store. These aren't bad extras, but it really would've been nice to have an inside look at just what happened in season five.

Overall, I can't give this too bad a rating, because there are extras, and the quality of the reproduction seems good, especially for an older show. And really, I can't rate anything that has Waylon Jennings too bad anyway.