TV Land pulls ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ reruns from its schedule

A 1969 Dodge Charger, dubbed “The General Lee” from the TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard”, is displayed during the 37th Annual Barrett-Jackson Collector Cars auction in Scottsdale, Arizona in January 2008.

The network gave a statement to ABC News saying the show has been removed from the schedule.

“Dukes of Hazzard, a staple TV show of the early 1980s, featured what may possibly be the most popular and most recognizable auto in American history”.

Fallout over the Confederate flag continues in the wake of a Charleston church shooting that left nine people dead.

Ben Jones, who played Cooter on “Hazzard” and later represented Georgia in Congress, is one of several advocates that has encouraged keeping the Confederate flag.

Last week, Warner Bros. announced it was no longer going to sanction the manufacture of the show’s merchandise featuring the flag, including the world famous auto General Lee.

One thing we can say for certain though- the Confederate flag controversy is just getting warmed up.

A program that was once part of TV Land’s stable of classic series has vanished from the cable network’s lineup amid growing social pressure to denounce anything related to the Confederacy. KSDK News is reporting that Warner Bros, the production company behind the show, recently said that they would stop producing merchandise with the Confederate flag, which included reproductions of the orange vehicle with the flag on top.

“The Dukes of Hazzard” aired on CBS from 1979 to 1985. Activists and politicians are vilifying Southern culture and heritage as being bigoted and racist. We know that this is not the case. But the show also made clear how awkward that alternate meaning can be.

Funnily enough, then-“Daily Show” correspondent Stephen Colbert hilariously highlighted the issue with the celebration of the Confederate flag in “The Dukes of Hazzard” when the big-screen reboot came out way back in 2005.