Tag Archives: Rick Hurst

The Dukes of Hazzard Family Reunion in Livingston Parish, LA had 20,000 fans show up on Sept. 29, which exceeded the hoped-for attendance by promoters. The event offered free admission to the public, though nominal autograph fees were charged by Dukes of Hazzard cast members. You can read a local write-up about it in The Daily Reveille. By all accounts thus far from fans, promoters and cast members, the event was a great success, and there is already talk of another Hazzard Family Reunion for 2013.

Meanwhile, Dukes of Hazzard shindigs continue during 2012! Owners of General Lee replicas can join cast member Ben Jones, a/k/a “Cooter Davenport”, for the annual Hazzard Run on Oct. 13 & 14! Rick Hurst, “Deputy Cletus Hogg” will be joining the fun. If you’ve never seen this parade of General Lees roll into town, it’s a sight worth the trip! To register your General Lee for the Hazzard Run, or to obtain spectator info, visit Cooter’s Place.

Unless you’ve been hiding out in the mountains with your moonshine still, you’ve probably heard that Hazzard Homecoming is taking place August 11 & 12! It’s located at the Ben Venue Racecourse, intersection of Hwy 211 and Route 729 in Amissville, VA. This is just down the road from Sperryville.

Hazzard Homecoming will feature personal appearances by the surviving principal cast of The Dukes of Hazzard. Yes, both John Schneider and Tom Wopat – Bo and Luke Duke  – will be there! As will the charming Catherine Bach.

We’ll also have the intrepid presence of the Hazzard County Sheriff’s Department; James Best, Sonny Shroyer and Rick Hurst. Hosting the shindig is Ben Jones, ol’ Cooter himself, with help from his wife, the lovely Miss Alma.

Of course, you can expect to see lots of General Lees too! Along with Daisy’s Jeep, Uncle Jesse’s pickup and Hazzard County patrol cars.

There’s literally too much going on for us to list, so head over to Cootersplace.com for the complete details. There’s a long lineup of concerts, BMX bike stunts, professional wrestling and whatever else they pull out of the hat.

Best of all, you’ll be surrounded by thousands of other Dukes fans just like you, who can’t get enough of the Dukes of Hazzard!

It’s been hinted by the organizers that this could be “the last time the entire cast is together.”  We’re not going to read into that too deeply or speak anything negative into existence. What we will say, however, is that we know just how much time, work and expense go into putting these events together. There’s been some form of DukesFest/Hazzard Homecoming for so long now that we’ve come to expect them.

But you never know.

So, clear your calendar, gas up the car, pack a cooler and make the pilgrimage to Hazzard Homecoming! Oh, and before we forget – YEEEHAAAA!!

We’re closing in on “Hazzard Comes to Galax” on June 2nd! This Dukes of Hazzard fan gathering is affordable fun, with tickets at the gate running $10 for adults and a mere $5 for kids 12 and younger.  Scheduled cast appearances include John Schneider, James Best, Sonny Shroyer, Rick Hurst, and Ben Jones.

If that doesn’t already grab ya, then go for the Stunt Show performed by our crazy friends, the Northeast Ohio Dukes! If you have never seen the General Lee fly in person, you won’t want to miss it!

This is a one-day only event, Saturday June 2nd from 9:00 a.m. to about 7:00 p.m. Free up your Friday and hit the road! For directions, hotel information and all the details we were too lazy to spell out, visit their official website!

Despite appearing in 47 episodes of The Dukes of Hazzard, we’ve noticed that Rick Hurst doesn’t have his own website. At least not one that we can find! This seems an injustice, even for Hazzard County.

Now, we know that Deputy Cletus Hogg was the low man on the totem pole in the Hazzard County Sheriff’s Department. He was ranked somewhere below Rosco’s basset hound in terms of authority. We also know that as a relative of Boss Hogg, Cletus didn’t get any automatic sympathy. His I.Q. was pegged to be somewhere between dipstick and lug nut.  Cletus also lacked the innocence of his predecessor, Deputy Enos Strate.

All in all, Cletus was clumsy, dense, easily distracted, and possessed questionable driving skills. Naturally, he fit right in with the Hazzard County Sheriff’s Department.

Rick Hurst’s talent for physical comedy and comedic timing made Cletus a memorable part of The Dukes of Hazzard. Cletus had his first appearance in the episode “Money to Burn” as an armored car driver. Cletus appeared in later episodes as a reserve Deputy, filling in for the temporary absence of Enos in “The Meeting” and “Road Pirates.”

Cletus takes a bite out of crime in “The Meeting”

During the third season, Sonny Shroyer was offered his own show in the spin-off series Enos.  The translation in Hazzard County was that Boss fired Enos, prompting Enos to accept a position with the L.A. police department. Cletus, already trained in the skills of automotive snorkeling and landscaping with cop cars, threw himself bodily into the position of full-time Deputy.

Rick Hurst’s reliable portrayal of Cletus would eventually earn him the spotlight in the fourth season episode, “Cletus Falls in Love.”  Watching Cletus stumble his way through his newfound feelings while Daisy becomes more and more flustered is hilarious. When Daisy said, “We need to talk,”  Cletus spoke for men everywhere when he responded with, “I’d rather smooch!”

Alas, the good times for Cletus wouldn’t last. During the fateful fifth season, when Coy and Vance temporarily replaced Bo and Luke, the Enos series was cancelled. Deputy Enos Strate subsequently returned to Hazzard County. Cletus would remain part of the Hazzard County law for only a few more episodes, sharing an awkward co-dipstick duty with Enos.

After receiving an offer in another series, Rick Hurst bowed out from the Dukes of Hazzard. In Hazzard County, Cletus’s abrupt absence was explained once as a “vacation” and then never mentioned again. Enos returned to prominence as Hazzard’s only honest lawman and dipstick extraordinaire.

Cletus did find his way back to Hazzard for the TV reunion movies. And while Rick Hurst has had other roles since his Dukes days, he remains fond of The Dukes of Hazzard and its fans. Rick has made many personal appearances at DukesFest and Cooter’s Place.

All this being said, it’s incredible that Cletus looks homeless out there on the internet. So we’re gonna keep a place for him here on HazzardNet! You can view Rick’s upcoming appearances in our Forums.  We’ll also beef up (Hogg up?) our cast and character pages and give this wayward son of Hazzard County his share of attention.

The dour economy and an iffy weather forecast couldn’t keep Dukes of Hazzard fans away from Sperryville, Virginia.  Thousands of fans traveled from around the country and the globe to be a part of Hazzard Homecoming this last weekend.  Cast members who attended the event included promoter and organizer Ben Jones, along with James Best, Cathy Bach, John Schneider, Rick Hurst, and Sonny Shroyer.  There were also plenty of General Lee’s to admire.

If you didn’t get to go to Hazzard Homecoming, you can get a feel for the event by watching this newscast by WYMT-TV.  Reporter Steve Hensley interviewed a few cast members and talked to some fans at the event.  One of the fans looks suspiciously like Paul Harrington of the Canadian Dukes.  We’re pointing this out just to see if he’s paying attention. 

Back to the reporter – Steve is the same reporter who shared the original WYMT video of the Dukes of Hazzard cast appearances in Hazard Kentucky in 1981.  We featured this video in our June 5th article.  This reporter has been very kind to Dukes fans, so we figure it’s only fair to give him a big salute here on HazzardNet.  Steve, you might just be our Fan of the Month for September, at this rate!

At the end of the Hazzard Homecoming newscast, there’s a hint of “more to come” from Dukes cast members during the next Black Gold Festival in Hazard, Kentucky.  We don’t  know if that means they’re just going to recap the 1981 highlights, or if there’s direct cast involvement in this year’s event.  We’ll try to find out!

Officially, summer just started, but it already feels like it’s flying by! One thing you don’t want to skip this summer is the good ol’ fashioned family road trip, especially when you can meet some of the original cast members of The Dukes of Hazzard! Here’s a quick list of what’s going on and who’s gonna be there:

July 01 – Rick Hurst, otherwise known as Deputy Cletus Hogg, will be at Cooter’s Place in Gatlinburg TN!

July 02 – Catherine Bach, Daisy Duke herself, will be at Cooter’s Place in Gatlinburg TN!

July 04 – Ben “Cooter” Jones will be at…no, not Cooter’s Place! Fooled ya. He’ll be at the community 4th of July shindig in Sperryville VA!

July 08-10 – John Schneider, known around here as Bo Duke, will be at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle, PA!

July 16 – Sonny Shroyer, a/k/a Deputy Enos Strate, will be at the Johnny Lightning collectibles shindig in Dyersville, IA!

July 30-31 – John Schneider will be at the Marilla Car, Truck & Cycle Show in Marilla, NY!

Aug 13-14 – James Best, ol’ Rosco P.Coltrane, makes his only summer appearance scheduled thus far, at the Hazzard Homecoming in Sperryville, VA! Hazzard Homecoming is the big Dukes shindig of the summer, organized by Ben Jones and the lovely Miss Alma. Catherine Bach, Sonny Shroyer, and Rick Hurst will also be joining Ben Jones at this event. This is the place to see a General Lee, and to enjoy bluegrass music, all surrounded in the beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

*UPDATE*  John Schneider will also be at Hazzard Homecoming but *ONLY* on Sunday, August 14th!

What about Tom Wopat, of Luke Duke fame? He’s given his regards – and time – to Broadway! You can see him in the Tony-award winning musical, “Catch Me if You Can.”

Note, many of the above events, such as Hazzard Homecoming, and the car shows, require an admission fee. We will be adding more event details and links to our Forums section for each cast member. Also, please be aware that cast members generally do not give “free” autographs. An autograph may be included if you make a merchandise purchase from them, but if you bring an item of your own to have signed, be prepared to pay. Cast members each have their own rules n’ deals on these matters, and generally reserve the right to restrict their autographs to approved merchandise.

This gem from YouTube shows the passion and dedication of Dukes of Hazzard fans who gathered in Hazard, Kentucky, in 1981. Some folks call this the first, true Dukes fan event and they may be correct.

Much has changed since 1981. Sorrell “Boss Hogg” Booke is no longer with us. Nor is the terminally ill child in this video, who referred to herself as “JoJo P. Coltrane.”

What remains, is the passion and dedication of Dukes of Hazzard fans around the world, of all ages, of all walks of life. We are fortunate that we have many cast members still with us, who are willing to meet and greet fans at appearances and events. People like Ben Jones, James Best, Rick Hurst, Catherine Bach, Sonny Shroyer, John Schneider and Tom Wopat. Who would have thought, that 32 years after The Dukes of Hazzard hit the air, people would still be talking about Cooter, Rosco, Cletus, Daisy, Enos, Bo and Luke? Or lining up to meet them whenever the opportunity arose?

In the upcoming days we will be posting more news and info about upcoming cast appearances. For now, enjoy this look back in time. This is what it was like – and is like – to be a Dukes of Hazzard fan.