Tom Wopat Archives - Page 3 of 5

Double Episodes of Dukes of Hazzard on CMT!

Now you have twice as many reasons to stay up all night. CMT is airing 2 episodes of “The Dukes of Hazzard” back-to-back every night this week! So go ahead and have a pot of coffee with dinner, and stay awake to catch these classics:

The Dukes in Hollywood – Wed 11/16 at 1:00 a.m.

Cool Hands Luke and Bo – Wed 11/16 at 2:00 a.m.

Go West Young Dukes – Thurs 11/17 at 1:00 a.m.

Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard – Thurs 11/17 at 2:00 a.m.

Danger on the Hazzard Express – Fri 11/18 at 1:00 a.m.

Sittin’ Dukes – Fri 11/18 at 2:00 a.m.

“Cool Hands Luke & Bo” offered fresh excitement late in the series, by getting the Dukes in a heap of trouble outside of Hazzard. For once, the bad guys aren’t coming to Hazzard from out of town – they’re at home in Osage County, and the Dukes just happen to wander over there. Nice goin’, boys. And can anyone listen to Daisy’s emotional protest without feeling sympathy? It’s rare we see Daisy in tears, even if just for a moment.

Another original idea is explored in “Go West Young Dukes.” It’s the closest thing to time-travel that we get in The Dukes of Hazzard, and it’s pulled off rather well. This Duke-ified western admits the remarkable resemblance between the current day Dukes and their storied ancestors, and from there, it’s just plain fun. It’s obvious that John Schneider and Tom Wopat relished the opportunity to do something different.

In the not-so-great department, “Cale Yarborough Comes to Hazzard” is ruined by the over-use of model cars doing stunts that do not look believable in the least. This episode had the potential to be a touching story about how a celebrity race car driver helps a sick little boy. Instead, it was overstuffed with poorly executed, unnecessary “action” scenes of matchbox cars flying over toy buildings and landscapes.

On the positive, Cale performs his role well, and Bo delivers a couple bad puns that are worth it just for Luke’s expression. James Best, as Rosco, delivers an ad-lib that we probably shouldn’t even mention. This scene has often been cut from the TNN and CMT airings to make room for more commercials. Good thing we YouTube’d it.

Tom Wopat Lands Role in Quentin Tarantino Flick

Tom Wopat, known to us as Luke Duke from “The Dukes of Hazzard”, has landed the role of Marshall Gill Tatum in Tarantino’s 2012 movie, “Django Unchained.” This is a spaghetti n’ grits southern-western, promising bullets, havoc and revenge.

In a nutshell, freed slave Django teams up with his bounty-hunter mentor to rescue his enslaved wife from a sadistic plantation owner. The latter will be played by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Tom is no stranger to modern westerns, having played Colonel Slocum in the 2010 movie, Jonah Hex. While Tom’s main bread n’ butter has been Broadway musicals for many years, he continues to obtain roles in movies and television. Additionally, he performs live concerts in an array of venues, receiving critical acclaim for his smooth, crooning jazz vocals.

The Django Unchained cast also includes actor M.C. Gainey, who portrayed Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane in the 2005 big-screen Dukes of Hazzard movie.

Another Hazzard connection is that director/screenwriter Quentin Tarantino was once a student of James Best’s camera technique school. In his book Best in Hollywood: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful, James remarked that he told Tarantino he was a “lousy actor” and that he should “take up writing.” The rest, as they say, is history.

Django Unchained is in pre-production status, and is expected to be in theaters by December 2012.

25 Million Dollar Sheriff

Dukes of Hazzard fans may remember an episode called “10 Million Dollar Sheriff” where Rosco inherits money by mistake. Here in the real world, James Best, who played Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane, is saying there’s been a mistake, alright, and Warner Bros. made it.

A lawsuit filed by Best against TimeWarner states that he has been shorted his share of royalties from Dukes of Hazzard merchandise. Specifically, merchandise that bears his likeness. Best was entitled to 5% of these proceeds. (is that 50% of 50% of 50%?) The dispute arises from the lack of accounting by Warner Bros; Best has received $175,000 in the past 30 years from merchandise sales – but he reckons he should have received 5 to 25 million.

Doing the math roughly, Warner is saying it made 3.5 million from Dukes merchandise with Best’s likeness – while Best is saying they probably made more like…a billion.

Best’s claim also includes a share of merchandise revenue from any Dukes product with Flash on it. Adding the dog to the show was his idea and he held 50% ownership of the pooch.

We took a quick look at what we could find with Sheriff Rosco’s likeness, and came up with the following: packaging for Mego action figures, back cover cases for Columbia House VHS tapes, the front artwork for The Dukes of Hazzard music CD, and DVD box back covers for Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 7. There were also a number of metal TV trays, wastebaskets, and…heck, we can’t count all the stuff Warner Bros authorized back in the day with Rosco on it.

But Warner Bros is going to have to count it, and disclose it, to settle this lawsuit. Best claims he made numerous efforts over the years to obtain fair accounting, without success.

Tom Wopat and John Schneider sued Warner Bros over merchandising revenue during the 5th season of the show. The dispute resulted in a temporary walkout by the two actors and the introduction of temporary replacement stars, Byron Cherry and Christopher Mayer. It was eventually resolved to Wopat and Schneider’s satisfaction, and the replacements were given the heave-ho without fanfare.

We will keep you posted as this story continues. Who knows…maybe ol’ Rosco will get his “pension” here, after all! And what a pension it could be.

Christopher Mayer, “Vance Duke” Reported Dead

Christopher Mayer, who portrayed “Vance Duke” on The Dukes of Hazzard during the strike of Tom Wopat and John Schneider, has been reported dead. The sudden passing of the 57-year old actor is being reported by entertainment media sources, as per the disclosure of his fiancee, Catherine Irvine.

Mayer died unexpectedly on Saturday July 23. The cause has not been released. Mayer was actively working on a new film project at the time. We will share further details as we receive them.

Dukes of Hazzard fans everywhere are expressing heartfelt condolences to Mayer’s family and loved ones. Vance Duke, you were taken away from us too soon.

*UPDATE* Byron Cherry, who played Coy Duke, has made reference to Mayer’s passing in a recent Facebook update. While the Facebook page is private, a copy of the entry has been provided to us:

“I’m so sad to say that my best friend, buddy, pal Chris Mayer “Vance Duke” passed away suddenly. He was so special to me and my kids and family. He will be so missed and I pray that we all just remember him for all that he did to put a smile on our face. He was just 01 great guy and I’m just so thankful that I knew him at all. He taught me so much about life and Jesus and how to live life. It will be hard knowing I can’t just pick up the phone and call him for a good laugh and inspiration. We will meet again.”

Well said, Byron.

Speed Into Summer with The Dukes of Hazzard!

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.