Appalachian Gateway 80

06/01/2024

01/26/2024

The Dukes of Hazard, KY! The real basis for this famous show! Find Hazard and Perry County, KY on Appalachian Gateway 80 in the Backroads of Appalahia Mobile Application! Avaialable now for IOS and Android Completely Free!
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WSGS History: 45 years ago today, “The Dukes of Hazzard" premiered on CBS on January 26, 1979. Although the show’s storyline was fictional, there were some real connections to the real town of Hazard.

"Yes, I've heard of Hazard, KY., said Catherine Bach (Daisy Duke) in a 1979 interview, two years before she visited the Perry County town. "That's where the moonshiner who was interviewed for over 30 hours to get the basis for our show was from. That's where it's all really from," she said.

There was enough dramatic license, taken in producing the show that the folks in Hazard didn't associate themselves with the Duke clan in Hazzard County.

Supposedly the series was set in Georgia, although press releases from CBS only said the series was set "south of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi." Route 421 was mentioned as being nearby in the premier episode.

Catherine Bach is pictured with local pilot I. H. “Buck” Buchanan in his Beechcraft twin-engine plane at the Hazard Airport in 1981.