Spring Sault
Due to the Confederate flag adorning the 1969 orange Dodge Charger that characters Bo and Luke drove in the 1980s TV series “The Dukes of Hazzard,” Amazon may be dropping it from their IMDb streaming service. The discussion is being had by executives of the e-commerce company in the wake of protests over the death of George Floyd.
At a time when protests are growing throughout the U.S., not to mention actions being taken in and around urban centers and colleges in the state of Texas, the use of anything Civil War-related is being reviewed. NASCAR recently went on record as banning the display of the Confederate flag at all upcoming races and on all of its properties. Likewise, HBO Max pulled the movie “Gone With the Wind” from its schedule temporarily. The long-running reality show “Cops” was recently canceled, and now “The Dukes of Hazzard” is slated for a possible similar expunging.
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The show aired on the CBS network from 1979 to 1985. Those familiar with its theme will recognize that it centered around the lives and driving stunts of Bo and Luke Duke, cousins out of Hazzard County, in Georgia. They raced through their dusty backroads in the iconic General Lee, which was an orange 1969 Dodge Charger with the Confederate flag painted on its roof. This isn’t the first time the series has faced racial controversy. In 2015, the Warner Brothers network’s consumer products division ceased the licensing of the General Lee replicas featuring the Confederate flag, and shortly thereafter, the series was pulled from the lineup for the TV Land network.
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In the meantime, reports indicate that Amazon is debating the pull of “The Dukes of Hazzard” from its IMDb TV streaming service in order to avoid any potential for controversy amid the current protests throughout the U.S. The service currently offers the series both on the free system as well as the ad-supported service, in addition to offering it for sale on their online Amazon platform.
