2005/07/14

'Cooter' Urges Fans to Skip 'Dukes' Movie

If television's "Crazy Cooter" has his way, fans of the "Dukes of Hazzard" may be speeding away from a new movie version of the cornpone classic faster than the Duke boys running from Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane.

Ben Jones, a former Georgia congressman who played the wisecracking mechanic on the popular series from 1979-85, said profanity and sexual content in the film make a mockery of the family friendly show.

"Basically, they trashed our show," said Jones, who now lives in the mountains of Washington, Va. "It's one thing to do whatever movie they want to do, but to take a classic family show and do that is like taking "I Love Lucy" and making her a crackhead or something."

Jones said he read a script of the movie, which is scheduled to be released next month, and that it contained profanity, "constant sexual innuendo and some very clear sexual situations."

On Wednesday, Jones wrote an open letter to fans on his web site, cootersplace.com, urging them to stay away.

First off, Dukes of Hazzard wasn't the model of a family show. It was coupled with Dallas when it was first shown. It glorifies two brothers that don't obey the law and tend to destroy public property. All the producers of the new movie have done is take the basic premise and update it for the current MTV audience. Doesn't that hold true to most of the "classic" shows anyways? If it is brought back, it has been updated to what will be interesting currently?

Knoxville can be serious. Scott doesn't play Stifler except in the American Pie movies. Arguably, the most offensive of the new characters is Simpson, and that is just because of the car wash video. Oh yeh, and Cooter isn't offensive? Come on, who actually think that refers to a turtle.

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