By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Wednesday, July 1, 2015
TV Land has pulled twice-a-day "Dukes of Hazzard" repeats without explanation.
This comes less than two weeks after Dylann Roof killed nine black people in cold blood in a Charleston, S.C. church. When photos of him holding the Confederate battle flag popped up, politicians began taking the flag off public property and businesses from eBay to Walmart stopped selling it.
Warner Brothers last week also quit merchandising the General Lee 1 orange 1969 Charger from "The Dukes of Hazzard," a popular CBS show from 1979 to 1985. The car had a Confederate battle flag emblazoned on its roof and the Duke brothers frequently sent the vehicle flying through the air while being chased by the cops. It became one of the most iconic images from the show over the years.
This is the third time a controversy unrelated to a TV show has caused said TV show to disappear off the airwaves.
Up TV dumped "7th Heaven" last October after the Stephen Collins admission to decades-old molestation charges but has since brought the show back. TV Land pulled "The Cosby Show" after all the brouhaha over Bill Cosby's drugging and sexual assault allegations surfaced last fall. TV Land has not brought the show back on air since then.
