TVSquad

Television has often been a benchmark of current popular culture. Whether it's clothes, cars or furniture, people have always looked to TV to help them decide how to look and how to live. Here are ten great examples of how TV characters have "helped" us look our best.

Daisy Duke's Daisy Dukes (The Dukes of Hazzard)
No one knew it at the time, but when Catherine Bach slipped on those ultra-short denims, she was making an impression on more than the teenage boys who were watching. Years later, a brand new and very different generation embraced the Daisy Dukes, much to the delight of those teenage boys who were now old enough to know better.

Well, apparently someone expects The Dukes of Hazzard to return to TV. On Everything2.com, someone has written how to write a Dukes of Hazzard episode. The author goes over all the perceived formulas and cliches found in the run of the series.

Admittedly, given the popularity of southern culture, a Dukes of Hazzard return isn't outside the realm of possibility, merely outside the realm of probability. I think it was written more for a laugh than anything. I would give more credence to the post if the author actually wrote one or more of the episodes, but this doesn't appear to be the case.

Adam mentioned last week that the person who put it the $10 million winning bid for the General Lee car on eBay didn't pay up. In fact, it now looks like that someone's eBay account was hacked and he wasn't even the one doing the bidding, it was someone else.

But now the car is for sale again on eBay, only this time you have to go through a strict qualification process before you can even bid on the car. No more phonies.

I don't really get this whole story. The car being auctioned, owned by former star John Schneider, wasn't even used on the show! Which is interesting, because they used over 300 different General Lees on the show. It's just an extra one. Sure, it's signed by the cast, but is that really worth $10 million (or even $5 million or $1 million)?

The General Lee broke a sales record on eBay this week. Actor John Schneider, who played Bo Duke on The Dukes of Hazzard, put up his version of the General Lee and it sold for $9,900,500. If the bidder actually pays the money, it'll be the biggest ticket item ever sold on eBay. Schneider says he's stunned, because he only expected $3 million at the most for the car. He says he'll use the extra cash for a vacation and to fund a sequel to a movie he recently made.

As I mentioned earlier this week, the 1969 Dodge Charger that Schneider put up for sale was not featured in the television show, but it did make an appearance in the movie Dukes Go To Hollywood. It has signatures from all the original cast members and it actually drives! Schneider has taken it to charity events and even raced it.

What memorabilia would you pay $10 million for?

Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.

Ah, the friendly neighborhood drinking hole. In one way or another, they're there to give you that much needed morning/evening buzz before/after work or school. In what order you visit them is up to you. We've seen our fair share of these booze and caffeine shoppes on TV throughout the years, and here's my pick for the top 18 -- why settle for just ten?

1) Cheers (Cheers) -- Let's get right down to it and start with the obvious number one choice before we move on. I'm not going to insult you with dragging you on to the end to see what is very obviously the most famous of all TV bars. And since I'm from the area, I have no business not making this number one.

After the release of Dukes of Hazzard and the big-screen adaptations of Dallas and Miami Vice already in the works, perhaps you started thinking to yourself, "They should make Knight Rider a full-length feature." If so, you should probably start watching some television that isn't pushing 20 years. But still, you're in luck 'cause the Weinsteins have picked it up for some sweet ex-cop/talking Trans-Am action. Unfortunately for David Hasselhoff fans, this is yet another no-show (he's not included in the upcoming Baywatch movie either). As long as they bring Mr. Feeny back to voice KITT, I'll keep my protesting to a minimum.

Ben Jones, who played mechanic Cooter on the TV series Dukes of Hazzard has come out against the new film adaptation in a letter on his Web site. I have yet to see the movie --and when I say "yet to see the movie" I mean "I'm probably not going to see the movie"-- but I assume that since the fellas of Broken Lizard wrote the screenplay the film is not without its ribald moments. I think it's admirable that Jones feels such a kinship with the show (heck, the guy runs two Dukes of Hazzard museums) but straight adaptations of a show rarely work with today's audiences.