Imagine the world we would live in if everyone who grew up idolizing The Dukes of Hazzard actually paid attention to the messages of the show instead of just thinking, "vroom vroom car cool".
The core message of the show was ACAB. The main characters were constantly under surveillance by law enforcement and prohibited from leaving Hazzard county for 5 years because of a non-violent drug offense. The terms of their probation changed to suit the needs of the plot but, at its core, it was always onerous and exposed them to exploitation from the country commissioner (who was effectively their probation officer as well).
The commissioner and police were all corrupt, incompetent, cruel, or a combination of the three, depending on the episode. "But what about Enos? He was the Duke's friend and even in love Daisy?" He was probably the best embodiment of why their are no "good cops". Enos (and to a lesser extent Cletus when Enos left for a couple seasons) was a good person but wasn't a "good cop". He was the quintessential example of a good person becoming a cop and yet still being forced, by virtue of the job, to enforce corrupt enforcement of laws, many times in cases where he knew the sheriff and/or commissioner were intentionally falsifying evidence or committing scams themselves.
In fact, the only cops ever depicted in a positive light on the show were the 2 black federal agents who came to Hazzard to investigate the commissioner and police for corruption.
This also wasn't just background. Almost every week's plot revolved around these criminals on probation for a drug offense, investigating and stopping the corruption of the cops and their own probation officer.
At the risk of gatekeeping, anyone who supports "blue lives matter" or "back the blue" is not a true fan of the show (a show that should be noted that had a creator who fought the network tooth and nail to have greater Black representation on the show and who since 2015 has openly supported Black Lives Matter).
Now none of this should be seen as an argument for keeping re-runs of the show on the air or on streaming services (that's its own discussion entirely) but if every "good ole boy" had been fighting for the past 40 years for what the show was actually about, that conversation would be a lot different.
