In recent weeks “The Dukes of Hazzard” has been caught up in the controversy over the Confederate flag because The General Lee – the car made famous by the show – features the flag on its roof. As a result, TV Land pulled reruns of the show, but Amazon, which stated it would remove Confederate flag merchandise back in June, is still making the series available for streaming, at $1.99 per episode. DVDs of the series are also available for purchase on Amazon.
Recent reviews of the show on Amazon indicate the online shopping site likely saw a surge in attention to its “Dukes of Hazzard” merchandise and streaming content following the TV Land’s decision to pull the series.
Starting on June 25—just days after Amazon said it was removing Confederate flag merchandise—reviews for “The Dukes of Hazzard” began making mention of the controversy over the flag. Several reviewers declared they were paying to stream episodes of the series as a direct response to TV Land’s decision to distance itself from the show.
“Why did I buy this now? Well, it reminds me of my younger days. But the real reason is that it ticks off the PC crowd,” one reviewer declared. “Buy the season, sit back and have a few laughs. While we're still allowed to.”
Another commenter explained, “I'm buying all the ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ Seasons out of protest of the banning of the show on TV Land (You've lost a viewer, TV Land).”
At nearly $2 per episode, “Dukes” fans hoping to stream the entire series will pay a pretty penny. The show ran from 1979 to 1985, totaling seven seasons, which means the cost of streaming every episode of the show runs about $290. Alternatively, “Dukes” fans can buy DVDs of the seasons for about $25 per season—or they can buy the 38-disc complete series for $349.99. A cheaper $240.66 DVD set is currently out of stock.
Some reviewers of the DVD box set indicated they rushed to buy the series following the controversy over the show.
One purchaser wrote, “Got this quickly. Thank you! It may become a very valuable product in the future as it is being banned from TV. Such a shame!”
But Amazon isn’t alone in its apparent confusion over Confederate flag merchandise. Despite online retail giant Ebay’s declaration in June that it “decided to prohibit Confederate flags, and many items containing this image,” DVDs of the “Dukes of Hazzard” can still be purchased on Ebay. Similarly, both Ebay and Amazon still sell toy models of the General Lee.
The uproar over the flag began after nine African-Americans were shot to death during Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston; photos of the white man charged with their slayings showed him displaying the Confederate flag. On Friday, the Confederate flag was removed from the grounds of the South Carolina Statehouse.
Amazon did not return FOX411’s request for comment regarding its policy on selling Confederate flag merchandise.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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