Plustown
A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.
rcj5365
"Hogan's Heroes" followed a group of prisoners of war inside fictional "Stalag 13". Using the camp as a base to coordinate resistance groups,Colonel Robert Hogan(Bob Crane of "The Donna Reed Show"),and his group of American,British,and French soldiers(Played by Ivan Dixon, Richard Dawson, Robert Clary,and Larry Hovis) were unintentionally assisted by incompetent camp leaders Colonel Klink(Werner Klemperer),and Sergeant Schultz(John Banner)who regularly said "I See Nothing," to avoid trouble. The duo's ineptitude often caused Hogan to defend their roles,lest skilled soldiers to replaced them most of the time causing chaos and hilarious mischief throughout. This was basically "Mission:Impossible" with a laugh track set in World War II. Created by Albert S. Ruddy and Bernard Fein and loosely based on the 1953 theatrical feature "Stalag 17" starring William Holden,the series "Hogan's Heroes",ushered in a new way of thinking about the conflict(that took place during World War II) and the absurd comic situations that could arise."Hogan's Heroes" also made milestones as well. It was the second series produced under Bing Crosby Productions for CBS(after the success of "Shattery's People")and it was the first series under Bing Crosby's production company that was produced and filmed in color at Desilu Studios where the series was produced. Only the first episode of the series was in black and white. Episodes 2 through 167 were in color. A total of 168 episodes were produced. Premiered on CBS' Prime-Time schedule on September 17,1965, the series remained for the next six seasons ending on April 4,1971.Only actors Bob Crane, Richard Dawson, Larry Hovis,and John Banner along with Werner Klemperer and Robert Clary were the only regular cast members that stayed with the series throughout it's entire six year run. Actor Ivan Dixon appeared in Seasons 1 thru 5 for 141 episodes. He left the series at the end of the fifth season to pursue other interests. He was replaced by actor Kenneth Washington at the start of the sixth and final season for 26 episodes. Interesting note about this show. Out of the impressive 12 Emmy nominations it received the series won 2 Prime- Time Emmys for Werner Klemperer as Outstanding Supportive Actor in 1968 and 1969. Other nominations went to Actor Bob Crane in 1966, 1967, and 1970,and Actress Nina Talbot(Outstanding Supportive Actress in a Comedy Series) in 1968,along with cinematopgrapher Gordon Avil in 1968 and 1970.Throughout the series run,it's first two seasons(1965-1967) were telecast on Friday nights where it was opposite ABC's "The Addams Family",and NBC's "The Man From UNCLE". Seasons 3 and 4(1967-1968 and 1968-1969) saw "Hogan's Heroes" moved from Friday to Saturday nights opposite NBC's "Get Smart",and ABC's long-running variety series "The Lawrence Welk Show". The fifth season(1969-1970)of "Hogan's Heroes" saw the series move again back to Friday nights opposite NBC's "The Name of the Game",and ABC's "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir". But what killed it in it's sixth and final season saw the show move to Sunday nights in an earlier time slot for the 1970-1971 season opposite NBC's "The Wonderful of Disney",and ABC's "The Young Rebels".The sudden cancellation of "Hogan's Heroes" in the spring of 1971 saw a dramatic change of CBS' programming to bring in a more urban audience with the debut of "All In The Family" that premiered on January 12,1971. The result brought down the axe on several shows that were abruptly canceled by the network which were "Lassie"(17 seasons),"Green Acres"(6 seasons),"Family Affair"(5 seasons),"The Ed Sullivan Show"(23 seasons),"The Beverly Hillbillies"(9 seasons),"Hee Haw"(2 seasons), "Mayberry RFD"(3 seasons), "The Jackie Gleason Show"(19 seasons),and "The Red Skelton Show"(18 seasons). The series that replaced "Hogan's Heroes" after 6 seasons was the crime drama "Cade's County" starring two-time Oscar nominee Glenn Ford(that also replaced the long-running "The Ed Sullivan Show" on that same Sunday night timeslot for the 1971- 1972 season)."Hogan's Heroes" was criticized for it's farcial interpretation of significant events,but the actors playing the German soldiers were actually Jewish(Werner Klemperer and John Banner) and fled Germany in World War II during the rise of Hitler. Actor Robert Clary spent three years in a concentration camp during World War II. The other actors like Bob Crane, Larry Hovis, Ivan Dixon, Richard Dawson, and Kenneth Washington did not serve in any branch of the United States military.
Hotwok2013
"Hogans Heroes" has just returned to UK television showing on the Forces TV satellite channel after a long period of absence from British television. First shown back in the 1960's I loved the show when I was a kid & it seems just as funny to me after all these years. It remains funny because, like Phil Silvers "Bilko" for instance, it was extremely well scripted & acted. Set in a WW2 POW camp it stars the excellent BobbCrane as the senior prisoner officer Colonel Hogan. Great too are Werner Klemperer as the bumbling camp commandant Colonel Klink & John Banner as prison guard Sergeant(I know nothing, NOTHING)Schultz. Regular guests were Leon Askin as the spiteful General Burkhalter & Howard Caine as Gestapo Officer Major Hochstetter. Both are excellent & usually give Colonel Klink a hard time. It also regularly features a bevy of gorgeous gals usually as secret agents like Nita Talbot, Arlene Martel & Victoria Carroll. Nita Talbot was in seven episodes playing a sexy Russian spy named Marya who was always a pleasure to watch & especially good, in my opinion. Two more regular beauties on the show were Sigrid Valdis & Cynthia Lynn playing Klink's secretaries Hilda & Helga respectively. At bottom line it is a really brilliant micky-take of Nazi Germany which it lampoonsvmercilessly. My only criticism about this sitcom is that the prisoners seem to be having such a great time during their incarceration that if life in a POW camp was half as much fun as this no-one would ever bother to try to escape! As another reviewer has said, "it would have Adolf Hitler turning in his grave!". If he got the chance he would have had the entire cast & crew lined up against a wall & machine-gunned!.
vlefaive
I have to say that I watch episodes almost daily again and here its been 40 years since I was just a kid chuckling at the goofy yet thoroughly enjoyable plots. Thinking back, there truly wasn't a comedy on TV at the time with so much potential to address one of the darkest times in humanity... to everyone involved in production ( though they are likely long dead ) .. well done.... On that subject ? As of writing It's sad too in a way when I read that Robert Clary ( Lebeau ) is the VERY LAST survivor .. Helga left us in March of this year ... she was delightful and gorgeous... So here's to your taste in women Hogan, rest in peace hound dog and to everyone's ghost on the cast, after enjoying countless re-runs of all 168 episodes ? I swear I know you personally .
nroma-1
Most people don't realize that many of the actors who appeared on HH were persecuted by the Nazis in real life. I think that should help to counter the argument that the show trivialized the sufferings of many under the Nazis. Otherwise, why would John Banner, Werner Von Klemperer, Robert Clary, and Leon Askin (General Burkhalter) consent to do the show? I think they took the parts as a sort of revenge against the Nazis who oppressed them. John Banner and Robert Clary were actually inmates in concentration camps. Werner Von Klemperer had to flee Nazi persecution (because his father, the famous conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic, Otto, was Jewish). Leon Askin's family were murdered in the Treblinka Death Camp.
