Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy were either geniuses or completely out of their mind. The co-creators put forth a show in the last half of the 60’s that was a satire that took place during WWII inside a prisoner of war camp and included POWs performing espinage under the dimwitted Nazis collective noses. In a pre-politically correct world the show became a hit that lasted for six years. Here’s my review of Season Three released today on DVD.
Hogan’s Heroes – The Complete Third Season
3 & 1/2 Stars
Hogan and his men set forth on another season to help out the war effort.
 |
For those who don’t understand the basic setup of the show here it comes. Col. Robert Hogan (Bob Crane) and his men are prionsers of war in Stalag 13, a POW camp for captured Air Force personnel. What the incompetant commandant of the camp Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer) doesn’t know is that the men are actually part of the underground resistance and are in touch with Allied Command in London and perform espionage and sabotage on German targets. Oh yeah, and it’s a comedy.
Okay if you can wrap your brain around that concept the show is actually pretty good. It’s a satire and take-off of many serious POW films and TV prgrams of the time including The Great Escape, Combat!, The Longest Day, and most notably Stalag 17.
Hogan’s crew includes Cpl. LeBeau (Robert Clay), Cpl. Newkirk (Richard Dawson), Sgt. Kinch (Ivan Dixon) and Sgt. Carter (Larry Hovis). Sadly all the Germans have to combat this crafty band of Americans, British, and French officers is Klink, his right hand man Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) and Nazi higher-ups that come down to complain about Klink’s management style but ends up screwing up worse than Klink.
The shows include implausible plots of members of the camp sneaking out to perform espionage or to take time off in Paris or London and get back to the base for roll call. In terms of plausability the show comes close to Gilligan’s Island, but in much the same way it uses such plots to create quite humorous situations.
Is it weird that the Germans only speak German (and no, I’m not counting Schultz’s common phrase of Actchung as speaking German), that the prisoners are treated better than at a Motel 6, and that nothing trully bad ever happens to the prisoners? Well sure, but it’s a comedy remember. Now not all the shows hit the ball out of the park though most are pretty good; some of the episodes are better than others. My favorites of the bunch were “War Takes a Holiday” when Hogan and his men convince the Germans that the war is over, “LeBeau and the Little Old Lady” where LeBeau hides a secret about his contact in the underground, and “Sergeant Shultz Meets Mata Hari” where the Gustapo plant a woman to spy on him. For a show to balance the serious issues it deals with and never lose the comic feel and timing is something quite special. It’s quite a unique show and I’d recommend checking it out because who knows if we will ever see it’s like again.