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!.

Garfunkel As a kid I usually watched this with my dad and uncle and when I grew I up I always wondered what this show was. Well reluctantly the seasons were on Youtube and I watched them all; the conclusion was is I liked it! Aside from watching Band of Brothers, Hogan's Heroes gave you something to laugh at about the Nazi's rather than watch them in seriousness.That is all this show is about: making fun of Nazism, that's it. I know there are a lot of people saying that Werner Klemperer(Klink), John Banner(Shultz), Robert Clary(LeBeau), and Leon Askin(Gen. Burkhalter) are hypocrites because they all either escaped or fell victim of Nazi persecution in real life; then why did they play as Nazis, or for LeBeaa play in a Nazi camp? Firstly it is a Prisoner of War camp, not a Concentration Camp. Secondly, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, and Leon Askin played as Nazis who would be either stupid or always look like a fool in the end; this is why the I said this show is about making fun of Nazis. Also, a lot of people say that this show makes World War II seem like a joke, or that life in a Nazi camp is nice. Yes, sometimes during the show one of the Allied characters cracks a joke about why the are fighting the war, or something along those lines. Yes, I do agree that is wrong to do that, but you must look at what this show is: Military Sitcom (situation COMEDY) meant to make the Nazis look bad.Basically Hogan, Kinchloe, LeBeau, Newkirk, and Carter all are the main characters trapped inside a POW outside Hammelburg called Stalag-13. Hogan being the smart and cunning, Kinch being a good technician and radio operator, LeBeau being a good cook and small, Newkirk being a joker, and Carter being a Chemist but very clumsy; they all play a part in fooling Klink, Shultz, and sometimes Burkhalter and the Gestapo to sabotage vital military places in around Stalag-13 through an underground network with connection to England. With all this they disrupt the German war effort in a comedic way.This is an amazing series. Sadly a Youtuber who had all the episodes on his channel was deleted, so the only way I see people could watch this is by buying it in store or online.This is a great show, and I recommend it to all liker's of military stuff.

bigverybadtom Yes, it was a parody of then-popular entertainment about World War Two, and several of the performers had suffered persecution by the Nazis. And it probably was funnier in its time.But taken on its own, why does it offend people? For starters, the people are just too stereotypical. Sergeant Schulz is just too stupid. But what certainly offends people most is Colonel Klink. He's supposed to be a vain camp commandant. Unfortunately, he's quite unconvincing as a villain. He's too nice and genial, and this personality isn't a mask disguising a monster. He's about as realistic as a Nazi officer as Elmer Fudd. He's completely nonthreatening and doesn't seem capable of harming a fly. But he's not a secret anti-Nazi either. The show could have been better if Colonel Klink had shown at least a little bit of menace.