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Review & Description
Despite a historically and morally questionable premise, the 1960s sitcom HOGAN'S HEROES was wildly popular during its premiere run and continues to remain one of the most classic (not to mention utterly unique) comedy series in television history. Set in a Nazi prison camp during World War II, the series follows a group of Allied POWs--Englishman Peter Newkirk (a pre-FAMILY FEUD Richard Dawson), Frenchman Louis LeBeau (Robert Clary), and Americans Andrew Carter (Larry Hovis) and James Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon, one of the first African-American actors to get equal billing)--led by the irrepressible Colonel Robert Hogan (Bob Crane) in their hilarious attempts to sabotage the Nazi war effort. Though often mischaracterized as a tasteless gloss on the real-life horrors of Nazi Germany (the series was set in a prisoner-of-war camp, rather than concentration camp), HOGAN'S HEROES was intended as parody and certainly pulled no punches in its unflattering depiction of idiotic Nazi officers such as the pompous Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer), bumbling Sergeant Schultz (John Banner), and irascible General Burkhalter (Leon Askin)--in fact, Klemperer, Banner, and Askin were all Jewish, and Clary was a Holocaust survivor. This collection presents all 26 episodes from the controversial series' fourth season.Probably the most successful bad idea in television history, Hogan's Heroes took an appalling premise--the suffering of World War II prisoners-of-war played for laughs--and turned it into a hugely popular series that ran for six seasons. Wily Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane, previously a regular on The Donna Reed Show) and his merry multicultural band of P.O.W.s--including cocky cockney Newkirk (Richard Dawson, pre-Family Feud), softhearted Frenchman LeBeau (Robert Clary, later to appear on Days of Our Lives), clumsy explosives expert Carter (Larry Hovis), and steadfast radio operator Kinch (Ivan Dixon), one of the first black characters on television to be treated as an equal by his peers without any self-congratulatory comment--carried out spying and sabotage against the Third Reich, always back in the cozy confines of Stalag 13 by the end of the episode. But the good guys were not the show's real draw; Hogan (charming to some, smarmy to others) may have been the titular hero, but audiences loved high-strung Nazi commandant Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer, who won two Emmys for the role) and the adorably bumbling Sgt. Schultz (John Banner), whose cries of "I see nozzink, I know nozzink!" became the show's biggest catchphrase.
The fourth season finds the snappy one-liners, preposterous plots, oversexed atmosphere, and Nazi buffoonery all firmly entrenched. Brief bits of suspense help to balance the clownish antics. The missions change a little from episode to episode (instead of a bridge, they have to blow up an ammo dump; instead of a beautiful lady spy, they have to help...no, it's always a beautiful lady spy), but a reassuring sameness is what guarantees the success of any sitcom. It's interesting to speculate about why audiences embraced these goofball Nazis only a couple of decades after the revelation of the decidedly unfunny concentration camps. Perhaps, as the Cold War wore on and the threat of atomic annihilation felt increasingly likely, mocking the previous threat to the world made the Soviet Union less terrifying; or maybe Klink and Schultz are hapless 1950s parent figures, outwitted by their more worldly hipster children. Regardless, even contemporary viewers with a taste for daffy pranks may find Hogan's Heroes a bit of sweet comfort food. --Bret Fetzer Read more
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