Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 11-NOV-2008
Media Type: DVD Read more
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
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 05/01/2007 Rating: Nr Read more
Studio: Starz/sphe Release Date: 01/30/2007 Run time: 150 minutes Rating: Nr Read more
Movie DVD Read more
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 11/07/2006 Run time: 390 minutes Rating: Nr Here's an essential addition to the TV time capsule, M*A*S*H's complete final season, including the DVD premiere of the historic feature-length final episode, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen." Still the most watched television series episode ever, "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" brings M*A*S*H to a richly satisfying conclusion, giving each of its characters dramatic and fitting curtain calls. But the finale shouldn't completely overshadow what was a memorable and multi-Emmy-nominated season. After a decade, Kellye Nakahara, as compassionate and "cute as hell" Nurse Kellye, gets her own showcase episode with "Hey, Look Me Over." Echoing his obsession with "Adam's Ribs" back in season 3, "The Moon Is Not Blue," finds Hawkeye (Alan Alda) determined to secure for the morale-challenged camp a screening of a supposedly scandalous film. In "Friends and Enemies," Col. Potter (Henry Morgan) has the difficult task of confronting an officer, an old friend, who is irresponsibly endangering his men. After 11 seasons, we don't need anyone to tell us yet again that the "good and decent" people at the 4077th "make use of humor as a weapon against war," as a U.N. dignitary observes in one episode. In "The Joker Is Wild," B.J. (Mike Farrell) confirms his status as the camp's reigning practical joker with an epic, "brilliantly conceived" prank against Hawkeye.
Two emotional episodes set the stage for the finale. In "Who Knew?" a nurse's tragic death moves Hawkeye to show what he feels "through the (wise)cracks" and tell those in camp he is closest to that he loves them. In the penultimate episode, "As Time Goes By," Margaret (Loretta Switt) collects camp artifacts, among them, Radar's teddy bear, to put in a time capsule. Finally, after 251 episodes, there is "the sound of peace" in "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen," but not before a traumatic incident sends Hawkeye to a psychiatric ward, B.J. is sent home before he can say goodbye to Hawkeye, Charles (David Ogden Stiers) forms an attachment to a band of Chinese musicians, and Klinger (Jamie Farr) falls in love with a Korean woman separated from her family. That there is no audio commentary for this television benchmark is a major disappointment, but the series eloquently speaks for itself. M*A*S*H, we salute you. --Donald Liebenson Read more
Movie DVD"What is this man doing here?" an increasingly agitated Major Hochstetter of the Gestapo demands of Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer) in "War Takes a Holiday," one of the best episodes of Hogan's Heroes' third season (or any season, for that matter). "This man," of course, is Senior P.O.W. Officer Col. Hogan (Bob Crane), who, by now, has the run of Stalag 13, and seemingly, all of Europe. The beginning of the episode, "D-Day at Stalag 13," finds Hogan in London to receive his orders on how his barracks operation will further "tie up" the German general command to distract them from the planned Normandy landing. "You have quite a reputation for the offbeat and the bizarre, and for pulling it off," Hogan is told. And he more than lives up to it over the course of season 3. In "War Takes a Holiday," Hogan and company convince their captors that the war is over. But sabotaging the German war effort is not all fun and games. In "One in Every Crowd," Hogan is threatened with exposure by a barracks traitor, and in "Two Nazis for the Price of One," a top Gestapo officer likewise learns of Hogan's operation, and demands information about the Manhattan Project. These excellent episodes belie Hogan's Heroes unwarranted reputation as a series that treated life in a prison camp as a lark.
This season welcomed back several recurring characters, most notably, Bernard Fox's Col. Crittendon, "the most incompetent British officer in the entire British Navy." Reprising her role as the very suspect White Russian, Nita Talbot was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in "The Hostage." For his commanding performance as Klink, Klemperer was honored with an Emmy this season. As lovable oaf Sgt. Schultz, John Banner enjoyed some of his character's most memorable episodes, including "Sergeant Schultz Meets Mata Hari" and "The Ultimate Weapon." (In "War Takes a Holiday," it is revealed that Schultz was the owner of Germany's biggest toy company!) This five-disc set contains a short but sweet excerpt from a Pat Sajak Show appearance by Klemperer, who reveals one of show business's most fascinating ironies; how a man whose family fled Hitler's Germany became television's most famous and oddly beloved Nazis. --Donald Liebenson Read more
