Hogan's Heroes

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Hogan's Heroes
Hogan's Heroes (title card)
Genre	Sitcom
Creator(s)	Bernard Fein & Albert S. Ruddy
Starring	Bob Crane Werner Klemperer John Banner Robert Clary Richard Dawson Ivan Dixon Sigrid Valdis Cynthia Lynn Larry Hovis Kenneth Washington
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	168
Production
Running time	23 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Original run	September 17, 1965 – July 4, 1971
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Hogan's Heroes was an American television situation comedy that ran from September 17, 1965 to July 4, 1971 on the CBS network for 168 episodes. Starring Bob Crane as Colonel Robert E. Hogan, the show was set in a German prisoner of war (POW) camp during World War II. The program was a Bing Crosby Production.

Contents 1 Premise 1.1 Possible inspiration 2 Cast 2.1 Allies 2.1.1 Colonel Hogan 2.1.2 Staff Sergeant Kinchloe 2.1.3 Technical Sergeant Carter 2.1.4 Corporal LeBeau 2.1.5 Corporal Newkirk 2.2 Germans 2.2.1 Colonel Klink 2.2.2 Sergeant Schultz 2.2.3 Helga/Hilda 2.3 Recurring characters 3 Jewish actors 4 Later popularity 5 Gadgets 6 Series criticisms 6.1 Plot holes 6.2 Other criticisms 7 Series pilot 8 Series timeline 9 Hogan's Heroes in the European Parliament 10 DVD Releases 11 Stalag 13 in real life 12 Trivia 13 See also 14 References 15 External links

[edit] Premise

The show took place at Stalag 13, a POW camp located near the town of Hammelburg, run by the Luftwaffe for captured airmen. Although there was a real-life Stalag 13 near Hammelburg (formally known as Stalag XIII-C Hammelburg/Mainfranken), Hogan's Heroes was entirely a work of fiction.

The show's premise was that the POWs were actually active war participants, using the camp as a base of operations for allied espionage and sabotage against the Nazis. The "prisoners" could leave and return at will via a secret network of tunnels and had radio contact with Allied command. They were inadvertently aided by bumbling camp overseer Colonel Klink and his aide Sergeant Schultz; Hogan would routinely manipulate the incompetent Klink and get Schultz to look the other way while his men conducted secret operations.

[edit] Possible inspiration

Many have also seen the interaction between the prisoners as being at least somewhat inspired by the 1953 feature film Stalag 17, a World War II Prisoner of War film, released by Paramount Pictures, the same studio that currently owns the DVD rights to Hogan's Heroes. This movie even had a Sgt. Johann Sebastian Schultz, who appeared genial, but was actually in league with the spy planted among the prisoners. The movie producers later sued the producers of Hogan's Heroes for infringement.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Allies

[edit] Colonel Hogan

American Army Air Forces Colonel Robert Hogan (Bob Crane), the "senior ranking POW officer", is the leader of the group. In typical episodes, he receives information and assignments from the German underground or from Allied headquarters in London; typical tasks include: setting bombs on German bridges, using microfilm to photograph militarily strategic files, gathering information about German tank or troop movements (and radioing that information to London via allied submarines), receiving and processing important scientists to help them escape Germany, etc. As the lead character, Hogan also (occasionally) gets the girl. Hogan was born in Cleveland, Ohio, although according to the plotline of one episode^[1] he was from Bridgeport, Connecticut. In sharp contrast to Colonel Klink, he graduated at the top of his military class.

[edit] Staff Sergeant Kinchloe

African-American Staff Sergeant James Ivan "Kinch" Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon) is primarily responsible for radio, telegraph, and other forms of electronic communications. A talented mimic, Kinchloe easily imitates German officers speaking over the radio or telephone.

During the final season of the series (1970—1971), the producers replaced his character with Sergeant Baker (also portrayed by an African-American actor, Kenneth Washington). The tasks assigned to SGT Baker are identical to those of SSG Kinchloe.

[edit] Technical Sergeant Carter

American Technical Sergeant Andrew J. Carter (Larry Hovis) is in charge of ordnance and bomb-making. Typically, he is given the task of making a bomb with a specialized timer (or hiding one in improbable ways, such as in a pack of cigarettes or a desk flag stand). He also shows talent in chemistry and can produce formulas as needed. Carter is often called on to impersonate German officers and, most convincingly, Adolf Hitler. While bright at his specialties, Carter often shows a lack of common sense otherwise.

[edit] Corporal LeBeau

French Army Corporal Louis LeBeau (French actor Robert Clary) is also a chef. In a typical episode, while LeBeau cooks a gourmet meal of fine French or German cuisine for Col. Klink and his guests (to help distract them), Col. Hogan and the others are hard at work photographing their papers (or otherwise taking advantage of their victims' inattention). However, LeBeau is also a master of covert operations, who has taken the precaution of befriending the camp's guard dogs. As a result (as shown in the title sequence), he is able to enter their compound through a secret entrance under a doghouse without the dogs raising the alarm. In many episodes, LeBeau bribes Schultz with food. LeBeau is also in charge of creating disguises (this role was merged from Soviet tailor Vladimir Minsk, a character that was dropped after the pilot episode).

[edit] Corporal Newkirk

Royal Air Force Corporal Peter Newkirk (British actor Richard Dawson) is the group's conman, pick-pocket, forger, marksman, and occasional impersonator of German officers. In a typical episode, Newkirk is called upon to steal a vital map and hide it on his person, even while he is being searched. He also assists in distracting the Germans and performing other sabotage.

This series marked Dawson's American debut. Dawson auditioned for the role of Hogan, but was told he didn't sound American enough.

[edit] Germans

[edit] Colonel Klink

Oberst (Colonel) Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) is a an old-line Luftwaffe officer of aristocratic (Junker) Prussian descent, as well as a social climber. He has a pretentious coat of arms with the letter "K" in his living quarters. Klink is never mentioned as a formal member of the Nazi Party and is portrayed as a bumbling self-serving bureaucrat rather than someone evil. He has never read Mein Kampf, Hitler's manifesto.

Klink's record speaks for itself — he gained entry to a military academy only because of an uncle's influence; the uncle was barber to a mayor. Not only did he graduate dead last in his class, but he was also the only one in his class who had not reached the rank of general. Klink wears an Iron Cross, though the only thing revealed by the series about his World War I service is that, while piloting a plane, he panicked and crashed, causing his passenger, the "Blue Baron", to walk with a limp for the rest of his life. (However, one episode shows Klink wearing the prestigious Pour le Merite!) For 20 years after the Great War, Klink was a captain with an efficiency rating "a few points above miserable". In the only direct reference to World War II service prior to his becoming the camp commandant, he claims to want to pilot a Heinkel again. Because he is so easily manipulated by Hogan and his fellow prisoners, the worst thing that could happen for the prisoners is for Klink to be transferred away. This concern occasionally formed the basis of a plot line.

His worst nightmare, short of being transferred to the Russian Front, is having to marry General Burkhalter's porcine sister. He even threatens to have Hogan shot for proposing such a horrible fate, and claims no court-martial in the world would convict him of murder for doing so.

He fancies himself a musician, but plays a horribly screechy violin. In real life, Klemperer was a noted concert violinist, and his father was famed conductor and composer Otto Klemperer.

The character of Colonel Klink was based on the real German Colonel Klenk, commanding officer of the German Luftwaffe Base at the village of Herzogenaurach (later the U.S. Army's Herzo Army Base) near Nuremberg.^{[citation needed]}
The name Klink may have been derived from the English expression "the clink," a common slang expression for prison. The expression itself is derived from the famous Clink Prison in London, England.

[edit] Sergeant Schultz

Feldwebel (Sergeant) Hans Schultz (John Banner) is Klink's bumbling, highly unmilitary sergeant of the guard. Schultz is a basically good-hearted man who, when confronted by the shenanigans of the prisoners, will simply wegschauen (look away), repeating "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!" in order to avoid becoming involved in any way. This eventually became a catch phrase of the series.

In one episode, Schultz confides to Hogan that he was a Social Democrat; perhaps this explains his turning a blind eye to the often blatant activities of Hogan's men. However, in the episode "The Prince from the Telephone Company," he says "It was so much better when we had an Emperor. What am I saying?" implying that he is a Monarchist. He tells Hogan that despite their being on opposite sides, "Sometimes, you are also my friend." During World War II, he was awarded a fictitious Iron Cross, 4th Class. In another episode, Hogan talks about escaping and Schultz says that, if he ever does, he wants Hogan to take him along.

Over time, the Schultz character was expanded by Banner and the show's writers. In "War Takes a Holiday," viewers learn that, before the war, he owned a famous German toy factory, and that he longs for nothing more than to return to his previous profession. In the episode, Klink and Schultz discuss what they will do after the war. Schultz says he will go back to the Schatzi Toy Company. Klink is impressed, since it was the largest toy company in Germany, so he asks, "Do you think your boss will give you your old job back?" and is flabbergasted when Schultz says, "Why not? I am the boss!" For once, Klink offers Schultz a cigar, though he slams the box shut on Gestapo Major Hochstetter's fingers.

In another episode, Colonel Klink is relieved of his command, and Schultz is installed as his successor. Improbably, the sergeant proves himself to be a capable wartime tactician and extremely competent in the military arts. His efforts completely disrupt Hogan's espionage operation, and the rest of the episode involves Hogan and his crew working to convince Schultz that he is nothing more than the incompetent his superiors have always claimed. Their ruse is successful, although everyone—including the audience and Schultz himself—knows that it is a ruse.

Originally, Banner was supposed to play Klink, and Klemperer was to play Schultz.

[edit] Helga/Hilda

Helga (Cynthia Lynn, 1965 to 1966) and Hilda (Sigrid Valdis, 1966 to 1971) work as Klink's voluptuous blond secretary. A running joke of the series is that Hilda and Hogan were engaged in a longtime affair. Many scenes open or close with them kissing passionately, often almost right under Klink's nose, further cementing his bumbling persona. Hilda occasionally assists Hogan and his band with tidbits of information or access to papers or equipment, but her involvement and assistance is much less overt than that of his official band of compatriots.

[edit] Recurring characters

• Howard Caine as the evil, mustachioed Major Wolfgang Hochstetter of the Gestapo. Hochstetter is an ardent Nazi who never understands why Hogan is often allowed to barge into Klink's office and hang out there as if he isn't a prisoner of war. "Who is this man?" or "What is this man doing here?!" Hochstetter demands to know, often repeatedly with increasing stridency. Klink is justifiably afraid of him, but Burkhalter is not easily intimidated. Once Klink tells Burkhalter, "I despise that man!" Burkhalter replies, "So do I." In "War Takes a Holiday," Hochstetter lends his car to several underground leaders (presented by Hogan as potential captains of industry), who use it to escape just as Hochstetter's superiors arrive.
• Leon Askin as General Albert Burkhalter. Klink's superior officer frequently tires of his incompetence and threatens to send him to the Russian Front as punishment.
• Kathleen Freeman as Gertrude (Burkhalter) Linkmeyer, Burkhalter's sister. She thinks Klink would make a good husband. Klink, however, is horrified by the idea. Gertrude is not only obese, but also has a domineering personality and in one episode acts as if she were the commandant, much to Hogan's discomfort.
• Bernard Fox as Colonel Rodney Crittendon, an utterly incompetent British officer.
• Nita Talbot as Marya, a Russian spy whom Hogan occasionally works with, but doesn't entirely trust.
• Arlene Martel as Tiger Lily, a French Underground contact.
• John Cedar as Corporal Langenscheidt, one of Klink's men. Langenscheidt often informs the distraught Colonel Klink when an important guest arrives, much to Klink's displeasure. Langenscheidt often arrives at the worst of times.

[edit] Jewish actors

Some of the actors, including Werner Klemperer (Klink), John Banner (Schultz), Robert Clary (LeBeau), and Leon Askin (Burkhalter) were Jews who had fled the Nazis during World War II. Clary and Banner actually spent time in a Nazi concentration camp. It is claimed that Clary wore long sleeves throughout the series to hide the camp identification number tattooed on his arm (this is not possible, since Buchenwald, the camp in which Clary was interned, did not use such numbers). Leon Askin, real name Leo Aschkenasy, was in a French internment camp. Howard Caine (Hochstetter) was also Jewish, and Jewish actors Harold Gould and Harold J. Stone played German generals.

Werner Klemperer (Klink) was a Jewish refugee from Hitler's Germany. During the show's production, he insisted that Hogan always win over his Nazi captors.

Askin had a particularly illustrious career. Before emigrating to the United States in 1940, he had already spent nearly two decades starring on the Viennese stage, where he became known as "the man of a thousand faces." When he and Banner left Austria, they spoke little or no English, and until they mastered it, they had their scripts spelled out for them phonetically.

Although Askin and Klemperer played Germans, ironically both had served in World War II in the American army — Klemperer with an army entertainment unit and Askin as a sergeant in the Army Air Corps.

Coincidentally, Askin and Banner both had memorable guest appearances in the popular syndicated 1950s TV series, Adventures of Superman, playing characters that somewhat anticipated their roles in Hogan's Heroes.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Banner attempted to sum up the paradox of his role by saying, "Who can play Nazis better than us Jews?" Familiar with the Nazis firsthand, the victims got to make fun of their persecutors.

[edit] Later popularity

Years after its debut, the show became popular in Germany, where it was originally titled Stacheldraht und Fersengeld (Barbed wire and turning tail), later changed to Ein Käfig voller Helden (A cage full of heroes).

In the German version, the Germans speak in various different accents, which was regarded as very funny in Germany at that time. The contrast between Klink, the Prussian stereotype, and Schultz, the Bavarian stereotype ("Urbayern" in German) is an example. It also introduced a new character, Kalinke the cleaning lady, who is referred to, but never seen, as she was not in the English language original.

Frequent pop culture references to the show are a testament to its popularity. In a 1993 episode of The Simpsons, "The Last Temptation of Homer", Klink appears to Homer Simpson as a guardian angel and is voiced by Klemperer.

In 1968, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, and Larry Hovis cut an LP record entitled Hogan's Heroes Sing the Best of World War II, which included lyrics for the theme song. The record did not sell well, and as a result is today considered a collector's item.

The word "gonkulator", first used in a 4th-season (1968-69) episode, has come into common use to mean: "A pretentious piece of equipment that actually serves no useful purpose. Usually used to describe one's least favorite piece of computer hardware." Most accounts of that episode spell the word "gonculator".

The stop-motion sketch comedy Robot Chicken included a parody of Hogan's Heroes, with Hulk Hogan and other WWE wrestlers replacing the main cast.

In the Nickelodeon show The Fairly OddParents, Timmy's Dad comes out of a tunnel under a doghouse and puts a finger to his lips, just as LeBeau does in the opening. It appears in the episode parodying popular '50-'70s sitcoms.

The opening scene of Chicken Run is reminiscent of Hogan's Heroes, with Ginger and the other chickens involved in various escape attempts from their chicken farm, featuring several Hogan's Heroes trademarks, including digging under the main fence and the guard dogs. This is probably an indirect reference, as both Hogan's Heroes and Chicken Run were based on serious WWII POW movies, especially The Great Escape.

The Disney cartoon Recess is arguably a spoof of Hogan's Heroes, with its barbed-wire enclosed schoolyard and military theme music. The "Old Folks Home" episode even featured T.J. visiting an aging "Rogan", who reminisces about being trapped in a prisoner of war camp, and performing practical jokes on "Herr Prickley". The theme song is also quite similar.

[edit] Gadgets

The Hogan's Heroes team used a few hidden gadgets to communicate with the Allies, and in general, to collect information.

• Season One's opening credits show Sgt. James Kinchloe pumping a lever, followed by an external view of an antenna rising out of a flagpole.
• When the side of one bedframe is hit a certain number of times, the bottom bunk lifts up, revealing an entrance to the complex underground tunnel network.
• The team had a periscope hidden in their sink's water spouts. To use it, they would simply lift the spouts to point outwards, and bring them up to their eyes. When they did this, a periscope came out of a large barrel of water.
• The team bugged Klink's office using a picture of Hitler; where the photograph depicted a microphone, they placed a real one. To listen to the bugged office, they had a coffee pot rigged with speakers.

[edit] Series criticisms

[edit] Plot holes

The plots of most episodes of Hogan's Heroes were wildly implausible in nearly every respect (as critics have pointed out), but this is arguably par for the course for a sitcom. However, some unrealistic aspects have particularly struck some viewers.

• The show made no attempt to resolve the language problem of the Germans and the Allies. All the German characters in the show simply spoke English with a German accent, although they used certain stock German phrases like Heil Hitler and jawohl, Herr Kommandant. Because many of the plots involved the POW characters impersonating members of the German military, it appears that all of the prisoners spoke perfectly unaccented German, and that none of the guards found this to be remarkable. It is possible that only the core group of prisoners involved in sabotage and other activities were the only ones who had this talent, and that they did not share it with the guards in their prisoner guises. If it provided grist for humor, the linguistic difference was exploited: in one episode, a guard was asked if he would say which cell a person was in, the response was "nine" (the number), and Carter thought the guard said "nein" (German for "no").
• One remarkable episode features the capture of a German Tiger tank. But instead of the German heavy tank, the show presents the audience an American M7 Priest Howitzer which is claimed to be "the Tiger tank".
• In many season-one episodes, German soldiers are armed with the American made Thompson submachine gun rather than the MP-40, a German weapon.
• In one episode, to cover up a plot by Colonel Hogan, the prisoners set up a dance competition and ask Colonel Klink to be the judge. On the poster for the dance, the word "Jitterbug" is clearly seen as a main part of the sign. However, under Nazi rule, the Jitterbug was deemed illegal.
• Many episodes presumably take place during wintertime, with special effects showing either snowdrifts or patches of snow on the ground in or around Stalag 13. Along with the snow, though, deciduous trees are sometimes visible in the background with their green leaves—as opposed to being bare, as they normally would be in winter.
• The series depicted both enlisted men and commissioned officers housed in not only the same camp, but in the same barracks as well. In reality, it was standard practice to house officer and enlisted ranks at different camps; this generally served their German captors' purposes better, by depriving lower-ranking personnel of some of their leadership.
• SS and Gestapo are frequently confused or even represented as being the same, and SS people who appear in the show wear pre-war black SS uniforms (rather than the green-gray ones of the war period) and have regular army ranks rather than SS-specific ones. For example, the choleric "Major" Hochstetter wears the uniform of an SS-Standartenführer (actually the equivalent to a colonel!), and Hochstetter is depicted as a member of sometimes the SS, sometimes the Gestapo.
• Kommandant Klink's office is in the same part of the compound as the prisoners' barracks, accounting for Hogan's ability to "just drop by" occasionally; but in real POW camps, the Kommandant's and guards' quarters would always be separated from the prisoners' barracks by barbed wire and other fences.
• Motor vehicles appearing in the show often have the steering wheel on the right, even though in Germany cars drive on the right (and the steering wheel is on the left) —just as in the U.S. Further, very few vehicles look anything like ones really used by the German military.
• The Résistance is depicted as much better organized than the real Résistance ever was. Further, the Résistance and the German Underground are often confused or treated as if they has been the same.
• Stalag 13 is located far from the French border, yet Résistance figures appear regularly.
• Though Stalag 13 seems to be located near Hammelburg in northern Bavaria, a landlocked region hundreds of miles from the nearest coastline, pilots shot down over Düsseldorf and other allied soldiers on the run are often depicted as being smuggled back to England after pickup by submarine.

[edit] Other criticisms

While Hogan's Heroes was (and remains) a popular show, it has been the target of criticism. As with the later British sitcom 'Allo 'Allo!, there were many who were disturbed by the portrayals of the Germans as funny and incompetent. Many felt this trivialized the evil of the Nazis and the war. But Klink was a career soldier, and many real-life members of the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht, even among the officer corps, were historically not Nazis. Klemperer certainly believed that the show portrayed Nazis as bad enough - otherwise he would have pulled out. Leon Askin's parents died in a Nazi concentration camp, and Robert Clary and John Banner had been in concentration camps as well, and evidently these actors did not believe the series trivialized the Holocaust or the Nazi regime in general.

An opposing viewpoint considers the portrayal of the Nazis as hopeless buffoons to be a good way to divest them of any allure and power, comparing it to similar portrayals in several skits from Monty Python's Flying Circus.

Sgt. James "Kinch" Kinchloe (played by Ivan Dixon) was an African-American who served as an apparent, if not actual, second-in-command to Col. Hogan. At a time in America where civil rights issues were still being resolved, Kinch was a groundbreaking character as Hogan's Heroes was in the AC Nielsen Top 10 for the first two seasons. This contrasted with other popular TV sitcoms of the era, such as The Andy Griffith Show, where black characters rarely appeared in the town of Mayberry. However, this was another element of apparent unreality, as the Nazis' racial theories would have made it highly unlikely that they would have housed a black prisoner with whites; in fact, blacks in the U.S. armed forces of the era were limited to segregated units, generally led by white officers.

The sitcom was also unusual in that the lead characters regularly killed people. Even if they were enemies and even for a worthy cause of battling the genocidal Nazis, not a lot of sitcoms—or even dramas—manage to pull off this feat and still leave the characters perceived as portrayed in a sympathetic manner.

LeBeau was said to be married in one episode, where in another he says that he has a girlfriend. In another episode ("I Look Better in Basic Black"), he is seen romancing a group of female prisoners, or at least trying to.

Crane, Klemperer, Banner, and Askin all co-starred in the 1968 comedy The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz.

[edit] Series pilot

The very first episode, "The Informer", was produced in black-and-white. While it was run as the series pilot, it initially never aired in reruns of the series due to continuity errors. For example, in the pilot episode, Klink was portrayed as more of a stern character rather than a buffoon, and Burkhalter was introduced as a colonel instead of as a general.

Larry Hovis was credited as a guest star. While the character was named Carter in both the pilot and series, he was a lieutenant in the pilot rather than a sergeant. "Lt. Carter" was a POW who had recently escaped from another camp. At the end of the episode, Lt. Carter is en route to England with the help of Hogan and his men.

Leonid Kinskey appeared in the pilot episode as Vladimir Minsk, a Soviet POW who specializes in tailoring. Kinskey ultimately turned down his contract, contending that the subject matter was being treated too lightly.

In the pilot, Klink's secretary is actually part of Hogan's team and had access to the tunnels. In the series, she is merely willing to look the other way in exchange for some nylons or a kiss from Hogan. Eventually, during the series run, it is implied that she and Hogan have a running romance, especially when she hints at getting a diamond engagement ring in exchange for her help.

The year is also noted as 1942; in the regular series, the year is never mentioned, only for the episode where Hogan convinces Klink to be the violinist for a talent show held by the prisoners. Hogan holds up a sign that says, "Colonel Klink and his magic violin presents: The Esapes of 1943.

[edit] Series timeline

The only dateable episodes contain clues. One episode is set at D-Day, the operation actually known as Operation Overlord, with Hogan undertaking a crucial task to retard the German response. Hogan tricks the German General Staff and Klink into thinking Klink has made general's rank and that "General Klink" will be the officer to decide what the German response to D-Day will be. Another episode involves Hogan providing a German with an explosive intended to kill Hitler, referencing the July 20 Plot.

It can be assumed that the six seasons covered events over a two-and-a-half year period from spring 1942 until early 1945, at which point the Germans were clearly losing. In one case, Hogan makes reference to a kamikaze, which began operations in mid-to-late 1944. In another episode, the Gestapo kills a German officer who had worked at the High Command headquarters in Zossen, and searches for his colleague Noam Pitlik; clearly this date was set near the end of the war.

In the episode "Monkey Business", Season 3, there is a sign outside the barracks that reads:

VERBOTEN 1] Strict orders have been given to the German troops around Brussels to shoot any civilian cyclist. 2] People who, after the fifteenth of December, are still in possession of carrier pigeons, as well as all other persons, who by signals or any other means, cause annoyance to the German military interests, will be judged by courtmartial (sic). BRUSSELS DECEMBER 13, 1944 The Chief of Military Police H. HEINRICHS, Captain.

The show ran for six seasons, and included 168 complete episodes of Hogan's Heroes.

[edit] Hogan's Heroes in the European Parliament

Hogan's Heroes was peripherally, and bizarrely, involved in a political row in July 2003, involving the Italian prime minister, media magnate Silvio Berlusconi. Berlusconi was speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, when he was questioned by German Euro-MP Martin Schulz, about ongoing conflicts of interest. The outspoken billionaire lashed out: "Mr. Schulz, I know there is a producer in Italy who is making a film on Nazi concentration camps. I will suggest you for the role of a Kapo (concentration-camp inmate appointed as supervisor). You'd be perfect."

Uproar understandably followed, and German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder demanded an apology (which was never given, although the two leaders exchanged a frosty phone conversation). Berlusconi later claimed he was referring to the Sergeant Schultz character from Hogan's Heroes, a series that was broadcast by one of his television channels. "There was a Sergeant Schultz who shouted a lot but in the end was a good sort, people were taking the mickey out of him all the time", Berlusconi said.

[edit] DVD Releases

Paramount Home Video has released the first 5 seasons of Hogan's Heroes on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time. The sixth and final season should be released soon.

Cover Art	DVD Name	Ep #	Release Date
	The Complete 1st Season	32	March 15, 2005
	The Comlete 2nd Season	30	September 27, 2005
	The Complete 3rd Season	30	March 7, 2006
	The Complete 4th Season	26	August 15, 2006
	The Complete 5th Season	26	December 19, 2006
	The Complete 6th Season	24	June 5, 2007

[edit] Stalag 13 in real life

As noted previously, there was a real-life Stalag 13 and an Offlag 13 (which held officers) located near the real German village of Hammelburg. The senior American prisoner there was a Lt. Colonel Waters, son-in-law of General George S. Patton. In April 1945, Patton sent a task force on a raid to rescue the prisoners of Stalag 13. The task force got in, but all its vehicles were destroyed in getting out, and few of the soldiers made it back to American lines. The stalag was liberated about a month later. Books written about this effort include Raid!: The Untold Story of Patton's Secret Mission and 48 Hours to Hammelburg.

[edit] Trivia

• In the mid 1990s, German channel Kabel 1 wound up pulling their sitcom Seinfeld off the air due to poor ratings and replaced it with Hogan's Heroes. The humor of Seinfeld was lost on the German audience, partially due to the difficulty of translating Seinfeld's American culture and phrases for a German audience. Hogan's Heroes, by contrast, translated easily, despite the fact that the show's humor was largely based on poking fun at Germany and its culture.

• Hawkeye's Heroes, a reference to Hogan's Heroes, was originally considered as a name for the sitcom M*A*S*H.^{[citation needed]}

• An episode airing on November 30, 1968 entitled "No Names Please" featured a journalist (Walter Hobson) who was rescued by the gang after his plane was shot down near Stalag 13. Hobson later caused trouble for Hogan upon his return to the United States when the Gestapo read his newspaper article praising the gang for his rescue. Hobson was portrayed by Richard Erdman, who also portrayed "Hoffy" the barracks chief in the movie Stalag 17.

• In reality, British prisoners in Colditz manufactured uniforms and guns, and impersonated a German officer.

• In the original concept for the series, the POW camp was to be located in Italy, not Germany. Vito Scotti (who later appeared as a guest on the series) was to play the Italian commander of the camp.

• Blooper: In one episode, Col. Hogan is secretly flown to London at night a few days before the D-Day Invasion. There, Hogan and an officer are looking at a map of Europe on the wall showing Germany already divided into East and West.

• In the 8th episode of the 3rd season, one of Bob Crane's home made movies can be seen in the office.

• There was an American Army Air Corps member named Robert E. Hogan in a German POW camp, but he was a staff sergeant, not a colonel. He was also kept at Camp 091, not 13.

[edit] See also

• Stalag 17
• The Great Escape

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Hogan's Heroes at the Internet Movie Database
• Hogan's Heroes show summary at TV.com