This show has little to do with World War II, German POW camps, or war history except it uses these elements as a kind of superficial backdrop. It is pure fantasy created strictly for laughs and amusement. But maybe a tragedy like World War II needs to have its lighter side and in that sense Hogan's Heroes fits the bill. My guess is that this show was inspired partially by two films, both of which idealized certain aspects of German POW camps in their own way: "Stalag 17" and "The Great Escape". However, the sense was that in both films the Americans and British were somehow really in charge of the whole operation. The English-speaking peoples were ultimately the superior over their German-touting captors. Hogan's Heroes takes this idea, turns the German colonel in charge of the camp and his guards into wining idiots, gives the Americans and British superior intelligence, and adds a laugh-track. The result is Hogan's Heroes, and oddly enough it works on its own terms.
This show is essentially a comic strip with live actors. All the characters are rather cartoonish. The lovable but scatter-brained Colonel Klink, played with bumbling foolishness by the great Werner Klemperer, is no match for the sly and shrewd Colonel Hogan, played by the immortal Bob Crane who will best be remembered for this show. In many episodes, the Americans, British, and French POW's played by Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson and Robert Clary outwit, outdo and humiliate their Nazi adversaries. The POW's don SS uniforms, constantly bribe and flatter the top guard, Sargeant Hans Schultz, and intercept numerous messages. And the most fun is when Klink will be visited by the high command and he turns to Hogan for help. It seems Klink's line, "Hogan you've got to help me!" recurred throughout the show. Of course the biggest mystery of the show is why Klink doesn't just shoot them? In fact Werner Klemperer played a German/Nazi judge defendant in the award-winning "Judgement at Nuremberg" which has to be a 180-degree shift from Hogan's Heroes. In Nuremberg, Klemperer's character sent many innocent people to their deaths.
The show which lasted for a remarkable 7 seasons is nearly a theater of the absurd. The little situations are good, clean and inoffensive fun, unless of course you are of German descent. That I can't help. But I guess that's the price Hitler's Germany paid for trying to conquer Europe: they get mercilessly and shamelessly spoofed for the rest of eternity. But after the laughter's over, we should not forget that the Nazi ideology caused the deaths of millions of people and the suffering of millions more. The only consolation is that if Klink had been in charge, maybe this could have been avoided. Oddly, Klink's character appears to be a victim as well. In one memorable line, Klink says to Hogan, "Col Hogan, if you ever escape, be a good fellow and take me with you!" Not even Klink liked the Nazi high command.
This show is essentially a comic strip with live actors. All the characters are rather cartoonish. The lovable but scatter-brained Colonel Klink, played with bumbling foolishness by the great Werner Klemperer, is no match for the sly and shrewd Colonel Hogan, played by the immortal Bob Crane who will best be remembered for this show. In many episodes, the Americans, British, and French POW's played by Larry Hovis, Richard Dawson and Robert Clary outwit, outdo and humiliate their Nazi adversaries. The POW's don SS uniforms, constantly bribe and flatter the top guard, Sargeant Hans Schultz, and intercept numerous messages. And the most fun is when Klink will be visited by the high command and he turns to Hogan for help. It seems Klink's line, "Hogan you've got to help me!" recurred throughout the show. Of course the biggest mystery of the show is why Klink doesn't just shoot them? In fact Werner Klemperer played a German/Nazi judge defendant in the award-winning "Judgement at Nuremberg" which has to be a 180-degree shift from Hogan's Heroes. In Nuremberg, Klemperer's character sent many innocent people to their deaths.
The show which lasted for a remarkable 7 seasons is nearly a theater of the absurd. The little situations are good, clean and inoffensive fun, unless of course you are of German descent. That I can't help. But I guess that's the price Hitler's Germany paid for trying to conquer Europe: they get mercilessly and shamelessly spoofed for the rest of eternity. But after the laughter's over, we should not forget that the Nazi ideology caused the deaths of millions of people and the suffering of millions more. The only consolation is that if Klink had been in charge, maybe this could have been avoided. Oddly, Klink's character appears to be a victim as well. In one memorable line, Klink says to Hogan, "Col Hogan, if you ever escape, be a good fellow and take me with you!" Not even Klink liked the Nazi high command.