It's verboten to NOT watch Hogan's Heroes...
- In "Cupid Comes to Stalag 13", we get the sitcom trope of "boss tries to marry off a spinster relative to the old bachelor"--in this case, Burkhalter tries to get Klink to marry his plain sister. She's played by Kathleen Freeman, a veteran character actress--if you ever watched TV, you would recognize the face. The script is so generic, it could have just as easily been Major Bellows trying to get Tony Nelson to marry his niece until Jeannie gets involved.
- When Carter gets a Dear John letter, he decides to "Request Permission to Escape". Larry Hovis gets a rare chance to be the big star of an episode. We also see Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) as a Nazi Private. He had a number of minor roles during the series.
- As the second season begins, we have a cast change--Cynthia Lynn (Helga) is replaced by Sigrid Valdis (Hilda) as Klink's secretary. Valdis had a cameo in season one--Bob Crane ended up marrying her. Personally, I thought Lynn was prettier.
- The boys steal a German bomber and take out a refinery, while kidnapping a German general (James Gregory) in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party". Lots of stock WWII footage ensue.
- A Gestapo officer (Paul Lambert) blackmails Hogan for a million in diamonds--so the boys double-cross him, using Klink and his troops to take him out in "Diamonds in the Rough"
- A second appearance by Howard Caine--this time as Col. Feldkamp but essentially playing Maj. Hochstetter--in "The Battle of Stalag 13". Best line--"Sounded like a staff car blowing up".
Cast info:
Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) was born in Germany to a conductor father and a soprano mother. Despite the jokes on the show, he was actually a virtuoso violin player, at one point performing in the New Philharmonia Orchestra. He was also a operatic baritone, performing on Broadway. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1935, and he served in the US Army during WWII--in a Special Services unit entertaining the troops. His film roles included Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, Judgement at Nuremberg, and the title role in Operation Eichmann. Television guest spots included Maverick and How to Marry a Millionaire prior to his signature role. He only took the role once he got assurances that Klink would never come out as a hero. He was nominated for an Emmy every one of the six years of the series, and won twice. He also showed up (in character) on an episode of Batman Klemperer and some of the other stars of the show did a film called The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz in 1968, in this case playing a bumbling East German official. After the series ended, he moved back to musicals and Broadway, narrating for symphony orchestras, getting raves for the Seattle Opera's Die Fledermaus, and receiving a Tony nomination for Cabaret in 1987. You might have also "seen" him as Homer's conscience in an episode of the Simpsons (Hooo-meerrr!). Klemperer was on the Board of Directors of the New York Chamber Symphony and the council of Actor's Equity. He passed away in 2000.
Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.