A few thoughts about the early episodes...
- The pilot for Hogan's Heroes was in black and white (the networks were just switching over to color at the time, so they didn't want to waste money on a color pilot).
- The only differences: Klink was a bit more stuffy and serious, there was a Russian character who played their tailor, and Sgt. Carter entered and escaped the camp in one episode. Apart from that, it's the same show--in fact, the episode was remade later in the series.
- We meet our first Hochstetter in the second episode--in this case, a General. I assume Major Hochstetter is his cousin? Our heroes steal a new tank to discover its secrets. Arlene Martel makes her first appearance as Agent Tiger--you might know her as T'Pring in the Star Trek episode Amok Time.
- Stalag 13 was known as Camp 13 for the first few episodes--perhaps the producers were worried about a lawsuit from the producers of Stalag 17 (which later did occur)
- Episode five introduces Col. Crittendon, played by the versatile Bernard Fox (Calling Dr. Bombay, come in right away...) He has seniority over Hogan, so when he's in the camp, he takes over the operation. At the start, he doesn't know their mission, so he sets up a real mission to escape. Also, Bob Crane gets an opportunity to play drums in the episode.
- Episode six has a special guest star--Roger C. Carmel plays a German general who ends up as "The Prisoner's Prisoner". Carmel is best known as Harry Mudd from Star Trek.
Cast info:
Richard Dawson (Cpl. Newkirk) came to the US after a successful career as a comedian in the UK, with his wife at the time, Diana Dors (considered to be England's answer to Marilyn Munroe). He got his big break on the Dick Van Dyke show, with several guest appearances following that. According to an interview he did for the DVD set, he originally auditioned for the role of Hogan, but it didn't work out. After Hogan's Heroes, he moved on to Laugh-In, the New Dick Van Dyke Show, and guest hosting Johnny's Carson's Tonight Show. During that time, he moved into game shows--specifically, Match Game. He became a regular, and was chosen so often for the "Super Match" that they changed the rules of the game to give others a chance. In fact, he became so popular, he was offered a hosting gig. He was on Family Feud from 1976-85, with an encore in 1994-95. He also played a version of his game show persona in the Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man.
Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.