Hogan's Heroes - Part 25: The Conclusion

We've made it to the finish line--here are the final six episodes!

• It's "Klink for the Defense"--his first case involves a Nazi traitor with secret plans, and Hogan wants them. The opposing council is Burkhalter, so that won't go well. I noticed that Dawson's role in the final season has really been beefed up--he's getting a lot of screen time.
• Nita Talbot makes her last appearance as Russian spy Marya in "The Kamikases are Coming". She shows up with a new rocket, and wants Hogan to steal it for her. They wheel the rocket on a cart through the camp (?!?), then fire it out of the recreation hall (?!?!?!?). The actual firing looks like it came out of a HO scale train set. 
• Yet another general parachutes near Stalag 13--this time played by Johnny Haymer--and the boys have to get him out. Meanwhile, Burkhalter's sister Gertrude (Kathleen Freeman) is back, this time with a fiancee (Lee Bergere), who's going to be Klink's adjutant. There's also Klink's "girlfriend" (actually an underground agent) played by Leslie Parrish. In the end, the agent stops the wedding, the general is sent off, and "Kommandant Gertrude" is hooked up with Klink again.
• Have the Gestapo finally caught up to Hogan? A rogue officer (Malachi Throne) is convinced of Hogan's guilt, so Hogan has to throw him off the track. A party in town, a disguise, and a Field Marshall (John Hoyt) does the trick in "Hogan's Double Life".
• It's wintertime at Stalag 13, and the boys are conscripted to shovel snow. If they succeed, Nazi tanks will take out an Allied offensive. The other choice--cause an avalanche to block the pass. How? The boys have a jam session in "Look at the Pretty Snowflakes". Crane was a drummer in real life, so it seems like the episode was written around him.
• We wind up the series with "Rockets or Romance". There's a rocket launcher being stationed in Stalag 13 (again?), so Hogan partners with a beautiful agent (Marlyn Mason, in her second appearance) to take it out. They hang out at a cabin while the boys use an electromagnet to take out out the rocket.

Well, that's it--this turned into quite a slog near the end. Coming up next, we're going back to animation. 

I hope you played along! If not, the DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 24

We're close to the finish line...

• LaBeau in one of his many former lives was a fortune teller--or at least that's the scam in "The Gypsy". There's a scene in the barracks with a fake rainstorm outside--it sounds like they had to "loop" all the dialogue.
• German scientists become "The Dropouts" so they can escape to England. Semi-regulars John Stephenson and Ben Wright play the scientists. Hogan and the boys give them a hand, along with Hochstedder (unknowingly, via his car trunk). I love how the cast knows a lot about atomic bombs prior to the end of the war.
• Burkhalter gets Hogan to steal a P-51 fighter-bomber from England for $1M in "Easy Come, Easy Go". It starts with a party including Cynthia Lynn (Klink's first secretary in a cameo), and ends with the capture of Nazi spies. Klink goes along for the ride. There's a great process shot through a window--it's like they're showing The History Channel outside.
• For the five hundredth time, a spy comes into Stalag 13 as a supposed prisoner. This time, Hogan and the boys double-cross him, take his place at a big Nazi meeting, then scam him into thinking he's in Berlin, so he can divulge his contact there. There's a great bit from Dawson and Hovis playing a German family on the phone, and another where they play Hitler and his secretary. It's all in "The Meister Spy".
• An master spy for the Allies needs penicillin to save his life, so what can Hogan and the boys do? Have Newkirk dress as a woman and go to a Nazi tea party, of course. They use him as a courier to get the penicillin out--"That's No Lady, That's My Spy".  We finally get to meet Mrs. Burkhalter (Diana Chesney), while 60's TV mainstay Alice Ghostley plays another of the women.
• Ruta Lee makes her third Hogan appearance--this time as a spy. A Nazi wanting to get out of the Russian Front blackmails Hogan, so he brings her in to convince Klink to swap places, so that the boys can take a peek at secret papers. Of course, they also double-cross the Nazi. That complicated enough for you? It's "To Russia Without Love". There's a crash scene that's practically "F-Troopian". 

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 23

Repoooort!  More Hogan...

• The boys use a work detail to bring in an underground agent--and uranium! Meanwhile, the Nazis are training non-comms for Command training--so Schultz is put in temporary command, over Klink's protests. Schultz gets into his role--complete with a monocle and a bad attitude. To get the agent out with his info, the boys discredit "Kommandant Schultz" with an escape--with Klink's help. The episode seems different--a lot of clearly exterior shots rather than a set.
• It's "Eight O'clock and All's Well". Hochstedder is looking for underground agents like always--and Stalag 13 is in the middle of it all. So, the boys have to lay low. A new prisoner (Monte Markham) arrives. They check him out, then let him in on the operation. Of course, he's a spy, so the boys grab him then set him up as a dead hero.  Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson) also makes an appearance as an agent. Markham was all over TV from the 1960s to the 90's--Mission: Impossible, Hawaii Five-O, Mary Tyler Moore Show, Six Million Dollar Man, Love Boat, Murder She Wrote--all the way to Fringe.
• Klink gives the prisoners a recorder to send messages to their families (not sure why, other than to drive the plot). The Gestapo show up--there's a big meeting going on. The boys convince Schultz is a great singer--but to record him with the right acoustics, they need to get into the rec room (where the meeting is happening). Klink catches them--so he can record his string quartet. Meanwhile, the real recorder catches the meeting for "The Big Record".
• What are the Nazis are storing at Stalag 13--"It's Dynamite" (a big no-no, but they are the bad guys), on it's way to an unknown destination. Schultz is driving the truck, and the boys track him. However, he seems to disappear and then reappear the next morning. The underground finds the dynamite--hidden near important locations (plants, bridges). It's there in case the Nazis lose (scorched earth). Carter plays firechief, creating a diversion at the dynamite cache--along with a hot secretary (Lyn Peters) to distract Hochstedder and get the plans. That will allow the underground to use the dynamite for their own means.
• Tiger (Arlene Martel) has been captured, and Hogan ignores orders to save her--it's "Operation Tiger". A fake fight creates a diversion to get an underground agent (hey, Mr. Whipple!) into the camp. He tells them Tiger is being transported via train. They stop the train, warn the head man (Frank Marth) that the track is mined, and head him toward--let's say it together--Stalag 13. Hogan gets to her in the cooler--their plan is to get her off the train, then blow it up, so they think she's dead. After some difficulties, they pull it off.  One question--if they are going to blow up the train, why tie up the guards? They are going to die anyway. (I know the reason--the good guys on 60's TV can't be seen killing people directly.
• The radio-detection truck is back, so Hogan can't communicate with the outside world. Hogan scams Klink about a rich young widow, and convinces Schultz that Klink's staff car has a (now missing) two-way radio. Klink is scared off at the last moment, and the boys take the car into town to meet the underground agent. He gives the info, and they use the car's radio to communicate with London. At the end, Klink meets the young widow--she's quite a catch--in 'The Big Broadcast".      

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 22

After a hiatus, we're moving onto the final season of Hogan's Heroes. Ivan Dixon (Kinchloe) has left the series, to be replaced by Kenneth Washington (Baker). No explanation from a narrative perspective--it's the Two Darrens syndrome.

• LeBeau is doing his normal job--chef by day, spy by night--when he gets word that de Gaulle is calling in all free Frenchmen to fight. Of course, he wants to go, and despite the boys arguments, he does. There's a strange moment when he says goodbye to each of them including Baker, who we've known for less than 10 minutes. The girl (Brenda Benet) helping her escape is captured, so Hogan and the boys help him out--as long as LeBeau comes back for more "Cuisine 'a la Stalag 13".
• A Gestapo man (Edward Knight) comes into camp, then grabs and shoots a german soldier--why? Turns out he was involved in a top secret project at his last post--and there's a second man involved that's now on leave (Noam Pitlik). Hogan and the boys get to him just before the bad guys do in "The Experts".   
• It's another scam on Klink--this time Hogan convinces the Commandant he's a great painter. It's all so they can meet underground agents at an art gallery for "Klink's Masterpiece". It's very much like a Sgt. Bilko episode--except for the POW camp.
• The plane of an English traitor, Sir Charles Chitterly, crashes near Stalag 13--he happens to look a lot like Col. Critterdon (Bernard Fox). The boys want to nab him, so they have to break out the real Crittendon from a nearby stalag and set him up to replace the traitor. They make the swap before the Nazi general (Harold Gould) comes up pick up Chitterly. Unfortunately, his wife (Anne Rogers) shows up, which is a problem for "Lady Chatterly's Lover". She's apparently one of the good guys and she wants him dead (the real one) so she joins the team. Ooh, it's a two parter...
• Hitler wants Chitterly in Berlin ASAP--that's a problem. Lady Chitterly doesn't trust  Hogan, and vice versa--another problem. She decides to play up a former relationship with Hogan, in order to delay their exit from the camp. The real Crittendon escapes from the tunnels, and confuses Klink and Schultz. If that isn't enough, Hochstedder arrives and there's a lot of shouting. Hitler calls (?!?) and Lady Chitterly tells him to send troops across the channel (so they can be ambushed). Crittendon and Lady Chitterly are on their way to England before that happens.
• The Gestapo is back--Maj. Strauss (Joseph Ruskin) is checking out the camp.  It's "The Gestapo Takeover" of the whole operation, sending the current administration to Stalingrad. Hogan needs to get rid of them--Klink agrees to ally with him to avoid the Russian Front. I love Klink in sunglasses trying to be incogneto. Hogan decides to blackmail Strauss. Klink (of course) is the patsy, giving papers to Burkhalter that Strauss and his boss are involved in a plot to kill Hitler and surrender to the allies. 

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 21

Let's finish up Season 5...

• Klink's in hot water again--it's "Standing Room Only". There's a jealous Kommandant from another camp, and he's there to learn from the Iron Colonel. He finds out how Klink cooks the books, and is about to rat him out. Meanwhile, Hogan has a lot of escaped prisoners in the tunnels. He solves the whole thing by getting some of the prisoners recaptured, and having others dressed as Germans take them away, along with the other Kommandant (Noam Pitlik, in one of his many Hogan roles).
• A beautiful German singer (Marlyn Mason) tells Hogan that the Gestapo has a double agent with info on all underground agents, which also puts their operation in danger. They put Hochstedder off the trail by giving him "Six Lessons from Madame LaGrange" (LeBeau). Howard Caine gets a chance to shine as he dances with Clary (although they are dancing a box step, and not the Foxtrot he's supposedly being taught).
• Burkhalter finds Schultz sleeping on the job, so it's off the the Russian Front for him. Unfortunately, Hogan has been suing him to ferry pieces of a map inside loaves of bread in "The Sergeants' Analyst". To save Schultz, Newkirk hypnotizes him to believes he's a leader of men. The boys then make Schultz look good--maybe too good...
• All the world loves a lover--and Klink, apparently. "The Merry Widow" calls for Wilhelm, mostly since she's an agent and he's unknowingly ferrying microfilm to her. When Hogan finds out it's the wrong film, they get her to call in Schultz. There's a even a Three's Company moment when both Klink and Schultz are in her apartment at the same time. Marj Dusay is back as the "widow".
• It's a return visit from "Critterdon's Commandos"--unfortunately, Crittendon (Bernard Fox) the only one that makes it through to Stalag 13. He was sent to capture Rommel (?!?), so Hogan and the boys step in to assist. Despite Crittendon's "help", they manage to swipe "the desert fox" from a local hospital. However, it turns out to be the one the Allies were going to trade for Rommel, so it all works out.
• The allies are trying to take out a bridge, Hogan is processing flyers who parachuted out, and Klink is entertaining another fraulein (Pamela Curran). Burkhalter arrives and cranks up security. In order to resolve the problem, Hogan gets Klink to LET them escape (in order to "discover" the prisoner escape center). They have to delay the operation until they're ready to blow up the bridge themselves, so Klink gives them more and more ludicrous opportunities. Finally, they give Klink what he wants in a "radio play" via the bugs in the barracks. Klink even provides German uniforms--Hogan's starting to wonder why he didn't do this in the first place in "Klink's Escape". The topper--Hogan has Newkirk drop the tracking device in Burkhalter's car, so Schultz and the troops break into the general's chalet--with the fraulein.                

Edward Knight had 6 Hogan roles, along with many others (Twelve O'Clock High, Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible, Marcus Welby, The Rockford Files) in the 60's and 70's. He's probably better known as the father of Christopher Knight (Peter on The Brady Bunch).

We'll move onto Season 6 next time. Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 20

More of Season 5...

• The boys have to get weather reports to the Allies for a bombing run. So, they run a series of more and more ludicrous gags to send up balloons, ending in an anniversary party for Klink in "How's the Weather?" Shockingly, Klink actually starts suspecting something, which makes it even harder to pull off. In the end, Hogan gets Klink to guide the bombers via radio.
• Burkhalter's decided all Kommandants need to "Get Fit or Go Fight"--at the Russiian Front. Unfortunately, Hogan needs Klink to live it up in town in order to get critical plans to the allies. So, the boys try to get him into shape--although Carter has to step in as the german doctor, and Hogan has to step in as Klink for the real doctor.
• Guess who's coming to Stalag 13? Reich Marshall Goehring, along with a train of stolen paintings--and Marya (Nita Talbot). She plans to use Schultz as Goehrings' double. As usual, she doesn't let Hogan in on the plan--Goehring was never coming, and plans to use the boys to move the paintings off the train. Hochstedder is in the mix as well. Banner does a great Goehring (as if I would know). It's all in "Fat Hermann, Go Home".
• There's a boxing tournament at Stalag 13, and Kinchloe is the opponent. Like always, It's a ruse to get secret plans. Burkhalter orders Klink to make sure the Nazi wins--even by cheating. It's "The Softer They Fall". Hovis plays up the boxing announcer role.
• Burkhalter's niece is getting married, and Hogan becomes a wedding crasher to get information to an agent in "Gowns by Yvette". Of course, "Yvette" is LeBeau--Newkirk does the actual work--and they make a gown for the bride while Hogan meets with the informant. The agent gets nabbed by the Gestapo, so now they have to free him as well--Schultz steps in as the bride's double. The niece is played by Muriel Landers, seen in a number of TV comedy roles in the 1960's, and the groom is Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson).
• On an underground mission, Carter gets lost--in a German uniform. He ends up in the German army! He apparently forgot it's "One Army at a Time". He gets a commendation and a promotion--for the wrong side. Hogan uses him to get back their dynamite, and Carter drives a tank to finish the job. Hovis really gets a chance to shine in this episode. At one point, they lay on the sound effects a bit too thick to indicate a cold night, and it sounds like Superman's in the area.

Walter Janowitz played Schnitzer the dog catcher on 12 episodes of the show, as well as a peddler on one episode. He had guest roles from the 60's to the 80's including Mister Ed, I Spy, Barney Miller, and WKRP in Cincinnati. 

We'll finish up Season 5 next time. Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 19

Hogan Season 5 continues...

• Klink's getting blackmailed by a Gestapo agent due an incriminating "Big Picture", so the boys have to sneak out to a hotel to get the negative. Sandy Kenyon plays the blackmailer. He served in the US Army Air Corps in WWII, had recurring roles on the Dick Van Dyke Show, and was a familiar face on TV from the 50's to the 80's. He passed away in 2010.
• There's a top secret device on a crashed plane, and Hogan needs to get it--how? Set up a casino in Stalag 13--it's "The Big Gamble". They switch the device with a fake one while the Nazi scientist (Chet Stratton) plays roulette. This episode also introduces the long-running "Winter Relief" subplot--Klink's the local chairman.
• Two recurring guests--Harold J. Stone and Arlene Martel--play a defecting Field Marshal and his secretary in the obviously named "The Defector". Of course, Hogan and the boys have to get him out of Germany. Hochstedder shows up to increase the level of difficulty. One Field Marshal in the cooler and a blown up car later... I love Howard Caine's facial expressions during this episode.
• It's another Nazi with a briefcase chained to his wrist--this it's Parley Baer, better known his "country" roles such as The Andy Griffith Show and Petticoat Junction. Hogan wants the briefcase, so he cons Klink and Hochstedder that an enemy agent has come into camp via "The Empty Parachute". Once they get the case, Hogan realizes it's booby trapped, so they call London for help.  There's a rare dramatic moment while Hogan disarms the bomb.
• There's vital Allied info that needs to get all over Europe, so the obvious answer is to get Klink into the cuckoo clock business. While he gets "The Antique" business started, Burkhalter's worried that Klink's going to get bumped off (he would be next). It ends with a load of clocks in a closet, a suspicious general, and a wet Klink. It's a great episode for Leon Askin. 
• Berlin Betty (Antoinette Bower, returning to the show) drops by Stalag 13 to find out "Is There a Traitor in the House?". We've been over this storyline before--this time, it's Newkirk that acts as the traitor, in order to use her broadcast to get a message to the Allies.
• Burkhalter assigns Klink to guard an experimental nuclear plant (?!?!), and Hogan wants to know where it is. To find out, they give Schultz truth serum--but he only tells them about food. Well, "At Last--Schultz Knows Something". They figure it out though, and pose as farmers to use potato bombs to take out the plant.       

Ben Wright played multiple bad guys on the show, including on "The Big Gamble" episode. His prolific career began in radio, and was considered a dialect expert, including Indian, Chinese, Cockney, and Arabian. He was Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music, had guest roles on The Twilight Zone, Get Smart, and My Three Sons, and did a great deal of voice work, especially in Disney films. His last role was in The Little Mermaid in 1989, the year he passed away.    

More of Season 5 next time. Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Richard Dawson 1932-2012

Richard Dawson passed away yesterday at age 79 from complications related to esophageal cancer. This leaves Robert Clary as the last surviving Hogan's Heroes cast member. In lieu of a normal blog entry, I decided to repeat my earlier entry on Mr. Dawson. 

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.

Klink Meets Batman

I mentioned earlier that Werner Klemperer appeared--in character--on the Adam West Batman series. They often had cameos when the Caped Crusaders climbed up a wall. There were so many celebrities clamoring to be on the show, and there's only so many guest super villain spots to go around Here's the clip--enjoy!

Hogan Heroes - Part 18

And we're back, moving into Hogan Season 5...

• In a highly unlikely opening (but necessary for the plot), the boys are watching a war movie in the barracks. Klink wants to make a film about the "true" Stalag 13, and can do it with his new prisoner--the star of the film. Alan Oppenheimer is back as the pompous movie star. Schultz gets to play Klink in the "film", and Burkhalter becomes the producer. Of course, it's all a diversion for sabotage activities as "Hogan Goes Hollywood".
• There's a secret codebook Hogan wants his hands on, so they send Newkirk to break into Klink's safe. Unfortunately, it ends up in "The Well". One blown up waterworks, a fake escape, and a greased up Carter later... At one point, they mention Carter has to go down half a mile into the well, and a moment later, they have to drop him back in--how does that not kill him?
• Marya is back, and she's brought along a Count! He's on his way to the Russian Front with a attache case chained to his wrist. An attempt to get the case turns into a trap, a trip, and a suicide mission for Klink and the boys--they are "The Klink Commandos". The Count is played by Frank Marth, best known for his recurring role on "The Honeymooners".
• The Nazis have opened a gas station--at Stalag 13--and the boys need to take it out in "The Gasoline War". Dawson even gets to do the little old lady bit again. Of course, there's also the prerequisite beautiful agent, played by Marianna Hill, who also was on Star Trek and appeared in the Elvis Presley film "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" among others.
• Burkhalter's sister returns--Kathleen Freeman is back in the role--so Hogan and the boys kidnap her to swap for an underground agent. It's an "Unfair Exchange". As it normally goes when Frau Linkmeyer arrives, the episode script could just as easily be used on any 60's TV show.
• Hogan uses Klink as a courier for important papers, but it doesn't go well. The Gestapo finds him with the papers, so "The Kommandant Dies at Dawn" unless the boys can spring him. The Field Marshal for the week is played by Ned Wertimer, who must have been trying out uniforms for his role of Ralph the Doorman on The Jeffersons.
• There's a new Nazi "Bombsight" that could end the war--so Hogan's got to get the plans (why do they always pick Stalag 13?). Several failed attempts later, he decides to discredit the demo instead. For a 60's sitcom, there's quite a large number of explosion effects as the camp is bombed.

Cast info:

Harold J. Stone played three roles during the series. He had hundreds of television guest roles from the 50's to the 80's, including westerns and crime shows, but only had one regular TV role--on Bridget Loves Bernie. He passed away in 2005.

More of Season 5 next time. Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 17

Repooooort! More Hogan...

• Hogan has to go to the hospital (with a fake illness) in order to meet up with a wounded agent. He's "Up in Klink's Room". Victoria Carroll plays the nurse--she had six different roles on Hogan, and then spent most of her time doing cartoon voice roles.
• Hovis gets a chance to (over)act, since he has to handle live ammo--nitroglycerine, to be exact--in "The Purchasing Plan". The only remarkable thing about this episode is the poor quality of the DVD transfer. Just the vagaries of old TV shows, I guess.
• Marya (Nita Talbot) is back--this time with Murray Slaughter (Gavin MacLeod). He's got a Nazi superweapon, and he wants Hogan to witness its use and tell the Allies about it. Of course, Marya is only interested in getting the Russian scientist (Larry D. Mann) back, so it's up to Hogan to take out the rocket in "The Witness".
• The Nazis have a new superradar, and they want to test it at--wait, don't tell me--Stalag 13. There's also a beautiful (as always) British scientist involved, played by Karen Steele. She had guest television roles from the 50's to the end of the 60's (including Star Trek). Hogan has to take our the weapon and the girl in "The Big Dish".
• It's the "Return of Major Bonacelli"--except now he's Vito Scotti. He was the go to foreign accent guy for over 40 years, including Peter Gunn, Bonanza, Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Addams Family, The Brady Bunch, Happy Days, CHiPs, and Mad About You.   Here he's a walking Italian stereotype. There's also a strange music loop in the opening credits--not sure if it was an error or actually intended.
• What do you get a colonel/superspy who has everything? An ammo dump!  Unfortunately, it's a trap, so it's no "Happy Birthday, Dear Hogan". Barbara Babcock is the guest star/beautiful underground agent. She was a mainstay on TV from the 60's to the 90's, with her last role (so far) on Judging Amy in 2004. She also had no less than 5 guest spots on Star Trek, and won an Emmy for her work on Hill Street Blues.

Cast info:

David Morick played minor guard and Gestapo roles on 17 episodes of the series. He had many guest roles from the 60's to the 80's, including The Mary Tyler Moore Show, THe Doris Day Show,  The Six Million Dollar Man, and The A-Team, with his last in Amen (1988). He passed away in 1997.

That finishes the season--onto Season 5 next time. Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon. 

Hogan's Heroes - Part 16

Ho--GANN!! It's more of Season Four:

• LeBeau "escapes" to allow Hogan to go "capture" him, so that they can sabotage a Nazi war plant in "Man in a Box". The result is Schultz tailing Hogan, and Klink tailing Schultz--all in trench costs. It's like an episode of Get Smart.
• Hogan has a plan to kidnap Burkhalter and then trade him for an underground agent prisoner. Unfortunately, it all goes wrong, and Klink becomes the prisoner--he's "The Missing Klink"! There's several great scenes with Askin and Caine--they are rarely together without Klemperer.
• Klink's getting an award for his great work as a Kommandant, and he's getting it from a British defector.  Unfortunately, Hogan has orders to take out the defector. Klink wants to know "Who Stole My Copy of Mein Kampf?" The defector is played by Ruta Lee. She's worked in TV since an episode of "The Adventures of Superman" in 1953, and was just on Days of Our Lives.
• A beautiful general's daughter (what else?) is also an underground agent, and wants Hogan to get "Operation Hannibal" plans to the Allies. Jack Riley (Mr. Carlin on the Bob Newhart Show) has a minor role. The only memorable thing about the episode is the poor art direction. There's a shot of an estate that is a photograph with the "Ken Burns" effect, and on multiple shots behind Crane at the Stalag, the background is clearly a painting.
• Klink and Schultz try to set up Hogan with a Baroness in order to get his secrets.  Of course, he's not fooled--he uses her to fool Hochstedder with fake invasion plans. He's "My Favorite Prisoner". John Orchard plays a British agent--he played three roles on the series, and later was "Ugly John" in the early episodes of M*A*S*H.
• We're back in generic sitcom territory--Burkhalter's sister is back, and Hogan has to help Klink get out of marrying her. This time, however, she is played by Alice Ghostley. She was a staple of 60's TV, appearing on Get Smart, It Takes a Thief, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and most importantly, Bewitched. She played Esmerelda, they shy witch / babysitter.         

Cast info:

John Stephenson played eight different roles on the series. He guest starred on many TV shows from the 1950's (My Little Margie), 60's (Beverly Hillbillies), 70's (Lou Grant), and 80's (The Incredible Hulk). However, when you hear his voice, you'll be reminded of Saturday morning. He was and is a staple for the Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Mr. Slate, Doggie Daddy, most of the bad guys from Scooby Doo, characters from Jonny Quest, and many other authority figures--here's a list. His latest role from IMDB is a Scooby-Doo video from 2010. He has never given interviews and has rarely been seen in public.

John Hoyt played seven Hogan roles. He was a member of Orson Welles' Mercury Theatre, and at one point was a nightclub entertainer doing impersonations. Was on both the original Star Trek and original Battlestar Galactica. He had many TV guest roles going back to it's earliest days--Racket Squad, The Danny Thomas Show, The Life of Riley, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, The Twilight Zone, Petticoat Junction--all the way to Gimme a Break in 1982. He also managed to get roles on both the original Star Trek (he was the doctor in the pilot) and the original Battlestar Galactica. He passed away in 1991.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 15

Achtung! More Season Four...

• Hogan's working with a beautiful underground agent (is there any other kind?), but she might be a double agent. Marj Dusay plays the agent--while she had many guest roles (including the worst episode of Star Trek and two other Hogan roles), she is best known for her 16 years of work on the soap Guiding Light.
• Another guest star in the episode is Ned Glass, who plays the grocery store owner.  His career goes back to the Three Stooges, as well as a recurring role on Gunsmoke, and continued through to 1981.
• A very naive (I'm going to call him dumb) foreign correspondent decides it's a great idea to publicize what Hogan and the boys are doing under Stalag 13. He doesn't name the camp, but it's more than enough to get Hochstedder involved. He sends in a ringer--there's a new guard that's also a spy. You may recognize both guests:
  • The correspondent is played by Richard Erdman, who's had TV guest roles since the 1950's, and currently plays Leonard on the cult show Community (Go Human Beings!)
  • The guard/spy is played by James B. Sikking, who played three different roles on the series, but is best known for his work on Hill Street Blues
• There's agents, double agents, poison rings, snipers, important briefcases--it's another Mission: Impossible episode. Actually, it's a Bad Day in Berlin". This episode is crawling with famous faces as guest stars--stay tuned.
• The Blue Baron (a famous WWI pilot) is in town, and Hogan wants to know where his secret airbase is. How? Get Klink to throw a party in "Will the Blue Baron Strike Again?".  This otherwise minor episode has three interesting points: 
  • Cpl. Langenscheidt covers for Schultz--John Banner missed this episode
  • One of the dancing girls is played by Cynthia Lynn aka Helga from season one
  • The budget must have run out--the "airfield" looks like it has cardboard planes

Cast info:

Arlene Martel (Tiger) played an underground agent in 7 episodes of the show (she also had the character names of Gretchen and Olga). She was born in the slums of the Bronx, but her mother's boss covered the costs for Arlene to attend a Connecticut boarding school. She attended New York's High School of the Performing Arts, and started her career in the Broadway production of "Uncle Willie" at age 16. She went to Hollywood and began television roles including The Twilight Zone, Route 66, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Mission Impossible, The Rockford Files, and Knot's Landing. Her talent with dialects came in very handy. Of course, there's also a Star Trek connection--she played T'Pring! Her latest role was on Brothers and Sisters in 2010.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon. 

Hogan's Heroes - Part 14

We're moving onto Season 4...

• Schultz accidentally sees something he shouldn't have seen, and now he's off to the Eastern Front. It's a "Clearance Sale at the Black Market". Murray Slaughter--sorry, Gavin MacLeod returns as the heavy that the boys have to blackmail.
• To get an electronics expert out of Germany, Hogan turns a rabbit trap into a high tech secret in "Klink vs. the Gonculator". Noam Pitlik guest stars--he had dozens of TV roles including one of Bob Hartley's regular patients on "The Bob Newhart Show", and then became a prolific TV director. There's some great interplay between Klemperer, Banner, and Askin in this episode.
• Newkirk subs for Hogan at an Underground meeting--unfortunately, it's a trap---"How to Catch a Papa Bear". The guest star Fay Spain will also be seen in a Season 5 Hogan episode. She had TV roles from the 1950's to the 1970's.
• Crittendon's back! Now he's taking over Underground efforts in "Hogan's Trucking Service...We Deliver the Factory to You". To be honest, they've turned Crittendon into an unbelievable buffoon by this point in the series. For a moment, I thought I was watching F Troop.
• The Gestapo's given up on violence--they've decided to use feminine wiles on our boys in "To the Gestapo with Love". One of the three "interrogators" was played by Sabrina Scharf, also seen in a Star Trek episode (I am Kirok!). There's a cut in the opening credits of this episode--perhaps it was running long?
• We're back in generic sitcom territory--the boys adopt a dog, Hogan has to hide a roll of film in the dog's bone, and the dog buries it.  Now they have to follow the dog around the camp to get it back in "Man's Best Friend is Not His Dog". Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson) is back a as a prison camp inspector.

Cast info:

Jon Cedar (Corp. Langenscheidt) was the bumbling guard who acted as Schultz' backup--he appeared 17 times on the series. Cedar served in WWII in Italy, then toured in off-Broadway and traveling productions including South Pacific and Irma La Douce. His television roles outside of Hogan included Matlock, Barnaby Jones  Moonlighting, The Rockford Files, and Murder, She Wrote. Film roles included Foxy Brown, Capricorn One, and The Condorde...Airport '79. He also produced the horror film The Manitou in 1978. He passed away in 2011.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon. 

Hogan's Heroes - Part 13

Let's wrap up season three of Hogan's Heroes...

• LeBeau complains a bit too much about an elderly underground agent--who is actually a beautiful woman (Celeste Yarnall) in the appropriately titled "LeBeau and the Little Old Lady". Yarnall had a lot of TV roles from the 1960's to the 2000's, including a guest spot on the original Star Trek ("The Apple").
• Murray Slaughter / Captain Stuebing (Gavin MacLeod) is back as a general doing some work on the side--stealing French artwork--in "The Collector General". The boys decide to put him out of business.
• Hogan wants to misdirect the Nazis to the wrong target, so he convinces Schultz he has ESP (via a delayed news broadcast and some targeted raids) in "The Ultimate Weapon". We even get a catchphrase--"Flat as a pancake!". A female Gestapo officer comes in to test Schultz, played by Marian Moses.  Her film debut in Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) was also the debut for Harrison Ford.
• In the tradition of all great sitcoms, a chimpanzee visits Stalag 13--it's "Monkey Business". A local zoo has been destroyed by Allied raids, so Hogan convinces Klink that LeBeau is a big game hunter (how many professions did LeBeau have?). At one point, we hear what is clearly a sound effects record of wild animals.
• We learn that Carter is descended from the Sioux tribe--so let the Native American stereotypes begin in "Drums Along the Dusseldorf"! They use a flaming arrow to take out a truck with jet fuel. We also get an over the top old lady bit from Richard Dawson. 

Cast info:

Nita Talbot (Marya) was born in New York City, and had her first role as a model in the film It's a Great Feeling in 1949. She was best known for playing glamorous women, often with foreign accents. She moved primarily to television in the 1950's, and had roles on Studio One, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Bonanza, and CHiPs, among others. She also did a lot of work on the soaps--Search for Tomorrow, The Secret Storm, and General Hospital. She won an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress for her Hogan role in 1968. Her last role was voice work on the Spider-Man animated series in 1997, although she is still alive.      

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - There's Always Room for...

Back in the 50's and 60's, the television industry had little concern mixing their show content with commercial content.  This has recently come back into vogue--it's now called "product placement".

As I noted previously, I'm watching Hogan on the DVD boxed set of the series my wife gave me as a Christmas present. It has a number of extras, including the following commercial with the cast IN CHARACTER welcoming Carol Channing into the barracks. It's time for dessert, and there's always room for Jell-O (there's even a laughtrack). This is very strange to watch, but you can find examples of this type of thing from the Andy Griffith Show, the Dick Van Dyke Show, and the Flintstones (Fred and Barney enjoy a Winston cigarette). Someone was nice enough to put the Hogan commercial on YouTube...

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 12

Let's get a beer at the Hofbrau...

• Hogan's finally put in his time--Allied Command is ordering him home. Guess who his replacement is? Col. Critterdon! We get a rare chance for Klink to needle Hogan about it. Crittendon manages to botch Hogan's escape in multiple attempts in "Hogan, Go Home".
• Newkirk sneaks a local girl suspected of being a spy into camp. Unfortunately, she's a Gestapo spy. They have to blow up the tunnel to save themselves--along with Carter's help as a fake Nazi general--"Sticky Wicket Newkirk".
• In my favorite episode so far, Hogan has to free underground leaders held by the Gestapo at Stalag 13. Otherwise, they'll be prisoners until the war is over. The obvious solution? End the war--or at least convince Klink and Hochstedder it's over. A fake radio broadcast and newspaper, along with an intercepted call to Berlin, does the trick in "War Takes a Holiday". We also learn that Schultz made toys before the war--as the owner of Germany's equivalent to Mattel. Maybe Klink will work for Schultz after the war...
• It's a "Duel of Honor" when Klink has to escape to Argentina to avoid a crazed general and jealous husband (played by Carter). It's all to get big secrets back to England--just have Klink take them. There's a bit of physical comedy with Schultz playing with Klink's riding crop--too bad those went out of style.
• Hogan needs to get some info to the underground, but the Gestapo have moved into town. Also, "Axis Annie" has come to Stalag 13.  What to do? Kill two birds with one stone--use Nazi propaganda to communicate with the underground. Louise Troy played multiple parts on the series--she also happened to be Werner Klemperer's wife at the time. She was nominated three times for a Tony, but never won.
• Hochstedder is becoming a near-regular on the series. In "What Time Does the Balloon Go Up?", he's back to track down a traitor who has important info to get to the underground, but the camp is sealed. Hogan holds a BIG basket-weaving contest--just big enough to fly out the traitor on a hot air balloon. Also, where did Klink get a Lucite map of Europe? I don't think they had these in WWII.

Cast info:

Bernard Fox (Col. Crittendon) was descended from a long line of actors. He was in several British films before coming to the US to work for Danny Thomas, and has the distinction of being in the two major films about the Titanic--A Night to Remember (1958) and Titanic (1997). In addition to his work as the bumbling Crittendon, he's well known as Doctor Bombay on Bewitched (calling Dr. Bombay, Come in Right Away...). He played a number of stuffy British characters on many TV shows from the 60's to 2001, with his last role (for now) on Dharma & Greg. One of the hardest-working men in 60's and 70's TV, you can hear all about him on an episode of our Vast Wasteland podcast.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 11

HO--GANNN!!!

• The best and brightest generals are meeting at Stalag 13 (when will the Nazis learn?) The boys decide to "cater" the event with some bomb centerpieces in "An Evening of Generals".
• It's winter at Stalag 13, so the boys are building a snowman--with a tunnel underneath it. At one point, they have to act like the freezing barracks is like a sauna. We even get Hochstedder and Klink covered in snow. Well, "Everybody Loves a Snowman".
• Marya (Nita Talbot) is back, this time with a Nazi general setting a trap for Hogan. A rocket fuel depot (?) is being built right outside of--you guessed it--Stalag 13. Which side is she on? The general (Theodore Marcuse) ends up outsmarting himself, with deadly consequences. Marcuse often played the villain--he was even in "The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz"--despite being awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Presidential Unit Citation in real life.
• Carter a traitor? It's just another scam from the Mighty Hogan Art Players. They pose as a secret Gestapo team to kidnap him back from the Nazis. Since they're wearing masks, Kinch even gets a chance to play a bad guy. There's a beautiful double agent, played by German-born Antoinette Bower, who had dozens of TV guest roles from the 60's to the 90's.
• More ties to real-world events--Hogan turns out to have been in the 504th Bomb Group, which was the military unit that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Of course, Hogan knows NO-Thing about it, since it happened after his current assignment. A Nazi general knows all about their current operation, so they're about to bug out--but Hogan has to know about this "Manhattan Project". There's a rather grisly scene (at least for 60's TV) where the general's aide assassinates him (offscreen, of course). Alan Oppenheimer is the general--he's a familiar face, but better known for his voice work. He's the voice of Skeletor on He-Man, for instance.
• in "Is there a Doctor in the House?", the boys have to get a beautiful underground agent (is there any other kind?) out of Germany. The plan is to put her in Klink's trunk when he goes to town--but unfortunately he's sick. This is another episode that could have come from any sitcom. The girl was Brenda Benet--she had a career in TV guest roles and soap operas. She was married twice--the second to BIll Bixby. They had a child, and when he died suddenly, she went into a depression and committed suicide in 1982.

Cast info:

Sigrid Valdis (Fraulein Hilda) played Klink's second secretary, and did so from season two until the end of the show's run. She was born in California, and after high school spent time modeling in Europe and New York. She married a businessman in the fashion industry, and after the birth of their first child, she decided to become an actress. She was in several films including Marriage on the Rocks and Our Man Flint, and the TV show The Wild Wild West. She had a minor part on a first season Hogan episode, and was offered the HIlda role after Cynthia Lynn left the series. He first husband died in 1967, and she began a relationship with Bob Crane. They were married in 1970, on the set of the show. She left show business after the birth of their son. They had a short separation in 1977, but were together when Crane was murdered in 1978. Outside of work on her son's comedy radio show in the late 90's, she rarely made public appearances after that, and passed away in 2007.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 10

More of Hogan Season 3...

• The boys have to get to a Nazi scientist, so Hogan scams Klink into letting them go into town. There's a great sequence where they put Schultz to sleep with a bit lifted from cartoons. The scientist is in love with the hotel lounge singer, so Hogan plays matchmaker in "How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis".
• Just a general note--while everyone else on the show seems to have one set of clothing--even the Germans--Hogan has a whole wardrobe. Regular and dress uniforms, suits, a trench coat, pajamas, a robe--seems strange a POW would have such a large closet.
• The Nazis are making counterfeit money at Stalag 13 (they always seem to do their dirty work there, don't they?). So they trick one of the technicians with a mocked up recording to take out the operation in "Hot Money".   I love how they use a fake sewing kit as a wire tape recorder. 
• A new prisoner (Paul Picerni) sells out Hogan to Klink (I'm shocked it too so long for it to happen). Hogan uses it as a diversion to take out a secret weapon. Picerni served as a bombadier in WWII, and later was in the case of The Untouchables.
• In yet another coincidence, a French entertainer went to high school with one of Hogan's boys--Kinchloe. He and Hogan are off to Paris, along with Klink who was (conveniently) chosen as "German Soldier of the Month". They have to get secret plans from a general who's a "friend" of the entertainer, played by Barbara McNair. She was a singer and entertainer, with many spots on variety shows including her own series from 1969-72--one of the first black women to host her own series. She passed away in 2007.
• A Russian flyer needs help to get back to Allied territory--unfortunately, he wants to get to Mother Russia instead of England. Cold War-era jokes abound. The Russkie is played by Bob Hastings--another face you would recognize if you ever watched TV. His roles go back to 1949, and currently does voice work for animation and video games.

Cast info:

Cynthia Lynn (Fraulein Helga) played Klink's secretary during the first season of the show. She was born Zinta Zimilis in Latvia. She and her family escaped the Nazis near the end of the war.  She made it to the US in 1950, and was presented as the Hollywood Deb Star Ball in 1962, an event that focused on upcoming female talent. She had minor roles in 1960's and 70's television--never getting a bigger part than the one on Hogan's Heroes. After the first season, she left the show, but did return for two background roles in later seasons.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 9

We're moving onto Season 3 of Hogan's Heroes...

• Allied Command is sending a special expert to destroy a convoy--it's "The Crittendon Plan". Unfortunately, it's the wrong plan--he wants to plant geraniums. Crittendon is just so helpless...
• The Nazis are training on RAF planes, and the boys need to stop them in "Some of Their Planes Are Missing". It's party time for Hogan, who needs an alibi.
• We're finally tying into actual WWII events--in this case, D-Day. The Nazis are making their final plans--at Stalag 13? There's also a deep cover female agent who may no longer be on the good guys' side. Plus, everyone's convinced that Klink will be the new German Chief of Staff. It's "D-Day at Stalag 13".
• Schultz the great lover? Unfortunately for him, he's in love with a Gestapo spy. Unfortunately for her, he knows NO (wait for it) THING. The spy is played by Joyce Jameson--you might recognize her as one of the Fun Girls on the Andy Griffith Show. 
• We're back in Mission: Impossible territory--a British flyer is given a mission to kill Churchhill, or at least his double is. Again, we get the classic double shot with the obvious line in the middle. Lloyd Bochner plays the dual role    --you would recognize his face if you've ever watched TV.  He had hundreds of guest roles from the 1950's to the 2000's.
• Burkhalter's sister is back--this time as Klink's replacement secretary. Hogan scams Klink that she's a Gestapo spy, so he has to woo her. The boys also take out the real spy.

Cast info:

Kenneth Washington (Sgt. Baker) was Ivan Dixon's replacement in the last season of Hogan's Heroes. There is scant biographical information on Washington--born 1946, had several guest roles in 1960-70's crime shows (Dragnet, Adam-12, Police Story) and sitcoms (My Three Sons, I Dream of Jeannie, Petticoat Junction), as well as a cameo on Star Trek. His last role was on A Different World in 1989, although he is apparently still alive. 

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.