Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971) 7.7
The inmates of a German World War II prisoner of war camp conduct an espionage and sabotage campaign right under the noses of their warders. |
|
| 0Share... |
Hogan's Heroes (1965–1971) 7.7
The inmates of a German World War II prisoner of war camp conduct an espionage and sabotage campaign right under the noses of their warders. |
|
| 0Share... |
| Complete series cast summary: | |||
| Bob Crane | ... |
Col. Robert E. Hogan
(168 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
|
| Werner Klemperer | ... |
Col. Wilhelm Klink
(168 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
|
| John Banner | ... |
Sgt. Hans Georg Schultz
(168 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
|
|
|
Robert Clary | ... |
Cpl. Louis LeBeau
(167 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
| Richard Dawson | ... |
Cpl. Peter Newkirk
(166 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
|
| Larry Hovis | ... |
Sgt. Andrew Carter
(165 episodes, 1965-1971)
|
|
| Ivan Dixon | ... |
Sgt. James 'Kinch' Kinchloe
(141 episodes, 1965-1970)
|
|
Colonel Hogan leads a ragtag band of POW's caught behind German lines in this popular television comedy. The bumbling Germans give Hogan and his crew plenty of opportunities to sabotage their war efforts. Colonel Klink is more concerned with having everything run smoothly and avoiding any trouble with his superiors (especially anything that might result in his being reassigned and sent to the front) than with being tough on Hogan and his fellow prisoners. Written by Tad Dibbern <DIBBERN_D@a1.mscf.upenn.edu>
This TV show is set in World War II, and that in itself was a very bold move to base a sitcom in a such a dark period of human history. This show excels for having, for the most part a good and generally non-realised talented cast. The stories are entertaining and have a decent amount of tension yet it most definitely doesn't take itself too seriously.
As a previous comment pointed out this show was one of the first to portray an African-American as an equal to white people which was very bold and positive move for a 1960's show. Star Trek had at the same time given black people and women a status of equality to men when they cast Nichelle Nichols as an African American woman as a main character. So I am very pleased at the fact that the producers took a chance and made this character righfully as an equal.
The theme music is catchy, ok may be slightly annoying but Jerry Fielding did a competent job. I a m not sure who scores the rest of the episodes, it seems they reuse and make music for certain episodes and recycle whenever they can probably due to budget but its edited nicely. You may be able to know that film editor Michael Kahn started his editing career on this show and has edited many of Steven Spielbergs films to the present. This brings up the issue of production quality. Not bad for 1960's standards for a less than 30 minute job, editing is pretty good, music, cinematography is alright. Not fantastic but this the 1960s.
The aforementioned cast are filled with talent. Most notably is the principle cast, Schultz (John Banner), Klink (Werner Klemperer) and Hogan (Bob Crane). This show has had nothing but top notch actors and guest actors. Bob Crane may have dabbled in some undesirable off-camera infamous affairs but he is nevertheless a great actor.
Watch this show if you haven't, some episodes are forgettable, some are great, some are just fantastic.
One of the all time best comedies? I would say most probably so :).