Thank you for posting this and telling us about your father who was obviously in a very difficult situation. It helps us all to see that we can have a show like this And can make light of the situation but also inform everyone of what happened in our not so distant past.
My mother's cousin was a navigator on a B24 that was shot down by flak and killed, the pilot made it out of the plane and was taken POW, he was in the same camp that The Great Escape happened at although he was there after that happened.
@@ricknineg Fun fact about the cast. Many of the cast were actually Jewish, and several of them lost family or forced to flee Nazi Germany. The guy who played Lebou, lost most of his family in concentration camps. One of the things I really liked about the show is that the German people were not portrayed as dumb but just the Nazis. Because the German underground were all portrayed smart. (Not as much as Hogan of course).
Not quite your age but it was my favorite show as a kid too. I still catch reruns whenever possible. Hogan's Hero's was #1 and my 2nd favorite was Dragnet followed closely by Adam 12 and Emergency.
I watch this show and Gunsmoke with my now recently turned 90 (Nov. 3rd) year old Grandfather every single night between 8pm and 10pm. We usually watch 2 episodes of Gunsmoke followed by 1 episode of Hogan's Heroes. 👍 I found this video very interesting and sad at the same time. Sad to see all of that history gone (even though it would have been torn down anyway because that's how film sets work) with just retail stores in its wake. Seems a shame.
Thank you for showing the aerial view. I grew up in Culver City and one of my friends dad worked on the Hogan’s Heroes set with the lighting. We were lucky because we visited the back lot a few times during filming. We had lots of fun! The cast was very nice to us and Schultz was an absolute gentleman
Thanks Rick. That was great. Hogan's Heroes is still one of my favourite shows and I watch the replays whenever they come up on Aussie TV. I don't understand why 640 people have hit the thumbs down button.
Being Born in Germany with my father having served in the German army, Hogan’s Hero’s was one of our favourite shows. My parents moved to Canada in 1956 when I was almost 3 years old. I still love watching the Hogan’s Hero’s on reruns. It brings back the laughter my father and I had. Thanks for sharing! ❤️🇨🇦
When I was 18 (about 1975), a friend and I jumped the fence roughly at 6:00pm and took our own tour of this filming location. The first thing that we checked out was the Stalog 13 set. I stood on Colonel Klink's porch (outside his office door). We also lifted up the "dog house" - it was mostly filled with hardened mud. We found fake wooden dynamite boxes and olive drab rifles boxes in the fake barracks. We then strolled down main street of Mayberry. It was hugely strange standing in front of the "Courthouse"! (also Floyd's barber shop)! The street was awfully narrow. We also ran into the Gomer Pyle (half-circle roofed) barracks. My friend said that "Combat" was also partially filmed there (not sure). The whole time we were evading security! Really weren't too many of them. Dusk was creeping up. Talk about feeling WIERD! A massive deja vu for me! I'm so glad that I had the experience!
@@jackfrost2146 You're so right! There was really no intelligent, electronic, mobile, computing device available back then - except for a calculator. Unfortunately, I didn't own a camera. It would have been priceless!
Nice story Zac, as the youtube video was running, I wondered to myself if any kids or teens lived in those three house or in that general area and if they had ever sneaked onto the lot. To bad you didn't take a Kodak instamatic camera with you on your adventure.
In the mid 1970's, for about 2 years, my friends and I, while we were all in high school, would climb the fence there, to get into this "back 40 acres", which was actually smaller than 40 acres in reality. We would go in there at least one a week, and explore. At night, at late night, and during the day, all the time. They had guards but we were very good at not being seen. We all did the same exploring at the MGM Studios back lot on the West side of Overland, in another part of Culver City too. I have really great fun memories of all of this, it was a lot of fun. The mostly underground film vault at "the back 40 acres" was totally unreal. I'm smiling just thinking of probably the 100 times my high school friends and I were exploring these two very very cool back lots, great memories. I also remember all of the many many different outdoor sets, and areas, and opening the phony tree stump with the tiny underground room with the ladder where they would escape from Hogan's Heroes prison camp. I met Lebou, a very nice guy, a few times at charity events, and we swapped stories about all of this, and going in and out of the small phony escape tree stump room. Also my Dad was a U.S. military World War Two combat veteran, and my Dad is thank god still alive and good at 94 1/2 years. He almost died numerous times in combat against the Nazi's. His older brother was a U.S. Army Combat Medic, who was sadly killed in Germany, while fighting the Nazis. My Mom was also a WWII MILITARY VETERAN GOD BLESS AMERICA.
Joseph Rinaldi My dad was in Germany during the war as a savilian worker and he loved Hogan's heroes and we use to continue watching reruns and never got sick of them, and we always laughed together. Now my father has passed away and every time I watch Hogan's heroes I always think of dad. Knowing more about Hogan's heroes enhances the memory of dad.
Thanks so much for posting this. My dad was friends with Larry Hovis ("Carter" in HOGAN'S HEROES) but I never met him. This really puts the shows in perspective. For us old people who grew up with Andy Griffith, Hogan's Heroes, etc, this is a real treat.
I am blessed to be a child of the 60's and saw all the shows during Prime Time ! We would watch all theses decent shows without any controversy. Keep up your great work of research Rick!!
. MeTV, Grit, AntTV, H&I, and Insphd to name a few. McHales Navy, Beaver, Hazel Laredo Cheyenne, Have Gun, Maverick, Lawman. Good old days. Thanks for the vudeo
This was one of my favorite shows growing up me and my dad would spent time watching the show I was amazed by the place be so close to other home I had no idea , thank you rick this was really cool to see
Ron scurtti Ikr on star trek tos the bridge set is TINY notice how tight the camera shots are when focused on mr.spocks station or lt. Uhura station or if spock Kirk and McCoy are standing together on the bridge discussing something it's a tight shot . It's obvious too on hogans heroes inside the barracks the actors are all huddled close together like theres hardly any room to move around...and on top of that they had to have room for lights and cameras...sounds glamorous right ?? Lol
Our family watched "Hogans Heroes " from day one. When Robert Crane died, my mother was very upset. It wasn't until later years that we kids learned how he died. I still love the show. Sometimes I laugh so hard at the craziness of the day.
I'm 54 and watch 2 episodes every night @ 10 and 10:30. Love it! I would like to see behind the scenes clips or still shots of the various tunnels and how they went about making those look so realistic. Thanks Rick!
They used to keep them up to reuse them but now they have CGI so no need of a real set and that is why they were replaced with sound stages/studios. Ever see how they make movies now? You think they are in a city but they have a few real objects for close ups and the rest are green screen CGI.
I grew up in this neighborhood. MGM Lot-3 was southeast of here and close. As kids we'd sneak on the lots and the guards would give chase. Great times. Thx for the memories!!
When I was watching this when I was a kid, being in L.A. almost 20 yrs after that I would have said you're nuts. But now living here and been to Universal so many times. I love stuff like this. I knew the secret stuff about the Andy Griffith Show. But not never realized all these shows did film so close together. I LOVE your breakdowns and pics as well.
Hogan's Heroes is still one of my favorite shows and it's still running on a channel here in Brazil, so long after it ended. I watched them as a kid and I still watch them now in my seventies and I still have a lot of laughs with them. Good times gone. Thanks for the excellent posts.
Thanks for mentioning the "eternal winter." The cool thing was that I got to explain this to my granddaughters when they asked about it. I explained to them that many World War II pows were still alive when the show was made. The one thing they seem to or comment on, was the cold Winters and lack of Adequate Heating and clothing. I think it was done to have a certain amount of realism to the atmosphere of the show. Plus, this gave them the excuse to use the German winter clothing, because the winter jackets and want not, also gave a better sense and feel to the stereotypical German Soldier.
You answered the question I had. I have the complete series and watch it all the time and was always wondering about the constant snow. Your explanation makes perfect sense. Thanks!
It also meant that the characters could keep the same outfits throughout the run. More cloths also meant more room for individuality in the uniform, and headgear allowing for easy identification on old small TVs where reception was not be the best which might have been somewhat lost if they were all in undershirts because of the heat. For instance McHales navy with them all in proper uniforms it was sometimes hard to tell people apart at a glance but you can always tell Newkirk from Carter at a even in the background.
Another reason they had it be winter all the time is that they didn't want LeBeau to be seen in short sleeves because he had a number tatooed on his arm. During WW2, Robert Clary was a prisoner in a concentration camp for real.
Continuity was what I had read as the explanation for the eternal winter - wardrobe always the same, some "stock" footage could be reused (like the periscopes), and reruns could be shown in any order
My dad was in the battle of the bulge (82nd Airborne) and the campaigns - central europe, rhineland, and the berlin occupation. He died in 2002, but he always loved watching Hogan's Heroes. he said the show let him "laugh at the war." I guess it helped him "move on" to some small degree. thanks for this great video!
This takes me back...in 1982 I was attending the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. A few of us drove down to LA or a long weekend...and stayed with someone's acquaintance in Culver City. Their backyard was one of those that backed up against the Hogan's Heroes set. I think it was one of the three at 6:38. He told tales of growing up and staying up most of the night with searchlights, dogs and machine-gun fire from over the back fence! It sounded like a pretty neat place to grow up. A an aside, if you followed the street further up and out of the top of the photo, a block or two further on was a tomato canning plant for one of the major food companies...they got tomatoes by the railroad carloads, and all you could smell there was tomatoes... {!-{>
I am almost 81 years old and continue to enjoy the re-runs of my favourite show HOGANS HEROES. This show will continue on for many more years and will forever remain a FAVOURITE.
I started watching Hogans Heroes When I was about 11 years old in the early 70's. I still like watching it now. A pretty clean and humorous show with no foul language, so even my kids watched it when they were little. Fun to see the old studio location.
Fun fact: The set used for New York City in a episode of Star Trek “The City on the Edge of Forever” (called 40 Acres) was the same set used for The Andy Griffith Show. While Kirk is walking with Edith Keeler, they pass the courthouse and Floyd's barber shop. The same back lot was used for location shooting in "Miri" and "The Return of the Archons".
And Universal did the same thing with many of their shows. For example you can see the set of HiIll Valley in a lot of episodes of "The Incredible Hulk", before it became the Hill Valley of Back to the Future.
@@KubotaBXathome It's funny that you say that, because MeTV have done a bit of a mashup with Kirk and Spock arriving on earth in the scene from City on the Edge of Forever but instead of arriving in 1930, they arrived in Mayberry in the 1960s and are seen by Aunt Bee and her friend.
Absolutely loved this show growing up!! I'm almost 62 now and continue to watch the reruns everywhere I can find them. Hogan's Heroes, Andy Griffith, Bewitched, The Munsters and Gilligan's Island, just to name a few, well, it's like going home again. Big brother and sister were always watching them with me and also, on the kiddie shows like Charlie Brown & Snoopy or The Grinch, they always let baby sis watch them, with my eyes glued to the 1 black and white tv with only 3 channels to choose from!! Those were the days tho!! Ive always told my kids that my "cell" phone while I was out was the phone booth!! I think kids nowadays would feel like they traveled to another dimension!! It wasn't always perfect, but it was perfect to us!!🌈🌈👍👍😃😃
I saw this show every week...grew up with it. Thoroughly enjoyed with my family, and learned a lot about WWII because of it. My Dad, and Mom were participants of WWII. Mom was a Rosie the Riveter in south Texas. Seeing the re-runs now brings back a lot of memories, of a time with my family. What I never remembered was the 1st episode, and it's really hard to find now. Thanks for the memories...well, done.
I remember watching the last few seasons of Hogan's Heroes when I was young. It is so nice to be able to watch it on METV in the evenings. I think that it is still one of the best sitcoms ever on TV.
This place was the backdrop for so many childhood memories. Mayberry RFD, Gunsmoke, Hogan's Heroes. Very interesting how the HH set was backed up against a neighborhood. To think that while Hogan and Klink were having a talk in the compound, 500 feet away some housewife making a meatloaf for dinner, lol.
@@davidav8orpflanz561 Hogan's Heroes didn't take place in a concentration camp. It took place in a Luftwaffe (German Air Force) prisoner of war camp for allied flyers. Those camps are known for their good treatment of Allied prisoners.
10 Year Veteran of the Uss Iowa BB61. I know this is a "game' but this is the best at heart video I have ever seen. I'm wiping tears away as I type this.
I grew up watching Hogan’s Heroes as a kid. Anytime I here that drum intro I get a flashback. Thanks for pointing out the backlot of such historic shows. Desilu Productions was such a powerhouse back in the day. So many hit shows not to mention Star Trek!
The set was used for "Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS" in 1974 and most of the backlot set was blown up for the final scene of the movie. So if you want to see the last few weeks of the set as well as it's demise, search for it on RU-vid. I'd link the trailer for it here, but even the trailer contains a lot of gratuitous female nudity and violence, so, you've been warned.
Indeed. I loved HH, and it's so impressive how the studio could maintain that illusion of Bavaria-ish, Germany. Similar thing happened to the CBS back lot where they filmed parts of shows like Gunsmoke, Big Valley, I Dream of Jeannie, and the lagoon from Gilligan's Island--all those locations were also plowed under and are now just warehouses and parking lots. So sad. Also, due the recent fires, some old movie Western Town sets in SoCal that had been standing for 50+yrs are now gone. A funny footnote regarding the Mayberry street set: they used it for the Star Trek episode "Miri's Planet", where they had to "trash" the set, but not so much that they wouldn't be able to film Mayberry at the start of the next week after they were done filming the episode.
If you're in Los Angeles you can go on shoots as an audience. I attended a shoot a few weeks ago. It won't air until summer time so they asked we not wear coats during the taping. It was cold, that was bad enough, but yes I can not imagine, they must have been patted town to take the sweat off with towels inbetween takes.
I watched Hogan's Heroes when I was even to young to understand it, and could never figure out why they would not escape when they had the chance. It was many years later I found out it was their mission to be POW there
Very cool. There is such a huge difference between the war setting of Hogan’s Hero’s and the town of Mayberry that it’s hard to wrap my head around it being in the same location. Thanks for the video. Loved it.
I have the complete series of Hogan’s Heroes on my computer, and have enjoyed watching it many times through the years. It was a great comedy and ended way to soon.
I watched this show allot, not only when it was on, but now on RU-vid. One of the fascinating things is looking at the back lot's layout and just how scenes were blocked to provide just the background shot required in order to tell each episodes story. It makes me smile to see how compact the whole thing really is.
I remember my dad watching this show and loving it in the sixties. He was a U.S. Ranger/Scout in WWII and saw a lot of action, D-Day, Battle of the Bulge, Battle of Hurtgen Forest etc. I used to wonder why he liked it so much after going through it. Then I went to Vietnam and I understood. The best way is to think of it as a joke. Thanks for the info Rick.
My brother and I used to watch " The Hogan's Heroes Hour " every night around dinner time. What kid didn't want underground secret tunnels and a hatch tree stump ? So cool.
I had no idea that the Hogan's Heroes set was so close to houses, it is sad that the Desi Lou studios are gone now. I am thankful that you found pictures of studio to show how all of our favorite shows from the 60's was made.
Thanks for bringing all of this to light. The series was brilliant, funny, and entertaining. I lived in LA while attending USC in the late 90s until 2001 but never had a chance to do private research as you have excellently done. Thank you so much for this info and you have really shown how Hollywood keeps the reality behind the scenes in which they create the props. Keep up the good work.
Not every market that MeTV is in shows the 2 episodes. Some preempt it for the local newscast. What really pissed me off was the preemption of Saturday shows for College Football games. MeTV is supposed to be showing classic Television shows not current ones. I know that this doesn't occur in every market and is only local programmers throw it on MeTV but throw it onto the CW or some other channel (whose owner has other stations in that same market) that is maybe showing infomercials.
Thanks Rick, that was fun. Hogan's Heroes and MASH were staples in my hose growing up in the 70s and the two shows my dad and I always watched together.
I always loved this show. Then finding out where it was filmed is great! It’s very interesting, all the information you gave about the lot, how it was so close to homes, other sets, etc.... thank you for this.
The mansion house is still there -- I drove by it a couple years ago. It now says "Culver Studios". Amazon is supposed to start filming shows on the property next year.
My father was a POW in Germany in WWII. He didn't talk too much about his experiences but we did bonded over the series. He once told me, "there's a lot of truth to this show."
I grew up with hogans heroes and it was one of the few shows that I could sit and watch with my father and we would laugh for a half an hour... I loved the aerial shots ...I wish the camp was still there!
How much I have always loved Hogan,s Heroes. I began watching the Re-Runs in 1973 as a little kid. The Gestapo and Russian Front jokes were always hysterical.
I love many of those shows, but not because they were "clean". I like edgier shows like the L&O Franchise. I really like the realistic portrayal of the characters, instead of this whitewashed effect where everything is beautiful and pleasant.
Thanks! It’s cool being able to see the sites where 2 of my favorite shows were filmed. Those days seemed so much better than the mess we are in today. Just sad how like life, this is no more for the sets. Most of those actors are gone now, and we can’t even walk in their footsteps.
This Was Really Cool. I'm An Old Fan Of Hogan's Heroes & Have The Entire Series. Makes Me Feel Young Again. I Never Saw It In Color As A Child. Thank You.
My Grandfather was a undefeated Heavyweight champion in the Marines, and his name is Raymond Schultz ! When he was in his later years he sometimes reminded me of Schultz on Hogans Heroes talking with my grandmother after returning home from the Bars and would listen to him say ,”I know nothing”! LOL ...
I have watched Hogan's Heroes since it first started back in 1965. My father was a WWII Veteran and we watched the show together. How we would laugh! I love, love, love the show! The writers were very clever with their play on words. Your video was very interesting and I'm very glad that I watched it. It put things in perspective as to how shows are made or were made back then. Thank you for the video.
I really loved this video !!! I was curious to see the original sets and how they were laid out. Thank you for putting this together. It’s amazing how Hollywood can make it look so real ...Wow !
Loved Hogans Heroes as a kid in the 1960's Prime Time , now at age 65 ME-TV in Phoenix runs 2 shows a night that I watch religiously ! Really enjoy history and am anxious to view more of your content , Thanks !! Lot's of great shows many years ago !!!!
@Evilmike42 I totally agree, the people that worked on the show are leaving us more every year and it would be great to hear some of the things Mr. Crandall saw
I have been watching since it started and it's now 2022. LOVED seeing the set but had mixed emotions know that it is gone.GREAT video, thanks for showing.
I did not know that Hogan’s Heroes was filmed in California. I did not even know that it was filmed in the same city as The Andy Griffith Show. I liked learning about this.
It's very sad that these historic studios and backlots no longer exist. That lot was also used for exterior shots in the first season of The Adventures Of Superman.
Colin DUFF Unfortunately, the US has, for the most part, little respect for history and historic spots/places. Most developers and local governments don't care as long as they see the $$$$. Sad.
The studios themselves do not care and that is why a lot of film is gone to the ages though it saddens me to see no back lots but instead all sound stages/studios now. I guess CGI helped to kill off the need for a real open area/backlot.
@@thenewcenturyhomeste Back then they didn't have all of the nostalgia about those sets that people do today. If that land hadn't got developed, and the sets were still there, it would probably be a lucrative tourist attraction now. It's like saving the set of Roseanne when that show ended, no one would think of saving any outdoor sets because no one was nostalgic at that time. One exterior shot that was actually not a real set, but was only used for exterior shots was the Brady Bunch house. That was a real house that people lived in. And it was only a 1 story house that was depicted as a 2 story house. The Brady Bunch was such a success, and so many people grew up watching it, there is a lot of sentiment for that house. For many years people went to that real house just to see the exterior. You might say the house is a celebrity. The owners didn't particular appreciate the constant tourists showing up there. However, recently the funds were found to purchase that house, and renovate it so that it looks exactly the way the inside from the show looks as well as the outside. You can now go there and go inside and it will be exactly the house you remember from the show. Also, the original cast helped on the renovation. That's pretty cool!
@@substance1 … The reality is there will only be nostalgia for as long as the fans are alive. Sure, it could be a tourist attraction in the meanwhile, but unless they continue to use it as an active movie / TV stage set it will eventually die off. The next generation wont care.