Ivan Dixon was an incredibly talented actor and director. If you read his history with what he's done, it's amazing what he accomplished. Very underrated in my opinion.
This show is so timeless. And I think one reason for that is that they weren't trying to show off when they wrote it. So many comedy writers, both classic and modern, go about like they've got something to prove. But Hogan's Heroes wasn't written like that. They just let the banter get goofy and wild and didn't try too hard to control it. There was no need for elaborate setups. It was funny - and still is funny no matter how many times you see it - because they didn't care about making sense. They didn't care about catching you off guard with their wit, they just wanted to make you giggle.
And I giggled a lot, then and now watching it on DVD. Funny story--we were watching an 1950 Lone Ranger episode involving gun running with a big bad Euro guy cruising the West trying to buy a newly developed repeating rifle for some nefarious group he worked for. John Banner, skinnier than in HH but damn, what a find. Like Klemperer and Clary, Banner was Jewish and only worked on the project because it made fun of the Nazis.
And I giggled a lot, then and now watching it on DVD. Funny story--we were watching an 1950 Lone Ranger episode involving gun running with a big bad Euro guy cruising the West trying to buy a newly developed repeating rifle for some nefarious group he worked for. John Banner, skinnier than in HH but damn, what a find. Like Klemperer and Clary, Banner was Jewish and only worked on the project because it made fun of the Natzis (had to misspell it).
And I giggled a lot, then and now watching it on DVD. Funny story--we were watching an 1950 Lone Ranger episode involving gun running with a big bad Euro guy cruising the West trying to buy a newly developed repeating rifle for some nefarious group he worked for. John Banner, skinnier than in HH but damn, what a find. Like Klemperer and Clary, Banner was Jewish and only worked on the project because it made fun of the Germans (had to misspell it).
R.I.P. to some of the cast members who have sinced passed away. Bob Crane deceased 6/29/1978 age 49, Werner Klemperer deceased 12/6/2000 age 80, John Banner deceased 1/28/1973 age 63, Richard Dawson deceased 6/2/2012 age 79, Larry Hovis deceased 9/9/2003 age 67, Ivan Dixon deceased 3/16/2008 age 76, Cynthia Lynn deceased 3/10/2014 age 77, Sigrid Valdis deceased 10/14/2007 age 72, John Cedar deceased 4/14/2011 age 80, and Robert Clary deceased 11/16/2022 age 96. Only Kenneth Washington age 76 and Nita Talbot age 92 r the only living cast members left.
@@757Air Bob Crane had a very sick habit of doing porn films. He was a sex addict. There was a book of so called clients that he was supposed to meet wound up missing. Also his career kinda fizzled after Hogan’s Heroes went off the air.
James did you know most of the actors, even the German ones are Jewish. Considering what they went through under nazis discrimination I one may find it a little more than a little boy's idea of war, but more of a prod at nazi ideology.
@@terryc47 That's the only reason they'd participate. Clary lost his entire family, 11, to the camp. Contrast this show to William Holden and the film "Stalag 17". Those nice friendly Shepard dogs almost killed my father's best war buddy who was in Stalag 7 in January 1945 when Allied bombs blew holes in the inner fence and loosed the dogs. Col Wooten had sustained a broken back bailing out of a B-17 and had to fight them off with his crutches. Now, I will say that he was occasionally known to not spoil a good story by telling it EGGSACTLY like it happened, but I am sure it was a close call.
Man, I remember watching this fantastic show as a little kid when it was on network television back in the late 60's. But what I didn't know till now was the first 13 seconds on the drums of this theme was Col. Hogan himself Bob Crane.
I used to watch this with my dad when I was a kid. I really miss it.. thank you for the nostalgia and RIP Bob Crane & the rest of the gang who passed away who made this series great
werner klemper/col klink makes this show for me , genuinely enjoy watching his performance in every show and for some reason im always rooting for klink to get a little victory... alas it never happens
Actually Klink did get a couple of his own little victories. Of course the POWs never actually lost a single time in the show but sometimes Klink did get his own separate victory unrelated to the prisoners' plans, like one time Hogan tricked Klink into taking his motorcycle into town to meet a frauline that Hogan made up, saying how she is alone and looking for company. Klink, of course, fell for it and left the camp temporarily to meet the made up frauline. However at the end of the episode, Klink finally returns and tells Hogan "Thanks" and gives him two bottles of wine, because as it turns out the girl really did exist and she and Klink were on a date, much to everyone's surprise. And heck, whenever Gertrude looks like she is going to marry Klink, Hogan always manages to get Klink out of the marriage by making him look distasteful in her eyes.
I LOVE THE DRUMS IN THE OPENING, MY DAD WAS A NAZI SOLDIER IN 1939 IN THE GERMAN ARMY. MY DAD LEFT THE GERMAN ARMY IN DECEMBER 1939. MY DAD IS STILL ALIVE AT 98 YEARS OLD.
@@johnhunter2294WRONG. And I finally found a Library of Congress record of personnel involved in the filming and music. It lists the following - Carol Kaye, electric bass; Jack Sperling, Dick Berk, drums. (Soundtrack Personnel). So instead of spreading the dumb internet rumor, you now have the correct information if you care to share it, but I’m guessing you won’t because it’s not as “interesting” trivia/rumor.
re: that making NAZIs look like fools was the ultimate revenge. ONE WAY to "de-fang" an enemy is to make them appear to be fools and/or jerks. Also, "HH" was (very) loosely based on the movie "Stalag 17" -- the movie, a mix of drama and comedy, had a portly, not-too-threatening Sgt. Schultz and the Kommandant was played by the bald Otto Preminger (yes, the director).
That would seem to me to be a self-defeating strategy. If you portray an enemy as non-threatening, you cause the public to underestimate the danger they present to your country and way of life, and so reduce support for opposing them. Besides, Hogan's Heroes was made over 20 years after the end of WWII, so there was no need to "de-fang" a long-since-defeated enemy. I enjoyed the show as a kid, but a lot of older people who lived through WWII (especially WWII veterans and families of those who died in it) were quite offended by the show because it trivialized the horrors of Nazism and Nazi POW camps. I still enjoy reruns of the show, but I understand the feelings of those who were offended by it. Some people felt the same way about the sitcom M.A.S.H. in the 1970s, which was set during the Korean War. But M.A.S.H. also had many serious episodes which deeply probed the sacrifices and horrors of what was often known as "The Forgotten War," and honored those who served in it, so the backlash was much less severe. Today it's considered one of the best sitcoms ever created. Hogan's Heroes doesn't enjoy that kind of honored status, but I still think it was a good show and remains a sitcom classic.
Just to clear it up over dude who keeps spreading the internet rumor about Bob Crane on drums, no he recorded it for at least one album, but did not play the tv show recording. According to records at the Library of Congress: Carol Kaye, electric bass; Jack Sperling, Dick Berk, drums. (Soundtrack Personnel)
WRONG. Bob Crane did NOT play on the recording for the television theme song of Hogan’s Heroes. There are a bunch of internet rumors, unfounded forum postings, and an incorrect unfounded Wikipedia listing. Crane played the drums for other reasons on an episode or two and was known to play drums on breaks from filming. In addition, he did record a version of the theme for one of his own albums. If you can provide evidence that it wasn’t the CBS orchestra’s drummer or another session musician, or better yet, positive evidence of Crane performing it, feel free.
@@ML-ul2zq”Professional” in that he recorded some albums. He didn’t play session for others or have a particularly successful musical career. He was a disk jockey and comedy actor.
@@ccselementarymusic3968OMG YES! Finally, someone with the REAL, CORRECT information. That name (Jack Sperling) led me to a Library of Congress record that lists some of the musicians on the soundtrack. However, you missed one, a Dick Berk is also listed on drums.
In first grade, an orchestra came to our school and played some obscure classical pieces. Then to keep us from falling asleep and to reward us for paying attention, at the end they played the Hogans Heroes theme.
poking fun at the germans and world war 2 who would have thought possible in the late 60,s or even the 1970,s nowadays we watch this as classic televison comedy, but some might might call it well you know, need i say more!
I laugh every time I hear this song because it reminds me of my grandpa. He’d be asleep in his recliner with the tv volume up loud and this would come on at 3 o’clock in the morning when I stayed overnight a couple times.
Hogans heroes went off the air a month before I was born but my dad got me into watching hogans heroes when I was like 12 years old they were so hilarious better than mash I think especially the monkey episode so funny they dressed him like lebo I love that episode
Comedy gold. Watched this every night at 6 back in the 80s. Currently rewatching it. It's stood the test of time as well as anything. Show finished 9 years before I was born. Shame about bob crane . Werner klemperer as klink has to go down as one of the greatest characters in tv history
Blame CBS. They canceled it in the Rural Purge. In Hogan's Hero's case, they thought that too many rural people, older people watched the show and they wanted to change their image so the show was canceled.
+duhrailed To be fair, 6 seasons is still a very good run for a show. I feel like had it kept going, it probably would have gone downhill and wouldn't be remembered as the classic that it is now. The writing in the series was as good in its final season as it was in its first (arguably better) and not many shows can say that.
Here's a bit of trivia about the opening theme song, Bob Crane is the musician on the drums. Bob demonstrates his drumming on a few episodes, in one episode he's in the mountains with the gang and they try to trigger an avalanche by playing "Cherokee", in another episode he's in the recreation hall on the kettle drums.
Recess is said to be based off of Hogan's Heroes. If you look at the video for Recess' theme song, you see TJ shuffling cards and Gretchen conducting a Chemistry experiment, resembling parts of Hogans Heroes' intro sequence.
A great theme to a great comedy show! It is broadcasted on a station called KDOC at like 2:30AM! If I am up on a weekend, I'll watch it! Thanks for uploading it here!
in 1973 Universal Pictures filed a lawsuit against CBS and Bing Crosby Productions over this show. Because in 1964 they offered CBS a script for a pilot based on their movie STALAG 17. CBS turned it down but a year later came out with HOGANS HEROES.
Nope, that’s an urban legend/rumor, he recorded it for at least one album, but did not play the tv show. According to records at the Library of Congress: Carol Kaye, electric bass; Jack Sperling, Dick Berk, drums. (Soundtrack Personnel)
Sad that it didn’t have a good ending cause CBS has to cancel the show cause of the Ratings drop They should have still continued the show despite the massive drop of ratings.
Thanks Graceclaw. I knew that there was some connection. As a side note, I worked with a man for several years who had been a prisoner for 3 years in Buchenwald.It makes history change and become believable when you hear it firsthand. Again, thank you for your reply.
