My Dad, a WWII and Korean War veteran, hated Hogan's Heroes. He'd leave the room when it came on. The only reason he let us kids watch it was it was a fair trade. He watched every news show and we kids got to watch most any other time. I finally asked him, "Dad, why do you hate a show that makes fun of the Germans and makes them look stupid?" And he shot back, "because they weren't stupid and it wasn't funny."
I read a biography of Rod Serling and he felt the same way as your father. He was a pow and I think suffered from ptsd. I like the show, but I also respect the way these men felt.
"Always winter" means that the characters always wore the same outfit. That was very important in the late 60's because TV screens were small , the costume is usually how you first identified a character on a 10 inch screen. You'll notice that each character wears very distinctive articles of clothing that no other character wears and no two uniforms are even the same color. Even Schultz wear a uniform that is distinctive from the other guards.
@@dbrown6941 So you googled what new models where available in 1965 , unaware that TV's were expensive and that people didn't buy new ones every year, and you saw this as an opportunity to fling feces There are resources to help people with autistic spectrum disorder.
Yeah, you generally only had a “10 inch screen” if you’d bought a small portable TV for a kitchen or bedroom. “Ten inch” was the early 50s. Late 60s norm was 21-25”, and by 1970 few people were still watching black & white.
Also notice, and you may have covered this, but Carter is almost always seen wearing gloves. It's because Larry Hovis refused to take off his wedding ring and it didn't fit in with his character. In a handful of episodes, you can see the ring on his finger. Love this show.
As a kid, the show always seemed to air during winter Sitting in the lounge with the family on a weekend afternoon with the gas heater going, the show's setting felt appropriate The theme song always brings a smile even to this day
My father, who was drafted during Korea, watched Hogan's Heroes, as well as a lot of WWII movies (especially with John Wayne). My mother could not watch anything about WWII, because she had 2 brothers in the war. My father made a point of telling me that life in a Luft Stalag was harsh. A good friend of his (and my first boss) spent over two years in a Luft Stalag (someone in the Underground in the Netherlands was a rat fink and tuned him into the Gestapo). As an officer, my father's friend was always part of a team digging tunnels and plotting escapes.
It always struck me how even in the supposed dead of winter the trees visible in the background were in full leaf! I read somewhere that they switched from fake snow in the earlier episodes to white paint as a cost-savings measure. Given the screen resolution for the time, no one would really notice. The only exceptions, of course, were the episodes where it was supposed to be a blizzard.
Got to remember too... Hogan's Heroes is NOT, repeat is NOT a concentration camp. It is a prisoner of war camp POW for captured military personnel. The two are entirely different. POW run by the Luftwaffe and concentration run by the SS. Another interesting note is Hogan's Heroes Gestapo characters wear SS uniforms in the show. There was a specific reason for this too, but I've eaten too much strudel and forgotten. 😀
That's correct. It was a POW camp and I've been there. It is located by "Bad Orb, Hessen" and still exists Today, however as a Bundeswehr base and off limits to the public. Also enlisted men were separated from officers in different camps and the characters played were close to the real German officers in character.
I love Hogan's Heroes and look forward to every episode even though I've seen them hundreds of times!! Thank you Rick for always bringing hope and encouragement to me every time I watch your videos. You are one special guy!!
A constant winter setting also eliminated any having to make excuses for LeBeau (Robert Clary) always wearing long sleeves to cover his tattooed identification number, A5714, which he received when he was sent to Buchenwald.
Rick, there was at least 1 episode that occurred in Summer, the episode that had Col. Klink put in charge of the German armed forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Wonderful info. Eons ago, I was in an outdoor musical production of TITANIC with 90+++ degrees while wearing flannel/woolen winter outfits. If it wasn't for the neck icepack that I wore, I would have melted away. Ovay!
It's nice to hear that continuity was the reason, rather than what happened on M.A.S.H. There were some arguments with the actors vs the writers, and how their characters were written. After getting a number of script complaints, the writers started getting back at them with a number of harsh dead of winter episodes, in the height of the California summer heatwaves. There were LESS complaints after that.
I've said before and I'll say it again, as a lifelong fan of this show, it bothers me that there wasn't a farewell episode and that, at least part of the set wasn't kept, in situ, to visit on a tour. 😥
@@lazyhomebody1356 HH and ten other shows were killed in the "rural sweep". Because I loved HH so much I would have loved to have written a farewell episode but at a online gathering of so called fans of the show enthusiasm was lacking for a farewell show as well as tour, which made me wonder why people showed up in the first place.
@@The_Dudester Most people are set in their ways,lol. They don't want to see someone new playing the characters. I'm seeing that with the new Harry Potter casting. With all the PC stuff going on today, I bet any show mentioning Nazis and Hi**** would be cancelled- in both meanings of the word
There was an episode where supposedly the war is ending. Everyone is happy except for Major Hochstetter - who is worried about being tried as a war criminal. Schultz and Klink are very happy, and Schultz can't wait to go back to making toys for children. It turned out that the war was not yet ending though.
I watched Hogan's Heroes a lot when growing up and recently started watching again after discovering that a national cable network, shown by one of the local TV affiliates, runs two episodes every weeknight. Thanks for answering this question, I wondered about it. In one episode I saw recently (I wish I could remember which one), the prisoners were outside the wire, probably getting ready to blow up a train or something. It was night, and probably to add to the feeling of being somewhat remote, there were insect noises in the background - crickets, locusts, etc. - even though there was snow on the ground. I found this a rather humorous goof.
Thank you Rick for that word of encouragement. I’m going through a major trial and tribulation that’s testing my faith in ways that I never expected. I need to persevere and keep the Lord first.
I grew up in California during the period in which this series was made. As everyone knows, palm trees are very common in Southern California, but even grow all the way north to the Oregon border and beyond. Anyway, in one episode (and just for a moment) what do I see but the top of a palm tree rising above the barracks. In particular, it was a Mexican Fan Palm. Either the film editor missed it or it was assumed no one in the audience would pick up on it.
As always, a very cool video Rick! I'd like to point out that it's interesting and somewhat unique for a show of that time period to really pay any attention to continuity. That was something that most situation comedies just didn't care about for the most part. And also, the ONLY time that I remember seeing a glaring issue with continuity on Hogan's Heroes was Carter's hair cut lol. I can't remember when but at some point (I think in the earlier years-season 2 perhaps?) Carter appears with a buzz cut. But the very next episode his hair is back to it's "normal" length and then back to short. Other than that, I never remember seeing anything obvious that threw off the continuity.
In episode 1 Larry Hovis was Lt. Carter, one of the escaping prisoners who passed through Camp 13. He returned in episode 2 as Sgt. Carter who remained at Stalag 13 for the rest of the series.
Loved watching this as a child of the 60s. Nita Talbot is the last member of the cast alive, I believe. It was extra special when she made an appearance.
I would never make it as an actor if I had to pretend it was cold outside when it was actually hot. While The Incredible Hulk was on the air, the crew actually went out to the desert in Brawley, and Lou Ferrigno went out there in full makeup, plus ➕ he had to wear shoes while walking across the desert to protect his feet from the burning desert sand. (What those guys went through to film an episode.
Rick, your videos are always appreciated and offer a pleasant detour from the constant negativity, mayhem, and discontent seen presently in the media and in day-to-day life. Thanks for all you do, and hello to Mr.Freeman.
I must admit watching Hogan's Heroes many years ago The trick with it being winter making the Russian front more dangerous sounding did work for me. I wondered at it being continually winter.
Interesting that they went with "always winter" instead of "always summer," which would have been the easier solution for a California shoot. It really worked, though. I don't remember ever questioning whether they were "really" cold as a kid.
I've always suspected that it was largely because the very famous WW2 prison camp Drama "Stalag 17" starring William Holden was set in winter. Hogan's Heroes was obviously very heavily influenced by the earlier movie, including having a senior sergeant for the Germans named Schultz.
Makes me think of "Hill Street Blues" for which the opening has snow along the edges of the (real) Chicago streets, but the actual stories (shot in L.A.) never had a snowy day in five seasons.
Hello Rick, this is fascinating information, I didn't realize that the reason it was always winter at the Hero's was for continuity!!! Thank you also for the message of hope at the end of the video!!! In these trying times it really is helpful!!! 👍👍🙂
Amen! I’m also thanking Rick for that word of encouragement! Right now I’m going through a major trial and tribulation in my life that is testing my faith in different ways that I never expected.
Another program that had weather issues was "Little House on the Prairie". The Simi Valley heat in the summer played hell on the women wearing the heavy layered costumes.
It’s interesting to think how a show like Hogan’s Heroes doesn’t really have a change in weather. Thank you for the video Rick, I hope you’re doing well. Take care!
I always wondered about them opening that tree stump hatch to the tunnel and the snow falling off the lifted part but not the part around the hatch. SOMEBODY has to have noticed a tree stump with a perfect circle of snow removed from the middle and all the footprints leading to/from it!
Agreed. The earlier film was very popular and won an Oscar for William Holden. They even named the German senior sergeant Schultz, an obvious homage to the film.
With the show shot in Southern California there were two aspects they could never fully conceal: even in winter the skies were often cloudless blue, and if one looks in the distance around the camp one can often spot a palm tree.
That's actually pretty cool. Plus, anyone who fought in WWII in Germany probably remembers the winter more than the nicer seasons, and it being winter sort of helps maintain the "mood" that they are in a prison camp and the Germans really are the baddies and it really is a serious situation, officially, although the laugh track kept one in mind that it's a comedy show. But a laugh track plus sun and birds singing would kind of wreck the mood.
Interesting. I remember reading in David Gerrold's "The Making of the Trouble with Tribbles" that the studios' formula was that you needed five seasons in the can to make money in perpetuity through reruns. Cheers!
Just subscribed. Very good video I especially liked the winter explanation. You said it was shot in the early 60s. I knew that was off but less than I thought. Ran from 1965 to 1971. 1965 and 1966 is when most TV shows changed to color. Looking forward to more of your content.
CBS was slow to switch to color because the FCC had chosen RCA's compatible-color system over CBS's non-CC system. ("Compatible color" meant the same signal could be received by color and b&w TVs.) CBS chairman William Paley was pissed about the decision and delayed color programming on CBS for a year or two. This petulant decision cost syndicators tens of millions of dollars in later years, as the audience's appetite for b&w programming ceased to be.
I have to admit, you are one of the more genuinely upbeat RU-vidrs that I subscribe to and it's a refreshing breath of fresh air to get that does of positivity.
I wish there was a way you could find out all those background actors and their names and what happened to them. I know you touched on this in past videos but we never knew who they were or names. Some were in the entire run of the series. Please consider doing it as you're about the only one who could accomplish this. Thanks RN.
Very interesting. I never really noticed this in the show. I’ve read in the tv series M*A*S*H, if one of the directors (Jackie Cooper), was frustrated by one of the cast members (Alan Alda) snotty attitude, he say, “Ok, we’re setting this episode in dead of winter”, just to make Alda uncomfortable.
I don't think people were that concerned about continuity, but what do I know: I never noticed it was always winter. I can certainly believe that it made things seem bleaker.
Because of a solid 9 months of winter and a thin slice of spring in Bavaria. Says the feller from the southern most part of the Tennessee River. That was stationed there in 1968.
The bleakness of winter, reminds me that even though this show was a comedy, it doesn't let us forget the terrible sufferings of the actual, human persecution.
There's an interesting technical, as it were, blooper on an episode shown on METV. Seems to be only on their copy. It is weird when you first start to watch it, something is strange. Then you realize, there's no laugh track. Some how it got left off the transfer. I believe it's titled "An Evening With The Generals" or something close to that. It should be coming up soon in the rotation. Very eerie.
My middle daughter (10) asked me this the other day. We watch this every weekday night in METV. I really don’t know what to say lol. Thank you for this. I’ll show her this video. Thanks Rick!
One thing I have always wondered, yes even as a kid watching this, is why Schultz, who supposedly holds the rank of "Oberfeldwebel" wears a lower-grades shoulderboards, "Unterfeldwebel" with the two pips of the higher grade on them?
I still have a problem with this show. I realize it is not a concentration camp. It is a POW camp. I appreciate the movie Stalag 17--surely the basis for the show. I just couldn't enjoy this. I will stay with I Love Lucy.
It’s supposed to always be cold, with snow everywhere. You always saw snow, you always saw heavy coats, you always saw gloves, you always saw frost on the windows. But there’s one thing you never saw. Their breath. Same thing on MASH. You never saw their breath.
Knowing that this was filmed in California I felt sorry for them having to wear the coats, specially John Banner. Being that overweight and having to wear that winter coat must have been brutal. I'm surprised it didn't cause health issues on set. Of course, maybe they weren't real German Luftwaffe winter coats, but some lighter weight copy.
This makes perfect sense! Unfortunately, the trees did seem to cooperate with the winter vibe being portrayed. It seems that the leaves were always in full bloom.
Watched HHs as a kid and then saw Stalag 17 as an adult. The differences were striking and ultra realistic. All the Germans in HHs were baffoons. S17 depicted real life in a Luft Stalag camp(it wasn't a concentration camp). The commandant was strict and smart. No shenanigans. Filmed in B&W made it more stark. The story goes that Goering advised Hitler that allied airmen must be treated humanely, because German Luftwaffe POWs would be mistreated in retaliation if word of abuse got out.
