A quick Look at TV: HOGAN'S HEROES

   In the 60's, situation comedies had a sort of "anything goes" mentality. Thus, a slew of oddball shows ranging from I Dream Of Jeannie to My Mother The Car, The Munsters to My Living Doll. It is generally agreed that the single strangest sitcom premise belonged to the popular Hogan's Heroes. Hogan's Heroes took place in a Nazi P.O.W. camp, where the Allied prisoners were secretly running a spy ring which smuggled people out of Germany, relayed information to spies, conducted the occasional sabotage operation, and generally kept an eye on the enemy. Bob Crane was perfectly cast as senior POW Col Robert Hogan, who kept the whole thing together. The show was seemingly* based in part on the 50's drama STALAG 17, from which the character of guard Sgt. Shultz was borrowed and morphed into John Banner's lovable quasi-soldier who frequently ignored Hogan's schemes in order to stay out of trouble with the high command. (*The similarities to the feature film are said to be coincidence, but the film's producers reportedly took legal action against the CBS series. The case was settled out of court.) Werner Klemperer was a talented character actor who will forever be remembered as the big-mouthed Kommandant Col. Wilhelm Klink. He and Hogan were frequent intellectual sparring partners, though any victories on Kilnk's part were imaginary. A top cast was assembled, and really too much can't be said about them. The show had a bit of everything. It was a comedy, a war show, a spy series, and adventure show, etc. It was still wildly popular when the show was yanked in order for the network to appear fresh and hip, a victim of the "rural purge" which still plagues a lot of television to this day. Richard Dawson, who plays slight-of-hand expert Newkirk, would go on to be the heart-throb of afternoon television via his placement on Match Game. After some years, Dawson left that show to host his own game show, Family Feud. Bob Crane, sadly, is likely to be more remembered in the long run for his scandalous death. He made friends with a man who got Crane heavily involved in filming pornography. When Crane decided that he'd had enough and tried to sever ties, the man killed him. It's a sad end for one of the most talented comic actors ever on television.