Product Description

HOGAN’S HEROES: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON focuses on a group of American soldiers, led by Colonel Hogan (Crane), who are confined in a Nazi prisoner of war camp called Stalag 13 during World War II. While trapped in Stalag 13, the inmates conduct an espionage and sabotage campaign right under the noses of their warders. Because the Germans, led by the bumbling Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Emmy Award®-winning actor Klemperer), are often gullible, the real strength of Hogan’s men are the elaborate ruses and sometimes dangerous lengths they will go to complete their mission.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3813 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 5
• Dimensions: .85 pounds
• Running time: 762 minutes

Amazon.com
A top 10 show in its first season (a top 20 show in its second), Hogan's Heroes, like Gilligan's Island, got little love from critics during its seven-year run, but it would come to be ranked among TV's guiltiest pleasures. Hogan's Heroes has gotten something of a bad rap. It is not a situation comedy set in a concentration camp. It is, instead, set in a P.O.W. camp, where Col. Hogan (Bob Crane, a former top radio jock, in his star-making role) and his men "trick the dumb Germans," to quote the late Crane's former wife, Sigrid Valdis, in her enlightening commentary on the episode, "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party." While Valdis reveals that the film Von Ryan's Express was a key inspiration for the series, the show seems to takes its cue from Billy Wilder's Stalag 17, with its blend of comedy (albeit more broad than darkly cynical) and espionage action. Though camp commandant Col. Klink (Werner Klemperer, who would win an Emmy for his career-defining role) was, in the words of one character, "a bubble-headed fool," Hogan's Heroes was not quite a burlesque of bad taste.

Seemingly in response to wide-ranging outrage over the show's misunderstood premise (a Mad magazine parody at the time was brutal), there are some bracing dramatic moments that cut through the comedy. In "Operation Briefcase," Hogan is recruited to assist an attempt to assassinate Hitler. Hogan disdainfully tells the German plotter, "It's the least you can do, considering you're the same bunch of guys who put him in business." In the episode "Will the Real Adolf Hitler Please Stand Up?" Hogan explodes at one of his men when he imitates Hitler. "Imitating that nut in Berlin," he fumes. "It's not all that funny." But somehow, Hogan's Heroes is, thanks to Crane and Klemperer ("You talk about two people born to play a part," remarks Valdis), not to mention John Banner as the jowl-cheeked buffoon, Sgt. Schultz, and the rest of the crack ensemble, including real-life concentration camp survivor Robert Clary as LeBeau, Richard Dawson as Newkirk, Ivan Dixon as "Kinch," and Valdis herself, who debuted this season as Klink's secretary, Hilda, she of the scene-stealing tight sweaters and low-cut peasant blouses, and whose chief dialogue consisted of "Col. Hogan to see the commandant." The extras are a retro blast. The most bizarre is a commercial in which Carol Channing is smuggled into the barracks to enjoy a Jello dessert with Hogan and company. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Berlin just called, More Hogan is on the way
Hogan's Heroe's will continue on DVD with the complete second season, this season should consist of the next 30 episodes of the show. Unlike season one however the second season will have some awesome bonus features including episode commentaries, bloopers, rare home movies, and the casts appearances on TV shows, in commercials and the original promos. It seems that Paramount may be changing their ways with their TV shows on DVD sets and start including bonus features like other studios do. Here is a list of the episodes that will be included in this release.

33: Hogan Gives a Birthday Party
34: The Schultz Brigade
35: Diamonds in the Rough
36: Operation Briefcase
37: The Battle of Stalag 13
38: The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz
39: Hogan Springs
40: A Klink, a Bomb and a Short Fuse
41: Tanks for the Memory
42: A Tiger Hunt In Paris (1)
43: A Tiger Hunt In Paris (2)
44: Will the Real Adolf Please Stand Up?
45: Don't Forget to Write
46: Klink's Rocket
47: Information Please
48: Art for Hogan's Sake
49: The General Swap
50: The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery
51: Praise the Führer and Pass the Ammunition
52: Hogan and the Lady Doctor
53: The Swing Shift
54: Heil Klink
55: Everyone Has a Brother-in-Law
56: Killer Klink
57: Reverend Kommandant Klink
58: The Most Escape-Proof Camp I've Ever Escaped From
59: The Tower
60: Colonel Klink's Secret Weapon
61: The Top Secret Top Coat
62: The Reluctant Target

Thanks to TVTome.com for the above list.

Hogan's shenanigans (no spoilers within)
They say that humor is the best medicine for what ails you. They are not kidding. When I need a boost, I plug in Hogan's Hereos and find myself in fits of laughter. I found out from a friend of mind, that the German's actually love this show. Even though the sitcom is not an accurate portrayal of WWII (it was not meant to be), it still serves it's purpose well in providing a humorous look at something that otherwise would be sad. My favorite scenes, with out spoilers, is whenever Le Beau speaks to the dogs and scolds them and gets them to do what he needs them to do. One time, Le Beau sent the dogs away saying that it was not time for him to be found yet. Another good scene is when Kinchloe impersonates a German Kommandant. Richard Dawson even had the chance of doing a very bad impersonation of Klink over the phone to give orders to the gate guards. It was hillarious. All truth being told, I'd have to rate the entire series as 10 stars. I saw it way back when, and saw it now, it still pops a gut! I would have to admit that my telling of the funny parts is not so funny. So, give it a try, I am sure you'll love it!

Captives with a Captive Audience
Season Two picks up where Season One left off. The only significant change was that Sigrid Valdis joined the cast permanently as Klink's secretary. Valdis guest starred in an earlier Season One episode. One of the things that makes Season Two so enjoyable is that there are no significant changes in plot or characters. Hogan and his men continue to foil the Nazis while at the same time protecting Klink from being sent to the Eastern Front.

By its second season, HOGAN'S HEROES lost its top ten spot in the ratings, but maintained a very respectable position in the top 20s. This was no easy feat for a World War Two sitcom. John Banner is just as loveable as Sergeant Schultz. During the second season there was increased professioal rivalry between Banner and Klemperer in each episode. In the end, Schultz, even when he is in the background of a shot, always steals the scene with his boyish expressions.

True to all Season Two DVD releases, HOGAN'S HEROES boasts special features including home movies taken on the set with narration by Sigrid Valdis. There are also some promotional spots by Klemperer and short clips of cast appearances on other shows. Additionally the opening DVD selection menu has more graphics and sound effects. The quality of the DVD release is exceptional.

Realize too that this show is 40 years old. Its historical setting makes the sitcom timeless. HOGAN'S HEROES continued its Bing Crosby Production schedule at Desilu studios and the outdoor lot adjacent to Gomer Pyle and Mayberry. Note too that most of the outdoor episodes are supposed to be taking place in the wintertime. For the most part the series succeeds in portraying cold climate with oily gray smoke coming from metal chimneys, white powder scattered on the ground and sometimes on the foliage, and actors clasping themselves as if they were in freezing cold. However, lush green deciduous vegetation in the background betrays a warmer climate.

Yes, HOGAN'S HEROES does have a laughtrack. The laughtrack is the same as used in most Desilu/Paramount hosted television series. The same laughtrack was used until M*A*S*H ended its television run. Not bad for recorded laughter. You also have to admit that most multi-set and outdoor sitcoms fared better when equipped with laughtracks. Remember how HAPPY DAYS slipped downhill after they began including a studio audience?

HOGAN'S HEROES is a television show that you can watch over and over again. The fact that the show ran for six years, when all seasons are eventually released, guaranties that you will not grow tired of the episodes.