From left: John Banner as Sergeant Schultz, Bob Crane as Colonel Hogan, and Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink.
‘Hogan’s Heroes’ returns on DVD
From left: John Banner as Sergeant Schultz, Bob Crane as Colonel Hogan, and Werner Klemperer as Colonel Klink.
HOLLYWOOD - CBS’ 1965-71 TV sitcom “Hogan’s Heroes’’ revolved around a slick American colonel and his colorful band of fellow prisoners at a Nazi POW camp during World War II. Every week, these wily prisoners made dummkopfs of their German captors.
Ironically, the series was originally set in a US prison.
“Hogan was going to be captain of the guards,’’ says producer Al Ruddy, who created the show with Bernard Fein. “Klink was going to be a warden. Hogan was an enlightened penologist. He ran a happy prison, and everyone was content.’’
But Ruddy and Fein couldn’t sell it to the networks.
“No sponsors wanted to bring you a night in jail,’’ Ruddy says.
About three months later, while the two were trying to salvage the series, Ruddy came up with the idea of setting it in a German POW camp. This time around, the concept quickly sold.
And the sitcom, which aired on Fridays, was an instant success.
“The next thing I know I get calls from every studio about ideas,’’ says Ruddy, who went on to produce the Oscar-winning 1972 classic “The Godfather.’’
All six seasons of the series arrived on DVD last week in the 28-disc “Hogan’s
Extras include a new interview with Richard Dawson, best known as the kissing host of “Family Feud,’’ who played the cockney Corporal Peter Newkirk; a segment of the old variety series “Hollywood Palace,’’ featuring the cast of “Hogan’s Heroes,’’ and an extended version of the pilot episode, “The Informer.’’
Bob Crane, whose kinky sex life and murder were chronicled in Paul Schrader’s film “Auto Focus,’’ played the charmingly brilliant Colonel Robert Hogan, who was always scheming to outwit the Nazi brass at Stalag 13, including the officious but clueless Colonel Wilhelm Klink (Werner Klemperer) and thick-headed Sergeant Schultz (John Banner).
Besides Newkirk, Hogan’s heroes included Sergeant Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), Sergeant Carter (Larry Hovis), and Corporal LeBeau (Robert Clary).
The series received three Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy series. Crane earned two nominations for lead actor and Klemperer received back-to-back Emmys in the supporting category.
“Hogan’s Heroes’’ garnered controversy from some quarters for making light of World War II, but defenders of the show noted that several of the cast members were Jewish, including Klemperer. Banner had fled Europe because of the Nazis, and Clary had been in a concentration camp in World War II.
“ ‘Hogan’s Heroes’ lasted longer than the war,’’ said Dawson. “Our producer, Edward H. Feldman, he was just the dearest man. He never allowed blood, violence. You never saw someone being shot. You never saw someone being blown up.’’
The cast, Dawson said, was like a family. Clary lives near Dawson in Beverly Hills.
“We became very good friends,’’ says Dawson. “John Banner was a dear man. He used to come home with me and play with my boys.’’
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
