Customer Reviews

Hogan's Heroes - The Complete 2nd Season

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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!

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.

I watched just four episodes of "Hogan's Heroes - Second Season" last night, and I must say what I have viewed already convinces me the show has lost none of its charm since I first saw it, way back in 1966. Even my 16 year old daughter was pleading to watch more of the zany antics from the cast of Stalag 13; she couldn't stop laughing.

I too was amazed -- after not having seen the syndication of the show in over 20 years -- at how good Werner Klemperer, Bob Crane, John Banner et al really were; they were such comedic geniuses. Their timing and acting was so convincing, no matter how farcical their schemes. Moreover, the concept of Hogan's Heroes was in itself a clever premise for satirising the Nazis.

All of the shows have been digitally remastered, albeit pan and scan format. The sound is in Dolby 5.1 (mono). Only the filmlet extras, i.e. the gags, Bob Crane-Sigrid Valdis' wedding, Jello/DreamWip commercial with Carol Channing, Leslie Uggums appearance, Air Force recruitment ommercials and two promo spots with Gary Moore-John Banner and the entire cast, are in their original condition. There are also a number of radio interviews. Nevertheless, they are wonderful additions of the show for fans.

With so much jocularity going for it, I can't wait to watch the other episodes on this 5-DVD set, which incidentally is packaged in three slim DVD cases. There's also a nice synopsis of each show on all of the cases. Based on the few shows I've seen of "Hogan's Heroes: Season Two" I've already placed my order for "Hogan's Heroes: Season One", and quite possibly "Hogan's Heroes: Season Three".

The programme was, and remains, absolutely hilarious! "Hogan's Heroes: Season Two" is one hearty laugh after the after...a genuine feel-good show for the whole family.

30 fun episodes of Hogan and his men outwitting the Nazi's at every turn, often using the Germans against themselves. I don't think a new show out today would survive using this format but Hogan's Heroes will be around for years to come. If you've got season one, or you just remember watching episodes on TV you already know that somehow the writers managed to take a serious subject and get laughs out of it, often while simultaneously tackling serious topics.
Hogan and the gang are always pulling something over on the Nazi's, Sgt. Schultz often in on it even though he doesn't want to be. #1 "Hogan gives a Birthday Party" is a good example the way the gang uses a German bomber to bomb their target, along the way kidnapping the General who was so sure he knew how Hogan's mind operated (and taking Schultz along for the ride). #13 "Art for Hogan's sake" is another example of this with Burkhalter having stolen a French painting to give to Herman Goering. LeBeau steals it on impulse and Hogan figure out a way to get to Paris (telling Klink that LeBeau destroyed the painting)to have a forgery done to replace it. Schultz gets pulled into that one too, and all the higher ups get fooled.
#1 has a commentary by Patricia Crane, "Sigrid Valdis"/"Hilda" this season, while #13 has one by Robert Clary. These are interesting enough (and run almost constantly through each episode) but I found myself having a hard time watching the episode and listening to the commentary (while it's running the show dialog is muted)at the same time, you may want to shut your eyes to the program and just listen to the commentaries.
Disc 5 has the real value in the extras with some old home movies Bob Crane shot on set (worth the most for Patricia Crane's commentary), a blooper reel set up by Bob Crane himself (It's faded and scratchy, obviously not restored), the Crane's studio sponsored (and filmed at the studio) wedding, a couple of commercials(too bad today's actors won't do such things, these are fun), two or three TV appearances (even better condition on these than the show itself) and some other items including a couple in which Bob Crane, as Hogan, did some Air Force recruitment bits- these two were aimed at women which I found to be very interesting.
Only three more months until Season three comes out, I hope it's as good as this set.

Hogan is back for season two and as funny as ever. The bonus features are wonderful and you'll appreciate the out takes and 8mm film. Bob Crane is wonderful as the never too serious Col. Hogan, Robert, E. #0876707 (a serial number shared by other camp 13 pows). Did anybody else catch that? Werner Klemperer as the buffoon Klink is wonderful. Klemperer would later appear on the short lived but very under rated "The Pat Sajak Show" where he gave Sajak a monacle. It was beautiful, shiny, gold, presented in a very nice leather jewel box. He also appeared on Cynthia Stevenson's "My Talk Show" also wonderful. If plots and writers seem familiar, they should as some went on to do MASH the tv series. Remember the unexpolded bomb in stalag 13? Remember the same thing in MASH. Slightly different scripts but equally funny. Bless you, Gene Reynolds!! Don't miss Season Two!! Make that, don't miss all sseasons on DVD as they become available. Favorite quotes: Shultz: "You can't shoot a man and send him to the Russian front.......No, they could do it." Hogan: "You never understand women until you're married....then it's too late." And, after Klink tells Hogan he's a prisoner of love, Hogan responds; "Really, how long ya in for?" This one's a keeper. Add it to your collection.

Hogan's Heroes, which probably couldn't even get produced in today's PC world, was superbly written, acted, and photographed. The DVD set features excellent transfers, good sound, and a bounty of extras, all for a reasonable price. What more could you want? By the way, it's pretty darn funny, too. I highly recommend it.

Of course the whole premise of the show is completely implausible and ridiculous. Prisoners of war continually able to dupe their captors and almost single-handedly destroy the German war effort. Stalag 13 often seems to be the center of the Third Reich. Prisoners would have their hapless captors believe that Hitler, Himmler and Goering just happened to be dropping in. Hogan and his cronies go to Paris for days and their absence isn't noticed back at camp. Explosions are constantly taking place in and around Stalag 13 and it doesn't raise an eyebrow as to the source? Ok, so it didn't and couldn't happen, but since when is television about reality? This is still a great show. The cast is outstanding. Especially good are the 3 leads: Hogan, Klink and the famous Sgt. Schultz. All 3 seem to have been born to play those roles and it's difficult to imagine any of them in any other role. Also quite good are Sgt. Carter and Corporal Newkirk. The character of Kinchloe seems to be early political correctness and Lebeau is ok, but doesn't have the gift for accents that make Carter and Newkirk so good. Klink's secretary is strictly eye candy, but very pleasant eye candy, yes? The shows are very well written and often really funny. The opening theme is quite good as is the background music.

"Everyone loves Raymond," "Home Improvement," "Full House," "Dick Van Dyke," "Cosby Show," "Family Ties," "Cheers," "Frasier," "Friends"---all may be good shows in your book, but they are hardly unique, wouldn't you agree? The formula utilized by the likes of the Cosby show, for instance, simply works and that's why we continually are presented with variations of it. But "Hogan's Heroes" is different; unique. (I'm not saying "Frasier" et al are bad shows, mind you, just not as unusually unique.) The comedian Gilbert Gottfried (AF-lac!) has a bit about the the least likely idea to make a sitcom about. Picture this: A Nazi-era German prisoner-of-war camp; allied inmates behind barbed-wire. It's a Comedy! Yeah, right. But somehow it made it into production & now it's getting put out on DVD, finally. I'm not saying it's the greatest sitcom or anything, but it's a vaudevillian incarnation; a treat of the first order, and can be watched again and again---the test of a genuinely whimsical show. ("Family Ties" & "Barney Miller," amongst others, were funny when they were running, but are not at all interesting to me anymore, for instance.) Quite possibly, the thing that saves "Hogan's Heroes" is that it wasn't contemporary when it came out. The plots of this WW2-set show run the gamut of the allied inmates trying to swipe or disable anything of a military nature that passes through the camp, to kidnapping German scientists, blowing up bridges miles from camp, and impersonating German officers in town...as they utilize escape tunnels to leave and return to camp, as well as employing hidden radio transmitters to send and receive coded messages from London, and most importantly play on Camp Kommandant Colonel Klink's gullibility to make him an uwitting partner in some measure, in their exploits. TV programs set in specific historical periods are simply not as easily "dated" as other shows are (think of "Sanford & Son," "Growing Pains; even dramas the likes of "Hill St. Blues"). "M*A*S*H," for instance, is still a great show and, like Hogan's Heroes," is holding up well. Exaggerated characters helps too---think of Hawkeye Pierce's Groucho Marx-inspired one-liners in "M*A*S*H." Colonel Klink likewise is a standout, and is thus (in my opinion at least) the real star of "Hogan's Heroes;" in the same sense that Gracie Allen was more essential than George Burns in making the great Burns & Allen combination successful. Klink's flamboyantly delicious delivery of his oft-repeated (of course, ridiculously untrue) lines, admonishing anyone and everyone that "There has Nev-er been an escape from Stalag 13!" or "This is the toughest POW camp in all of Germany," never get old. Even funnier is when he cannot even finish such lines before being told to shut up by General Burkhalter or other visiting superior officers. While you're at it too, there's another show very much like this one. It was made in the the UK and is called "Allo, Allo." It's also set in WW2 Europe, but this time in a German-occupied French town. Akin to "Hogan's Heroes" the Germans are likewise obtuse while the French resistance attempts to persuade the same unfortunate cafe owner each episode to facilitate their wacky schemes along the lines of Hogan's men. Check out some reviews of it. If your're a fan of "Hogan's Heroes" you'll probably think it a riot; I do. Cheers!

Excellent series, as most that ever watch would know,
my youngest daughter, she's still home with us, loves
the series as well, ended up buying all 6 seasons
colour and presentation is very nicely done, of course
as others have said, more extras would have helped
but it's great to have the gang hard at work again!
G2