SEEMINGLY having been around forever, it was a real surprise when we saw an episode of HOGAN'S HEROES (Bing Crosby Productions/CBS Television Network, 1964-71) which we hadn't ever seen. It must have been about two years ago on Channel 23, WMEE TV, here in Chicago.
FIRST surprise was this pilot was shot in glorious Black & White; being the only one of the HOGAN Show's ½ hour weekly installments to be so rendered. This was during the period when Color Filmed shows were not necessarily the rule of thumb; but ever increasingly the old, reliable black & white, silver screen standard was becoming a sort of endangered species.
SEEING a first show for the first time, after one has already been familiar with the series is a strange sensation; the reason being that characters aren't static. They develop and evolve during the course of a series run. None remains exactly the same as they seemed at their inception.
THIS episode, entitled "The Informer" (No Schultz, Victor McLaglen isn't in it!), pretty much sets up the who, what, where, why and when for the duration; but definitely not the how of the operations that the P.O.W. inmates of Stalag 13 pull off each and every week. The series, even then, always seemed to veer between the serious and the farcical; the commando raids and the inmates' shenanigans.
SERIES casting seemed to have been practically complete, that is almost. From the very start we had Bob Crane (Hogan), Werner Klemperer (Commandant, Colonel Klink), John Banner (Sgt. Schultz), Robert Clary (LeBeau), Richard Dawson (Newkirk), Ivan Dixon (Kinchloe), Larry Hovis (Carter) and Leon Askin (Gen. Burkhalter).
PERHAPS the biggest surprise to any viewer, such as we were was the inclusion of a Russian P.O.W. called Vladimir Minsk; being portrayed by Hollywood veteran character actor, Leonid Kinsky!
INCLUDING a Rusky in the roster of characters was a logical move; one that would certainly add to whatever historical accuracy that was present. They already had included the characters of LeBeau (French) and Newkirk (English); tacitly admitting that the United States did not win the eventual victory all by itself.
THE uniforms also, for example are generally accurate: be they any Allied or Axis types. What few vehicles that are shown do look the part; but we figure that was most likely due to their paint rather than their company of manufacture. We could swear that one German truck was a Ford, not a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW (both German companies, Schultz!).
ALTHOUIGH the Russian character was meant to be a regular, he appeared in only this ice breaking installment. Sadly, right after this Pilot was finished, Mr. Kinsky announced that he was out of the project. Being that he reasoned that a weekly sitcom about a World War II German Military Prison Camp on Television, American or what ever have you, just wouldn't go over with the public; Mr. Kinsky dropped out.
IN the final analysis, when all was said and done; HOGAN'S HEROES lasted seven years, a full year longer than World War II. You were wrong, Leonid! POODLE SCHNITZ!!
FIRST surprise was this pilot was shot in glorious Black & White; being the only one of the HOGAN Show's ½ hour weekly installments to be so rendered. This was during the period when Color Filmed shows were not necessarily the rule of thumb; but ever increasingly the old, reliable black & white, silver screen standard was becoming a sort of endangered species.
SEEING a first show for the first time, after one has already been familiar with the series is a strange sensation; the reason being that characters aren't static. They develop and evolve during the course of a series run. None remains exactly the same as they seemed at their inception.
THIS episode, entitled "The Informer" (No Schultz, Victor McLaglen isn't in it!), pretty much sets up the who, what, where, why and when for the duration; but definitely not the how of the operations that the P.O.W. inmates of Stalag 13 pull off each and every week. The series, even then, always seemed to veer between the serious and the farcical; the commando raids and the inmates' shenanigans.
SERIES casting seemed to have been practically complete, that is almost. From the very start we had Bob Crane (Hogan), Werner Klemperer (Commandant, Colonel Klink), John Banner (Sgt. Schultz), Robert Clary (LeBeau), Richard Dawson (Newkirk), Ivan Dixon (Kinchloe), Larry Hovis (Carter) and Leon Askin (Gen. Burkhalter).
PERHAPS the biggest surprise to any viewer, such as we were was the inclusion of a Russian P.O.W. called Vladimir Minsk; being portrayed by Hollywood veteran character actor, Leonid Kinsky!
INCLUDING a Rusky in the roster of characters was a logical move; one that would certainly add to whatever historical accuracy that was present. They already had included the characters of LeBeau (French) and Newkirk (English); tacitly admitting that the United States did not win the eventual victory all by itself.
THE uniforms also, for example are generally accurate: be they any Allied or Axis types. What few vehicles that are shown do look the part; but we figure that was most likely due to their paint rather than their company of manufacture. We could swear that one German truck was a Ford, not a Mercedes-Benz or a BMW (both German companies, Schultz!).
ALTHOUIGH the Russian character was meant to be a regular, he appeared in only this ice breaking installment. Sadly, right after this Pilot was finished, Mr. Kinsky announced that he was out of the project. Being that he reasoned that a weekly sitcom about a World War II German Military Prison Camp on Television, American or what ever have you, just wouldn't go over with the public; Mr. Kinsky dropped out.
IN the final analysis, when all was said and done; HOGAN'S HEROES lasted seven years, a full year longer than World War II. You were wrong, Leonid! POODLE SCHNITZ!!