(This review was written for the release of HOGAN'S HEROES THE COMPLETE SERIES on DVD) It seems odd to post the title fond memories when discussing a show that takes place in a concentration camp. It also shows how times have changed. When HOGAN'S HEROES first aired on CBS in 1965 I was just 8 years old. I don't remember any outrage over a series that took place in that location not to mention that it was a comedy as well. And this was at a time when those who were viewing it were more likely than not to have either served during WWII or had family who did so. I don't think there was any outrage concerning this show until years later when it came out on DVD and people claimed it was disrespectful. It seems out skin has thinned over the years rather than toughen.But for those of us who watched the show each week it was a hilarious series that brought forth not just memorable characters but some great catch phrases that are still used to this day, even if those using them have no clue where they came from. "I know nuh-think!" was heard each week from Sgt. Schultz. I can hear him saying it in my head while typing these words. That's the lasting impression of this series.HOGAN'S HEROES, for those who don't know, took place in a concentration camp during WWII and followed the exploits of a group of prisoners who used the camp as a location for their covert missions in Germany. Under the nose of camp Commandant Klink (the great Werner Klemperer), Col. Hogan (Bob Crane) and his men had an entire business beneath the camp in a series of tunnels that had to be seen to be believed. Everything from tailors to mapmaking took place there. Each week Hogan and his men would sneak out of camp via their tunnels, wreak havoc on the Germans and return in time for roll call.Klink, monocle firmly planted, would chastise Hogan and his men for thinking they could get away with some minor infraction in the camp while all the while they were doing things like blowing up bridges at night. Sgt. Schultz (John Banner), the main guard in the prison, would try to tell the men not to do anything to get him in trouble but at the same time was more friend than foe to them all.There were standouts among the men who were in the prison as well. Richard Dawson played Cpl. Newkirk before the show ended and he took over as the host of FAMILY FEUD for years. Cpl. LeBeau (Robert Clary) was the Frenchman on the team and later had parts on various soap operas. Sgt. James "Kinch" Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon) went on to become a notable director of numerous TV series. And Sgt. Andrew Carter (Larry Hovis) stayed with comedy starring on TV's LAUGH-IN. Each of these actors nailed their parts perfectly and when combined in this series made it what it was. As a youngster this was my first exposure to a show that featured a team as opposed to a single star.The series has been available in DVD for several years now with each season getting its own box. Now CBS/Paramount has released the entire series in one mega-set for a low price. I've seen some say they could do better with each season but in checking I've found those priced around $18 so for all six seasons you're talking $108. Right now amazon list this mega-set at just $53. Not only that you'll have the entire series in one box rather than 6, something that somehow always results in my being unable to find one or another when I go looking.I'm glad to see CBS/Paramount doing this with a number of their series. I wrote about MISSION IMPOSSIBLE earlier and loved the fact that I could now have all of the series in one place at an affordable price for my collection. As for fitting on my shelf it makes it so much easier this way than several boxes. Is there a lack of extras? I don't doubt it but not enough to make it a problem. As for myself I've gotten tired of movies/series that offer more time on extras than the original product itself. With so much to watch who has time? Not only will you save money in buying this set you'll also find yourself laughing at many of the antics that made you howl years ago. Some might not be near as funny as when you were 10 but others will make more sense now and give you a different reason to laugh. And at the end try not to find a reason to be insulted by this. There is no doubt that concentration camps were nothing to laugh at. But with shows like this it was the absurdity of the situation that played part and parcel with the laughs that took place. It was showing a former enemy as incompetent rather than a threat. It was about making people laugh. And this show was good at doing just that.

Anyone over the age of 70 today, 2015, and most educated people of any age, myself included, (I am not calling you uneducated Mr. Washington) would have a very difficult time finding any humor vis-á-vis WWII POW camps, Hitler, Nazis, etc. The ridiculous plot lines, the prisoners come and go as they please, is so far fetched there is no humor in it. I have a terrific sense of humor, so that's not the case why I have this opinion. Even making the Nazis look like a bunch of bumbling, neurotic idiots, which they were a far cry from, just doesn't cut through the horrors of a war in which I lost an Uncle in 1944 (I wasn't born yet). John Banner's I KNOW NO-TINK! line is silly, not even campy-funny. The show makes me nauseous. Ivan Dixon deserves far more accolades than he got, he was the best actor on the show, it's unfortunate he had to even be involved with his immense talent and good looks could have been put to better use elsewhere.** Edited in a few hours later: After reading many many other reviews, it seems I am in the minority. OK, But "Funniest Show Ever?" WHAT? Paraphrasing one review, sums up my take: Some things are just not funny. And I stand by that. And why was it always winter, with Eucalyptus trees in the background? Talk about a goof...

"Hogans Heroes" has just returned to UK television showing on the Forces TV satellite channel after a long period of absence from British television. First shown back in the 1960's I loved the show when I was a kid & it seems just as funny to me after all these years. It remains funny because, like Phil Silvers "Bilko" for instance, it was extremely well scripted & acted. Set in a WW2 POW camp it stars the excellent BobbCrane as the senior prisoner officer Colonel Hogan. Great too are Werner Klemperer as the bumbling camp commandant Colonel Klink & John Banner as prison guard Sergeant(I know nothing, NOTHING)Schultz. Regular guests were Leon Askin as the spiteful General Burkhalter & Howard Caine as Gestapo Officer Major Hochstetter. Both are excellent & usually give Colonel Klink a hard time. It also regularly features a bevy of gorgeous gals usually as secret agents like Nita Talbot, Arlene Martel & Victoria Carroll. Nita Talbot was in seven episodes playing a sexy Russian spy named Marya who was always a pleasure to watch & especially good, in my opinion. Two more regular beauties on the show were Sigrid Valdis & Cynthia Lynn playing Klink's secretaries Hilda & Helga respectively. At bottom line it is a really brilliant micky-take of Nazi Germany which it lampoonsvmercilessly. My only criticism about this sitcom is that the prisoners seem to be having such a great time during their incarceration that if life in a POW camp was half as much fun as this no-one would ever bother to try to escape! As another reviewer has said, "it would have Adolf Hitler turning in his grave!". If he got the chance he would have had the entire cast & crew lined up against a wall & machine-gunned!.

"Why would anybody make a comedy about a WWII prison camp?"Because the best way to fight evil, especially a snobby evil like Nazism, is to make fun of it.Suppose some high-ranking Nazi--let's say Heinrich Himmler, head of the Gestapo--could be magically brought forward in time and shown one film about World War II... If he saw a serious documentary or drama about the war, one that played up how fierce and cruel and efficiently nasty the Gestapo were, he'd be very proud of his organization. But if he saw an episode of "Hogan's Heroes"--especially one that features Major Hochstetter being fierce/cruel/Gestapo-nasty, with the studio audience laughing their heads off--he'd probably burst a blood vessel!"Hogan's Heroes" is a situation comedy about a group of POWs whose insanely complicated undercover ops always involve fooling their stuffed-shirt kommandant. It doesn't make fun of real POWs or what they went through; if anything, it glamorizes them quite a bit. What it does do is make fun of people who think they're superior. Sure, it overplays how ridiculously silly the Germans were and how much damage the POWs could do (without getting shot), but exaggeration is the essence of comedy. Would "I Love Lucy" or "Gilligan's Island" be funny if only realistic things happened?Granted, the basic plots can get pretty predictable--the heroes have to smuggle something or someone out of camp/out of Germany, or their operation is in danger of being discovered, or they have to sabotage something or save Klink/Schultz from the Russian front. Many episodes do have clever plot twists, but on the whole I give the plot quality a 7 out of 10.The scripting, on the other hand, gets 10 out of 10. It's consistently stellar over the 168 episodes, with unforgettable lines like "I see nothink!", "Why is it, Kleenk, that you are always happier to see me than I am to see you?", "Love your barbed wire", and Major Hochstetter's two favorite remarks: "What is this man doing here?!?" and "BAAAH!"The acting was fairly good, 9/10 overall; the regulars and recurring characters tended to be better than a lot of the one-shots. A few of the actors deserve special mention: John Banner (Sergeant Schultz) gets 10 out of 10. He was one of the world's great comic actors, and "Hogan's Heroes" couldn't have existed without him. Larry Hovis (Carter) also gets 10 of 10. Not only is Carter one of the world's cutest dumb guys, in my opinion, but his Hitler impersonation is the best in TV history! Howard Caine (Major Hochstetter) provided something sorely needed on this slightly overoptimistic show--a dangerous Nazi. If it weren't for the intercom in the coffeepot, Hochstetter would have uncovered the heroes' operation several times over. And let's not forget Ivan Dixon (Kinchloe)! One year before Lt. Uhura, he became TV's first black communications officer.Hogan's Heroes is a very funny, family-friendly situation comedy about outwitting "superior" bureaucrats, keeping your sense of humor in tough situations, and never giving up--especially when a job is impossible.