Hogan: "Kommandant, we've been together quite a while, haven't we?" Klink: "Yes we have." "You'd never find an enemy truer than I've been." (Affectionately) "You're tops, Hogan." When I need a little cosy blanket-wrapped rest, nothing cheers or soothes the anxiety or weariness better than a cup of tea and "Hogan's Heroes" (1965-71). In fact, to play on the old title and subject, this WWII-themed comedy series can be your best escape. The show is a constant companion in my fortress of solitude (my island of calm, oasis of tranquility - maybe you get the picture), perhaps mostly because it's consistently funny, reassuringly formulaic, and features likeable heroes who despite all odds manage to put one over on their enemies and obstacles and achieve what may seem to be the unachievable. Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane) leads a group of military Stalag prisoners (played by Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon and later Kenneth Washington, and Larry Hovis) on a special volunteer mission to rescue captured prisoners, carry out secret operations, and slow down Nazi war efforts.
The characters might be camp in profile but everyone has a continuity and nuanced richness to their character and performance that gives this otherwise fantastical series a more endearing quality. It's hugely thrilling with all the excitement of any escape or spy fiction, with plenty of suspenseful events, unexpected turns, and exciting triumphs. It's also hugely funny, in its characterisations, running gags or snappy dialogue, and magical scripted/directed situational humour. The situations - and villains or traitors - sometimes appear rightfully intimidating, terrifying even - realistic. But the show transforms this historic fear into a place of winning possibility, perhaps most visible in the masterful, joyful characterisations of Klink (Werner Klemperer), Hochstetter (Howard Caine), Schultz (John Banner), and Burkhalter (Leon Askin) played by actors who give is a retrospective, empowering ridiculousness against the exciting escapades and subterfuge of Hogan and his boys. All in all, cosy indoors to keep in from the snow, it makes you feel that all can be well, all is well Xo
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