Hogan's Heroes was one of the longer running WWII shows. It ran from September 1965 to April 1971. The unlikely premise of a comedy set in a Prisoner of War camp was on the surface, challenge enough to the actors. But given the fact that both John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) and Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) had narrowly escaped the Nazi War Machine themselves and that Robert Clary (Le Beau) had actually been a prisoner of the Nazis in a concentration camp, a whole new respect for the talent of these actors is born.
Hogan's Heroes is still a hugely popular show and is currently showing on TV Land. Surprisingly, it is very popular in Germany today. The show starred Robert Crane as the wiley Colonel Hogan who pulled off many covert operations under the noses of the Germans while in the guise of a prisoner of war. Assisting Hogan were: Corporal Peter Newkirk (played by Richard Dawson), Sgt. Andrew Carter (played by Larry Hovis) Corporal Louis Le Beau (played by Robert Clary) Sgt. Ivan Kinchloe (played by Ivan Dixon) and later Sgt Baker (played by Kenneth Washington)
Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer) and Sgt. Schultz (John Banner) were the resident Nazis of Stalag 13 but there were several recurring roles on the show. Though played for laughs, it was a consistently well written, well acted show.
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