When I came home from school, I didn’t watch a whole lot of television, but there were a couple “after-school” shows that I loved. “Gilligan’s Island” was a favorite, and “Get Smart” was another. But my most favorite show was “Hogan’s Heroes“. This show was (and, for many, still is) so incredibly popular that it really needs no introduction at all.
But just in case you grew up in a cave (or still live in one but somehow have an Internet connection), I’ll give a very brief description. “Hogan’s Heroes” is a World War II comedy set in a Prisoner-of-War camp called Stalag 13 in Germany. Colonel Hogan was the highest-ranking U.S. prisoner. Colonel Klink was the bumbling, bad-violinist Commandant of the camp and his sidekick, the even more bumbling Sergeant Schultz, who knew nothing, heard nothing, and saw nothing, was head of the guards.
Hogan and his band of prisoners were actually a link in The Underground, smuggling prisoners out of Germany using an elaborate subterranean complex made up of communications facilities, tunnels, and areas for making German uniforms, explosives, and identification papers. Meanwhile, above ground, Klink and the streussel-loving Schultz bragged about how there had never been a successful escape from the Stalag. Of course, most of the “escapes” involved prisoners the Germans never knew were in the camp.
I loved the show for the absolute absurdity of it. The main tunnel below one of the bunks, the radio sets, the tunnel to the cooler, the tunnel under the dog kennel, the tunnel that opened up in a hollow tree stump outside the camp. The stupidity and ineptness of the Germans (who really didn’t run their Stalags like this one).
It was, for me, just kind of campy and silly, the kind of entertainment that I loved growing up. I’m making a big deal about the show because it’s star actor, Bob Crane was born on July 13, 1928. Crane started his career in radio, and eventually played some bit parts in “The Twilight Zone” and “The Dick Van Dyke Show“. But it’s “Hogan’s Heroes” that, without question, defined Crane’s acting legacy. When the show ended after six seasons, Crane’s roles in front of the camera never really matched up to the popularity of Colonel Hogan.
Bob Crane was probably a versatile actor, but no actor was any more identified with his character than Crane was with “head prisoner in a goofy P.O.W camp.”
Happy Birthday Bob Crane!!
Recommended Viewing: Every season of Hogan’s Heroes is available for purchase. So watch an episode and laugh along with me.
