HOGAN'S HEROES – a comedy spy WW II TV series

“Hogan’s Heroes” was a comedy series in the US from 1965 to 1971. But it was a spy, espionage and sabotage show as well – with plenty of violence.   It was based on a group of prisoners of war in World War II who were assigned to Stalag 13.  On this show, spy missions rule!  Decoding this show, we will show you why!

Dan and Tom tunnel their way into this series by looking at the characters, the actors who played them, and many of their missions. And yes, “Hogan’s Heroes” is a bit dated with some of its portrayal of Germans and women, but we still think it holds up today.  We talk about the German roots of some of the key people involved with the series and what Werner Klemperer required of the show for him to take on the role of Colonel Klink.  Klemperer was born in Germany and he had a specific demand.

We also include clips from the show to highlight our points and bring fun to it as well.

With the lunatics running the asylum, there are some classic lines in the series.

Some Hogan's Heroes Influencers

Some of the episodes we decode have ties to real-world events or other movies. For instance, did you listen to our episode THE HEROES OF TELEMARK-DECODED? Well, one of the “Hogan’s Heroes” episodes had roots in the underlying mission portrayed in the movie THE HEROES OF TELEMARK.  We tell you which one.

Another episode of Hogan’s Heroes had similarities to the 1946 Sherlock Holmes movie, DRESSED TO KILL.

Other episodes paid homage to TV game shows that were popular at the time.

And what did synthetic fuel have to do with the war and this series?

So, take a listen to hear about these and many more fun facts about this comedy spy series.

Tell us what you think

Have you watched “Hogan’s Heroes”?  What did you think? Is it a spy series?

Let us know your thoughts, ideas for future episodes, and what you thought of this episode. Just drop us a note at [email protected].  The more we hear from you, the better the show will surely be!  We’ll give you a shout-out in a future episode!  

You can check out all of our CRACKING THE CODE OF SPY MOVIES podcast episodes on your favorite podcast app or our website. In addition, you can check out our YouTube channel as well.  

Episode Webpage: https://bit.ly/4dzxDSG