Behind the Scenes of HOGAN'S HEROES

HOW THE COMEDY SERIES ABOUT A CLEVER BUNCH OF ALLIED POWS TURNED A TOUGH TOPIC INTO COMEDY GOLD

- Louise A. Barile, reporting by Lindsay Hoffman

Before Hogan's Heroes was cancelled in 1971 after six seasons, Bob Crane, who played Col. Robert E. Hogan, was working on a live version of the TV series called Hogan's Heroes' Review. In addition to comedy skits and music, the show would have revealed what happened to each of Hogan's main characters after the war ended. Sadly, it never materialized.

Sixty years ago, television audiences were introduced to the charming residents of fictional Stalag 13 and their inept camp guardians. “The show focused on the ingenuity of the prisoners and the humor that came from them outwitting their captors,” Brenda Royce, author of Hogan's Heroes: Behind the Scenes at Stalag 13!, tells Closer. “They poked a lot of fun at Hitler too.”