Hogan's Heroes

I don't know if a Nazi POW camp is an inherently offensive setting for a sit-com. Stalag 17 had its comedic elements. But I wasn't allowed to watch Hogan's Heroes when I was a kid. My father found it objectionable.

The show's producers obviously saw the problem. It couldn't have been a coincidence that the main Nazi characters were played by Jewish actors. John Banner and Robert Clary had been in concentration camps. Banner was in one before the war and was released because he agreed to leave the country. Werner Klemperer, John Banner and Leon Askin fled Germany and came to the US.

Now a local channel shows two episodes every night at 10. I don't know how I feel about it now. Bob Crane was a right-wing sex addict, but it was an early show to have a Black character. Colonel Klink is terrified of being sent to the Russian Front which might be an acknowledgment that the Soviets did most of the fighting in that war. But the espionage plots don't interest me and I only find Colonel Klink amusing.

A few years ago, there was some talk of a Hogan's Heroes movie. If they ever make one, I hope there won't be any merchandising. No Nazi prison camp play sets with Nazi action figures.