Scott Kimball
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Hogan's Heroes - The Second Season
Studio: Paramount
Year: 1966 - 1967
Rated: NR
Length: 12 hours, 42 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 4:3
Audio: Mono
Closed Captioned
Special Features: Two Audio Commentaries, Archival video and audio from multiple sources
Suggested Retail Price: $39.99 USD
Release Date: September 20, 2005
Season two of Hogan’s Heroes continues the laughs with the ragtag band of World War II POWs. Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane) and his gang (Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon and Larry Hovis) devise hilarious plots and schemes aimed at the German war machine, and launched under the noses of Stalag 13’s commandant, Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer). Of course, Klink’s bumbling sidekick, Sergeant Schultz (John Banner) seems to help the allies more than his commanding officer.
This five disc set comes in double thinpacks and contains all 30 episodes of season two. The producer for the DVD set is Paul Brownstein, who has tracked down and included a nice bunch of extras for season two.
Episode List
Disc One: Hogan Gives a Birthday Party, The Schultz Brigade, Diamonds in the Rough, Operation Briefcase, The Battle of Stalag 13, The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz, Hogan Springs
Disc Two: A Klink, A Bomb And A Short Fuse, Tanks for the Memory, A Tiger Hunt in Paris (Part 1), A Tiger Hunt in Paris (Part 2), Will The Real Adolf Please Stand Up?, Don’t Forget to Write, Klink’s Rocket
Disc Three: Information Please, Art For Hogan’s Sake, The General Swap, The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery, Praise The Fuhrer And Pass The Ammunition, Hogan and the Lady Doctor
Disc Four: The Swing Shift, Heil Klink, Everyone Has A Brother-In-Law, Killer Klink, Reverend Kommandant Klink, The Most Escape-Proof Camp I’ve Ever Escaped From
Disc Five: The Tower, The Top Secret Top Coat, Colonel Klink’s Secret Weapon, The Reluctant Target; Special Features
The Transfers
I viewed three episodes at random for this review.
Season two of Hogan’s Heroes was broadcast in color for the entire season. These 4:3 transfers look very similar in quality to the previous season. The episodes have light grain, and are very slightly soft - though they maintain acceptable sharpness and detail throughout. The picture is bright and colorful, with good saturation. Strong black levels maintain most detail in the shadows.
I’m impressed with the quality of the source print, which, while it exhibits some mild dust and scratches, looks very good for its age.
Audio is in the original mono. Frequency response is good. Dialog is consistently clean and clear. A very slight background hiss from the original recordings can be heard at times, at high volume levels.
Overall, this 40 year old show comes across very nicely on DVD, with a nice, colorful transfer and a faithful mono soundtrack.
Special Features
After a complete lack of special features for the season one set, CBS has provided a nice collection for season two.
Commentaries
Hogan Gives a Birthday Party - Patricia Crane
This commentary is all about reminiscing. Crane does talk a bit about her landing the role, and her relationship with the cast.
Art for Hogan’s Sake - Robert Clary
Clary is animated in this commentary, giving some nice tidbits about this episode which featured his character.
Gag Reel - Edited by Bob Crane (5:28)
A good collection of gags, jokes and bloopers. Some of the source quality is pretty poor, but it’s funny nonetheless.
Patricia and Bob Crane Wedding Film (7:18)
Color film footage of the Crane wedding, which took place on a soundstage next to the Hogan set. This includes a commentary by Patricia Crane.
Bob’s 8mm Home Movies on the Hogan Set (5:58)
These are behind-the-scenes silent movies from Bob Crane’s private collection, with commentary by Patricia Crane. An example of the tidbits revealed in the commentary - the Stalag 13 set was next to the Gomer Pyle Marine Barracks set, which was next to the Mayberry set.
CBS Promo 1 (:25)
A brief promo featuring Colonel Klink
CBS Promo 2 (1:28)
A longer promo featuring John Banner, who steps into character only at the end.
Jell-o / Dream Whip Commercial with Carol Channing (2:21)
Carol Channing joins the prisoners of Stalag 13 for dessert.
The Leslie Uggams Show (2:20)
A short clip featuring Bob Crane, Robert Clary, Larry Hovis, Werner Klemperer and John Banner.
The Lucy Show - “Lucy and Bob Crane” 1966 (2:36)
Bob Crane’s guest appearance on The Lucy Show. Two clips - one also with John Banner.
“Air Force Now” Hogan’s Cast Segments (1:28)
Bob Crane US Air Force Recruitment Spot 1 (1:07)
Bob Crane talks to the girls...
Bob Crane US Air Force Recruitment Spot 2 (1:02)
Bob Crane recruits the nurses...
Bob Crane Radio Material
-1965 Bob Crane, Richard Dawson and Chad Everett on KNX (16:13)
This excerpt from “The Bob Crane Show” was broadcast just after the “Hogan’s Heroes” pilot was filmed.
1967 Armed Forces Radio Show - Bob Crane
-With: Werner Klemperer (2:52)
-With: Richard Dawson and Larry Hovis (2:03)
-With: Robert Clary (1:29)
-With: Sigrid Valdis (Patricia Crane) (1:40)
Final Thoughts
I’m only a casual fan of this series, but for fans, I would say this is a “must buy.” Nice transfers and a nice selection of special features (totaling over thirty minutes of archival video, over 24 minutes of archival audio, plus two commentaries) make this a good value.
