Hogan's Heroes - The Complete First Season

Season one of Hogan's Heroes found all of these elements securely in place and the series balancing farce with suspense. Typical storylines include "Hold the Tiger," in which the boys smuggle a new German Tiger Tank into the camp, disassemble it to construct a blueprint, and then reassemble it under Klink's nose. "The Prisoner's Prisoner" finds Hogan kidnapping a Nazi general, sneaking him into Stalag 13, and tricking him—a la Mission: Impossible--to reveal troop plans. In "The Prince from the Phone Company," one of Hogan's most-trusted confederates, radio operator Kinchloe (Ivan Dixon), disguises himself as an African prince trying to secure money from the Third Reich. Half the fun of these shows is watching Hogan thinking quickly on his feet whenever things start to go wrong, or when one of Klink's more intelligent superiors becomes suspicious that not everything at Stalag 13 is as under control as it seems. Besides Dixon, the other players making up Hogan's elite squad include Richard Dawson as the slightly disreputable Newkirk (with a talent for thievery), Larry Hovis as chemistry whiz Carter, and Robert Clary as the charming LeBeau. --Tom Keogh