Hogan's Heroes - Part 11

HO--GANNN!!!

• The best and brightest generals are meeting at Stalag 13 (when will the Nazis learn?) The boys decide to "cater" the event with some bomb centerpieces in "An Evening of Generals".
• It's winter at Stalag 13, so the boys are building a snowman--with a tunnel underneath it. At one point, they have to act like the freezing barracks is like a sauna. We even get Hochstedder and Klink covered in snow. Well, "Everybody Loves a Snowman".
• Marya (Nita Talbot) is back, this time with a Nazi general setting a trap for Hogan. A rocket fuel depot (?) is being built right outside of--you guessed it--Stalag 13. Which side is she on? The general (Theodore Marcuse) ends up outsmarting himself, with deadly consequences. Marcuse often played the villain--he was even in "The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz"--despite being awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and a Presidential Unit Citation in real life.
• Carter a traitor? It's just another scam from the Mighty Hogan Art Players. They pose as a secret Gestapo team to kidnap him back from the Nazis. Since they're wearing masks, Kinch even gets a chance to play a bad guy. There's a beautiful double agent, played by German-born Antoinette Bower, who had dozens of TV guest roles from the 60's to the 90's.
• More ties to real-world events--Hogan turns out to have been in the 504th Bomb Group, which was the military unit that dropped the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Of course, Hogan knows NO-Thing about it, since it happened after his current assignment. A Nazi general knows all about their current operation, so they're about to bug out--but Hogan has to know about this "Manhattan Project". There's a rather grisly scene (at least for 60's TV) where the general's aide assassinates him (offscreen, of course). Alan Oppenheimer is the general--he's a familiar face, but better known for his voice work. He's the voice of Skeletor on He-Man, for instance.
• in "Is there a Doctor in the House?", the boys have to get a beautiful underground agent (is there any other kind?) out of Germany. The plan is to put her in Klink's trunk when he goes to town--but unfortunately he's sick. This is another episode that could have come from any sitcom. The girl was Brenda Benet--she had a career in TV guest roles and soap operas. She was married twice--the second to BIll Bixby. They had a child, and when he died suddenly, she went into a depression and committed suicide in 1982.

Cast info:

Sigrid Valdis (Fraulein Hilda) played Klink's second secretary, and did so from season two until the end of the show's run. She was born in California, and after high school spent time modeling in Europe and New York. She married a businessman in the fashion industry, and after the birth of their first child, she decided to become an actress. She was in several films including Marriage on the Rocks and Our Man Flint, and the TV show The Wild Wild West. She had a minor part on a first season Hogan episode, and was offered the HIlda role after Cynthia Lynn left the series. He first husband died in 1967, and she began a relationship with Bob Crane. They were married in 1970, on the set of the show. She left show business after the birth of their son. They had a short separation in 1977, but were together when Crane was murdered in 1978. Outside of work on her son's comedy radio show in the late 90's, she rarely made public appearances after that, and passed away in 2007.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 10

More of Hogan Season 3...

• The boys have to get to a Nazi scientist, so Hogan scams Klink into letting them go into town. There's a great sequence where they put Schultz to sleep with a bit lifted from cartoons. The scientist is in love with the hotel lounge singer, so Hogan plays matchmaker in "How to Win Friends and Influence Nazis".
• Just a general note--while everyone else on the show seems to have one set of clothing--even the Germans--Hogan has a whole wardrobe. Regular and dress uniforms, suits, a trench coat, pajamas, a robe--seems strange a POW would have such a large closet.
• The Nazis are making counterfeit money at Stalag 13 (they always seem to do their dirty work there, don't they?). So they trick one of the technicians with a mocked up recording to take out the operation in "Hot Money".   I love how they use a fake sewing kit as a wire tape recorder. 
• A new prisoner (Paul Picerni) sells out Hogan to Klink (I'm shocked it too so long for it to happen). Hogan uses it as a diversion to take out a secret weapon. Picerni served as a bombadier in WWII, and later was in the case of The Untouchables.
• In yet another coincidence, a French entertainer went to high school with one of Hogan's boys--Kinchloe. He and Hogan are off to Paris, along with Klink who was (conveniently) chosen as "German Soldier of the Month". They have to get secret plans from a general who's a "friend" of the entertainer, played by Barbara McNair. She was a singer and entertainer, with many spots on variety shows including her own series from 1969-72--one of the first black women to host her own series. She passed away in 2007.
• A Russian flyer needs help to get back to Allied territory--unfortunately, he wants to get to Mother Russia instead of England. Cold War-era jokes abound. The Russkie is played by Bob Hastings--another face you would recognize if you ever watched TV. His roles go back to 1949, and currently does voice work for animation and video games.

Cast info:

Cynthia Lynn (Fraulein Helga) played Klink's secretary during the first season of the show. She was born Zinta Zimilis in Latvia. She and her family escaped the Nazis near the end of the war.  She made it to the US in 1950, and was presented as the Hollywood Deb Star Ball in 1962, an event that focused on upcoming female talent. She had minor roles in 1960's and 70's television--never getting a bigger part than the one on Hogan's Heroes. After the first season, she left the show, but did return for two background roles in later seasons.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Star Trek TNG: From Season 2 to Season 3

It's Pulaski's swansong and Crusher's return in this short entry.  Mindy and I are watching TNG together, and she's out of town this week.

• In "Peak Performance", Riker's put in charge of a derelict ship as part of a war game, and it takes Klingon guile and a cheat from Wesley to win. Meanwhile, Data plays Space Stratego and loses, shattering his confidence. It's all Pulaski's fault, and this is the last nail in her character's coffin.
• I mentioned earlier that the final episode of Season 2 was a clip show, due to show costs and the writers' strike that delayed the season.  We've now reached it in "Shades of Gray". Riker is critically injured during an away mission, and is forced to relive bad memories to save him. We see only three sets--the transporter room, a cramped planet set, and sickbay--except in the flashbacks. Almost no additional crew are seen--it's the ultimate "bottle show". At least Pulaski gets a big role in her final episode.
• Season 3 begins with Scrubs' Dr. Kelso (Ken Jenkins) as a stellar scientist. Crusher's return is all about her relationship with Wesley--a year later, he's a lot more independent, and she's not a fan of it. Meanwhile, the ship's computer has gone nuts, and it's all because Wesley screwed up some nanites. The production value of the show--at least the lighting--seems a lot better in this season. It's all in "Evolution".

Season 3 continues next time. Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 9

We're moving onto Season 3 of Hogan's Heroes...

• Allied Command is sending a special expert to destroy a convoy--it's "The Crittendon Plan". Unfortunately, it's the wrong plan--he wants to plant geraniums. Crittendon is just so helpless...
• The Nazis are training on RAF planes, and the boys need to stop them in "Some of Their Planes Are Missing". It's party time for Hogan, who needs an alibi.
• We're finally tying into actual WWII events--in this case, D-Day. The Nazis are making their final plans--at Stalag 13? There's also a deep cover female agent who may no longer be on the good guys' side. Plus, everyone's convinced that Klink will be the new German Chief of Staff. It's "D-Day at Stalag 13".
• Schultz the great lover? Unfortunately for him, he's in love with a Gestapo spy. Unfortunately for her, he knows NO (wait for it) THING. The spy is played by Joyce Jameson--you might recognize her as one of the Fun Girls on the Andy Griffith Show. 
• We're back in Mission: Impossible territory--a British flyer is given a mission to kill Churchhill, or at least his double is. Again, we get the classic double shot with the obvious line in the middle. Lloyd Bochner plays the dual role    --you would recognize his face if you've ever watched TV.  He had hundreds of guest roles from the 1950's to the 2000's.
• Burkhalter's sister is back--this time as Klink's replacement secretary. Hogan scams Klink that she's a Gestapo spy, so he has to woo her. The boys also take out the real spy.

Cast info:

Kenneth Washington (Sgt. Baker) was Ivan Dixon's replacement in the last season of Hogan's Heroes. There is scant biographical information on Washington--born 1946, had several guest roles in 1960-70's crime shows (Dragnet, Adam-12, Police Story) and sitcoms (My Three Sons, I Dream of Jeannie, Petticoat Junction), as well as a cameo on Star Trek. His last role was on A Different World in 1989, although he is apparently still alive. 

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 8

Let's wrap up Hogan Season 2...

• Newkirk gets drafted into the German army--and Stalag 13--while working in a war plant the boys are trying to sabotage in "The Swing Shift". Plus, he gets to work for Mayberry's favorite drunk, Otis (Hal Smith). Here, he plays the plant owner.
• Amother dual role--this time for John Banner--as he plays both Schultz and a Nazi defector in "Heil Klink". Hogan convinces Klink that Hitler is going to hide out at Stalag 13. We even get the classic dual shot with one Schultz on one side of the screen and another Schultz on the other, with an obvious line separating them. 
• We meet Schultz' wife Greta (Barbara Morrison) in "Killer Klink". She had roles ranging "From Here to Eternity" all the way to "Little House on the Prairie". Hogan wants to get Schultz a three day pass so he can ferry radio parts, but he overdoes it with a fake medical review--now the Nazis think he's dying.
• A French fighter pilot (Felice Orlandi) and his fiance (Susan Albert) are wed in holy matrimony by--"Reverend Kommandant Klink"?  LeBeau brings the girl back from Paris, and they use a camp show to mask the real wedding,   Felice's face is well known from his many guest TV roles stretching from the 1950's to the 1980's.
• Yet again, the boys need to save Klink from the Russian Front. This time, they blackmail Burkhalter with some incriminating pictures in "The Tower". Leon Askin gets a big part in the episode.
• In "Colonel Klink's Secret Weapon", everybody--Klink, Schultz, and Hogan--are on the same side against a new "by the book" sergeant. So, they have to discredit him.
• Hogan poses as Klink to catch a (made up) assasin in "The Reluctant Target". Of course, Klink dresses as Hogan. It's great to watch Hogan make Klink squirm. As a bonus, Hogan (as Klink) gets to host a top secret meeting that proves not to be so secret.

Cast info:

Howard Caine (Maj. Hochstetter) was born in Tennessee, and managed to get a role in one of the Hal Roach "Our Gang" comedies (they filmed a skit there). His family moved to New York City when he was 13, and he began studying acting. Not only was he able to get rid of his Southern accent--he learned 32 other dialects. Upon graduation, he moved to Broadway, appearing in Wonderful Town, Inherit the Wind  and Damn Yankees. Moving onto Hollywood, he had roles in several films including Judgment at Nuremberg and Watermelon Man. He acted in over 750 television programs, including Adventures in Paradise, The Untouchables, My Three Sons, The Twilight Zone, Get Smart, and War and Remembrance. He also did voice work in 80's cartoons including GoBots and Jonny Quest. In addition to all this, he was a master banjo player, and took dozens of trophies for both banjo and singing. He passed away in 1993.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Star Trek TNG: More of Season 2

We're getting near the end of Season 2 of TNG.

• When I was watching "The Icarus Factor", I kept thinking a soap opera writer was involved--people talking at each other. It seemed more like a Love Boat episode.
• It's one step forward for Wesley (who commands a research mission) and two steps back for Data (who breaks the Prime Directive multiple times) in "Pen Pals",
• "Q Who" introduces the main villain of the 24th century--The Borg. Q brings them to a distant sector to teach Picard a lesson, and he definitely gets one. The Borg changes the whole chemistry of the show over time--less philosophy, more action.
• In "Samaritan Snare", Riker ignores warnings from Worf (understandable) and Troi (why?), leaving LaForge in danger on an enemy ship. Meanwhile, it's a long car (shuttlecraft) ride for Picard and Wesley.
• The Enterprise must evacuate the cast of Brigadoon--sorry, a group of colonists--in "Up the Long Ladder".  There's a second story about cloning, which is quite jarring against the Darby O'Gill story.
• Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) is on the prowl, so Picard hides out in the Holodeck in "Manhunt". This is a particularly wacky episode. Of course, Majel Barrett needs no introduction to Trek fans--Number One, Nurse Chapel, and the voice of the ship's computer throughout all the series.  Speaking of the latter, we get one scene with Lwaxana talking to herself (the ship's computer). We also get a cameo from Mick Fleetwood as a fish-like alien--a closet Trekkie, I guess.
• K'Ehleyr (Suzie Plakson) makes her first appearance in "The Emissary".. Plakson has the distinction of playing four different aliens in the Trek universe--a Vulcan doctor and this role of a Klingon on TNG, a female Q on ST: Voyager, and an Andorian on ST: Enterprise.

That's plenty for now--we'll finish out Season 2 and move onto Season 3 next time.  Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 7

More of Hogan season two...

• I mentioned in an earlier entry that the black and white pilot was reshot as a color episode.  We've reached that point now, in the episode "Information Please". Some of the details are different, but it's the same basic plot.
• Hogan and LeBeau make another trip to Paris, this time with a Monet painting stolen by the Nazis, in "Art for Hogan's Sake". We're back in Mission: Impossible territory. Schultz even gets into the act as a fake general. How does Hogan explain having a white trenchcoat as a POW?  Oh right--this is a fantasy.
• How do you trick a German Field Marshall in a POW camp into thinking he's in England? The Mighty Hogan Art Players of course--along with a shot down allied plane.  It's all in "The General Swap."
• More Mission: Impossible stuff--the boys rob a bank in order to pay off an informer in "The Great Brinksmeyer Robbery". There's a great scene with Hogan acting as a paramour to the girl next door to the bank (Joyce Jameson).
• The boys put on a show to add some real ammunition in Nazi war games in "Praise the Fuhrer and Pass the Ammunition". This was a common formula on 60's sitcoms--come up with an excuse for the stars to perform. Of course, Clary and Dawson were both nightclub performers before the war.
• Ruta Lee plays a scientist who challenges Hogan's authority in the obviously named "Hogan and the Lady Doctor".  She had guest television roles going back to 1953--and she's still working in soaps.  

Cast info:

Leon Askin (Gen. Burkhalter) was born in 1907 in Vienna, in what was then known as Austria-Hungary, now part of Austria. Yet another Hogan cast member with a Jewish ancestry, he was already a successful actor in Germany by when he was arrested in 1933 by the SS. Upon release, he left for Paris and spent 5 years there in the theater. At the start of WWII, he was put in an internment camp, then his application for emigration to the US was accepted in 1940. He was able to find work in the theater, but after Pearl Harbor, he joined the US Army and was transferred to England, where he spent the rest of the war.  He then returned to the US and back to theater, becoming a founding member of American Actors Equity. Hollywood then beckoned, and he spent the next four decades there, with roles in over 60 films and television shows, generally as an "accent actor" who could cover many dialects. He was in the first Cinemascope film The Robe, as well as Billy Wilder's One, Two, Three. If you've watched Rocky and Bullwinkle, you've heard his voice as "Fearless Leader". He also played several roles on Steve Allen's 1970's PBS series Meeting of Minds. He returned to Austria in 1994 and made several films there, as well as returning to the theater.  He passed away in 2005.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 6

What is zis man doing here??? It's Col. Hogan...

• Schultz's old friend turns out to be a general! Now Klink has to treat him with kid gloves in "The Rise and Fall of Sergeant Schultz".
• In one of my favorite episodes, Hogan turns a water main break into a scam on Klink and Burkhalter in "Hogan's Springs"
• A scam becomes serious when a fake bomb turns out to be real in "A Klink, a Bomb and a Short Fuse". I love it when Burkhalter suddenly realizes he has a meeting in town and takes off. 
• We get our first two-parter: Klink inadvertently takes Hogan and LeBeau to Paris, where they rescue a beautiful secret agent. It's like a Mission: Impossible episode. We also meet the Russian spy Marya, played by Nita Talbot. She had dozens of TV guest roles from the 1950's to the 1990's. We'll see her again on the show.
• Carter gets to play ol' Schnickelgruber in "Will the Real Adolf Hitler Please Stand Up?". There's a strange clip near the end of the episode with Schultz marching--I'm sure it's a stock shot from an earlier episode.
• We get another episode that could have been lifted from any other show--Klink has to get sick to fail a physical for the Russian Front, so the boys keep him awake for 48 hours. As a bonus we get Mr. Whipple (Dick Wilson) as Klink's nasty replacement.
• Carter has to "leak" fake info to Klink to save London--that's if he can remember the details--in "Klink's Rocket". There's a strange scene at the tunnel exit (the fake stump) where they normally shoot "day for night". In this case, it's lit normally, and it becomes very clear it's a set.

Cast info:

John Banner (Sgt. Schultz) was born to Jewish parents in Vienna in 1910, and after studying for a law degree, decided to become an actor. In 1938, he was performing in a troupe in Switzerland when the Nazis annexed Austria. He was forced to emigrate to the US. He wound up playing Nazis in 1940's Hollywood films such as Chetniks! The Fighting Guerillas. At the same time, his family still in Austria all died in the concentration camps. He had a number of early television roles, including kids shows such as Sky King, The Lone Ranger, Rocky Jones Space Ranger, Captain Midnight, Sheena Queen of the Jungle, and The Adventures of Superman. He also was on an episode of Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, playing alongside Leon Askin (Gen. Burkhalter). He continued getting steady TV work up until his iconic role of Schultz, and was in the film The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz (no relation) alongside other Hogan cast members. He was quoted in TV Guide--"I see Schultz as the representative of some kind of goodness in every generation." His star fell in Hollywood after the show ended--he was typecast--and his last role was a guest spot on The Partridge Family. He moved to France with his second wife, and died in Austria while visiting friends on his birthday in 1973.

 Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Star Trek TNG: Season 2 Continues

Some notes on the middle episodes of Season 2:

• In "Loud As a Whisper", we get a PSA for sign language in the form of a negotiator who uses a chorus of interpretors--one of whom hits on Troi
• Brent Spiner gets a chance to overact when Data's mind is taken over by a dying professor in "The Schizoid Man"
• Makeup!! Diana Muldaur gets the old age treatment when yet another disease causes hyperaging in "Unnatural Selection"
• In an important episode, Picard argues for Data's rights at a Federation hearing in "The Measure of a Man"
• It's the same old story--boy (Wesley) falls in love with shapeshifter, shapeshifter is destined to rule a planet--in "The Dauphin"
• We get our first reference to "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot" in "Contagion". They also figure out how to resolve a nasty computer virus, by doing what we do in 2012--reboot the computer.
• Shades of Gumby! It's a high concept episode when the away team is stuck inside a second rate novel in "The Royale". Data really gets into his role as a high stakes gambler.

That's plenty for now--more of Season 2 to come.  Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 5

It's verboten to NOT watch Hogan's Heroes...

• In "Cupid Comes to Stalag 13", we get the sitcom trope of "boss tries to marry off a spinster relative to the old bachelor"--in this case, Burkhalter tries to get Klink to marry his plain sister. She's played by Kathleen Freeman, a veteran character actress--if you ever watched TV, you would recognize the face. The script is so generic, it could have just as easily been Major Bellows trying to get Tony Nelson to marry his niece until Jeannie gets involved.
• When Carter gets a Dear John letter, he decides to "Request Permission to Escape". Larry Hovis gets a rare chance to be the big star of an episode. We also see Father Mulcahy (William Christopher) as a Nazi Private. He had a number of minor roles during the series.
• As the second season begins, we have a cast change--Cynthia Lynn (Helga) is replaced by Sigrid Valdis (Hilda) as Klink's secretary. Valdis had a cameo in season one--Bob Crane ended up marrying her. Personally, I thought Lynn was prettier.
• The boys steal a German bomber and take out a refinery, while kidnapping a German general (James Gregory) in "Hogan Gives a Birthday Party". Lots of stock WWII footage ensue.
• A Gestapo officer (Paul Lambert) blackmails Hogan for a million in diamonds--so the boys double-cross him, using Klink and his troops to take him out in "Diamonds in the Rough"
• A second appearance by Howard Caine--this time as Col. Feldkamp but essentially playing Maj. Hochstetter--in "The Battle of Stalag 13". Best line--"Sounded like a staff car blowing up".    

Cast info:

Werner Klemperer (Col. Klink) was born in Germany to a conductor father and a soprano mother. Despite the jokes on the show, he was actually a virtuoso violin player, at one point performing in the New Philharmonia Orchestra. He was also a operatic baritone, performing on Broadway. His family moved to Los Angeles in 1935, and he served in the US Army during WWII--in a Special Services unit entertaining the troops. His film roles included Hitchcock's The Wrong Man, Judgement at Nuremberg, and the title role in Operation Eichmann. Television guest spots included Maverick and How to Marry a Millionaire prior to his signature role. He only took the role once he got assurances that Klink would never come out as a hero. He was nominated for an Emmy every one of the six years of the series, and won twice. He also showed up (in character) on an episode of Batman  Klemperer and some of the other stars of the show did a film called The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz in 1968, in this case playing a bumbling East German official. After the series ended, he moved back to musicals and Broadway, narrating for symphony orchestras, getting raves for the Seattle Opera's Die Fledermaus, and receiving a Tony nomination for Cabaret in 1987. You might have also "seen" him as Homer's conscience in an episode of the Simpsons (Hooo-meerrr!). Klemperer was on the Board of Directors of the New York Chamber Symphony and the council of Actor's Equity. He passed away in 2000.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 4

I know no-THING but Hogan's Heroes...

• J. Pat O'Malley, a British character with credits going back to 1940, including a number of Disney roles and lots of TV guest spots, plays a general posing as a corporal in "How to Cook a German Goose by Radar".
• We get our first "dual role" episode in "The Prince From the Phone Company".  Ivan Dixon plays Kinchloe as well as an African prince negotiating for a Nazi submarine base in his country. The boys kidnap the real prince, and Kinchloe has to fill in. This concept was a mainstay for another show shot at the same studio--Mission: Impossible.
• Hogan gets Klink to help them break into a hotel safe in "The Safecracker Suite". An experienced safe cracker, played by Walter Burke, is flown in to assist. Burke had roles in early television, and had guest spots up to his death in 1984.
• As always happens in POW camps, three babes show up as new prisoners.  The obvious answer to get them out of the camp? Hogan and the boys play dress up. We even get the classic sitcom spincut--you know, "I won't dress as a woman!"--SPINCUT--they're dressed as women.
• The boys try to bring in "The Assassin" from another camp, but end up with--Col. Crittendon! Now he wants to help them out...

Cast info:

Larry Hovis was born in 1936, appeared as a child singer on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts (think pre-historic American Idol), and put out a Capitol Records album in the 1950's. Success on Broadway was followed by a move to California in 1963. He was discovered by Andy Griffith, and appeared on both Andy's eponymous show and Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. He got a role in the Hogan pilot as a prisoner coming through their escape process, but got the role of Sgt. Carter on the series, acting as the ordinance expert. He did a lot of physical comedy as his experiments went wrong. During the show's run, he also wrote for Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, eventually getting an onscreen role. After Hogan ended, he produced and appeared in the game show Liar's Club, which led to a production company that created the original version of Lingo. You might have seen him on Match Game as well. He toured in the musical Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, and later taught drama at a Texas university. He passed away in 2003.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Star Trek TNG: Onto Season 2

We've now made it to Season 2 of TNG.  This was a strange period for the show. Ratings had dropped since the premiere, and since it was an expensive show to produce, some at Paramount were considering dropping it, as were some of the independent affiliate stations. Also, there was a writer's strike at the time, which delayed the season premiere from September to November.

Patrick Stewart hosted a special that reminded viewers of what had gone on in the first season, as well as all the changes to come in the new season:

• The introduction of the Ten Forward lounge
• A new character, Guinan, played by Whoopi Goldberg
• A new CMO, Dr. Katherine Pulaski, played by Star Trek veteran Diana Muldaur
• According to Gates McFadden, she left the series and the role of Dr. Crusher when the head writer at the time, Maurice Hurley, allegedly sexually harassed her. She only returned once he left at the end of Season 2.
• LaForge was now Chief Engineer, resolving an issue since the premiere
• Worf was now officially Chief of Security
• Riker now has a beard and mustache
• The "onesie" uniforms were replaced with a tunic and pants

If all these changes seem scattershot, that's because they were. The special was a "Hail Mary" pass to keep affiliates on board until November.

With all that being said, onto the episodes:

• "The Child" opened up the new season. It was actually a slight rewrite of a "Star Trek: Phase 2" script. Phase 2 was an attempt in the 1970's to resurrect the show with most of the original crew, which eventually morphed into the first ST movie. The reuse of an existing script was due to the writer's strike at the time.
• They also tried to explain the disappearance of Dr. Crusher. Making her head of Starfleet Medical could make sense, but the fact that Wesley didn't go with her at the same time does not.
• Adding the Guinan character seems like an attempt to reduce costs, despite the added expense of the Ten Forward. A scene with people talking is always cheaper than an action scene, and that was her role on the show.
• The writers decided to make the Dr. Pulaski character rather antagonistic about Data. I think they were trying to set up a Spock/McCoy relationship, but when she would try to trade barbs with him, Data would just look hurt. The fans hated this and her character--"boo, we love Data, and we hate you!"  This pushed Data into the third lead on the show, and Pulaski off the series.
• Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) appeared in minor roles during the first season, but is now the transporter chief.
• "Elementary, Dear Data" continued the "Holodeck is on the fritz" meme. Again, I fail to see why such a dangerous product is used for recreation.
• "The Outrageous Okona" seems like a "Mary Sue" story--a type of fan fiction where a guest star (normally, but not always a woman) comes in,

That's plenty for now--more of Season 2 to come.  Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 3

Achtung! More Hogan's Heroes...

• I'm starting to see episodes I doubt I've ever seen. Hogan gets Klink to let them build a boat (he thinks it's a unique officer's club) in "Anchors Aweigh, Men of Stalag 13".
• Maj, Hochstetter (Howard Caine) has an early appearance (as Maj. Keitel) in "Happy Birthday, Adolf"
• In one of my favorite episodes, Nazi gold bricks are swapped for regular bricks, then hidden in plain sight in "The Gold Rush"
• Murray Slaughter--I mean Capt. Steubing--I mean Gavin MacLeod--is a scenery-chewing Gestapo in "Hello, Zolle"
• Claudine Longet guest-stars in "It Takes a Thief...Sometimes". She had great success as a singer and actress in the 1960's, but is best known for "accidentally" shooting and killing her skier boyfriend in 1976.
• John Banner (Schultz) poses as a German officer to get the boys out of another Stalag in "The Great Impersonator". They didn't spend a lot of money redressing the sets, did they?
• Celebrated character actor Hans Conried plays an Italian commandant (and hopeful deserter) in "The Pizza Parlor". His career went back to the 1930's, including many Disney roles.  There's also a long sequence where a pizza recipe is relayed by radio from Newark to London to a submarine to Stalag 13.   

Cast info:

Ivan Dixon (Sgt. Kinchloe) was born in Harlem, on the same block as Gregory Hines. After earning a drama degree in college, he went to Broadway, at one point co-starring in the original A Raisin in the Sun. Television roles followed including The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits, and Perry Mason.  His work on Hogan's Heroes ended one year early in 1970, as he felt he was underused on the show, as well as his move into television directing.  His prolific work in this area included The Waltons, The Rockford Files, The Bionic Woman, Magnum P.I., and The A-Team, with his last work in 1993. A member of the Directors Guild of America and the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, he passed away in 2008.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Hogan's Heroes - Part 2

We continue through Season 1 of Hogan's Heroes...

• I'm now convinced that WUAB in Cleveland showed the Season 1 episodes over and over, rather than showing the seasons evenly. I'm seeing some of my favorite episodes very early in the series.
• We get the "heavy water" episode in episode 9, which showcases how Hogan scams Klink to keep him occupied
• Episode 10 has Hogan and the gang using the bugs in the barracks to put on a radio play.  It convinces the Nazis that Hogan knows about the Norden bomb sight--it's actually a vacuum cleaner.
• We get a great performance from John Banner in Episode 11 as Schultz gets drunk
• Crane and Dawson perform a Nazi comedy routine in Episode 12 as they break out a French scientist's daughter.
• Episode 14 brings us the oil scam--The Burkhalter and Klink Oil Co. As they say in the episode, "Hogan, who needs Hogan"?

Cast info:

Robert Clary (Cpl. LeBeau) began as a child singer in France before WWII. He was sent to the concentration camps as a Jew by the Nazis, along with 12 members of his family--he was the only survivor.  He still has the number tattoo on his arm, which is why you never see him in short sleeves on the show. He began writing songs after the war, and moved to the US in 1949, getting jobs on early TV. He went to Broadway and was in several musicals there. He married the daughter of Eddie Cantor in 1965, just as Hogan's Heroes got started. After the show ended, he appeared in feature films. He ended up in soap operas, including a long stint on Days of Our Lives, as well as The Young and the Restless and The Bold and the Beautiful.  He stayed in the industry until 2001, as of this writing is still around, and can be found at robertclary.com.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

Star Trek TNG: More of Season 1

We're continuing to plow through Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix--getting close to running out the first season.  A few notes:

• You can definitely see the late 1980's influence on the show. We don't have any real enemies, and the ship is doing more exploring than fighting battles. Aliens have ridiculously skimpy clothing.
• I didn't remember Wesley being so annoying! He wants to be taken seriously, and then does such stupid things.
• The "holodeck is on the fritz" meme has begun.  It seems incredibly dangerous for as a leisure activity. People are trapped, crewmen die...
• They've already started to pull Data back on the wacky antics--thank goodness!
• There are a number of "moral quandary" episodes with the Prime Directive discussed a lot.  Having people give speeches is a great way to make a cheap episode.
• They also went for the cheap on Admiral Jameson's "old guy" makeup in "Too Short a Season". Perhaps it's just seeing it on a bigger screen, but I've seen better jobs in high school productions.
• We get a "Wrath of Khan" reunion of sorts with Merrick Butrick (Preppy David) and Judson Scott (Khan's lackey), now playing stoner and drug dealer respectively in "Symbiosis"
• That same episode includes the last scene shot of Denise Crosby as Tasha Yar--it was produced after "Skin of Evil" where she is offed.  Apparently, you can see her wave at the camera in her final shot.
• We also get a blatant "just say no" PSA in this episode, where Wesley is confused why people would get addicted to drugs. I couldn't help but saying "...and knowing is half the battle!  G I JOOOOOE!" at the end of the scene.
• Explain to me again why families are on the Enterprise?  It seems to hamper the operations and decisions a lot.

We'll finish up Season 1 and go onto all the changes, good and bad, in Season 2 soon.  Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!

Hogan's Heroes - Part 1

A few thoughts about the early episodes... 

• The pilot for Hogan's Heroes was in black and white (the networks were just switching over to color at the time, so they didn't want to waste money on a color pilot).
• The only differences: Klink was a bit more stuffy and serious, there was a Russian character who played their tailor, and Sgt. Carter entered and escaped the camp in one episode. Apart from that, it's the same show--in fact, the episode was remade later in the series.
• We meet our first Hochstetter in the second episode--in this case, a General. I assume Major Hochstetter is his cousin? Our heroes steal a new tank to discover its secrets.  Arlene Martel makes her first appearance as Agent Tiger--you might know her as T'Pring in the Star Trek episode Amok Time.
• Stalag 13 was known as Camp 13 for the first few episodes--perhaps the producers were worried about a lawsuit from the producers of Stalag 17 (which later did occur)
• Episode five introduces Col. Crittendon, played by the versatile Bernard Fox (Calling Dr. Bombay, come in right away...) He has seniority over Hogan, so when he's in the camp, he takes over the operation. At the start, he doesn't know their mission, so he sets up a real mission to escape. Also, Bob Crane gets an opportunity to play drums in the episode.
• Episode six has a special guest star--Roger C. Carmel plays a German general who ends up as "The Prisoner's Prisoner".  Carmel is best known as Harry Mudd from Star Trek.

Cast info:

Richard Dawson (Cpl. Newkirk) came to the US after a successful career as a comedian in the UK, with his wife at the time, Diana Dors (considered to be England's answer to Marilyn Munroe). He got his big break on the Dick Van Dyke show, with several guest appearances following that. According to an interview he did for the DVD set, he originally auditioned for the role of Hogan, but it didn't work out. After Hogan's Heroes, he moved on to Laugh-In, the New Dick Van Dyke Show, and guest hosting Johnny's Carson's Tonight Show. During that time, he moved into game shows--specifically, Match Game. He became a regular, and was chosen so often for the "Super Match" that they changed the rules of the game to give others a chance. In fact, he became so popular, he was offered a hosting gig. He was on Family Feud from 1976-85, with an encore in 1994-95. He also played a version of his game show persona in the Schwarzenegger vehicle The Running Man.

Remember, you can play along! The DVD box set is available on Amazon.

In Defense of Hogan's Heroes

As a kid growing up in Northeast Ohio, I always loved to hear that the Cleveland Indians' game was rained out. Why? Well, of course the Indians sucked in the 70's. But the real reason was "Rainout Theater", where they would show Hogan's Heroes episodes back to back.

Of the handful of you reading this, I hear a few of you gasp--"That was a horrible show!  Incredibly insensitive!"  Well, before I start a review of the series, I wanted to get a few things straight.

When Hogan's Heroes premiered in 1965, bizarre sitcoms were in their heyday, including these premises:

• A Martian living in a boarding house
• A post-Civil War fort run by buffoons
• A dead Mother reincarnated as a car
• An Ozark family living in a Beverly Hills mansion
• Stereotypes marooned on a tropical island (long before Lost)
• A man married to a witch, and another to a genie
• Two separate shows with ghoulish people living in scary mansions

A show about saboteurs in a WWII prisoner of war camp seems tame by comparison.

Notice I said "Prisoner of War" camp.  It wasn't a concentration camp.  So, the arguments about how tasteless the show was are faulty.  I also want to note that the actors playing the recurring Nazis on the show were actually Jewish, and fled Germany because of WWII.

As far as making light of the Nazis--see the filmography of Mel Brooks.  Almost every film he has made takes a shot at Hitler.

Finally, about Bob Crane.  The less said about his private life, the better (although I do recommend Auto Focus, the biopic with Greg Kinnear).  That should have no impact on how you like or dislike the series.  If we knew everything about our favorite TV stars and based our viewing decisions on that info, we would be watching a lot of documentaries.

So, I hope that clears up things.

I'm not planning to do separate entries for all 168 episodes--I'll just bring up some interesting points as I go through the "Kommandant's Kollection" DVD boxed set I got for Christmas.  I'll also give you some info on the cast.

The show was created by Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddy.  Fein was an active presence in front of the camera in the late 50's and 60's--his best known role was on The Phil Silvers Show.  Ruddy did slightly better--he produced The Godfather and Million Dollar Baby.  On the other hand, he wrote Megaforce.  Bing Crosby's company led the production--they also did Ben Casey and The Great Santini.  It was produced at the same studio as That Girl and Mayberry R.F.D. 

Was it a terrible show?  Well, it was nominated for 12 Emmys and won two, both for Werner Klemperer.

More to come...

Star Trek TNG: Season 1 Early Episodes

If you've been following this blog (and I have no idea why you would), you know that I recently covered the Star Trek animated series, as part of an effort of my wife and I to watch all Trek series in chronological order. We managed to make it through the original series movies since then (it was truly painful to watch Star Trek V: Kirk vs. God again), so now we're watching Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix.

I'm not going to do a separate entry for each episode--that would take too long and there's plenty of others on the net who have already done so. However, from time to time, I will drop in a blog entry with my thoughts on recent episodes we've watched.

One point upfront. If you want to feel really old, consider this: The period of time since TNG premiered (1987) is now longer than the period between the TOS (1966) and TNG premieres. Ouch!

We're several episodes into the first season so far--

• I'm sure the cast was nervous during the production of the pilot. The characters were not fully formed, concepts were being introduced, and from my memories at the time, the series was far from a sure thing. That being said, it is very strange that everyone involved on camera really gave you ACTING by the bushel.  Every line was spoken like it was the most important thing ever said--like they were giving speeches in front of a podium.
• Why did they spend what seemed like half the pilot separating and reattaching the saucer section--so some Trekkie could say "I knew they could do that from the engineering manual I bought at the convention"?
• Who's bright idea was skirts on the early uniforms--specially for male extras? I know it was William Ware Theiss, but somebody had to approve that.
• Does Dr. Crusher shop at uglysweaters.com for her son, or does Wesley buy them? (BTW--there's a tumblr if you're interested in seeing them)
• In retrospect, I don't think Tasha Yar was killed due to Denise Crosby's Playboy pictorial. She was not a good actress, and her backstory is terrible. Rape gangs?  She also held back Worf on the show--all he did was talk about Klingon honor before she was offed.
• Picard seems to go for the "surrender" option a lot
• The juxtaposition of drama and humor is very strange--wacky antics from Data one second, and a deadly decision the next

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available on Netflix--more to come!