All Rise...

Judge David Johnson is getting all of his surgeries done in Australia from now on, minimally-invasive or not.

Editor's Note

Our reviews of Hogan's Heroes: The Complete First Season (published April 27th, 2005), Hogan's Heroes: The Complete Second Season (published November 9th, 2005), and Hogan's Heroes: The Complete Third Season (published May 31st, 2006) are also available.

The Charge

Nazi punchers unite.

The Case

Within the fences of a WWII German POW camp known as Stalag 13, a group of Allied prisoners run daring operations from the inside, taking advantage of the dimwit commanders, and doing what they can to help the underground resistance. While blowing up spy planes and sabotaging invasion plans, our heroes—under the command of Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane)—somehow find time to crack wise and elicit soft chuckles from the laugh track machine.

This "Best of" DVD collects eight episodes voted on by fans through a Facebook poll. It's gimmicky, feels random, and I'm not a Hogan's Heroes aficionado, so I can't speak to their place in series' lore, but here you go:

•  "The Flight of the Valkyrie"
Hogan tries to help a baroness escape, but his plans are gummed up when a senior officer arrives and usurps his role as leader.

•  "Hogan's Hofbrau"
Two mean and competent German officers threaten to replace Colonel Klink (Werner Klemperer), so Hogan and crew scramble to ensure this doesn't happen.

• "Happy Birthday, Adolf"
To celebrate Hitler's birthday, Hogan plots to neutralize a dangerous Nazi gun emplacement.

• "The Safecracker Suite"
Klink is in trouble again, as the Gestapo circles around him. Hogan is forced to spring into action once more to ensure a capable commandant doesn't take his place.

• "Praise the Fuhrer and Pass the Ammunition"
The Nazis have some war games planned and Hogan hatches a diabolical scheme to generate some fresh German corpses: swap out the fake ammo with live ammo.

• "Some of Their Planes Are Missing"
The Nazi have created replicas of RAF planes and plan to send their pilots into the enemy's rank to wreak havoc. Time for some fiery sabotage.

• "D-Day at Stalag 13"
With the massive invasion looming, Hogan is given orders to create a diversion to help with the Allied incursion.

• "War Takes a Holiday"
In order to help four leaders of the resistance escape, the Hogan's crew concoct a scheme to fool Klink and company into thinking the war is over.

I have to say: Hogan is a badass. On the surface, Hogan's Heroes has one of the most awkward setups ever devised, but somehow it works. It's all about the tone, and quite M*A*S*H-like, in that the humor is laced around semi-serious drama. Cripes, Hogan arranges the wanton slaughter of a bunch of Nazis during some war games!

Best of Hogan's Heroes offers just the episodes, standard definition 1.33:1 full frame, Dolby 2.0 Mono audio, and nothing else.

The Verdict

Not Guilty for what it is, which, admittedly, isn't much. Just a handful of random shows from a cool, old show.

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