I'm ashamed to say, I don't often get a chance to post here, though
I love Hogan's Heroes. But TV Guide just came out with their "100 Most
Unexpected Moments" issue. Last on the list was Hogan's Heroes, and
the implication was that who, in their right mind would do a comedy
about Nazis.
I would like to make my comment, and then offer a suggestion to my
fellow posters. I have liked Hogan's Heroes since I was a kid (I'm
40). Never once, in all of this time, have I thought of the show as
anything but good guys versus bad guys, with humor and mini spy plots
thrown in. If I felt for one moment that this show glorified, sugar
coated or shed any light, humorous or positive light on the Nazis of
WWII I would never watch it. I can't imagine being a prisoner of war,
or a jew during this period. And if this show trivialized their
sufferings I'd hate it to it's core.
But Hogan's Heroes is amazing in that it is a mini spy story. How
many comedies have such layered quality? The bad guys are clearly the
German Nazis, Klink and Schultz are made out to be reluctant soldiers
who are mere buffoons and the war part of the show is taken very
seriously. If Hogan's Heroes isn't someone's taste, that's one thing.
But I believe that these historical revisionists at TV Guide are trying
to make this show out to be something it's not, because they are either
snobs who don't "get it", or are trying to show that they "care" so
much about trivializing war.
I'm also a MASH fan, and never once do I get the impression from
that show that war is fun. But both shows have war and bad guys as a
backdrop, with the good guys doing their thing and comedy coming from a
variety of sources.
And I no longer see Hogan's Heroes on TVLand's line up. Did they
cave to political correctness?
I encourage anyone who wishes to write to ROBERT EDELSTEIN of TV
Guide at
TV Guide
Box 500
RADNOR, PA19088-0500
He wrote the recent article I referred to. Of all things to keep me
up at night, THIS DID. Some things just bug me, and this liberal
revisionism that's out there really does. Hogan's Heroes was a huge
success on TV, and...I believe, had a few emmy nominations. I guess
it's just not as high culture as some of the junk they put on tv now to
this reviewer.
|
