History Series / HogansHeroes

--->'''Carter:''' Nobody trusted me, just because I liked to do...certain things...to cats...and grasshoppers...and butterflies...

** One episode revolves around Hogan and his crew helping deliver a briefcase bomb to the Resistance -- a bomb implied to be the one used for [[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/20_July_plot the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler]] (a.k.a. the "Operation Valkyrie" plot). Further hilarity ensues when Klink accidentally arms the bomb and Hogan has to distract him and disarm it.

* KangarooCourt: "The Schultz Brigade" centers around a group of Stalag Kommandants plotting to "independently" denounce General Burkhalter on false charges of peculation to the Gestapo in the hopes that they would subject him to one, shoot him, and then promote one of them to his job. Unfortunately for them, Klink waffles on whether or not to join their conspiracy for so long that Burkhalter learns about their scheme and subjects all of them (including Klink) to one himself.

* LaResistance: The Underground.

** In one episode Newkirk makes a reference to Speedy Gonzales regarding how quickly Hogan removed a packet of documents taped to Carter's back. Speedy was one of the last recurring characters in the Looney Tunes line, being introduced in 1953.

** Major Hochstetter isn't in the first season. Howard Caine's first appearance as a Gestapo man is in the second season episode "The Battle of Stalag 13", where he actually plays a different Gestapo man with basically the same personality as Hochstetter named Colonel Feldkamp, who Carter kills by planting a bomb in his staff car. His first appearance as Hochstetter is in the late season 2 episode "Fuhrer Klink".

** Major Hochstetter isn't in the first season. Howard Caine's first appearance as a Gestapo man is in the second season episode "The Battle of Stalag 13", where he actually plays a different Gestapo man with basically the same personality as Hochstetter named Colonel Feldkamp, who Carter kills by planting a bomb in his staff car.

* BeenThereShapedHistory: The reason why the Allied Landings on D-Day went off (mostly) without a hitch? Col. Hogan pulled a BavarianFireDrill on the German General Staff who were in Stalag 13 at the time!

** Martya isn't in the first season either.

* DumbwaiterRide: During a plan to assassinate a roomful of German generals having a meeting in a hotel via exploding centerpieces, the crew learns from a spy in that meeting that the meeting was actually to give the generals the plans for the defense of France in preparation for an Allied invasion and securing them was vital. The spy was instructed by Hogan to leave his copy in the dining room after it had been cleared out. This meant [=LeBeau=] had to ride the dumbwaiter back up to the room and steal his copy of the plans for allied intelligence.

** In "Klink Versus the Gonkulator", Hogan makes reference to having worked in the Pentagon. The Pentagon was constructed during WWII, with construction completed in 1943. The construction period overlaps with the time period when Hogan was in Stalag 13 (The pilot episode has Hogan already a prisoner in 1942).

** In "Klink Versus the Gonkulator", Hogan makes reference to having worked in the Pentagon. The Pentagon was constructed during WWII, with construction completed in 1943. The construction period overlaps with the time period when Hogan was in Stalag 13.

* GodwinsLawOfFacialHair: Sergeant Schultz wears one in some episodes to represent his role as antagonist, albeit an incompetent antagonist.

** Colonel Hogan, Colonel Klink, and Colonel Crittendon (even though Crittendon should actually be a Group Captain).

* ManipulativeBastard: Rare ''[[JustForPun heroic]]'' example. Hogan has Klink and Schultz wrapped around his little finger.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** In another episode a German general arrives with his group of ruthless elite soldiers, boasting to Hogan's face that he disapproves of prison camps--since he never takes prisoners. [[EvenEvilHasStandards Even Klink is horrified by him.]] He decides to play a joke on the prisoners by tossing a dummy grenade at them. Then [[spoiler: Hogan dreams up the plan of replacing the general's war game supplies with something a little more realistic, and it's mentioned that the command post was wiped out ''by a live grenade''.]]
** In "Two Nazis for the Price of One", Hogan finds out a Nazi general not only knows about their operation, but the Manhattan Project as well. (Hogan and company have no idea what the Manhattan Project is at this point, but know it's a top military secret.) They debate whether to kill him or not, until [[spoiler: [[TheDogBitesBack the general's aide, who he'd constantly treated like utter crap, does it for them.]] Doubles as BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork. ]]

** In the ColdOpen of another episode, the guys are meeting an Underground agent who was a [[WholesomeCrossdresser female impersonator]] before the war. Jokes fly, then Germans crash the meeting, fire at the good guys and take off in pursuit of the Underground agent. Hogan and his men get up again, Newkirk cracks a joke at the expense of the French... and they realize that [=LeBeau=] is still on the ground and has actually been shot. Cue one of the most dramatic moments in the (usually) comedic series when Newkirk [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness does a 180 from]] his usual DeadpanSnarker persona and says quietly, "Colonel, my little mate's been hit." Though it turns out [[spoiler: the bullet only grazed him, but [=LeBeau=] fainted anyway because he's AfraidOfBlood.]]
** "The Experts" also starts out pretty dark, possibly topping the other two examples. It begins with the Gestapo arriving in the middle of the night to arrest two Stalag 13 guards for black market operations. One is on vacation, but the other is at his post, so they go after him. Hogan is watching them arrest the man through the sink. A few seconds later, [[spoiler: a machine gun is fired and the guard is dead.]]

** Kinchloe's high school friend, who is a beautiful medium from Africa. [[spoiler: If by ''Africa'' you mean ''Detroit''.]]

* HeroOfAnotherStory: Many anti-Nazi underground operatives clearly have a lot going on with their lives away from the heroes.
** White Russian spy Marya tends to show up at the tail end of some complex plan where she has spent months earning the trust of a German official whose project and/or life she is setting up for a catastrophic end.
** Many one-shot prominent military officers, such as Klink's old friend Major Kronman, General Felix Mercer, Field Marshal Rudolph Richter, and the NoCelebritiesWereHarmed General Stauffen are plotting to kill Hitler or at least spy on his plans.
** The old couple who run a safehouse for the escape network in "The Flame Grows Higher" have fake Gestapo uniforms that they mention have saved their lives many times.
** In "Klink vs. the Gonulator", electronics expert Major Lutz and his contact Lila have an established and familiar relationship and have spent some time smuggling secrets to England during public meetings that they pretend are dates (which implicitly lead to some BecomingTheMask chemistry).
** In "D-Day at Stalag 13", Lili von Scheider married a German general to spy on him and has spent years struggling with her feelings for him while being left unsure about what to do after her paranoid handlers cut ties with her.
** In "Casanova Klink", a group of underground agents are planning a big raid on a Nazi installation when Hogan stops them from heading into a trap and gives them an alternate target.
** "The Missing Klink" has two unseen examples.
*** Hans Wagner is described as a brilliant and charismatic leader who warrants having a huge military presence guard the holding area where he is being kept before his scheduled execution. Wagner's fiercely loyal younger brother and Hogan are out to free Hans at all costs.
*** Agent Nimrod once infiltrated the German high command, is even more hated by the Nazis than Wagner is, and somehow gets wind of the heroes’ operation to rescue Wagner, sneaks into the prison camp, and leaves a set of weapon plans for them to smuggle out of the country. [[note]]Some people think Klink is Nimrod and only fakes being an idiot, although he could also be one of Hochstetter's {{Mook}}s, Hochstetter himself, Burkhalter, or a guard or prisoner who switched the box the plans were in after Hogan took them out of Klink's office[[/note]]
** In "That's No Lady, That's My Spy", MasterOfDisguise Oskar Danzig has spent a long time staying ahead of the Gestapo and saving his life after he is wounded is seen as a vital mission.
** In "Hogan's Double Life", the leaders of two separate underground cells associated with Hogan's Heroes have clearly had a lot of past adventures together, as each knows that the other is a Resistance member when they meet on the same job by chance, and they ask about each other’s families.

** Werner Klemperer, who played Klink, would only take the role if the producers agreed to cast him as a bumbling, foolish commandant whose plans would never succeed with Hogan winning in the end. As a German-born Jew, he defended his portrayal of a Luftwaffe officer by rationalizing: "I am an actor. If I can play Richard III, I can play a Nazi." (He had played more serious Nazi roles before, such as [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSzeaOQXGm4 his appearance]] on the horror series ''Series/OneStepBeyond1959''.) In addition, Klink's screechy violin playing was a parody of the fact that in real life, he was actually quite a skilled and accomplished concert violinist and pianist. When Werner's father Otto Klemperer, a renowned conductor, saw his first episode of the show, he remarked: [[WhoWritesThisCrap "Your work is good... but who is the author of this material?"]]