Hogan's Heroes

The 43rd, a Moving Story - S1-E23

Character mistake: When Klink explains the route of the trucks carrying the red cross packages to Kühn, he for once uses a map actually showing Germany. Unfortunately, the places he points to start near Luxemburg and track all across Germany. The spot he places Hammelburg at would be near Poznan in Poland.

Doc

Request Permission to Escape - S1-E32

Character mistake: When ordering Schultz to finish cleaning his car, Klink salutes Schultz, his returning the salute with the garden hose in his hand leads to Klink being soaked. A salute is, except in rare circumstances, always initiated by the lower-ranking individual and returned by his superior, not the other way round. This rule is broken especially by Klink in several other places as well.

Doc

Happy Birthday, Adolf - S1-E17

Character mistake: The artillery officer asks "Does headquarters expect a squad of infantry to replace experienced artillery men?" Hogan only offered "his detachment", and he's wearing a Luftwaffe uniform (and so is LeBeau). Why does the artillery officer get the idea that the "detachment" would be infantry, that is to say, ground forces (Heer) troops? To avoid confusion: Yes, the Luftwaffe did have infantry units, but those would be viewed by other branches as Luftwaffe guards primarily, not as infantry.

Doc

Reservations Are Required - S1-E15

Character mistake: In this episode, Hogan suggests a helicopter as means for escape from Stalag 13. As a matter of fact, the allies had no helicopters operational before April 1944. The famous R-4 made its first flight only in January 1942. So unless Hogan planned to steal one of the Luftwaffe's 20 FW Drache (a maximum of ten or so existing at any given time) or a whole bunch of the single-seat Flettner Kolibri (24 total built) he was out of luck.

Doc

More mistakes in Hogan's Heroes
More quotes from Hogan's Heroes
More trivia for Hogan's Heroes

The Antique - S5-E12

Question: When Hogan gives Klink $100 for the cuckoo clock, the bill handed over was a crisp American $100 note. How did Hogan get an American $100 note? At best, in this time period, he should only have Reich Marks. And how would he have 333 Marks, 33 pfennigs? Unless he had a side businesses going, this seems unlikely.

Movie Nut

Answer: It's a comedy, not a documentary.

stiiggy

Perhaps it was counterfeit. There are numerous episodes where they deal in counterfeit monies.

Chosen answer: Hogan and his men are running a spy ring out of the camp, they have access to supplies from outside. (In another episode, they have to convince a defecting German officer that they're legitimately working for the Allies by arranging a specific personal ad to run in the next day's London Times, so a new $100 bill is not beyond their capabilities).

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Werner Klemperer fled Nazi Germany as a teenager. His two conditions for taking the role of Colonel Klink were that he had to be a bumbling idiot and he always had to lose. It would then be a character mistake that if Hogan offers him a fresh American hundred-dollar bill, he's not going to ask questions, he's going to take the deal. The fact that he's Commandant and could just confiscate the money from Hogan would never occur to him because, again, he's a bumbling idiot who, by the actor's contract, always has to lose.

Captain Defenestrator

Answer: Rightfully, Hogan should not have any money at all. POW were stripped of all cash they carried. The intention was to make escape more difficult. The fact that Hogan has what is the equivalent of a third of the price of a KdF-Wagen (You'd probably know it as a Volkswagen Beetle) in cash should rightfully make Klink more than a litle suspicious.

More questions & answers from Hogan's Heroes

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.