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The subject of war never seems like a topic that lends itself to much hilarity, but one TV show that proved it was possible is streaming for free on Freevee, and has found itself climbing into the streamer’s Top 10. That series is Hogan's Heroes, the 1960s comedy series that managed to retain a 100% audience score across its six seasons and is hailed as probably the funniest show to have ever been set in a Nazi P.O.W prison camp.

Like many older shows and movies, Hogan’s Heroes has found itself being put in front of a whole new audience with its inclusion on Freevee. While the series is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, the show has actually been available on the platform for over 200 days, making its charge up the chart somewhat baffling and indicative of the way there is usually no rhyme or reason behind what becomes popular on streaming.

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In 1953, Billy Wilder scored a critical and commercial success with his film adaptation of Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski's stage play "Stalag 17" (one of his 14 best films according to /Film). Set in a World War II Pow camp behind Nazi enemy lines, the movie is a rambunctious account of how imprisoned soldiers misbehave and attempt to make their captors' lives miserable. They're also ever on the verge of hatching a new escape plan, though they wind up having a rat in their ranks who complicates their efforts.

Given that World War II was a desperately bloody affair on both the European and Pacific fronts as the Allies fought to save civilization from the clutches of genocidal vermin, you might not think it appropriate for artists to find humor anywhere within the conflict. But the ability to laugh when...

Hogan's Heroes is one of the most brilliant masterpieces of television to emerge from the 1960s. This show managed to make fun of Germans and make certain situations of wartime lighthearted, which is no easy feat. The setting is in a German Pow camp during World War 2, featuring the sly and smart Colonel Hogan (Bob Crane), the incompetent camp commandant Klink (Werner Klemperer) and the sweet but misguided sergeant-of-the-guard Schultz (John Banner).

The show had plenty of heroic and comedic moments, and moments that weren't quite so beloved. Unlike Schultz, we know something about selecting the 5 best episodes--and the 5 worst.

Is Hogan's Heroes making a comeback? Deadline reports a sequel to the classic TV show is in the works.

The original sitcom launched in 1965 and "centered around a group of Allied POWs imprisoned in a German prison camp, led by U.S. Colonel Robert Hogan, who secretly used the camp to launch Allied espionage missions." The cast included Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, and Richard Dawson. The series ran on CBS through 1971.

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I see nothing… particularly interesting about the premise behind it. And yet a sequel to Hogan’s Heroes is apparently in the works.

As reported by our sister site Deadline, the original series’ co-creator, Al Ruddy, in association with Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and Danny McBride’s Rough Pictures, is developing a follow-up to the World War II-set comedy, which aired from September 1965 to April 1971 and starred Bob Crane (as Hogan), Werner Klemperer (Colonel Klink), Richard Dawson (Newkirk) and John Banner (Schultz), among others in a somewhat rotating cast.

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Exclusive: Another classic TV sitcom is mounting a comeback. The iconic 1960s comedy Hogan’s Heroes is being rebooted by the original series co-creator Al Ruddy, Village Roadshow Entertainment Group and Rough Pictures.

The reimagined version will be a single-camera action adventure comedy series set in present day focusing on the descendants of the original heroes, now scattered around the world, who team up for a global treasure hunt.

Ruddy will executive produce with Rough House Pictures principals Danny McBride, David Gordon Green and Jody Hill and the company’s president of production Brandon James. Alix Jaffe and Adam Dunlap will oversee for Vreg

Co-created by Ruddy and the late Bernard Fein, the original Hogan’s Heroes spanned 168 episodes that ran on CBS from 1965-1971. It centered around a group of Allied POWs imprisoned in a German prison camp, led by U.S. Colonel Robert Hogan, who secretly used the camp to launch Allied espionage missions.

Already eclipsed by James Bond and sexier European films, Paul Newman does his best to energize this derivative but lively spy-chase thriller set during Nobel season, in a Stockholm populated by the glamorous Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle and Jacqueline Beer. Toss several Hitchcock pictures into a blender, and what comes out is reasonably engaging… and more than a little dated.

The Prize

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1963 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 134 min. / Street Date January 15, 2019 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: Paul Newman, Edward G. Robinson, Elke Sommer, Diane Baker, Micheline Presle, Gérard Oury, Sergio Fantoni, Kevin McCarthy, Leo G. Carroll, Sacha Pitoëff, Jacqueline Beer, John Wengraf, Don Dubbin, Virginia Christine, Rudolph Anders, Martine Bartlett, Karl Swenson, John Qualen, John Banner, Teru Shimada, Albert Carrier, Jerry Dunphy, Britt Ekland, Gergory Gaye, Anna Lee, Gregg Palmer, Gene Roth, Ivan Triesault.

Cinematography: William H. Daniels

Film Editor: Adrienne Fazan

Original Music: Jerry Goldsmith...

By Doug Oswald

Robert Mitchum is Martin Brady, an American hired gun living in exile in Mexico in “The Wonderful Country,” a Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber. While waiting on the Rio Grande for his contact for a gun smuggling job, Brady decides to escort the wagon north to Puerto, Texas, and pick up a cache of guns on behalf of his employers, the Castro brothers. Pancho Gil (Mike Kellin), another agent of the Castros, arrives to escort the guns they’re buying from a man named Sterner, but Brady insists on picking up the guns himself. When one of Brady’s associates reminds him that he’s a wanted man in America, Brady states, “I want to see the other side of the river.”

Arriving in Puerto, a tumble-weed startles Brady’s horse and he breaks a leg in the fall. He’s aided by Dr. Herbert J. Stovall...

Long before movies routinely created ‘worlds’ with their own twisted fantasy logic, only a few paranoid thrillers, usually odd genre items, tried out twisted stories of deceptive ‘hidden realities.’ Like an extended Twilight Zone entry, this lively James Garner war pic morphs into a bizarre conspiracy worthy of Philip K. Dick. If only it weren’t so “L-a-o” — Literal And Obvious.

36 Hours

Blu-ray

Warner Archive Collection

1965 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 115 min. / Street Date April 11, 2017 / available through the WBshop / 21.99

Starring: James Garner, Eva Marie Saint, Rod Taylor, Werner Peters, John Banner, Russell Thorson, Alan Napier, Oscar Beregi, Ed Gilbert, Sig Ruman, Celia Lovsky, Karl Held, James Doohan.

Cinematography Philip H. Lathrop

Art Direction Edward Carfagno, George W. Davis

Film Editor Adrienne Fazan

Original Music Dimitri Tiomkin

Written by George Seaton, Carl K. Hittleman, Luis H. Vance from a story by Roald Dahl

Produced by William Perlberg

Directed by George Seaton

Released...

By John M. Whalen

It’s 1941, the day after Pearl Harbor. The nation is nervous about the possibility of another bombing raid by the Japanese, and nobody is more nervous about that possibility than Champ Larkin (James Craig) and his pal Jimbo (Frank Jenks), two convicts doing time on Alcatraz. Champ’s a pretty self-centered guy. He isn’t at all concerned about the war. It’s none of his business. “If they want to fight, let ‘em fight.” he says. “Theres a law says they can’t draft convicts. We’ll sit this one out.” (Jimbo’s a little more thoughtful. “I don’t know, Champ,” he says. “Anybody pulls a sneak trick like that is a rat and a rat means trouble here and there.”)

When they see some Zeros coming in over the Pacific to do a flyover of San Francisco, Champ decides it’s time to evacuate.

Stop! Don't touch that dial... if you like your atom-age propaganda straight up, MGM has the movie for you, an expensive 1946 docu-drama that became 'the official story' for the making of the bomb. The huge cast includes Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, and Joseph Calleia. How trustworthy is the movie? It begins by showing footage of a time capsule being buried -- that supposedly contains the film we are watching. Think about that. Mom, Apple Pie, the Flag and God are enlisted to argume that we should stop worrying and love the fact that bombs are just peachy-keen dandy. The Beginning or the End DVD-r The Warner Archive Collection 1947 / B&W / 1:37 flat Academy / 112 min. / Street Date September 22, 2015 / available through the WBshop / 21.99 Starring Brian Donlevy, Robert Walker, Tom Drake, Beverly Tyler, Audrey Totter, Hume Cronyn, Hurd Hatfield, Joseph Calleia, Godfrey Tearle, Victor Francen,...

Let's hear it for the great westerns -- not the Ford and Hawks classics, but the fascinating marginal gems that see The West in a different way. Do you like Sam Peckinpah? Robert Parrish's evocation of Texas and Mexico in the 1880s will be pleasantly familiar -- a testing ground of personal codes and shifting loyalties in a treacherous land. The Wonderful Country Savant Blu-ray Review Kl Studio Classics 1959 / Color / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / Street Date September 29, 2015 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95  Starring Robert Mitchum, Julie London, Pedro Armendariz, Gary Merrill, Jack Oakie, Albert Dekker, Charles McGraw, Leroy "Satchel" Paige. Cinematography Floyd Crosby Film Editor Michael Luciano Production Design Harry Horner Original Music Alex North Written by Robert Ardrey from the book by Tom Lea Produced by Chester Erskine Directed by Robert Parrish

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

This gem is as individual a western as any made in the 1950s, and a...

By Doug Oswald

“Fraulein” begins with a close-up shot of the spires of a Gothic cathedral, organ music playing on the soundtrack and air-raid sirens blaring as a statement appears on screen: “Cologne on the Rhine during the last weeks of World War II.” The scene moves down to street level as German civilians and soldiers run for bomb shelters as destruction rains down on them. An American prisoner of war makes his escape during the chaos and he stumbles upon the home of a college professor and his daughter.

Mel Ferrer plays the American Pow, Captain Foster MacLain. He meets the Fraulein of the movie, Erika Angermann, played by Dana Wynter. She helps him evade capture during a search of her father’s home. We learn about a fiancé she has not seen in over two years. She learns later from a letter that he has been wounded and is in a hospital.

Exclusive: After a three-year battle waged to determine ownership of sequel and separated rights on the CBS sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, creators Albert S. Ruddy and the late Bernard Fein have been granted all rights. Ruddy will work with Fein’s estate to develop a feature film ensemble comedy using the show’s clever WWII German Pow camp premise. The duo was granted rights that include movies, publication, merchandising, radio and live rights, as well as TV sequel rights. The judgment was made by arbitrator Joel M. Grossman on March 1. The creators went up against Bing Crosby Productions, which produced the show, and whose rights are now owned by Mark Cuban. Ruddy and Fein were represented by Greenburg & Traurig’s Vince Chieffo and Alan Schwartz, and WGA’s Heather Pearson and Anthony R. Segall. Hogan’s Heroeswas a top-rated show on CBS that spanned 168 episodes that ran from 1965-1971, starring Bob Crane as Col.

Exclusive: After a three-year battle waged to determine ownership of sequel and separated rights on the CBS sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, creators Albert S. Ruddy and the late Bernard Fein have been granted all rights. Ruddy will work with Fein’s estate to develop a feature film ensemble comedy using the show’s clever WWII German Pow camp premise. The duo was granted rights that include movies, publication, merchandising, radio and live rights, as well as TV sequel rights. The judgment was made by arbitrator Joel M. Grossman on March 1. The creators went up against Bing Crosby Productions, which produced the show, and whose rights are now owned by Mark Cuban. Ruddy and Fein were represented by Greenburg & Traurig’s Vince Chieffo and Alan Schwartz, and WGA’s Heather Pearson and Anthony R. Segall. Hogan’s Heroeswas a top-rated show on CBS that spanned 168 episodes that ran from 1965-1971, starring Bob Crane as Col.

The medium of television is often a reflection of our times and sometimes an overly idealized, unrealistic portrayal of American life. As radio programming became nationally broadcast series, they reflected the rural lifestyles and Depression-era standards of its time. As a result, many of these shows were transferred with little change from radio to television. Similarly, as prosperity brighten America’s fortunes, so did the images of life shown in living rooms around the country.

On Tuesday, CBS Home Entertainment released seven samplers of six situation comedies and one drama with the contents selected by the fans themselves. In part one of our review, we’ll be looking at the earliest offerings and seeing what they tell us.

During the 1950s, as conformity and a rising middle class became the norm, those standards became a part of the sitcoms shown on the four networks (CBS, NBC, ABC, and Dumont). While...

Hamsterdam, MD - News at 4:20. As part of the celebration for the upcoming season of Weeds, Glick University polled over 4,000 Americans about what TV News personalities they wanted to see get high during a broadcast.

Naturally there were ground rules including the disqualifications of news organizations that contain notorious on air potheads. This meant no votes were collected for the cast of The Daily Show, Colbert Report and Fox and Friends. You think Steve Doocey is sober? Hard to think that any of those folks have eyes that aren’t pied 24-7.

10, Bill O’Reilly (Fox News) had a lot of folks who reacted that it’d be like, “Dude, I’m getting high with dad.” Of course this initial elation is cut down with the horrifying fact of “Dude, I’m getting high with dad and it’s just not someone I need to party with.”

Rick Sanchez...

We have six clips from "Hogan´s Heroes: The Komplete Series, Kommandant´s Kollection" which sees release via Paramount Home Entertainment on November 24th. The classic TV series was created by67 Bernard Fein and Albert S. Ruddyn and stars Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Richard Dawson, Robert Clary, Larry Hov and Ivan Dixon. The inmates of a German World War II Prisoners-of-War camp conduct espionage and sabotage campaign right under the noses of their warders. While the enemy is often gullible, easily fooled or downright incompetent - the real strength of Hogan's men are the elaborate ruses and sometimes dangerous lengths they will go to complete their mission...

Chicago - We’re approaching an entertainment apocalypse as the new four horsemen arrive on the hill: Redbox, Comcast, Marketeers and Spencer Pratt. In a decade, we’re going to be watching puppet shows on network TV and not even Jeff Dunham level puppet shows. But let’s give a run down of trainwrecks that will claim the lives of entertainment business models.

Redbox is a simple concept - a kiosk that allows you to rent a hot new DVD title for a $1 a day. There will be 20,000 of them across the country in grocery stores, drugstores and Wal-marts by the end of the year. They’re a mini-Blockbuster that’s doesn’t required a zit-faced dreamer to run the register. What’s the problem with Redbox? It’s killing to DVD sales market faster than Blockbuster and Netflix. Having Redbox inside Wal-Mart wrecks the impulse buying temptation of the giant sale bin.