EPISODE · Feb 24, 2026 · 1H 9M
Ep 1 Selling World War II as Comedy
from Hogan’s Heroes and Postwar America · host Wayne Lee and Anna Maltese
In this episode we talk about the genesis of Hogan's Heroes as a plot originally based on a prison comedy. The conversion to a WWII POW camp brought with it controversy, a reluctant network executive, critical reviews in major media, but also success. We talk about the way TV worked in the 1960s, and we interview Frank Conniff of MST3K fame on the nature of comedy and satire and how Hogan's Heroes was able to sell WWII as comedy.
What this episode covers
In this episode we talk about the genesis of Hogan's Heroes as a plot originally based on a prison comedy. The conversion to a WWII POW camp brought with it controversy, a reluctant network executive, critical reviews in major media, but also success. We talk about the way TV worked in the 1960s, and we interview Frank Conniff of MST3K fame on the nature of comedy and satire and how Hogan's Heroes was able to sell WWII as comedy.
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Ep 1 Selling World War II as Comedy
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