User Reviews

In this episode the Allies have bombed a important bridge, the Adolph Hitler Bridge, in the area with hopes of destroying the link to where the cargo passes over the river. But the bombing mission failed and now it is up to Hogan and his men to see if they can bring the important target to a successful conclusion.

There are some scenes that could have been shortened which would have made room for some more comedy. The many explosions created by Carter and the long task of getting the ammo out of the building- took more time than needed. The episode is still trying to find its notch in the viewer's mind which may lead to more explanation that is necessary. But in the end the episode was entertaining enough to produce a fine show. Just was expecting more humorous lines in this comedy sitcom.

Still feeling for an appropriate balance between the need to generate the laughs required for a situation comedy and a modicum of plausibility and seriousness appropriate for its unusual premise, "Hogan's Heroes" leans on the farcical for "German Bridge Is Falling Down," a thin reed that gets stretched to fill the time slot.

Set in a German prisoner of war camp during World War Two, this service comedy tried to mine the lighter side of fighting the Nazi crusade to conquer the world with an Allied intelligence and sabotage unit, led by Colonel Hogan, based at Stalag 13, run by commandant Colonel Klink who, along with his Sergeant of the Guard Schultz, were naturally oblivious to the Heroes' covert operating right under their noses.

This time the Heroes are engaging in sabotage, namely, the destruction of the (presumably) strategic Adolf Hitler Bridge, but when their opening gag, standing in an arrow formation while lighting up cigarettes that directs American bombers flying overhead to a nighttime attack on the bridge, doesn't work, they decide to blow up the bridge themselves--the only problem is that they don't have any explosives on hand and must make their own.

Thus the story by Laurence Marks, scripting his second episode, begins its labored path toward the disappointing resolution as "German Bridge" seems a bridge too far. Munitions expert Sergeant Carter can't seem to distill a chemical formula without setting off explosions at regular intervals, which necessitates the Heroes' subterfuge to hoodwink Klink and defuse his suspicions.

When Carter's efforts prove futile, their next ploy is to make an explosive device from gunpowder pilfered from the guards' armory, accomplished with an elaborate scheme that involves what today we call "tagging," painting graffiti unflattering to the Third Reich's top leaders on the armory's outer walls ("Hess is a mess," for instance), which then prompts Klink to force the Heroes to paint over their prankishness as misdirection for their theft in a drawn-out segment that exemplifies this lightweight episode.

The resolution to "German Bridge Is Falling Down" is anti-climactic and does involve a Rube Goldberg solution that one entry on the Goofs page dissects with an analysis resembling that complicated word problem we all dreaded in math class. Laurence Marks would go on to become the best and most prolific writer on "Hogan's Heroes," but here it is clear that he and the fledgling sitcom he is writing for are groping for style and substance.

REVIEWER'S NOTE: What makes a review "helpful"? Every reader of course decides that for themselves. For me, a review is helpful if it explains why the reviewer liked or disliked the work or why they thought it was good or not good. Whether I agree with the reviewer's conclusion is irrelevant. "Helpful" reviews tell me how and why the reviewer came to their conclusion, not what that conclusion may be. Differences of opinion are inevitable. I don't need "confirmation bias" for my own conclusions. Do you?