We have earlier referenced the fact that most of the cast members on the television sitcom Hogan's Heroes were Jewish--a fact that some have argued ameliorates the questionable taste of producing a comedy situated in a Nazi prisoner of war camp. However, Hogan's Heroes barely nudges the needle on the tacky meter when compared to the 1990 production of Heil Honey, I'm Home!. This British show, in a style reminiscent of the old Jackie Gleason TV series The Honeymooners, outlines the comic antics of Adolf Hitler and his bride Eva in their apartment in 1938 and their interaction with their meddling neighbors, the Goldensteins.
The first episode featured a visit by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain and the attempts by Mrs. Goldenstein to crash the event in order to set him up with her niece Ruth. Additional episodes, which were not released, would have revealed various heavy-handed attempts by the Hitlers to murder their Jewish neighbors.
Believe it or not, the show proved to be controversial. Marian Calabro in her book Zap! A Brief History of Television suggests that "perhaps the show was the world's most tasteless situation comedy."
The bottom line is, The Producers and Hogan's Heroes have established that you can get away with banal productions about the Third Reich, but, consistent with the old adage of "when a pig becomes a hog, it gets slaughtered," you can go too far.
For more information on this TV gem, read the review by Splitsider. Or, better yet, if you wish to judge the show for yourself, watch the first episode (which is available at that same link).
Oh, by the way, the program premiered on September 30, which was the anniversary of the execution of the Munich Agreement (which allowed Germany to carve up Czechoslovakia) in 1938 by Chamberlain, Hitler and other leaders.
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| Show copyright British Satellite Broadcasting; title card image via Wikipedia |
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