The Merry Widow

Prisoners

 * Colonel Hogan - Bob Crane
 * Corporal Louis LeBeau - Robert Clary
 * Corporal Peter Newkirk - Richard Dawson
 * Sergeant James Kinchloe - Ivan Dixon
 * Sergeant Andrew Carter - Larry Hovis

Camp Personnel

 * Kommandant Wilhelm Klink - Werner Klemperer
 * Sergeant Hans Schultz - John Banner

Semi-Regulars
None

Guest Stars

 * Sgt. Meadows - Barry O'Hara
 * Florist - Bill Henry
 * Countess Marlene - Marj Dusay

Synopsis
Hogan sets Klink up with a female agent to deliver secret documents, but ends up sending Schultz when Klink is sent with the wrong ones.

Story Notes

 * This is both the one hundred and forty-second episode of the series and the one hundred and forty-second episode shown on television and the twenty-fourth episode shown for the Fifth Season.
 * The title of this episode comes from the 1905 comedic operetta of the same name by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehar. It was translated into English and became an instant hit in London in 1907. It remains popular to this day.
 * In this episode Klink mentions that he plans to spend Christmas with his mother.
 * The prediction made about Schultz's weight being able to cave in tunnels dug by the prisoners (Man in a Box) comes true in this episode.

Timeline Notes and Speculations

 * This episode takes place sometime in 1944, probably early or mid-December. The Germans are laying a new type of mine to slow the Allied advance, but on which front is never made clear. A date in the spring might be implied by the problem with the emergency tunnel, which our heroes are having to repair. According to Kinch, "The melt and snow are giving us a lot of trouble, so we had to start a new tunnel at Barracks 5." This would put the above-mentioned Allied advance in Italy. A date in early winter might be implied by Klink's plans to visit his mother for Christmas, which would make the Allied actions post-Normandy.