How to Catch a Papa Bear


Series:	Hogan's Heroes
Episode:	How to Catch a Papa Bear
Original Airdate:	October 12, 1968
Production Number:	5784-98
Written by:	Laurence Marks
Directed by:	Bruce Bilson
Produced by:	Edward H. Feldman & William A. Calihan

Regular[]

Hogan unknowingly sends Newkirk into a Gestapo trap for Papa Bear.

This is the ninety-eighth produced episode of the series, but is the ninety-fifth episode to be shown on television and the third episode shown for the Fourth Season.
During a surprise bed check, Schultz identifies three of the POWs as Hammond, Mills and O'Brien. This may be the same Mills who appears in Will the Real Adolf Please Stand Up? and is mentioned in Never Play Cards With Strangers. Hammond is played by actor Roy Goldman, who appears as a background POW in many episodes.
Frances Langford, an American singer and entertainer, is mentioned.

This appears to take place in the summer of 1944, almost immediately after Klink vs. The Gonculator.
This is the second time that Hogan will refer to his date of insertion into Stalag 13 (1942), as established in The Informer. He reminds Klink that he's been at Stalag 13 for two years.
SPECULATION: The original underground cell in Düsseldorf was rounded up by the Gestapo in Everyone Has a Brother-in-Law. The faux cell in this episode, code named "North Star", apparently is presuming to be its replacement. One would think that our heroes would have been suspicious of the new cell unless they already knew some of its members from the old one. This would presuppose that the Gestapo kept part of the old cell going, using its undercover agents that helped break it up, to found "North Star". Our heroes apparently never learned how the Gestapo found out about the old cell at Düsseldorf, so this at least is plausible.

When Hogan is looking at the thermometer to "check" Newkirk's temperature, you can see the "steam" coming out of the coffee pot. However, the steam is falling instead of rising, indicating that the "steam" is colder than the surrounding room temperature. It is likely the "steam" is actually dry ice vapor.
Big problem for the Heroes when they spring Newkirk. They left the guard alive when they sprung Newkirk. All during the escape, they used their real names. You can here Carter call out "Hey Newkirk" to which he replied, "Is that you Andrew?" The guard would be able to know their names and from their English and accents, that they were American and English. They could easily have told the Gestapo and would have been traced back to Stalag 13.

Previous episode:
Klink vs. The Gonculator

Next episode:
Hogan's Trucking Service … We Deliver the Factory to You