What Time Does the Balloon Go Up?


Series:	Hogan's Heroes
Episode:	What Time Does the Balloon Go Up?
Original Airdate:	February 17, 1968
Production Number:	5784-87
Written by:	Arthur Julian
Directed by:	Marc Daniels
Produced by:	Edward H. Feldman & William A. Calihan

Regular[]

This is the eighty-seventh produced episode of the series, but is the eighty-sixth to be shown on television and the twenty-fourth episode shown for the Third Season.
A pack of Parliament cigarettes is transposed over the closing credits.
The title is a common military expression, still in use today. "What time does the balloon go up?" comes from World War I, when British artillery sent up a balloon to notify gunners to open fire (The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms). In common parlance, it often indicates the start of hostilities.

Based on the map of the Russian front that Klink has set up on his office, this episode probably takes place in or shortly after January of 1944. Note the salient at Smolensk, where the front bulges outward.

During the late night roll call towards the end of the episode, while Schultz is counting the prisoners, Newkirk is seen wearing his winter coat over his typical outfit. The camera then shows Klink in front of his office. When the view returns to the prisoners, Newkirk is no longer wearing the coat. The film editor re-used old footage from the very first episodes. There is a tall extra next to Newkirk. Now look at the opening credits. It's the same extra.
Another continuity problem. When LeBeau is first shown flying a kite, the ground around him has spotty "snow" on the ground. Only seconds later in subsequent scenes with Schultz and Klink, the ground is blanketed with "snow."

Previous episode:
Axis Annie

Next episode:
LeBeau and the Little Old Lady