The Lottery

David Banner(Bill Bixby) befriends a newsstand seller named Harry Henderson(played by Robert Hogan) after an unsuccessful mugging. Out of gratitude, he allows David the chance to stay at his home for awhile, then offers him a lottery ticket he thinks is another loser, but this time is the big winner of $250,000! Ecstatic, David then realizes that, as a fugitive, he cannot risk exposure to accept the winners check on television as required, so offers Harry half to do it for him, not knowing that he is a reformed con man who proceeds to engage in one last scam to hit a bigger jackpot... Fun if silly episode stretches credibility with the big scam itself, but good performances compensate.

Although the Third Season of "The Incredible Hulk" is very consistent throughout there are a few very mediocre episodes that fail to raise much interest.

One such example is "The Lottery". Bixby is always solid and there's a very amusing performance here by Robert Hogan as a good hearted scam artist who cons David out of a lot of money when he happens to win the lottery.

A somewhat nice set up gets undone by silly scenarios and sub-par Hulk action. Although the word "silly" can be used in some instances in the better Hulk episodes, the show almost always plays it straight but here goes for huge improbabilities and campy humor that doesn't come off well.

Still, very watchable for a fan and Hogan really is terrific in his supporting role.

Once again, saving someone's butt lands David a place to stay, this time with a newsstand vendor who was being robbed when our hero happened by. The vendor, Harry is also a former con man who resolved to quit. When David gets a winning lottery ticket, naturally he can't turn up to collect his $250,000, so he has Harry do it in exchange for half the winnings. But Harry can't resist the urge to use the money to pull off one last con, his biggest yet.

This episode has a nice meaty plot, and the developments come along at a pleasing rate, without any of the local color filler seen in so many of the episodes. Harry's scam is naturally played for humor, but this is pretty much limited to his doing what has to be one of the worst fake Latin American accents ever. Still, what Harry lacks in comedic value, he more than makes up for likability. Even though you know David is right to object to Harry's conning rich fat cats, you can't help but root for him to pull it off.

On another pleasant note, this is one of the few episodes (maybe even the first so far? I can't remember for sure) where both times that the Hulk makes the scene, he only serves to screw things up. It's a nice change of pace, and works well with the plot, which is quite well-constructed. The only sticky point is why Harry doesn't let David in on the full details of his scheme, but I'll let that slide because the final stroke took both David and me by surprise. It has its weak points, but this is a delightfully fun episode which still manages to carry a message.