Hank (1965 TV series)
Hank is a 1965 American television sitcom that starred Dick Kallman in the title role. The show is a notable early example of a program with a true series finale,[1] in which the underlying premise of the series reaches a natural conclusion with its final episode.[2]
| Hank | |
|---|---|
 Dick Kallman and Linda Foster. | |
| Genre | Situation comedy |
| Created by | Garry Marshall Jerry Belson |
| Directed by | Leslie H. Martinson Allen Baron and others |
| Starring | Dick Kallman Howard St. John Dabbs Greer Linda Foster Katie Sweet Lloyd Corrigan |
| Theme music composer | Johnny Mercer Frank Perkins |
| Composer(s) | Vic Mizzy William Lava Carl Brandt |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | William T. Orr |
| Producer(s) | Hugh Benson James Komack |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Warner Bros. Television |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Audio format | Monaural |
| Original release | September 24, 1965 – April 15, 1966 |
Synopsis
The show, which aired on NBC in 1965, revolves around a pair of orphans. In both the unaired pilot and first episode, Hank Dearborn is explained to be a teenager left to raise his young sister, Tina, after their parents die in a car crash.
Seeing that the best route to success is through higher education, Hank attempts to illegally audit classes at the fictional Western State University, while at the same time taking a variety of odd jobs, including running his own lunch truck on campus, to financially support what remains of his family. Hank's attempt to accomplish these twin goals provides much of the show's humor as he must engage in identity theft, impersonating various students when they are absent from class, and helped by sympathetic Professor McKillup, who has access to the student roll. Much of the drama arises from Hank's fear of his sister being forced into foster care.[3]
Hank's life is further complicated by the fact that he is dating Doris Royal, the daughter of the university's registrar, Dr. Lewis Royal, who is on the lookout for unregistered students like Hank.[1] Typical episodes show Hank narrowly avoiding detection as an impersonator. In the final episode, his true identity is compromised. However, because of his excellent performance on a recent exam, the university rewards him with a full academic scholarship and formal admittance to the university.
The series ends with his sister remarking, "There goes my brother – the registered student."[1]
Cast
- Dick Kallman as Hank Dearborn
- Linda Foster as Doris Royal
- Howard St. John as Dr. Lewis Royal
- Dabbs Greer as Coach Ossie Weiss
- Lloyd Corrigan as Professor McKillup
- Katie Sweet as Tina Dearborn
Episode list
| Episode # | Episode title | Original airdate | Episode Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-1 | "Who's Waldo Smith?" (pilot) | September 17, 1965 | College drop-in Hank, an unregistered student who is hungry for learning, gets the help of Professor McKillup in his plots to attend classes in place of absent students. |
| 1-2 | "Will the Real Harvey Wheatley Please Stand Up?" | September 24, 1965 | Hank transforms a personality-challenged egghead (Bob Balaban) into the most sought-after man on campus. |
| 1-3 | "Dunsetter For President" | October 1, 1965 | Hank tries to sabotage his own campaign when he is nominated for campus president, since winning would expose his "drop-in" status. |
| 1-4 | "Cherokee Hank" | October 8, 1965 | In his latest subterfuge, Hank disguises himself as Sam Lightfoot, a speedy Native American runner. |
| 1-5 | "Candidate" | October 15, 1965 | Hank is temporarily disillusioned by the seemingly unethical conduct of his faculty friend. |
| 1-6 | "Catering Competition" | October 22, 1965 | Hank faces bankruptcy when a professional food service arrives on campus. |
| 1-7 | "Farewell, Coach Weiss" | October 29, 1965 | Hank arranges a surprise testimonial dinner for Western State's frustrated athletic director. |
| 1-8 | "My Boyfriend, the Doctor" | November 5, 1965 | Hank encounters girl problems when he assumes the identity of a pre-med student. |
| 1-9 | "Somebody Loves This Albatross" | November 12, 1965 | Hank helps keep an honor student from dropping out of school by getting him a scholarship after the student's hidden athletic talents are uncovered. |
| 1-10 | "The Campus Caper" | November 19, 1965 | Hank makes a mockery of a private detective who was hired by Dean Royal to ferret out unregistered students. |
| 1-11 | "Dean Royal, Matchmaker" | November 26, 1965 | Dean Royal misinterprets Hank's invitation to his daughter as being a proposal to elope. |
| 1-12 | "They're Playing Our Song" | December 3, 1965 | Disguised as an absent music student, Hank composes a winning song for Professor Wagner. |
| 1-13 | "My Fair Co-Ed" | December 10, 1965 | Hank solves the "three's a crowd" problem by transforming an unsophisticated babysitter into a campus beauty contest winner. |
| 1-14 | "Four's A Crowd" | December 24, 1965 | Hank and his disguises cause Dean Royal to think that he is having hallucinations. |
| 1-15 | "Operation: Crackdown" | December 31, 1965 | Hank once again outwits Dean Royal and thwarts the registrar's campaign to catch "drop-in" students. |
| 1-16 | "The Millionth Dollar Baby" | January 7, 1966 | Hank contributes to the stadium fund, but his generosity nearly exposes his "drop-in" status at Western State. |
| 1-17 | "Money, Money, Who's Got the Money?" | January 14, 1966 | Hank gets unexpected help when a loan shark plans to take his truck as interest. |
| 1-18 | "The Trouble With Tina" | January 28, 1966 | Guardianship of Tina is in jeopardy until Hank's friends come to his aid. |
| 1-19 | "His Highness, Count Gazzari" | February 4, 1966 | Hank is able to convince a coach that he is a descendant of Italian nobility. |
| 1-20 | "The Ten Lettermen" | February 11, 1966 | In an attempt to help Coach Weiss keep his job, Hank helps recruit a star athlete to attend Western State. |
| 1-21 | "Rah, Rah, Commissar" | February 25, 1966 | A Russian exchange student is convinced by Hank to join the school's track team. |
| 1-22 | "Maury Wills to the Rescue" | March 4, 1966 | Hank extends an invitation to Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Maury Wills to visit the campus in order to appease disgruntled alumni. |
| 1-23 | "Wedding, Anyone?" | March 18, 1966 | A canceled wedding party that could mean a big financial loss forces Hank to try to marry off Coach Gazzari. |
| 1-24 | "Ethel Weiss, Won't You Please Come Home?" | March 25, 1966 | Coach Weiss patches up a lovers' quarrel between Hank and Doris, but alienates his wife in the process. |
| 1-25 | "McKillup's Best Seller" | April 8, 1966 | A 25-year-old obsolete textbook becomes the most sought-after book on campus thanks to Hank. |
| 1-26 | "Operation: Matriculation" | April 15, 1966 | Hank is finally unmasked as an elusive "drop-in" at Western State. |
Home media
On November 3, 2015, Warner Bros. released Hank: The Complete Series on DVD via their Warner Archive Collection. This is a manufacture-on-demand release, available through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[4]
References
- "What Happened to Hank". TV Party. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- "Hank – Trivia". IMDb. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- "Hank". Jump the Shark. 2007. Archived from the original on October 11, 2007. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
- Official Announcement for 'The Complete Series': Date, Cost, Artwork Archived 2015-11-01 at the Wayback Machine