The Lottery - The Incredible Hulk Classic TV Series.

David is once again in his Samaritan role as he aids and befriends Harry Henderson, a reformed con artist. Harry runs a newspaper stand but he dreams of starting a restaurant with a local beat cop. The only problem is that they haven't quite got the money for it. An even bigger problem though is that Harry also still dreams about the last big con he never pulled off.

These dreams of Harry's cause big problems when he buys a lottery ticket from a local kid, and gives it to David.

Neither of them think anything of it, until it's announced later that night on television that David is the big winner of $250,000. ( according to the US Inflation Calculator , that's worth approximately $716,908.37 in 2014)

That's quite a hefty sum, but David knows he cannot possibly show up to claim his prize. His identity would be discovered, and there is no amount of money that would protect him from the kind of attention that would thrust upon him.

David does not need to tell Harry of his predicament. Harry has enough street smarts to realize that David wants to lay low, for whatever reason, and agrees to pretend to be him and collect the winnings. They decide that they will split the winnings 50-50 and go about living their dreams.

Of course, things never seem to work out quite the way they are planned...

"Waving that kind of money in front of a guy like me is like locking up an alcoholic in a liquor store over the weekend." -Harry.

David begins planning the purchase of the state-of-the-art lab equipment he thinks he might need to find a cure for his condition.

He's on the phone with an equipment supplier when he sees Harry accept the check on live T.V..

David waits for Harry to return, but Harry never shows.

David soon realizes that Harry has taken the money and decided to chase his dream of the big con, instead of opening his restaurant.

Harry is busy living his dream of the Big Con he never had the chance to pull, when David finds him. Harry is masquerading as General Marina, a name he has taken from his favorite tomato sauce!

Harry tells David that as soon as he got off the stage with the check, the tax man was waiting and took half of their winnings.

He tries to convince David to sit tight for a few more hours, and he can double what he owes David. David just wants to take his share of the money and run.

David wants no part of a scam, but when he tries to extricate himself, things go down hill fast as Harry's final con is exposed.

Robert Hogan has made a life's work out of recurring characters and one-of appearances in numerous popular programs of their day.

Just a quick lists:

• Alice

• Another World

• As the World Turns

• Days of Our Lives

• General Hospital

• Law & Order

• Murder, She Wrote

• Operation Petticoat

• The Wire

• 77 Sunset Strip

• Batman

• Bonanza

• Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

• I Dream Of Jeannie

• Hogan's Heroes

• Twelve O'Clock High

• The Twilight Zone

• Gunsmoke

• Hawaii Five-O

• M*A*S*H

• Mission: Impossible

• Mork & Mindy

• The Rockford Files

• Airwolf

• Barnaby Jones

• Knight Rider

• Laverne & Shirley

and of course, The Incredible Hulk.

Aside from his appearances in the shows above (and more) he's also well known by veteran soap opera watchers for his work in Days of Our Lives,General Hospital, As the World Turns, and One Life to Live.

Obviously, Robert Hogan is a gold mine for any six degrees of Kevin Bacon players out there.

The Lottery is a fun story that doesn't really further the major themes of The Incredible Hulk series, but I included it on the list of the 11 best classic Incredible Hulk episodes mainly for the twists and turns and for Robert Hogan's performance. This is just a light-hearted look at the life of the con-man and his addiction to running a good scam. I also chose this episode to represent all the other episodes not on my list - the majority of which feature David Banner as a bystander who gets mixed up in the drama du jour, but all but ignore the Incredible Hulk story. Of all those kinds of episode, I think this is the most entertaining and well done.

The Lottery is quite simply a great hour of classic television, and the best example The Incredible Hulk episodes that shoot for a light-hearted and comedic tone. Most such episodes fall way too short, but The Lottery hits its mark.