Hank - Der (un)heimliche Student

to all "Hank" fans, I seem to recall the theme song going something like this:

He's up with the sun, And he's got the college singing, As he goes off on another swinging day.

There're jobs to be done, Or errands to run, He's A - Number One - OK!

He'll drive, clean your clothes, Be a butler or a porter, If it means another quarter in the bank.

He'll get his degree, His Phi Beta key, And get 'em both for free, That's Hank.

I was a fan too. The main thing I would add to the other comments is that Hank was a terrific athlete. Dabbs Greer, who seems to coach all of the college's teams, always had a practice or a game or a meet in the way of Hank's next class. So when he'd cut across the field Greer would always wonder who that wonderful, sprinter, kicker, halfback was. I haven't seen anything resembling a tape of this but perhaps one will surface on TVLand or at the Museum of Television and Radio. Maybe they'll do a Title IX remake of it. An athlete dropping into class has more of a farcical element than in 1965.

I remember this show well from my childhood, along with the other TV sitcom Camp Runamuck. I was in 5th grade when this show came out and watched every episode. It was funny, and to this day every once in awhile, the show's catchy theme pops into my head and I try to remember the lyrics. I saw the lyrics elsewhere on this site or another only today and can finally see what they are, because I had long forgotten them. I liked the show because Hank was always a positive guy, doing his best to take care of his sister, get a good education and better himself. Of course, all the running around, the costume changes and his efforts to get an education on the sly kept me entertained. I too remember the last episode when he was caught, but in the end, it had a happy ending. Being just a kid who really loved the show, I watched knowing it was the final episode and stayed glued to the tube through the closing credits and the last run of the theme song. Isn't it something how some shows touch you and are remembered fondly in your memory as you're growing up? By the way, the notion of somebody repeatedly slipping into classes without paying, etc. isn't so far-fetched. It was recently in the newspaper here in Southern California about some guy attending several college courses to learn, yet he was never enrolled in them. I can't remember the rest of this true incident, but it did happen.

Wow! I finally managed to stumble onto the name of this show and found a web site with clips. I recalled this show years later when at college, mentioning that it was the first time I had heard of the term "auditing a course". No one recalled it, and some implied I imagined the whole thing. A couple of times in the 80's, I wrote TV newspaper columnists about the show and had my article printed saying they could be no help. I was starting to think the show was a dream!

Anyway, I enjoyed the short run of "Hank". It was somewhat like the more popular "Dobie Gillis", but with more positive role models.

I have fond memories of "Hank" and remember watching it religiously on Friday nights. I was in the seventh grade when the show was on. I thought it was extremely clever, and it contributed to a fascination with college that I already had. (I ended up spending 13 years in college and graduate school--but I took all my classes legally!) As I remember, the college president's major crusade was trying to catch students who audited classes. A few years later, he would have been happy if the biggest problem on campus was unregistered students sitting in on classes. I also remember that the president's daughter was Hank's girlfriend and that she knew all about Hank's illegal activities. In retrospect, however, I have to wonder why Hank could not have gotten an athletic scholarship since he was such a fabulous athlete. I don't remember seeing the last episode that wrapped up the show. It is too bad the network did not renew it.