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Though it only lasted for four seasons and the last one was pretty lame, Welcome Back Kotter left its mark especially one particular career. John Travolta got his first big break here and this series led to him starring in Saturday Night Fever while this show was still running. Unfortunately the show didn't outlast his leaving it.

The premise was an interesting one, a nice one about a mans who wanted to give something back to where he came from. And where he came from was a class of underachievers from this same Brooklyn high school where he is now teaching. He's assigned to teach the dregs of the school, those for whom fate has decreed they've got a lifetime of changing tires or flipping burgers. Fate decreed that for Gabe Kotter, but he believed in cheating fate and is now trying to impart that same lesson to the sweathogs of a new generation.

Sweathogs is the name of the group in his class and they were all New York types to the max. Robert Heyges, Laurence Hilton-Jacobs, Ron Palillo, and John Travolta were four of his students with whom he bonded with. Interestingly enough the four all very different backgrounds bonded with each other, the education system's neglect of them made them kindred spirits.

Gabe Kaplan starred as Kotter and he created the show as well and drew from his own background. It's probably what gave the show its success. But when Kaplan wanted out after three seasons, the producers tried to keep it going, but the heart of the show was gone. Also by that time John Travolta was a major film star and he wanted out as well. They brought Marcia Strassman to the school and she had played Kaplan's wife and Mrs. Kotter was hired as a guidance counselor. It just didn't work and the show was mercifully canceled.

There was one other very important element in Welcome Back Kotter. John Sylvester White played the Assistant Principal Mr. Woodman is a self serving bureaucrat who was in the school administration when Kotter was himself a sweathog. He can't believe the guy who was marked for failure could now be teaching in his school. White is frustrated every week when episode after episode Kotter gets through another crisis and doesn't quit in frustration. White is sitting around waiting to collect his pension and idealists he doesn't get if he ever was one in the first place, if he was ever young in the first place. He was a great antagonist for Kaplan as Kaplan shot zinger after zinger over this man's forehead. He never got a clue, but White created a great character. He never got enough credit for the show's success.

Welcome Back Kotter was a beacon of New York urban culture, seventies style. Don't miss it when TV Land runs the episodes.

I really enjoyed Welcome Back, Kotter. It was a very funny show with an outstanding ensemble cast anchored by Gabe Kaplan, who brought lots of humor to the class of unteachable sweathogs with jokes and impressions. I always got a kick out of his uncle jokes in the opening and closing of each episode, including the ones when he was telling a joke to a turkey and to a computer used as an electronic teaching device.

As for the sweathogs, they were a riot. John Travolta catapulted his way to success as the macho, monosyllabic ("What? Where?") Vinnie Barbarino, Robert Hegyes portrayed TV's first Puerto Rican Jew Juan (Little Juan) Epstein and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs made me crack up every time he said "Hi there!" But my favorite of the sweathogs was Arnold Horshack. Ron Pallilo's portrayal of one of TV's funniest nerds was so outstanding, from his nasal voice to his inimitable laugh. His laugh was the funniest on TV prior to Steve Urkel.

Gabe constantly got grief from vice principal (later principal) Mr. Woodman, who kept barging into his class with the same frequency Frank & Marie Barone did to their son years later on Everybody Loves Raymond. Let's not forget Marcia Strassman as Gabe's wife Julie, who didn't have much to do in most of the show until the fourth season.

As for the fourth season, the least that can be said, the better. it was horrible without Kaplan and Travolta on the show full-time and Stephen Shortridge as Beau. It was like watching the Sanford and Son episodes a couple of years earlier without Redd Foxx.

I'll wrap this up by mentioning the theme song by John Sebastian that made it to No. 1 on the pop charts and resurrected his career. it was one of the best 70s TV theme songs. Welcome back. Welcome back. Welcome back.

Been recording the series lately on Antenna TV. Haven't seen it since the 90s when I first saw it when I was little. Great show that helped launch the career of the great John Travolta!

My only gripe is asides from a few actors who looked young for their parts,some look super old. Like okay I get it's from an era where adults played teen parts alot in films,but wow they look like they 30 years old still in high school. Small annoyance though as they act pretty good for their parts regardless. Sort of a precursor to that 70s Show also. I get Dazed & Confused vibes as well.

This show ranks highly among the other 1970's shows which we remember: "All in the Family", "Maude", "Sanford and Son", "One Day at a Time", and "The Jeffersons". These shows dealt with issues such as racism, divorce, abortion, and being poor. These shows had writing that was great, and characters that were even greater. The characters, which had flaws (Archie Bunker, Fred Sanford, and George Jefferson, etc.) which we all, whether we were conservative, or liberal, or moderate, could relate to.

"Welcome Back, Kotter" was about a dedicated teacher who wanted to return to his alma mater to try to deal with a bunch of remedial, misfit high school students in inner city NYC when no one else wanted to deal with them. These types of teenagers were not tackled on TV before. The casting was perfect for the NYC setting: from the nerd in Horshack, to the cool maverick in Barbarino, to the Latino in Epstein, to the Black male, of course, in Washington. There is also the Principal in Mr. Woodman. The writing was great. The timing was awesome. The theme song by John Sebastian is breathtaking. The show was purely magical in its first few seasons.

There were problems, as life deals us sometimes. One was Marcia Straussman. She was very unhappy that her involvement in storylines was limited. It was unfortunate because the show primarily dealt with life at the school. Because she played the wife of the teacher, and she was primarily at home, there was not room for her. The act of making her a character on the show was not a good one. The Mrs. Kotter character would have been more appropriate on recurring basis. Another problem was differences between Gabe Kaplan and the other producers and writers. This explains why we never saw him much during the later run of the series.

Gabe Kaplan's lack of involvement in the show's fourth and final season was just one of the many problems which doomed the show. The writing in that final season was sloppy, unrealistic, unfunny, and was so amateurish. As a teenager watching the show in reruns, I saw that something was amiss. The actors on the show complained that the scripts were trash. A storyline about Horshack getting married was about as bad as the writing could get, and it was that. The E! Channel's "E! True Hollywood Story" about this show talks about that dismal fourth season. Another major problem with that show in the fourth season was that the actors who played the Sweathogs. The problem with actors playing teenagers is that they were older than teenagers when they began portraying those characters. To prepare to portray teens, they had to learn how to be teenagers again. It worked in the early days.

However, by the time the fourth season had arrived, the actors had matured and developed as adults where they were getting too old to portray teenagers anymore. They also did not look like teenagers, either. Let's not forget John Travolta and his blossoming as a movie star. These factors led to the demise of the series.

The series was about a concept so fresh, people in this modern era can relate to it even more now than they could back in the 70's. This concept is about misfit children. This is why it was so popular for awhile in syndication. However, it fizzled in syndication because when those fourth season episodes began airing, the viewing felt that the whole show was crap and stopped watching. USA Network had it. TV Land had it. They both stopped showing it.

Even though things did not end on a good note, true fans of the show can ignore that fourth season and remember the greater moments. It was a great show in general.

Sort of a Haunted Show?

Four of the regular actors died in their 60s: -Ron Palillo-died from a heart attack -Marcia Strassman-had breast died from cancer -John Sylvester White Jr.- passed from pancreatic cancer -Robert Hegyes-heart attack

That is not as tragic as the lives of a couple of recurring actors Melonie Haller a crime victim who was drugged and sexually assaulted at a party in The Hamptons.

Debralee Scott was another kind of a crime victim herself when her fiance was killed on 9/11 and she never recovered; ultimately dying from cirrhosis of the liver from alcoholism.

Really kind of tragic.

Besides All In The Family Welcome Back Kotter was without a doubt one of the funniest sitcoms to ever hit television screens during the 1970's and still remains a classic. I used to watch this a lot as a teenager and then it was removed from the afternoon line up on channel 54, this show helped to launch the career of many especially John Travolta who instantly became a super star.

Gabe Kotter, (Kaplan) an understanding teacher returns to his old school James Buchanan High in Brooklyn to teach a remedial class and social studies to a new generation of troublemakers called the Sweathogs. They are a group of unteachable and underachieving young men led by Vinnie Barbarino (Travolta) a funny guy with tons of insults. Juan Epstein, (Hegyes)a Puerto Rican Jew, ultra cool Freddie Boom Boom Washington (Jacobs) and big nerd Arnold Horshack (Palillo). Kotter once a sweat hog himself tries to use his own experiences to get through to his students but they're often interrupted by Mr. Woodman (White) the cranky principal.

By the second season Gabe and his wife Julie (Strassman) became the proud parents of twin daughters and she became a teacher at Buchanan High. At the start of season 3 Vinnie graduated from high school and a new guy Beau De Labarre (Shortridge) was introduced into the Sweathogs he too was a troublemaker.

Season four was a little boring without the presence of Kaplan and Travolta however the main highlight was when Arnold fell in love and married his girlfriend Mary Johnson (Arranga)at the end of the series. My favorite characters were Horshack who had this laugh that sounded more like wheezing and Epstein who always had excuse notes to get out of anything. For fans of old classics pick up a copy of Welcome Back Kotter season 1 now out on DVD it's sure to bring laughs.

They are a group of unteachable and underachieving young men led by Vinnie Barbarino (Travolta) a funny guy with tons of insults. Juan Epstein, (Hegyes)a Puerto Rican Jew, ultra cool Freddie Boom Boom Washington (Jacobs) and big nerd Arnold Horshack (Palillo). Kotter once a sweat hog himself tries to use his own experiences to get through to his students but they're often interrupted by Mr. Woodman (White) the cranky principal.

By the second season Gabe and his wife Julie (Strassman) became the proud parents of twin daughters and she became a teacher at Buchanan High. At the start of season 3 Vinnie graduated from high school and a new guy Beau De Labarre (Shortridge) was introduced into the Sweathogs he too was a troublemaker.

As an aspiring school teacher in an urban public school, my local Warner Brothers station affiliate WPIX Channel 11 airs Welcome Back, Kotter followed by other seventies' sitcoms, The Jeffersons, The Odd Couple, and Taxi (all shows set in New York City) but what a night to watch television --Saturdays from 8-10PM. After watching several episodes of Welcome Back, Kotter, I am exploring the possibility of using this show as an educational tool in the secondary classroom. Welcome Back, Kotter is about those disadvantaged students like me to show that they can succeed with a teacher who believes in them. Besides they have an excellent cast led by Gabriel Kaplan (whatever happened to him?), Marcia Strassman who plays his loving wife Julie, and the students or sweat hogs known as John Travolta playing Barbarino, Ron Palillo playing the lovable Horshach, and others like Juan Epstein (a Puerto Rican Jew) and others. The sweat hogs were not the high achieving students and looked down upon by other students. I can't wait for this show to come on DVD.

"Welcome Back, Kotter," classic tv at it's best, and later...it's worst. This was one of those 1970's shows that took place in an urban setting and dealt with the blue collar and low income segment of society, that people could either relate to, or laugh at. Along with "Good Times," and "Barney Miller," this was one of those "urban sit-coms," although WBK was a bit more silly than those other productions. But it wasn't without it's serious side, dealing with such issues as teen pregnancy, drug addiction, school bullying etc. Of course, like many shows of it's kind, "Welcome Back Kotter" began to run out of steam after the second season. The first two are excellent examples of 70's television gold. Things began to come apart in the third season, where smart comedy was being replaced with stupid slapstick moments, along with a ton of unfunny "baby jokes," when Gabe Kotter, teacher and mentor to his class of "Sweathogs," and his wife Julie had twin babies. The show also lost some realism when the couple moved into that large, deluxe New York apartment, a space that a Brooklyn public school teacher could never afford. I think that upscale set also alienated some of it's viewers, who watched the show because they could relate to the tough urban lifestyle. The show hit bottom during Season 4, with the loss of Gabe Kaplan, who has in fact the backbone of the whole show. This was Kaplan's creation, and the show was named after his character. His absence was a death blow to the whole production. Some blamed the departure of actor John Travolta, on the show's demise, but Travolta made so many appearances as a guest star during the fourth season, that his absence was barely felt. No, Gabe Kaplan as Mr. Kotter, was the most entertaining character, and the one that held the whole production together. All good things must come to an end, as this show did after four seasons. Today the show is still airing in reruns, on independent tv stations nationwide, and this attests to the show's timeless endurance.

I watched Welcome Back Kotter as a kid. I remember loving the theme song and the opening credits tour through Brooklyn. But having revisited "Chico and the Man" (another similar show a couple of years ago), I expected the show to be much worse than I remembered. But, it really wasn't. The always bashed Gabe Kaplan comes across as quite likeable and he seems to hold the show's cornball humor together quite well. Don't get me wrong, this is not "The Office" at high school, but it is good natured middlebrow comedy. Of course, the show was always "on the clock" for getting canceled because the premise is time limited, and indeed I guess the show declined horribly over the years, but this is a review of Season One, and as far as that goes, its enjoyable comedy.

Most of these "reviews" are written by people that clearly weren't around in the 70's.

Gabe Kaplan wrote the show based on his actual experiences, as a remedial student in the 60's.

Time Frame, people. If you weren't around back then you won't get it. Period. It comediacally dealt with things that people did NOT talk about back then. Diversity in an inner city school was almost taboo on TV back then.

Jewish point of view in the 70's - this is only 30 years after WWII - again, Time Frame.

Watching the reruns of the reruns is not the same as watching it when it was being broadcast and you have no reference to most of what was being talked/joked about, and the fact that TV was not on 24/7 and it only had 3 channels. Period.

The show was watered down each season because of the time frame, and each season Kaplan was censored to the point of leaving before the show ended.

Time Frame matters. Context.

The reason that Welcome Back Kotter lasted four seasons was because of the executive producer James Komack. He ran a very toxic environment especially to Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman. Both Gabe and Marcia both wanted an at home episodes but was thwarted by Komack. Then Komack got rid of Gabe's creative partner Alan Sachs and brought in inferior writers. Gabe left angrily and the fourth season was horrible.

Although not watching this TV-series for the past twenty years I'm still able to remember details as names, sceneries and the soundtrack. The characters are well-pictured and witty, the dialogues are pointed. I wished I had had a teacher like Kotter myself.

What made "Kotter" great was that it was just plain funny. Unlike some of its contemporaries, it didn't try to shock or send a social message. The four unique personalities of the Sweathogs, along with Kotter, worked together so well. The episode where they ran a telethon from the classroom was classic. The final season was a disappointment because the show's writers wanted to go in a different direction--attacking more serious issues. Plus, the departure of John Travolta after he hit it big in the movies hurt "Kotter" as well. It's probably all for the better that it only went four years because I think when a sitcom goes for too long, it tends to deviate from its originial concept (i.e. "Happy Days" and "Laverne and Shirley").

From singer/songwriter John Sebastian's opening iconic TV series theme song "Welcome Back" this comedy TV series was a big hit. Actor/comedian Gabe Kaplan who plays the teacher of a misfit class of high school aged teenagers some of which went on to great fame such as John Travolta who plays a Happy Days/Fonzie type of character named Vinnie Barbarino, and Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs who plays Freddie 'Boom Boom' Washington made this 30 minute sitcom such a classic comedy series.

If they brought it back in re-runs I would be sure to be watching it all over again!

A deserving 8 out of 10 rating each and every week.

I vaguely remember watching during its actual first run, but more so during the brief syndication in the 80's. The humor seems somewhat dated and at times dumb, but it also has a timeless Marx Brothers-Three Stooges-slapstick quality to it. It personifies the 70's in both TV and culture. You actually liked the characters. You could relate to their situations. Everyone had friends like the Sweathogs and you had to have a teacher/boss/mentor like Kotter at some point in your life. Of course, by the final season, it tried to change direction and became a little more serious, plus the departure of John Travolta didn't help matters much. Still, I think it ran out of gas too soon. What I want to know is, when will this be released on DVD? There are so many retarded shows on DVD, I wonder why Kotter is taking so long.

Welcome Back, Kotter was a show for the 70s that pretty much launched John Travolta and made teaching fun in a Good Times sort of way.

The cast chemistry was perfect and so were the one-liners.

Welcome Back, Kotter should be rebooted please.

WBC was one of those 70's shows that was only viewed by my siblings and I when there was nothing better on. There are many things to loathe about this show: Corny jokes, slow moving plot, tiresome characters and a very drab inner city school backdrop that looked like your typical living nightmare for any teacher. School sucks enough as it is, so why would anyone want to subject themselves to watching it on TV for entertainment? I understand that comedy is often rooted in pain and that is where we derive comedy in general. But Welcome Back, Kotter brings the expression "Painful to watch" in a whole new level. It was also very negative in how it treated people. We weren't watching anything realistic here, just a very contrived and sophomoric representation of reality. And the results are uninspiring.

I will say that it is memorable for a couple of reasons. First, it catapulted the career of John Travolta. Gabe Kaplan was a likable guy who seemed to skate through this depiction of a high school teacher who has good intentions while having a bug to be an amateur comedian. Some people harshly criticize the fifth Sweathog from the south during the final season. I actually thought he brought some fun originality to this progressively stale and weary Motley Crew.

But where I derive meaning from this lousy program was the message in the theme song. The idea of a man returning to his Alma Mater as a teacher is both depressing yet endearing. The hopeless feeling one gets when they abandoned their dreams only to be annoyed and aggravated by an unpleasant and immature group of punks is not really a great recipe for fun.

This was a great series. Most of Kotter's jokes were so corny, but ya just gotta laugh anyway. This was made back when they knew how to make a sitcom, something the whole family can enjoy (yes that means it's safe for parents too). The "Sweathogs" always crack me up. Myself, also put in remedial education during high school could relate to a lot of it also. Great writing and acting has made this show a classic.

This show premiered in September of 1975 and instantly became a classic. The First three seasons are pure genius, however I have no idea what the hell happened to season 4.

This show has potential if you ignore season 4.

TVland now shows this show every Friday and Saturday night at midnight.

I can't believed I saw this one. Gabe Kaplan can't act and should have stuck to stand up. Immature, unfunny catchphrases and dialogue. It I wanted to see the Marx Brothers, I watched their classic movies and not have Kotter and the class doing impressions. John Travolta and the others made high school look stupid. Horseshack and his laugh were funny for a while but now, it hurts my ears when I hear it. This show was also sexist. The female characters weren't developed and were reduced to stereotypes. His wife would have a life outside the apartment and Helaine Lembeck was a very pretty woman and should have more to do. A TV classic? I don't think so. 40 years and it shows that it fails big time.

'Welcome Back, Kotter' is one of those shows you stay home on the weekends for. I know I do. From the puberty-neglected voice of Arnold Horseshack to the feathered and Jew-froed hair of Vinnie Barbarino, Juan Epstein, and Gabe Kotter, everything about this show is classic. At first glance it might just seem like some kitschy little retro sitcom, but make no mistake, it is awesome. By the last season the show slowed down and became a shadow of it's former self, but if you can ignore that then you will see that this show is one of the best ever.