Welcome Back, Kotter

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Welcome Back, Kotter

Welcome Back, Kotter DVD release cover.
Top: Robert Hegyes, John Sylvester White, Ron Palillo
Middle: Marcia Strassman, Gabriel Kaplan
Bottom: John Travolta, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Genre Sitcom
Creator(s) Gabriel Kaplan
Starring Gabriel Kaplan
Marcia Strassman
John Travolta
Robert Hegyes
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Ron Palillo
John Sylvester White
Stephen Shortridge
Country of origin Flag of United States United States
No. of episodes 95
Production
Running time 30 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel ABC
Original run September 9, 1975 – June 8, 1979
Links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Welcome Back, Kotter was an American television sitcom that originally aired on the ABC network from 1975 to 1979.

The title character, Gabe Kotter (Gabriel Kaplan), plays a wise-cracking teacher who returns to the same high school from which he graduated - James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, New York - to teach an often unruly group of remedial students known as the "Sweathogs."

The main Sweathogs consisted of:

  • Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta), the handsome Italian-American leader;
  • Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes), a tough Puerto Rican Jew (or, more accurately, a Jewish Puerto Rican);
  • Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), the hip African-American basketball enthusiast; and
  • Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), the dimwitted simpleton known for his wheezing laugh.

Kotter had attended the same remedial classes when he was at school and was a founding member of the Sweathogs. He soon befriends his students who often visit his apartment, sometimes to the chagrin of his wife, Julie (Marcia Strassman).

In Season 1 (before being drafted to co-star in "Mary Hartman Mary Hartman") Debralee Scott played the blazen-haired femme fatale "Hotsie Totsie", said to have helped put the sweat in "Sweathog".

The eternally grumpy Sweathog-hating Mr. Woodman (John Sylvester White) was Vice-Principal (later Principal). Woodman had an open aversion to Kotter's class, which he considered a drain on resources.

The show was based on Kaplan's real-life experiences as a remedial high school student in Brooklyn.

Contents

[edit] Cast

[edit] Recurring characters

[edit] History

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Welcome Back, Kotter began its run amid controversy.

  • In Boston, the local ABC affiliate (WCVB) refused to air the show. The city was going though a tumultuous school busing program to enhance racial equality and the local affiliate felt Kotter's fictional integrated classroom would only add fuel to the fire. However, the show became an early ratings success and the affiliate relented, picking it up from its fifth episode.
  • Meanwhile, teachers had concerns about how Kotter would be portrayed, so producers allowed a union representative on the set to ensure the show protected the image of those in the profession.
  • There were also concerns that the show would celebrate juvenile delinquency. However, these sentiments faded after the Sweathogs' antics proved to be silly rather than scary. Like Kaplan, Hegyes was a fan of the Marx Brothers. Hegyes claims that he suggested that the Sweathogs be modelled after the Marx Bros in order to reduce tension.[1]

The show enjoyed ratings success during its first two seasons, spawning a host of merchandising tie-ins such as:

The major characters of Welcome Back Kotter were based on real-life people. As a stand-up comic one of Kaplan's most popular routines was "Holes and Mellow Rolls", in which he talks in depth about the kids with whom he had attended remedial education classes. The names of three of the four major characters in Holes and Mellow Rolls were changed for the TV series. For example, the leader of the group in Kaplan's stand-up routine was a kid named Eddie Lacari. The name Vinnie Barbarino was used for the character in the TV series to give the character a more ethnic sounding name. The names of the characters in Kaplan's stand-up routine and their Welcome Back Kotter counterparts are as follows:

Eddie Lecari became Vinnie Barbarino.
Freddie Peyton became Freddie Washington.
Epstein the Animal became Juan Epstein.
Arnold Horsshack's name was unchanged.

The TV characters' signature lines became popular catch phrases such as Barbarino's "up your nose with a rubber hose" and Washington's deep-voiced "hi there". It wasn't long before the previously unknown actors became hot commodities, particularly Travolta, the show's breakout star.

By the third season, the ratings began to slip. In an interview years later, Kaplan attributed the decline to the age of the actors playing the Sweathogs (Palillo was 30, Hegyes was 28, Hilton-Jacobs was 27 and Travolta was 25), saying they were no longer believable as high school students. His idea was that to have Kotter join the faculty of a community college attended by the Sweathogs.[verification needed] However, this storyline never materialized. To help lure more viewers, the Kotters had twin girls, but this didn't prove to be enough to regain the show's earlier momentum.

Major changes took place in the fourth and final season:

  • Travolta, who had already starred in box office hits such as Grease and Saturday Night Fever, began to focus more time on his film career. He was featured in fewer than half of that year's episodes and was billed a "special guest star".
  • Meanwhile, behind-the-scenes disputes led to limited appearances by Kaplan. To help fill the voids, Stephen Shortridge joined the cast as smooth-talking Southerner Beau De Labarre, and Kotter's wife, Julie, becomes a secretary at the school.

It was also during the fourth season that Mr. Woodman receives a promotion to Principal with Kotter becoming Vice Principal. As a result, the show's focus moved away from Kotter's now infamous Social Studies class. Most fans consider the fourth season to have been the show's worst, often singling out Travolta's departure as the point when the show "jumped the shark."[verification needed]

[edit] Episode Guide

[edit] DVD Releases

Warner Home Video released a 6-episode Television Favorites collection on February 28, 2006. Due to the success of this release, Warner will be releasing the Complete first Season on DVD in Region 1 for the very first time on June 12th, 2007.

Cover Art DVD Name Ep # Release Date
The Complete First Season 22 June 12, 2007

[edit] Nominations

Kotter failed to receive any major awards. The show was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 1976 after its first season, but lost to Mary Tyler Moore. Kotter was also nominated for three technical Emmy Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Videotape Editing for a Series in 1976, Outstanding Art Direction for a Comedy Series in 1978 and Outstanding Individual Achievement - Creative Technical Crafts (Dick Wilson) in 1979.

[edit] Guest stars

Several noteworthy performers enjoyed guest stints on Kotter either during or prior to their widespread fame. James Woods guest starred in the second episode portraying a drama teacher. Pat Morita, best known for his role as Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid series, appeared in the first episode of the second season. Legendary comedian George Carlin was featured, as was John Astin (Gomez on The Addams Family television series). Other guest stars included Ellen Travolta (John Travolta's sister), Richard Moll (Baliff Bull Shannon on Night Court), Della Reese (Touched By An Angel) and Dinah Manoff (Empty Nest).

Groucho Marx himself was set to have a brief walk-on role in one episode. He arrived on-set, but was deemed to be too sick to appear. Pictures of Marx with the cast were taken, but were never released because of his ill appearance. [2] [3]

[edit] Spin-offs

At least three spin-offs of Kotter were seriously considered, but only one ever became a series. The short-lived Mr. T and Tina starred Pat Morita as Taro Takahashi (Mr. T for short), a brilliant Japanese inventor whom he portrayed in one episode of Kotter. The show was not received well by critics and lasted just five episodes on ABC. There was also talk of developing a spin-off built around the Horshack character and his family, but it never went beyond the backdoor pilot stage, shown as an episode of "Kotter". In the mid-1990s, Hegyes announced on the Jenny Jones talk show that plans were in the works to create a spin-off featuring the Sweathogs (minus Travolta's Barbarino) all grown up. The project, however, never got off the ground, and little information about it was ever made public.

[edit] Broadcast history

  • September 1975-January 1976, ABC, Tuesday 8:30-9:00 p.m.
  • January 1976-August 1978, ABC, Thursday 8:00-8:30 p.m.
  • September 1978-October 1978, ABC, Monday 8:00-8:30 p.m.
  • October 1978-January 1979, ABC, Saturday 8:00-8:30 p.m.
  • February 1979-March 1979, ABC, Saturday 8:00-8:30 p.m.
  • May 1979-August 1979, ABC, Friday 8:00-8:30 p.m.

[edit] International Airing

  • In Germany 23 episodes of "Welcome back, Kotter" were shown dubbed, but under its original name - first from September 1979 till May 1980 by the ZDF, then again from April to July 1985 by Sat.1.
  • In the United Kingdom 26 episodes were shown from December 1981 till July 1983 on ITV.

[edit] After the show

Following the 1979 cancellation, the stars enjoyed varying degrees of success. After several strong showings, Travolta's film career took a nosedive until 1994's Pulp Fiction revived his status as a strong box office draw. Kaplan made a few comedic films and television guest appearances, but began to focus on investments and a passion for poker, regularly appearing as a host or a player on poker tournaments televised by both ESPN and NBC to the present day. He has, however, returned to his stand-up comedy roots in recent years. Hegyes continued acting in movies and on television, where he landed a regular role on Cagney and Lacey on CBS. Palillo also appeared on television and in films, including a three-episode guest shot as himself on the ABC sitcom Ellen. In one of the Ellen episodes, Palillo expresses regret at how he is known almost exclusively for his role as Horshack. One of the episodes was entitled "Horshack's Law". Hilton-Jacobs found steady work in movies and television, including his role as the father of the Jackson musical family in the 1992 made-for-TV film, The Jacksons: An American Dream, and most notably as a bigoted police detective on the 1992 FOX TV series Alien Nation. With the exception of Travolta, none of the cast members ever regained the fame they enjoyed during the four-year run of Kotter.

When Travolta hosted Saturday Night Live in 1994, he appeared in a sketch that lampooned his old show. Quentin Tarantino's Welcome Back, Kotter gave viewers a humorous look at how the Pulp Fiction director might have brought a strong dose of violence to the tame show. Travolta reprised his old character, Barbarino, with Mike Myers as Mr. Kotter, Adam Sandler as Epstein, Tim Meadows as Washington and David Spade as Horshack.

The closest thing to a reunion show came in 1997, when Hegyes, Hilton-Jacobs and Palillo reprised their Sweathog roles on an episode of the short-lived NBC sitcom Mr. Rhodes. Kaplan did not appear; instead, actor John Kassir assumed the role of Mr. Kotter. The episode originally aired on February 3, 1997 and was entitled The Welcome Back Show.

Kotter enjoyed a renewed surge in popularity in the mid-1990s when it aired as part of the Nick at Nite lineup on Nickelodeon. Kaplan later said that the show found plenty of new fans during that run but that they were turned off by the quality of the episodes from the fourth season.

Cast members opened up about their experiences on the show in 2000's Welcome Back, Kotter: The E! True Hollywood Story. The two-hour program included interviews with cast members, including Kaplan, Travolta, Palillo, Hilton-Jacobs, Strassman and Shortridge. Kaplan spoke of a difficult relationship with executive producer James Komack, whom he saw as not serving the show's best interests. Like many viewers, Kaplan said the quality of the show dropped off in the fourth and final season. Hilton-Jacobs agreed, saying that the new writers brought in that year were not suited to a show of this nature. Palillo said the impact of an attempted ratings-grabber in the final season, Horshack's wedding, was derailed when President Jimmy Carter gave a televised speech that pre-empted the heavily advertised episode. Strassman recalled how disappointed she was at her limited time on camera, a situation that changed in the fourth season when her character became a substitute teacher at Buchanan High.

In 2003, as part of ABC's 50th Anniversary Celebration telecast, Kotter was featured in tribute montage and the original cast (except Travolta) appeared together on stage. Notably absent was White, who died of pancreatic cancer in 1988 at the age of 68.

Today, Kaplan calls the show a "period piece", which is evident given the dress worn by the characters (including bell bottoms), hairstyles (afros), language and references to then-current events (Washington exclaims in one episode, "President Ford wasn't elected").

[edit] Theme song

Kotter had a memorable theme song, "Welcome Back", written and performed by John Sebastian, formerly of The Lovin' Spoonful.

[edit] Motion Picture

A motion picture based on this television series is being planned. Ice Cube has been selected to play the role of Gabe Kotter. Gabe Kaplan applauded the move of Ice Cube winning the part of Mr. Kotter.[1]

The film will take place in South Central Los Angeles as opposed to Brooklyn. No release date has been scheduled.

[edit] Characters

Gabe Kotter is a wise-cracking teacher who returns to Buchanan High, the school from which he graduated ten years earlier, to teach a group of remedial students known as the Sweathogs. Having been a Sweathog himself, Kotter has a special appreciation for the potential of these "unteachable" students. His first day on the job, he shows the students both his authority and his playful side when he fires a giant paper airplane at them in response to a similar attack. Kotter is married to Julie, with whom he eventually has twin girls. When Buchanan High principal John Lazarus retires, Kotter becomes the vice-principal, though maintains some teaching duties.

Julie Kotter is Gabe's wife and closest friend. Though she has a sense of humor, she often wishes Gabe would take matters more seriously. She is occasionally upset with the amount of time her husband spends with his students, and she is troubled that he allows them to regularly visit their apartment. Julie was originally a housewife when the show started. She was an anthropology major in college and eventually became a substitute teacher at Buchanan High. Kotter's references to her "famous tuna casserole" were one of the show's catchphrases..

Michael Woodman is the vice-principal (and later principal) of Buchanan High. A short, bitter man, he has an open dislike for the Sweathogs, whom he considers the bottom of the totem pole at his school. He refers to non-Sweathogs as "real" students. When Kotter was a student at the school, Woodman was a teacher. There is some evidence that he taught Kotter in remedial social studies, the same class Kotter returns to teach.

Vincent "Vinnie" Barbarino is the unofficial leader of the Sweathogs. His prowess with women is a source of envy and amusement among his classmates. The character's catchphrases include "Up your nose with a rubber hose," "I'm so confused!" and responding with "What? When? Where?" to feign ignorance when he is accused of a misdeed. He is the first of the Sweathogs to move out on his own when he gets a job as a hospital orderly.

Juan Epstein, a proud Puerto Rican Jew (his father was Puerto Rican; his mother's name was Bibbermann), is one of the toughest students at Buchanan High. One of the character's running jokes involves producing fake notes excusing him for all manners of wrongdoing. Each one ends with an unconvincing "Signed, Epstein's mother". He normally wears a red handkerchief hanging out of his right back pocket and was voted "Most Likely To Take A Life" by his peers. In the episode, "One of our Sweathogs is missing", Epstein was shown to be the youngest of six children. Epstein was also known to have a "buddy" relationship with Principal Lazarus as he often referred to him by his first name, Jack.

Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington (who claimed that his nickname came from his habit of "pretending to play the string bass"), a hip African-American, is known as the athletic Sweathog for his skills on the basketball court. He often greets people with a suave "hi there," accompanied by a charming smile. Though he's often the voice of reason among his classmates, he's a willing participant in the Sweathogs' various antics and pranks. Freddie also found success as a radio disc jockey along with another former Sweathog, Wally The Wow (played by George Carlin). He often referred to his teacher as "Mr. Kot-tare."

Arnold Horshack is the class clown in Mr. Kotter's room. A truly odd young man, he is known for his unique observations, and his wheezing laugh, which is similar to that of a hyena. He's also known for his hand-raising noise "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!", imitating Joe E. Ross's phrase from Car 54, Where Are You?. He is the only one of the central Sweathogs to be promoted out of remedial academics class, but he soon returns after feeling out of place. He eventually marries Mary Johnson, a co-worker and fellow Sweathog. Although his surname sounds like a term for a brothel, he claims it's "very old and respected name," meaning, "The cattle are dying." His middle name is "Dingfelder."

Beauregarde "Beau" De Labarre, introduced as a regular character in the fourth and last season, is a smooth-talking southerner who transfers to Buchanan High after being kicked out of several other schools. He ends up in Kotter's class, though his first reaction to the term "Sweathog" is "That sounds gross." One of his running jokes involved imparting whimsical sayings, such as one about how a real man never steps on a pregnant alligator.

[edit] Trivia

This article contains a trivia section.
Content in this section should be integrated into other appropriate areas of the article or removed, and the trivia section removed.
  • Sebastian's song "Welcome Back" is one of a few songs written for a television show to become hits on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.
  • The show was originally going to be called simply Kotter, but that was changed because of the theme song lyrics. Sebastian has said he tried to find a more general theme for the song after being unable to find any reasonable rhymes for Kotter.[citation needed]
  • Palillo got a nose job and straightened and dyed his hair blonde years after the show ended in order to disassociate himself from the Horshack character.[verification needed]
  • Comedian Garry Shandling, who went on to star in movies and HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, was a writer for the show.
  • Hegyes originally auditioned for the role of Barbarino and did not find out he was cast in a different role until he showed up for the first read and was introduced to Travolta.
  • Hegyes went behind the camera to direct some episodes.[citation needed]
  • Kaplan was famous for his impersonation of Groucho Marx, which he occasionally performed on the show. He even appeared in a film entitled Gabe Kaplan as Groucho.
  • Palillo lost a 2002 boxing match to Dustin Diamond ("Screech" from Saved by the Bell) on FOX's Celebrity Boxing 2.
  • The Beastie Boys song "Hey Ladies" features the line, "I dropped my drawers and said 'Welcome back, Kotter'".
  • In a Friends episode which shows a video of Monica and Rachel's high school prom, Ross appears on-screen with a moustache and big hair (his fashion statement at the time) and Joey says "Well, hellooooo Mr Kotter!" as he sees him on the video.
  • At the beginning of Xzibit's song "Right on", Xzibit says, "Welcome back, Kotter man".

[edit] Famous catch phrases from the show

"Ooh-ooh-ooh!" — Arnold Horshack when he gets excited because he believes he knows an answer to Mr. Kotter's question, imitating Joe E. Ross's phrase from Car 54, Where Are You?.

"Up your nose with a rubber hose." — Vinnie Barbarino, when ranking on classmates or Mr. Kotter.

"Off my case, toilet face." (and variations) — A typical comeback made by Vinnie Barbarino to one of his classmates or Mr. Kotter.

"Hi there." — Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington's normal greeting.

"I'm Vinnie Barbarinooo!" - Vinnie's usual quote for saying who he is.

"Signed, Epstein's Mother." — the usual ending to Juan Epstein's fake excuse notes.

"I'm so confused!" — often said in a pained, crying voice by Barbarino.

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://channels.isp.netscape.com/celebrity/weekinent.jsp?gal=went_weekof031906&current=went_icecubeperfectkotter_03-17

In an episode of Full House, Danny suggests a Welcome Back, Kotter reunion for his talk show to new producer Rebecca. As producer, she turns down the idea. That drove Danny to quit over Horshack, "Barbarino, Epstein, all the Sweathogs".

[edit] External links

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