In September of 1975, just as kids in the Northeastern part of the United States were heading back to school, a new, 30-minute, sit-com debuted on ABC. Welcome Back, Kotter chronicled the school day of teacher Gabe Kotter (Gabe Kapan; The Grand) who has returned to his old high school to teach, A.K.A. babysit, the juvenile delinquent students until they drop out. The group, known as The Sweathogs, was formed by Kotter, back when he was a delinquent at the same high school. The series ran for 4 seasons (95 Episodes) and launched the career of John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever).
Gabe Kotter was a student at James Buchanan High School in Brooklyn, N.Y. so it is only fitting that he returned as a teacher assigned to the "hoodlums". Meant only to be there to "babysit" the students, Kotter instead tries to teach them. The students/Sweathogs are made up of a diverse group including Vinnie Barbarino (Travolta), Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillos; Hellgate), Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes; Cagney & Lacey), and Freddy "Boom Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs; L.A. Heat) and Kotter, having been a hoodlum/Sweathog back in his days, does his best to relate to the group and show them that they have more potential than they realize.
The concept for the show came directly from Kaplan's stand-up routine where he talked about the people he went to high school with. Of course, the language, which in Kaplan's routine was rather spicy, needed to be toned down for television. This concession, in turn, gave us the now classic line, " Up your nose with a rubber hose". However, racial insults, which would immediately get a series cancelled in today's "woke" culture, were fine such as when describing Epstein as "Most Likely To Kill Someone".
The cast was well chosen and the scripts were smartly written but the standard laugh track - even though the show was filmed in front of a live studio audience, grates on one's nerves when watching the show now. Each episode saw some gang member messing up or getting into a predicament that was usually neatly wrapped up and tucked away some twenty-plus minutes later, only to lather, rinse, and repeat the next week. Stirring up some of that trouble was the school's Principal, Mr. Michael Woodman (John Sylvester White; Search For Tomorrow), who generally became the brunt of the Sweathogs' jokes.
The series started strong aided by their time slot immediately following the immensely popular Happy Days on Tuesday Nights though, even from the beginning, there were concerns. The Boston ABC affiliate refused to air the show because at that time the school district was going through a bussing program that was not well received and there was fear the show depicting hoodlums would make the rioting worse. Teachers were also concerned about how it would make them look so the show's producers allowed a union representative on set which angered Kaplan. By the final season, Kaplan and Travolta were no longer series regulars due to Kaplan's insistence that that cast was getting too old to play high school students and Travolta's growing popularity and burgeoning film career.
As a little girl I can remember the car rides from New Jersey to Brooklyn to visit my grandparents and passing the sign that was filmed for the opening credits of the show (I also remember when the sign was eventually removed). Fifty years later, it is truly nostalgic to go back and rewatch these episodes with some funny moments and John Travolta at the time in his life when he was on the cusp of his epic film career.
Take a stroll down memory lane with Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series on DVD.
Grade: B-
