History Series / WelcomeBackKotter

Long before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully [[SitComic turn his comedy routines into a hit TV sitcom]]. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

[[caption-width-right:350:''Magazine/{{Mad}}'s'' Jack Davis is drawing us for the ''Magazine/TVGuide'' cover? Very impressive, Mr Kotter!]]

Long before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully [[SitComic turn his comedy routines into a TV sitcom]]. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Long before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully [[SitComic turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom]]. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Long before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute: Beau De Lebarre as Vinnie's replacement

* UglyGuyHotWife: Gabe and Julie, though Gabe is more plain/quirky-looking than ugly

* WrittenInAbsence: As explained above, Kotter was promoted to vice principal in season 4 and appeared less frequently due to Kaplan's feud with producer James Komack.

The premise: Gabe Kotter returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class of "Sweathogs" to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino (played by breakout star Creator/JohnTravolta), the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), the tough Juan Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos Epstein (Robert Hegyes), and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack (Ron Palillo). Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman (John Sylvester White), who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause, and tries to juggle his teaching life and his home life with his wife Julie (Marcia Strassman).

Changes on the show: Gabe Kaplan was absent from much of the fourth season, due to creative differences with executive producer James Komack. Kaplan openly felt that Komack was not serving the show's best interests. Kotter was made vice principal, and thus was seen considerably less frequently. John Travolta, of course, found his own place as a celebrity, leaving the show around the same time Gabe Kaplan did (returning every so often as a "special guest star"). The replacement for Barbarino was Beau, who didn't help things much. By now the show had essentially lost its two biggest stars.

The premise: Gabe Kotter returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class of "Sweathogs" to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino (played by breakout star Creator/JohnTravolta), the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman, who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause, and tries to juggle his teaching life and his home life with his wife Julie.

The premise: Gabe Kotter returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class of "Sweathogs" to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino (played by breakout star Creator/JohnTravolta), the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Meanwhile, Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman, who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause.

Gabe Kotter returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class of "Sweathogs" to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino (played by breakout star Creator/JohnTravolta), the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Meanwhile, Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman, who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause.

Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino (played by breakout star Creator/JohnTravolta), the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Meanwhile, Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman, who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause.

Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino, the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Meanwhile, Kotter frequently finds himself butting heads with cantankerous vice principal Mr. Woodman, who dismisses the Sweathogs as a lost cause.

Changes on the show: Gabe Kaplan was absent from much of the fourth season, due to creative differences with executive producer James Komack. Kaplan openly felt that Komack was not serving the show's best interests. Kotter was made vice principal, and thus was seen considerably less. JohnTravolta, of course, found his own place as a celebrity, leaving the show around the same time Gabe Kaplan did (returning every so often as a "special guest star"). The replacement for Barbarino was Beau, who didn't help things much. By now the show had essentially lost its two biggest stars.

Long before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975–79. The series was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975-79. The series was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975 to 1979. The series was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and his memories of a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. '''''Welcome Back, Kotter''''' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975 to 1979.

Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan HighSchool as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino, the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

* DeanBitterman: Mr. Woodman, the school's vice principal.

Changes on the show: Gabe Kaplan left the series in the third season, due to creative differences with executive producer James Komack. Kaplan openly felt that Komack was not serving the show's best interests. Kotter was made vice principal, and thus was seen considerably less. JohnTravolta, of course, found his own place as a celebrity, leaving the show around the same time Gabe Kaplan did (returning every so often as a "special guest star"). The replacement for Barbarino was Beau, who didn't help things much. By now the show had essentially lost its two biggest stars.

* DeanBitterman: Mr. Woodman

Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to Brooklyn's James Buchanan High School as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino, the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to James Buchanan High School as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis: ladies' man Vinnie Barbarino, the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with remedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students.

Before Jerry Series/{{Seinfeld}} wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first [[HomeImprovement "Arrr arrr arrr!"]], before {{Roseanne}} became a Domestic Goddess, there was Gabriel Kaplan, the first stand-up comedian to successfully turn his comedy routines into a hit sitcom. ''Welcome Back, Kotter'' ran on Creator/{{ABC}} from 1975 to 1979.

* FurryFandom: In one episode Kotter wears a chicken suit in a restaurant to raise extra money for emergency dental work

* GeorgeCarlin: Guest starring as radio DJ Wally the Wow, and as Wally the Weasel, a former Kotter-era Sweathog.

** [[TheChick RevolvingDoorChicks]]: Rosalie Totsie, Vernajean Williams, Angie Grabowski, Mary Johnson