Now Available from Warner Home Entertainment.
“Welcome Back Kotter” is mainly known as the launch pad for John Travolta’s huge career beginnings, but on its own it’s a solid sitcom. “Welcome Back Kotter” garners a fun premise teeming with so much comedic cache, and it’s remained immortal thanks to John Sebastian’s theme “Welcome Back.” Sebastian who spent most of his career in the band Loving Spoonful delivers on a theme that sets the stage for the series quite well and is definitely catchy enough to where you’ll hum along to it on occasion. Comedian Gabriel Kaplan is a teacher who returns to New York to teach in an inner city school.
He’s an idealist tasked with teaching the special ed class which is taken up by local gang “The Sweathogs.” Kotter, being an ex-“Sweathog,” takes an interest in getting his students in the right track amounting to some hilarity.
Although the series has its fair share of haters, I like “Welcome Back Kotter.” In its prime it was hilarious ensemble series with surefire laughs and some very likable characters. Among those spotlighted as the central characters, there’s Kaplan as Mr. Kotter. There are also “the Sweathogs”: Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs is great as “Boom Boom” Washington, Robert Hegyes as Juan Epstein is consistently hilarious, and Ron Palillo as Arnold Horshack borders on shrill at times but has his charms. There’s also a young John Travolta playing Vinnie Barbarino in his first principal TV role
Before Travolta hit movie stardom, he’d spent a lot of his time dabbling in television and even toying with a music career. As Barbarino, Travolta is often hysterical as the nitwitted leader of the Sweathogs. Travolta’s ace comic timing and ability to play off of everyone on the cast is a highlight. There’s also Julie Strassman, Kotter’s wife, an understanding and good natured woman who often helps Kotter deal with his problems involving his work at school. One thing still relevant about “Welcome Back Kotter” despite its period is that public schools still suck. Kotter’s deck is stacked against him and he has to work within rigid school guidelines in order to hope to get the Sweathogs out of poverty and gang life and in to a decent future.
A lot of that if course pushed in to the background for the sake of classic sitcom mayhem, with the series spotlighting most of the Sweathogs as the primary source for laughs. The series’ prime is during its first two seasons as by the third season Gabriel Kaplan spent a lot more time with his comedy career. Meanwhile Travolta had been on the verge of a massive movie career that helped to literally define the 1970’s. While the last two seasons are fine enough, the first two seasons are where the cast clicks and garners the biggest laughs.
“Welcome Back, Kotter: The Complete Series” includes all 95 episodes from all four seasons with thirty five hours total. Sadly there aren’t any extras or audio commentaries; there aren’t even any archival segments ported from other releases.