Welcome Back, Kotter 

A compassionate teacher returns to his inner city high school of his youth to teach a new generation of trouble making kids.

Creators:

Gabe Kaplan, Alan Sacks, Peter Meyerson

Stars:

Gabe Kaplan, Ron Palillo, John Travolta

Nominated for 4 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Gabe Kaplan	...	Gabe Kotter 95 episodes, 1975-1979
Marcia Strassman	...	Julie Kotter 95 episodes, 1975-1979
John Sylvester White	...	Mr. Michael Woodman 95 episodes, 1975-1979
Robert Hegyes	...	Juan Epstein 95 episodes, 1975-1979
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs	...	Freddie 'Boom Boom' Washington 95 episodes, 1975-1979
Ron Palillo	...	Arnold Horshack 95 episodes, 1975-1979
John Travolta	...	Vinnie Barbarino 82 episodes, 1975-1979

Storyline

Gabe Kotter is a high-school teacher with a bunch of unruly students in his class. The student troublemakers are led by Vinnie Barbarino, who has a knack for rhyming insults.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher as protagonist | character name in series title | surname in series title | school | high school | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Juan Epstein's full name was Juan Luis Pedro Felipo De Huevos Epstein. Huevos, incidentally, is Spanish for "eggs", but it could also be taken as a slang term ("balls").

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Goofs

Throughout out the series, it's clear that the actors/actresses portraying teenagers are actually in their 20s+. This is done as to not interfere with the schooling of real teenagers and to give the general viewing audience who are teenagers (or young people) themselves someone they can look up to.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Vincent 'Vinnie' Barbarino: Up your nose with a rubber hose!

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Connections

Referenced in Sliders: Dead Man Sliding (1996)

User Reviews

Up Your Nose With a Rubber Hose!

"Welcome Back, Kotter" was one of the funniest serials I have ever seen. It starred Gabe Kaplan as Mr. Kotter, who taught a remedial class of "Sweathogs" which featured Arnold Horshack, Juan Epstein, Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, and Vinnie Barbarino as four of his students. Between the hilarious plots and the identifiable high school situations, the show was a hit. What student in a diverse environment can't identify with "Roses are red, violets are blue, my mom wants me to date a Puerto Rican Jew"? My favourite episode focused upon the Sweathogs cleaning for a pregnant Mrs. Kotter, only to destroy her apartment. Reruns have been off the air in Canada for quite some time, so I suggest that if networks want to improve ratings, that they welcome back Kotter!

Details

Release Date:

9 September 1975 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kotter

Filming Locations:

ABC Television Center - 4151 Prospect Avenue, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

The Komack Company Inc., Wolper Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (95 episodes)