Welcome Back, Kotter

"Hey, Julie....did I ever tell you about my Uncle Fremont Kotter.....?"



Before Jerry Seinfeld wondered about airline peanuts, before Tim Allen said his first "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 ABC from 1975 to 1979.

Gabe Kotter, newly-minted teacher, returns to James Buchanan High School and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged years before, the "Sweathogs". 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.

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. 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.

Not to be confused with Welcome Back, Traitor.


 * End-of-Episode Silliness was originally named (back on TV Tropes) Uncle Herbie, in tribute to Kotter's endless stream of uncles about whom he had wacky stories.

"Barbarino: Hey, say whatever you want about my dad or myself, but you don't talk about my mother! That woman's holy."
 * And Starring: John Travota's billing during his last season on the show.
 * Babies Make Everything Better: Julie gives birth to twin girls.
 * Berserk Button: Don't say anything bad about Barbarino's mother.

"Epstein: I don't have to stay here and be ignored! I have nine brothers and sisters. If I want to be ignored, I'll just go home."
 * Big Screwed-Up Family: Juan Epstein.


 * Catch Phrase: "Up your nose with a rubber hose" (everyone), "Hi, there" (Washington), "Heyyyy Misssster Kotttaire!" (Washington), "What?" "Where?" (Barbarino), "I'm so confused!" (Barbarino), "Ohhh ohh ohh ohh!" (Horshack), "Very impressive, Mr. Kotter!" (Horshack)
 * Cloudcuckoolander: Everyone had their moments, but Horshack is the definitive example.
 * Dean Bitterman: Mr. Woodman.
 * End-of-Episode Silliness: Formerly the Trope Namer when it was called "Uncle Herbie".
 * Five-Man Band:
 * The Hero: Vinnie, later relegated to The Sixth Ranger when John Travolta's movie career started taking off
 * The Lancer: Freddie. Beau in the final season when Freddie was seemingly promoted to leader
 * The Big Guy: Epstein
 * The Smart Guy: Horshack
 * Revolving Door Chicks: Rosalie Totsie, Vernajean Williams, Angie Grabowski, Mary Johnson
 * The Mentor: Gabe Kotter
 * Flowery Insults: "Up your nose with a rubber hose."
 * Four-Temperament Ensemble: Vinnie is Choleric, Washington is Phlegmatic, Epstein is Melancholic and Horshack is Sanguine

"The woman's a saint!"
 * G-Rated Drug: In the episode "What Goes Up ... ", Freddie becomes addicted to painkillers (to heal a basketball injury); a naive Horshack takes Freddie at his word that said pills are "vitamins," while the others are well-aware that Freddie is becoming dependent on them.
 * Lottery Ticket: In one episode Kotter chips in a quarter for the Sweathogs weekly lottery ticket when one of them comes up short. When the ticket then wins, the Sweathogs try to just give Kotter back his 25 cents instead of a share of the winnings.
 * The Merch: Several novel sized paperback with original stories, a comic book, a lunchbox, a "Welcome Back, Kotter" board game, and Sweathog action figures with a classroom play area.
 * Nobody Touches the Hair: Barbarino is like this.
 * Once Per Episode: Kotter tells a joke about one of his relatives.
 * The One Who Made It Out: Gabriel.
 * The Pete Best: Rosalie "Hotsie" Totsie, the female Sweathog.
 * Preacher's Kid: Rosalie "Hotsie" Totsie, daughter of Reverend Totsie.
 * Real Life Writes the Plot: One two-part episode had Kotter trying to start a stand-up career.
 * Real Song Theme Tune
 * Running Gag: Epstein's never ending supply of excuse notes, almost always signed "Epstein's Mother".
 * Julie's infamous tuna cassarole.
 * Signature Laugh: Horshack's athsmatic laugh.
 * Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Beau De Lebarre as Vinnie's replacement.
 * Translation Matchmaking: In Italy it's known as I Ragazzi del Sabato Sera (Saturday Night Guys), after Saturday Night Fever.
 * Twofer Token Minority: Puerto Rican Jew Juan Epstein.
 * Ugly Guy, Hot Wife: Gabe and Julie, though Gabe is more plain/quirky-looking than ugly.
 * Very Special Episode: "What Goes Up," the Season 3 episode where Boom Boom got addicted to painkillers to heal a basketball injury. Boom Boom is in deep denial, and so is a shaken Horshack -– who naively believes Boom Boom's explanation that the pills are "vitamins." The others aren't so fooled and eventually get Boom Boom to realize what he's doing.
 * Volleying Insults: Discussed in the very first episode, when Kotter compares their style and subject as they were when he was in high school with how they are "now".
 * Yiddish as a Second Language: Kotter—a classic New York Jew—occasionally threw out the odd Yiddish word, although far less often than one might expect. And Epstein completely averted this trope, embracing his Puerto Rican side almost to the exclusion of his Jewish heritage.
 * Your Mom: Invoked and discussed by Kotter in the very first episode, when comparing how The Dozens worked "then" and "now".  Averted in that Barbarino refused to hear even a hypothetical insult aimed at his mother.