Welcome Back Kotter is situation comedy which ran on ABC from September 9, 1975 to June 8, 1979. Based on the autobiographical stand-up routine of comedian Gabriel Kaplan, the series focus on Gabe Kotter, a wisecracking teacher who returns to his high school alma mater—the fictional James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, New York—to teach an often unruly group of remedial "Sweathogs." (The nickname reflected the fact that the remedial classes were held on the very top floor of the high school.) Growing up, Kotter had attended the same remedial classes when he himself was a student at Buchanan and was a founding member of the Sweathogs. Recognizing that he was his students' last chance to learn enough to survive beyond school, he befriended them while they learned to recognize and appreciate his commitment and faith in their potential. His devotion to the class was to the extent that his students often visited his Bensonhurst apartment, sometimes to the chagrin of his wife, Julie (Marcia Strassman).
The TV characters' signature lines were Barbarino's "up your nose with a rubber hose" and Washington's deep-voiced "hi there" and Horshack's wheezing laugh. The previously unknown actors became hot commodities, particularly John Travolta, the show's breakout star.
Created by
Gabe Kaplan
Alan Sacks
Starring
Gabe Kaplan
Marcia Strassman
John Sylvester White
Robert Hegyes
Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs
Ron Palillo
John Travolta
Melonie Haller (Season 3)
Stephen Shortridge (Season 4)
Opening theme "Welcome Back", Performed by John Sebastian
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 95
