Welcome Back Kotter!

MeTV just started showing Welcome Back Kotter in chronological order. I watched the first two that I DVRed last night and I really loved it. I actually laughed out loud several times, which is rare for me watching TV or a movie. I didn't remember liking it as much as I did last night.

The first episode had a young James Woods playing a teacher. The Principal is really hysterical. God Travolta was young (but very funny).

Any other fans?

 

I never missed it when it was in its initial run. I loved it. I haven't watched it much since though.

 

yea, me too. Gotta tune in again.

Love Mrs. Kotter.............

 

Loved the show. It was right behind "Happy Days" as far as can't miss tv went. Had a poster of the Sweathogs (that I tore out of Dynamite magazine) hanging on my wall.

 

i loved it when i was a kid.

 

Which Mrs. Kotter?

 

It's possible that a complete series box is coming out around August. If so, I'm in. I have season 1 on DVD and love it. This is one of the few shows that can truly make me laugh like a crazy person, at least once every episode.

 

That's cool if it happens. They stopped after season one, and that's a shame.

 

I've seen it a few times and I don't think it's held up that well. I watched it when I was a kid and I find the writing much more sophmoric than I remember.

 

Don't think I've watched it since Nick-at-Nite aired it in the 90s, but since MeTV is basically my default channel, I'm sure I'll wind up watching it.

 

I haven't seen the show since I was 10 years old when it originally ran but all I remember about Mrs Kotter is that nearly ever show had a joke about her bad casseroles. Unless that was some double entendre that went over my head then...

 

I was just alluding to the fact that at least 2 actresses played Mrs. Kotter. The first one was the same actress that played Nurse Cutler on MASH. I don't think she played the part for very long. I don't remember the 2nd actress's name.

 

Marcia Straussman always played Mrs. Kotter on the show to my knowledge. She was not well-liked on the set. Because of the absence of John Travolta, who departed for a huge film career, Strassman was made a substitute teacher at the school in the final season, which did not go well.

 

I don't remember her as a substitute teacher, but Marcia Straussman definently did not play Mrs. Kotter for the whole show. I think I got it backwards though. I think there was another actress early in the first season and Marcia took over later and is probably the best known.

Edit: I may also be thinking of the pilot (if one was aired).

 

Up your nose with a rubber hose!

 

Ah am so confuuused!

 

Hey, Mister Kot-taire

 

"Hey, Mr. Kotter, I got a note!" - Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein -

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself - all these memories from the late 70s.

 

Love Kotter, never missed an episode. With the show back on a channel, I hope it spurs the release of the other seasons on DVD. Remember seeing Kaplan doing a stand-up routine at a casino many years ago. The area was set up to look like a classroom with all the phrases on the walls.

 

They recently ran the entire series over here, and It wasn't that great. At least it wasn't essential viewing for me, like Happy Days is.

 

Even as a kid I thought, "Those are really old high school students."

 

Give it a try now.

 

I watched the series in repeats many times, and I don't remember anyone but Marcia Strassman playing Julie. As far as tensions on the set, IIRC Strassman said that was manufactured by producer James Komack to build a wall between her and Kaplan for some reason.
I have the Season 1 DVD and loved it. I know the last season was inferior, but Travolta was there for some episodes. Kaplan was more AWOL. Some of the entries were too much like "a very special episode of...". I remember a rare episode with Kaplan in the middle of the last season, and it seemed as good as entries from the previous seasons. I would buy the remaining seasons on DVD separately.

 

There was an episode that tried to launch a spinoff series with the Horshack character that didn't get off the ground.

While Kotter was very funny in its first season and the actors added a love ability to their characters, unfortunately, it has not aged well and is very dated by comparison with Happy Days in its early seasons which is still very watchable. And when John Travolta became the standout Teen Idol of the show, it went through the same thing Happy Days did when Fonzi became the focus of the series and every entrance was met by wild screams from the teenage studio audience.