Welcome Back, Kotter – The Complete First Season
Picture:
C+ Sound: C Extras: B- Episodes: B+
Long
before the idea of taking a stand-up comedian and giving him a TV show became
stupid, tired and pathetic, there was a time when this would work because the
lead talent was not whittled down to fit some phony idea of family and the
result would be a funny show. Gabriel
Kaplan was such a comic, beginning stand-up in the early 1960s. It was he who became the main impetuous for
the series that became Welcome Back,
Kotter.
With huge
buzz before the show even hit the air in 1975, it was the kind of hit ABC
needed and helped transform the network into #1 over CBS. Finally, a show about “juvenile delinquent”
types who were (like Bill Cosby’s gang on Fat
Albert) based on guys Kaplan grew up with straight out of his stand-up
act. Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs played
Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington, Robert Hegyes was Juan Epstein, Ron Palillo
played Arnold Horshack and John Travolta became legend as Vinnie Barbarino. It became one of the greatest groupings in TV
history as The Sweathogs and the show was a smash hit.
The Complete First Season has all 22 half-hours and they
hold up extremely well. The jokes still
work, the acting is still fresh, the situations still funny and the influence
more amazing than ever. It is also
charming that there was a time when you could make fun of the increase of
student violence (kids so tough that they did not use guns because they “inserted
the bullets manually”) from a much better time.
Much more than a time capsule of the 1970s, it is the show so many
others wanted to be, tried to be and all failed at. Kotter was believable enough, John Sylvester
White’s Mr. Woodman was an excellent portrayal of the establishment educator of
the past easily annoyed, Marcia Strassman was underappreciated as wife Julie
Kotter (you believed she would have married Gabe) and other cast members (James
Woods, Debralee Scott, Vernee Watson-Johnson, Helaine Lembeck and Ellen
Travolta) were key in the show feeling real enough all around. Well delivered one-liners like the immortal
“up your nose with a rubber hose” had never been heard before, featuring a
certain wit without trying.
This was
not the multi-cultural harmony of The
Paper Chase or Room 222, as good
as those were, but it was as honest and certainly livelier. The show even dealt with social issues, but
had so much chemistry going for it that it had many great comic moments that
exceeded its narrative. Later imitators
tried to “ethnically cleanse” the urban aspect of the show out of it and the
annoying, precocious children of the 1980s sitcom are the nightmarish result;
shows that had their own rollback agendas.
Welcome Back, Kotter did not have such pretension and
only needed its amazing talent to keep it going. This first season is the best and is more of
a classic than many realize. If you need
some big laughs, you’ll want this set!
The 1.33
X 1 image was shot on professional analog NTSC reel to reel tape and can show
its age. The opening and closing credits
were shot in 16mm. The color is
consistent, but there is some softness throughout many shows that has more to
do with the source than the transfer. The
color makes these look better than they ever did on TV. The Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono is not as loud and
clear as similar taped productions of the time, though 2.0 Dolby Mono might
have helped in some cases. I think this
could be fixed, but playback is fine otherwise.
Extras include a half-hour featurette Only A Few Degrees From A Sweathog with interviews, memorabilia
& other great facts on the show and amazing screen tests of the four actors
and Strassman.
Travolta’s
was especially impressive as he just walks in front of the camera and surprises
at every turn. Hope the extras continue
on the follow-up seasons.
- Nicholas Sheffo
