Product Description

Take a time-trip back to the wide lapels and bell bottoms of the '70s in one of that decade's biggest comedy hits! Teacher Gabe Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) returns to his former high school, teaching the remedial class--of which he had been a member--known as the "sweathogs." But, for some reason, the lovable losers and delinquents of Buchanan High accept their new teacher as they provide a nonstop string of laughs on Welcome Back, Kotter. This compilation brings you the hit series for the first time ever on DVD!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33624 in DVD
• Brand: Warner Brothers
• Released on: 2006-02-28
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish, French
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 151 minutes

Amazon.com
Welcome to DVD, Mr. Kotter. Born of Gabe Kaplan's stand-up comedy reminiscences, this 1975 series stars the Marxist (as in Groucho) comedian as a teacher who returns to the tough Brooklyn high school of his youth to teach students who are as unmotivated and undisciplined as he was. If Ron Paillo, as "village schmendrik" Arnold Horshack was Kotter's class clown, then John Travolta, as Vinnie Barbarino, the dim leader of the Sweathogs, became this series' "Most Likely to Succeed" star pupil. He gets extra credit for graduating from Teen Beat idol to A-list movie star, and seeing him at the beginning of his roller coaster career is the main fascination. Not to take anything from the rest of the cast, including Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs as Freddie "Boom Boom Washington," Robert Hegyes as self-described "flim-flam man" Juan Epstein, the late John Sylvester White as curmudgeon Mr. Woodman, who remembers Kotter from his delinquent days; and Marcia Strassman (displaying an off-center Diane Keaton quality) as Mrs. Kotter, whose main purpose seems to be an audience for Kotter's jokes that open each episode. This collection contains six episodes from the series' first three seasons: "One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; "Father Vinnie"; "Sweatside Story"; "I'm Having Their Baby"; "The Deprogramming of Arnold Horshack"; and "Goodbye, Mr. Kripps," something of a Very Special Episode in which Vinnie blames himself for a teacher's heart attack. Welcome Back, Kotter is grade-A nostalgia, but points are taken off for lack of commentary or interviews with Kaplan or any other members of the ensemble who aren't John Travolta. Casting memo to Ice Cube, who is reportedly preparing a big screen remake: Philip Baker Hall for Mr. Woodman! After that, you're on your own. --Donald Liebenson

Customer Reviews

Schoolday madness holds up well after all these years
Its somethines the case that after seeing a show you haven't seen since childhood, you're often disappointed that it really wasn't as good as you remembered. This sampler is an exception to the rule.

While not a comprehensive set, it has some really entertaining episodes.

"One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is the unlikely tale of Kotter's sweathogs being forced to share a class with some gifted studetns durig a flu epidemic. Good comedic moments and an interesitng message about people being gifted in different ways.

Another tale has the comically pathetic resident geek-boy Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo) joining a cult. He's really at his comic best in this one (especially when he recites the Baba's matra) and in an interesting twist Ellen Travolta (castmate John Travolta's mother) plays Horshack's mom. Interestingly, weak and silly characters joining ridiculous cults (see a similar episode involving Rerun in the "What's happening" season II set) were a staple of seventies sitcoms. The Jim Jones tragedy of 1978 stopped this trend.

The other episodes, such as the Sweathogs joining a gang, Travolta's guilt after a teacher has a heart attack while yelling at him, and were Travolta becomes a priest, all have their moments of knee-slapping leave your brains at the door fun.

Gabe Kaplan's storytelling interludes in these tales reign supreme, especially the yarn about his uncle facing a firing squad (you've got to hear this)! Bonzo Maretti was quite a guy.

It's too bad that Gabe Kaplan's 1974 comedy album "Holes and Mellow Rolls" (which inspired this show) isn't currently available. But in either case, this is a good way to have some knee-slapping belly laughs after a long day at work or school.

Good Choice of Episodes
I would love to see this whole series on DVD, but was happy to get just this small amount on one DVD. I watched some Welcome Back Kotter episodes as a kid and even now, as an adult, I think they are just hysterical. Great fun for a small amount of money!

Ooh ooh ooh
I loved watching these shows again! I had vague memories of the show, I remember really liking it, but I didn't get to see it often because my parents didn't like me watching it. lol. Anyway, it's still just as funny as it was back then. If you liked the show in the '70's, you're bound to still like it now!

I can't wait for a more complete collection of the show to come out!