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Welcome Back, Kotter is an American television sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and featuring a young John Travolta. Videotaped in front of a live studio audience, it originally aired on the ABC network from September 9, 1975, to June 8, 1979.
“Up your nose with a rubber hose!”
1975
The sweathogs out debate a smarter debate class.
Gabe insists that basketball ace Washington pass his social-studies test.
A flashback recalls Gabe's first meeting with his class. The Sweathogs Out Debate A Superior Class.
Tired of her reputation as easy, Rosalie Totsy tells the Sweathogs that she's pregnant -- and that one of them is the father -- in an effort to make the boys admit that the tales they tell about their ""fun dates"" with her aren't true.
Barbarino is running for Student Body President but his campain turns into disaster.
After returning to his roots by taking over the Sweathogs' history class for a day, Mr. Woodman turns into a nice guy; and Kotter turns into the new Mr. Woodman.
With Vernajean's family moving, she and Freddie decide that they must get married in order to stay together. Their classmates act out married life to discourage the young couple.
After losing a fight with Todd Ludlow, Juan is made fun of by his fellow Sweathogs. His feelings and his pride hurt, he runs away -- to the Kotters' bathroom.
Gabe's teaching theories in question, he is temporarily suspended. The Sweathogs, liable to lose their teacher, come to his defense.
Gabe is less than thrilled when an old too-perfect classmate, and his too-perfect wife, decide to pay him a visit.
In order to bring up Vinnie's grades, Judy Borden, highly unpopular with the Sweathogs, is called in to tutor him. But when the two start liking one another, problems arise.
The sweathogs go bananas over Bambi, a pretty blonde girl from California. We get some very funny scenes of the guys in various costumes: Epstein as a guru, Freddy in a colorful shirt, Horshack as a movie producer, and Vinnie as a surfer. When Mr. Kotter gets fed-up with them disrupting the class, it's revealed that Bambi was just pretending to be from California in order to get attention.
Arnold is promoted to a regular class, but is less than happy about the forced transition.
When Julie goes away on a ski trip with a friend, stories from the Sweathogs and Mr. Woodman lead Gabe to be worried about the possibility of Julie cheating on him while she is away.
The Sweathogs, diverged from a food-fight, hold a sit-in to protest the school cafetieria's Wednesday liver.
The class votes to make Freddie the new leader of the Sweathogs, taking Vinnie down a notch. Vinnie becomes so upset with the loss of his title that he quits school. When his parents become aware of this, they kick him out, and he ends up staying with the Kotters; much to the dismay of Julie, who is growing tired of the Sweathogs constantly occupying Gabe's attention and life, never leaving them any time alone together. Angry, she leaves to go to a hotel.
The sweathogs soon tire of Freddy as leader. Mr. Woodman even admits that he misses Barbarino. Julie and Vinnie turn up at the apartment, and Mr. Kotter has a heartfelt talk with them about the situation. Fortunately, all is forgiven, with Julie moving back home and Vinnie returning to class.
Juan, because of his love for animals, decides that he would like to be a veterinarian. A guidance couselor quickly thwarts his dream, until he performs an emergency operation on his pet hamster.
A flu epidemic hits Buchannan and everybody gets sick except for Kotter, Horshack and a few students in the other classes. In the end, the few healthy students team up with the remaining Sweathogs in the classroom.
Kotter and the ""Sweathogs"" raise a telethon to raise $700 for new supplies. If not the remiedial class will be cut.
Gabe is forced to take final exams when it's revealed by Mr. Woodman that he wasn't really qualified to graduate when he did.
Vinnie's grandmother's dying wish is for him to become a priest, and he takes the request seriously, until the strain of being holy becomes too much for him.
1976
On career day, an inventor who is treated poorly by the Sweathogs offers a well-paying job to Gabe.
Freddie, class treasurer, is accused of stealing funds, and an impromptue trial is held in the classroom.
The Sweathogs form a gang, but won't let Arnold in until the night of their first rumble, and Arnold, against the idea of being killed, brings along Gabe and Mr. Woodman in order to prevent the fight.
Sparked by the fact that Vinnie neglected to do Freddie's homework, the Sweathogs spend the better part of class fighting with one another.
Mr. Kotter takes the sweathogs on a field trip to a museum. Mrs. Kotter and Mr. Woodman are along as chaperones. They meet the unusual museum curator Mr.Gore (John Astin) who seems odd and superstitious. In the Egyptian display, he warns them of the mummy coming back to life if they joke and kid around. Naturally, the door shuts itself and everyone is trapped. They humorously begin to panic and make attempts to get out. Epstein manages to get the door open.
Gabe is afraid to get a physical when the free clinic comes to Buchanan High.
Julie's visiting sister, recently at odds with her long-time boyfriend, falls for Juan.
A girl wants to ask Vinnie to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance, but his insensitivity leads her to ask Arnold in retaliation, leaving Vinnie with no date at all.
The new student teacher discovers that all her training to work with remedial children hasn't prepared her for dealing with the Sweathogs.
When the opportunity to fight Carvelli in a boxing match arises, Arnold wants to be the one to do it; and when the other Sweathogs put down his manhood, he is even more determined to prove himself by getting in the ring.
Epstein is caught smoking cigarettes. Gabe and the sweathogs try to get him to stop.
At Christmas time, the Sweathogs are all too eager to tease resident bum Angie. But after Angie tells his life story to the class, they have a change of heart, and decide to help him get back up on his feet.
When Juan's sister Carmen joines the Sweathogs, she catches the eye of Arnold, but Carmen is only interested in Vinnie. Juan, meanwhile, is displeased with the entire situation, and is ready to kill anybody who dares to lay a hand on his baby sister.
Vinnie's goofing off in gym gets him in trouble with the teacher, Mr. Caruso, who's reprimending after class gets out of hand when he hits Vinnie in front of the girls' locker room.
Tired of the way the school newspaper is always putting them down, the Sweathogs join the staff in order to redeem themselves; and the crack investigative team of ""Vinstein"" (Vinnie and Juan) are hot on the trail of the culprit behind the recent break-in of Principal Lazarus's office.
Gabe's overly-critical father comes for a visit and, unconvinced that his son has chosen a worthwhile career, goes with Gabe to school in order to watch him in action with his Sweathogs.
Gabe, in need of money for a root canal, takes a second job as a restaurant mascot.
For the school drama festival, Gabe is going to direct a scene from Cyrano de Bergerac. Arnold is set to play the lead, but recieves only heckling and ridicule from his fellow Sweathogs; and when Arnold turns up missing, Vinnie is forced to take his place on stage.
When Arnold finally shows back up at school, it's discovered that his absence was due to the recent death of his fifth father. A feeling of responsibility within him, Arnold sets out to find a job to help support his siblings and his mother, who's only priority lies in finding a replacement father for her kids.
Gabe and Julie find out that they are going to have a baby.
It seems that Freddie has a future in radio, but he may also risk losing his friends for fame.
With Gabe away at a teacher's convention, the Sweathogs take it upon themselves to watch over the pregnant Julie...but the harder they try to make Julie comfortable, the more trouble they seem to cause.
The art teacher falls in love with Gabe.
Gabe Kaplan
Gabe Kotter
John Travolta
Vinnie Barbarino
John Sylvester White
Michael Woodman
Ron Palillo
Arnold Horshack
Robert Hegyes
Juan Epstein
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs
Freddie Washington
Marcia Strassman
Julie Kotter
Stephen Shortridge
Beau Shortridge
1977
The Sweathogs and administrators at James Buchanan High reminisce about Gabe's past two years at the school. Past episodes are recalled through flashbacks.
Julie goes into labor.
Julie gives birth to twin girls.
Julie's parents come to see the babies.
Emotions mix when it seems that the Sweathogs may win the lottery.
Everybody helps Vinnie cram for a make-up test.
Arnold is accepted into a religious cult. Mr. Kotter and the three other sweathogs try to get Arnold to snap out of it. Eventually, he does and goes back to his former self, complete with his trademark laugh.
Juan, with the help of his uncle, hooks the Kotters up with a new apartment.
The characters in Mr. Woodman's new novel seem to have an awful lot in common with the Sweathogs...
During a talent competition, Vinnie falls for a girl who the Sweathogs are competing against, and starts spending more time with her then rehearsing with the Sweathogs.
Vinnie is torn between trying to win the talent competition, or letting his new girlfriend beat him.
Kotter has a dream about life when the Sweathogs are old.
Freddie cheats on an English test.
Juan paints a great masterpiece on the walls of the school.
At Christmas time, the gang reminisces over past episodes.
Arnold voices angst and pioneers for change on the school radio station, gathering fans in the process.
The Sweathogs' new tutor is a computer. Despite initial raises in grades, Gabe becomes displeased with the machine, as it is turning him obsolete to the class.
A new girl joins the Sweathogs.
Juan buys four term papers - one for each Sweathog - from Carvelli, only to end up with an essay that Gabe had turned in eleven years earlier.
Gabe finds success as a stand-up comic, using material regarding the Sweathogs. But when the oppportunity for a full-time comedy gig arises, it could mean the end of his teaching career.
Gabe must choose between the comedy life, or his life at Buchanan.
Freddie becomes addicted to drugs after taking prescribed pain killers. Despite the other Sweathogs' best efforts, the only thing that can bring Freddie around is Arnold's faith in him...and in his ""vitamin pills.""
Mr. Kripps, the shop teacher, has a heart attack and dies while yelling at Vinnie, who blames himself for the man's death.
Arnold, saddened by the rejection he keeps recieving from the opposite sex, gets advice and comfort from Julie before quickly falling in love with her.
After performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on a female student who has passed out in the classroom, Gabe is accused of molestation, and is in danger of losing his job.
Rosalie ""Hotsy"" Totsy has grown up ... a little too fast. The Sweathogs go to a local strip club on a dare, and learn that Hotsy has gotten a job performing there (yup, she bares all, unknowingly in front of her former classmates). Vinnie, Freddie and Epstein all ride Hotsy's case, but Arnold is sensitive to her plight. Seems that, during a coversation with her former teacher Gabe, Rosalie really lived up to her nickname one night and got pregnant. And getting a job at a strip joint is the only way for this single mother (the baby's father had left Hotsy) to support her child. Gabe and Arnold convince the others to give Hotsy Totsy moral support, and they also refer her to a social agency which can help her finish school and find a more meaningful job.
When Carvelli and Murray come on as exchange students, Carvelli seemingly goes crazy with stories of aliens.
1978
Gabe announces that he is now the vice-principal and Mr. Woodman is the principal. The Sweathogs are pleased, until Gabe gets strict. After Vinnie visits the school to tell the gang he's dropped out, the other Sweathogs decide to follow in his footsteps.
With Barbarino now an ordlery at a hospital, the Sweathogs try to get jobs there, too. Meanwhile, Kotter tries to get the gang to return to school.
Vinnie throws the Sweathogs out of his new apartment.
Horshack saves a lonely, overlooked girl named Mary Johnson from commiting suicide by jumping off the ledge of the school.
The Sweathogs remember how they tried to buy a used car from Vinnie's uncle.
When Mr. Woodman comes to Vinnie's hospital for an operation, Vinnie loses him and he and the other Sweathogs try to find him.
The gang is liable to get in trouble when the x-rated film Carvelli brought into school is accidentally mixed up with a film on sexual education.
Vinnie becomes depressed when it seems that he has lost his way with women.
A younger student begins to imitate Freddie, not much to Freddie's liking.
After Horshack refuses to disect a frog in class, his grade is in jeopardy.
The Sweathogs opt to change Mr. Woodman's tired old school song.
Vinnie is saddened when his new coat is stolen.
Juan asks Vinnie to marry his immigrant cousin.
Vinnie is forced to deliver a baby in an elevator.
Mr. Woodman's niece Kelly is babysitting for the Kotters when Juan drops by the apartment. The two abruptly fall in love and decide to move in together, but the romance begins to crumble when it seems that they can't respect one another's interests.
To get up his nerve with Mary, Carvelli offers Arnold liquor. He doesn't like the idea at first, but as time goes on, he becomes addicted to drinking; developing a scary and unlikable new personality that only turns Mary away.
Convinced that the school newspaper is too dull, Juan sets out to turn it into a tabloid, bringing down his friends' names in the process.
Freddie and Juan plan to do an act together for the upcoming talent contest, while Carvelli has some bribed judges up his sleeves. Arnold and Beau take over as judges, leaving Murray in the third spot.
Arnold's relationship with Mary gets serious. Then he finds out he has to move and leave the school. Upset, Arnold decides to propose marriage to Mary. She accepts.
Arnold gets upset when the other Sweathogs tease him about not being able to provide for Mary, and he vanishes. Mary finds him and convinces him not to worry, and the two get married.
Beau plays a number or pranks on Mr. Woodman.
While Horshack adjusts the married life, Epstein sets up an interview for a job. Washington gets the job before Epstein, unaware that it's the same job. The two get into a fight and end up in a gym ready to box.
