I've enjoyed reading the messages on this board (good and bad).
It seems like most of you are very familiar with the show. If anybody has any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I'm thinking of writing a book on the whole experience of WBK, maybe your questions will get me started.

Gabe Kaplan (really)

Originally posted by lejones
I've enjoyed reading the messages on this board (good and bad).
It seems like most of you are very familiar with the show. If anybody has any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I'm thinking of writing a book on the whole experience of WBK, maybe your questions will get me started.

Gabe Kaplan (really)


How unwatchable was season 4?-LOL

Originally posted by lejones
I've enjoyed reading the messages on this board (good and bad).
It seems like most of you are very familiar with the show. If anybody has any questions I'll be happy to answer them. I'm thinking of writing a book on the whole experience of WBK, maybe your questions will get me started.

Gabe Kaplan (really)


Is it true that you came up with the Barbarino dance while you, Mr. Woodman, and the Sweathogs were smoking a joint in the bathroom, before filming an episode of Welcome Back, Kotter?

Originally posted by TVShow Analyzer
How unwatchable was season 4?-LOL


How unwatchable? It was so unwatchable that I never watch it. The bits and pieces I caught while channel surfing over the years were enough.

Whatever you thought of WBK, it did have a comedic point of view and a consistency of the characters. The fourth year was Kotter in the Twilight Zone. " A remedial class of high school students in their late twenties are missing their teacher and their writers. Everything that will happen will make absolutely no sense. See the signpost up ahead, that tells us we are entering Brooklyn which is not a real place but a demention of mind."

If you have any specific questions about the fourth year, I'll try to answer them.

Originally posted by lejones45
How unwatchable? It was so unwatchable that I never watch it. The bits and pieces I caught while channel surfing over the years were enough.

Whatever you thought of WBK, it did have a comedic point of view and a consistency of the characters. The fourth year was Kotter in the Twilight Zone. " A remedial class of high school students in their late twenties are missing their teacher and their writers. Everything that will happen will make absolutely no sense. See the signpost up ahead, that tells us we are entering Brooklyn which is not a real place but a demention of mind."

If you have any specific questions about the fourth year, I'll try to answer them.



The dumbest thing about season 4 was adding a guy to replace Vinny. That was so dumb

When will there be a dvd for WBK

do you know if they are in talks about

can you give us any info

I'd like to know if they've approached any of the cast about interviews for extra features for the DVD's....

and WHERE did those "uncle" jokes COME from anyways?

And the other question-What was the point of even having the uncle jokes on the show?-LOL

What were your favorite episodes of the series?

Originally posted by robyrob
I'd like to know if they've approached any of the cast about interviews for extra features for the DVD's....

and WHERE did those "uncle" jokes COME from anyways?

I can only guess as to why the series has never been released on video. Ownership is divided among several different parties who all would have to agree on their financial participation in any new marketing. Its possible that a video clause was not in the original contract and would have to be negotiated now. This would be difficult to accomplish.

The main reason I feel for lack of video is that there really isn't a big demand. Even the first three years look dated now and the fourth year is what it is. The show would have been more marketable if there was no fourth year. There's a local New York area station that could only afford to buy 50 shows. They bought mostly years 1-2 and the show ran there for quite a while. The four year package of WBK has never faired well in syndication. There always excitement about it when its sold to a new station, nobody realizes how much of a downer the fourth year is. I'll answer the question about the uncle jokes in a couple of days.

Happy New Year everybody.

Originally posted by lejones45
I can only guess as to why the series has never been released on video. Ownership is divided among several different parties who all would have to agree on their financial participation in any new marketing. Its possible that a video clause was not in the original contract and would have to be negotiated now. This would be difficult to accomplish.

The main reason I feel for lack of video is that there really isn't a big demand. Even the first three years look dated now and the fourth year is what it is. The show would have been more marketable if there was no fourth year. There's a local New York area station that could only afford to buy 50 shows. They bought mostly years 1-2 and the show ran there for quite a while. The four year package of WBK has never faired well in syndication. There always excitement about it when its sold to a new station, nobody realizes how much of a downer the fourth year is. I'll answer the question about the uncle jokes in a couple of days.

Happy New Year everybody.

Happy New Year to you too. Welcome to Sitcoms Online. :groucho

Gabe, would you care to comment on the insane idea of combining socially conscious plots and Marx/Stooge/Rascal slapstick? It turned out brilliantly, of course, but how did it come about? And let me just say that among the greatest comic pairings, Burns & Allen/Abbott & Costello, is, and always will be, Epstein & Kotter. You two were phenomenal together. What timing!

One more thing, I refuse to accept that there's no (dvd) market for a good, clean sitcom with insults, silly phrases, and a now mega-superstar. I just got my 8 year old daughter into the show. Of course, I won't show her "The Return of Hotsy Totsy." But she laughed so hard, I thought she was going to puke. She said it's the funniest show she's ever seen. I thought the same thing when I was her age in the 70's and still do. Oh, and please do write a book, based on some of Hegyes's comments on his site, it seems like there are some cool stories and trivia. Thanks, and let's get this thing out on dvd.