I recently bought WBK from iOffer and I got to see the 4th season. I didn't think it was that bad, and it looked like Washington took over as head Sweathog. It was good to see that Julie got a job at the school instead of being written out of the show. I didn't like the camera work, the camera would zoon out to go to the next scene instead of fading out.

I recently bought WBK from iOffer and I got to see the 4th season. I didn't think it was that bad, and it looked like Washington took over as head Sweathog. It was good to see that Julie got a job at the school instead of being written out of the show. I didn't like the camera work, the camera would zoon out to go to the next scene instead of fading out.


Julie should have been written out of the show if there was no more Mr. Kotter

I think that they wanted to Keep a Kotter connection, plus he did appear occasionally. He appeared at the beginning, some of the middle and I think on the last episode. I loved Marcia Strassman in the role of Julie. She was frustrated cause she was not being featured as much in the beginning and people who compliment her in the role but wondered why she was being underused. I am glad that she was seen more during the last season but even Marcia was like, "so all of the sudden, I'm a teacher now?"

I think that they wanted to Keep a Kotter connection, plus he did appear occasionally. He appeared at the beginning, some of the middle and I think on the last episode. I loved Marcia Strassman in the role of Julie. She was frustrated cause she was not being featured as much in the beginning and people who compliment her in the role but wondered why she was being underused. I am glad that she was seen more during the last season but even Marcia was like, "so all of the sudden, I'm a teacher now?"


The Julie character was not neeeded at all.

They sure made it look like it, but her link to the series was the fact that she was married to the star of the show. They should have utilized her more. I think that she wanted to leave at one time because she was not being utilized. They could have done more with her. I loved her work and chemistry with Gabe.

They sure made it look like it, but her link to the series was the fact that she was married to the star of the show. They should have utilized her more. I think that she wanted to leave at one time because she was not being utilized. They could have done more with her. I loved her work and chemistry with Gabe.


gabe was not the star of the show, it was vinny

The Julie character was not neeeded at all.
Why not? The fans liked her and she had a relationship with the Sweathogs.

gabe was not the star of the show, it was vinny

Oh, really, well if that is the case then J.J. was the star of Good Times and not Esther Rolle?

Oh, really, well if that is the case then J.J. was the star of Good Times and not Esther Rolle?


What exactly made him a STAR?-lol It defintely was those crappy jokes

The final season episodes weren't that bad, in my opinion. At least Vinnie was in some episodes.

The 4th season episode I'm still trying to see is WASHINGTON"S CLONE

I am sorry, but less Vinnie Barbarino and less Mr. Kotter meant a suck ass show. The fourth season stunk.

What exactly made him a STAR?-lol It defintely was those crappy jokes

This pretty much said it all:

Gabriel Kaplan
Starring In:
Welcome
Back
Kotter

I thought Kaplan was the star, Vinnie became the most popular Sweathog. The show centered around Kotter and the Sweathogs, that's what made the show work. Apart they weren't the same, In What Happened to Little Arnold pt. 2 the episode was Arnold's and it wasn't as good. Another episode called, A Novel Idea had Woodman writing a novel about the Sweathogs which wasn't true and the Sweathogs got even by writing their own novel. This episode only had Kaplan in the end of the show, which wasn't that great they were missing Gabe and it showed.

The main premise of the show was lost in season 4:(

Season 4 gets a bad rap. Yeah, there were a few episodes that were awful. But there were also several episodes that were very good.

Season 4 gets a bad rap. Yeah, there were a few episodes that were awful. But there were also several episodes that were very good.

I would say more than Half was good

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.1 “The Drop-Ins: Part One” (https://unobtainium13.com/2024/09/28/retro-television-review-welcome-back-kotter-4-1-the-drop-ins-part-one/)

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter (https://unobtainium13.com/tag/welcome-back-kotter/), which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

https://unobtainium13.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kotter.jpg

This week, we begin the fourth and final season of Welcome Back, Kotter (https://web.archive.org/web/20061031125256/http://www.jumptheshark.com/w/welcomebackkotter.htm).

Episode 4.1 “The Drop-Ins: Part One”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on September 11th, 1978 (https://www.tvtango.com/listings/1978/09/11))

The fourth season of Welcome Back, Kotter opens with a few changes.

First off, there’s new opening credits.

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Did you notice one very big change? That’s right. Sebastian Leone is no longer president of the borough. All hail Howard Golden.

Did you notice another big change? John Travolta is now a special guest star! That’s what happens when you star in two hits films in a row but you’re too nice to tell your former sitcom colleagues to go away.

However, there are even more changes waiting as the new school year begins. For one thing, there are new background students in Gabe’s classroom, joining Epstein, Washington, and Horshack. (Barbarino is not present as the school year begins.) Epstein has gotten a haircut and now looks like he’s 40.

Carvelli and Murray have moved into the district and are now students in Gabe’s class.

Principal Lazurus has retired and Woodman has finally achieved his dream of becoming principal.

Finally, Gabe is now Vice Principal! The Sweathogs are superexcited and tie up Carvelli and Murray to celebrate. Gabe is not amused and takes Epstein, Horshack, and Washington to his office. He gives them a week’s detention. The Sweathogs accuse Gabe of having sold out but Gabe tells them that it’s time for them to get serious about their lives and to start preparing for the world outside of high school. Eventually, the Sweathogs are able to convince Gabe to give them two days detention on the condition that they all get jobs around the school.

Horshack and Washington run the school store. Epstein runs the projector for the audio visual department. But when Horshack and Washington leave the store a mess and Epstein unrolls a film in the middle of the school hallway, Gabe is again forced to be the disciplinarian. Now, even Horshack thinks that he’s sold out.

Suddenly, Barbarino shows up! The audience goes crazy. Barbarino is wearing what passed for good clothes in the 70s. He tells the Sweathogs that he has dropped out of school and he has a job at the local hospital. The Sweathogs, seeing Barbarino’s success, decide that they should drop out as well. Gabe can only watch in stunned silence as the four Sweathogs walk out of the school….

And that’s the end of Part One!

This episode was kind of depressing to watch, to be honest. It’s not just that the Sweathogs themselves all appear to approaching middle-age, though that certainly didn’t help. It’s that no one seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about starting another season of this show (https://forums.primetimer.com/topic/11335-welcome-back-kotter-general-discussion/). (From what I’ve read, due to all of the third season’s backstage drama and the open animosity between Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman, just about everyone in the cast was ready to move on.) Even Gabe Kaplan appeared to be bored with the whole thing. The strength of this show (https://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/welcome-back-kotter.349980/) was its cast. For the fourth season premiere, everyone is obviously just going through the motions and, compared to the earlier seasons of this show (https://web.archive.org/web/20140330010016/http://forums.televisionwithoutpity.com/topic/3117356-welcome-back-kotter-up-your-nose-with-a-rubber-hose/?view=getnewpost), it’s sad to see. There’s just no energy or joy to any of the performances.

Hopefully, things will improve with the second part! We’ll find out next week.

Season 4 to me is one of the worst seasons of any series. I havent watched it in a long time but from what i recalll

1. Beau replacing Vinnie.
2. Vinnie in only a handful of episodes
3. Kotter the star of the show is rarely ever there anymore
4. Julie works at the school now
5. Horshacks Fro , him falling in love, and his drinking problem and bad acting.
6. Della Reese joins the cast.

Season 4 to me is one of the worst seasons of any series. I havent watched it in a long time but from what i recalll

1. Beau replacing Vinnie.
2. Vinnie in only a handful of episodes
3. Kotter the star of the show is rarely ever there anymore
4. Julie works at the school now
5. Horshacks Fro , him falling in love, and his drinking problem and bad acting.
6. Della Reese joins the cast.


Your number 6 should be number 1. Not sure what she was supposed to add to the show

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter 4.23 “The Bread Winners” (https://unobtainium13.com/2025/04/12/retro-television-review-welcome-back-kotter-4-23-the-bread-winners/)

Posted on April 12, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC from 1975 to 1979. The entire show can be purchased on Prime.

https://unobtainium13.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/kotter-comic.jpg

This week, we finally finish this show up.

35BFYy450k8

Episode 4.23 “The Bread Winners”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on June 8th, 1979 (https://tvtango.com/listings/1979/06/08))


Epstein is excited about getting a job working at an antique store. However, a chance meeting with the store’s owner leads to Freddie getting the job instead. Epstein gets upset and, after a tense confrontation at the Horshack residence, Epstein challenges Washington to a boxing match at the local gym. However, once at the gym, Epstein and Washington realize that they’re friends. They care about each other. They’re not going to let a little thing like a job come between them. The owner of the gym is so moved that he gives Epstein a job.

And so ends Welcome Back, Kotter. After 95 episodes, Kotter ends not with a bang but with a definite whimper. We don’t even see the Sweathogs defy the odds by finally graduating. It’s an underwhelming finale but apparently, it was made when there was still the possibility of a Kotter spin-off, which would have focused on Horshack and his marriage to Mary. This episode also sets up the possibility of a show featuring Washington working at the antique store or even Epstein working at the gym. (Henry Beckman plays the owner of the gym while Priscilla Morrill plays the owner of the antique store and both of them get a lot more dialogue and character-building moments than the guest stars typically got on Kotter.)

https://unobtainium13.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/kotter.jpg

On the plus side, the show did manage to get nearly the entire cast to show up for the finale. Barbarino is absent, of course. But Gabe Kaplan makes one of his rare appearances, giving Washington some advice on how to make up with Epstein. Julie shows up at the beginning of the show but, noticeably, Marcia Strassman doesn’t share any scenes with Kaplan. John Sylvester White, as Woodman, gets to do his crazed laugh one last time. Beau gets a few lines of dialogue. We get a peek at Horshack’s homelife with Mary and even Epstein’s girlfriend, Kelly, shows up for a few scenes.

Again, this was an underwhelming finale but that makes sense when one considers that season 4 was an underwhelming season. Looking over this show, the first two seasons were the best. During those seasons, the show had a bit of an edge and the actors really seemed to be trying to ground their outlandish characters in at least a hint of reality. The third season saw the show turn into a living cartoon and Kotter never really recovered. By the fourth season, the actors cast as the Sweathogs were too old to still be playing high school students, Kaplan was refusing to appear on the show that was based on his stand-up act, and way too much time was wasted on Julie getting upset and glaring at people.

Well, we’re done with Welcome Back, Kotter (https://unobtainium13.com/tag/welcome-back-kotter/). Next week, a new show will premiere in this time slot. It’s been a while since I started a new show so I’m looking forward to finding one that will be a slight change of pace. What will the show be? Check here next Saturday to find out!

https://unobtainium13.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/kotter.jpg