Keck's Exclusives: John Travolta To Be a Sweathog Again
Mar 2, 2011
by William Keck


After years of sending his regrets, John Travolta has finally agreed to reunite with his fellow Sweathogs for a "Welcome Back, Kotter" 35th anniversary reunion at April's TV Land Awards.

Good for Travolta for hopping on board, considering he never would have landed Grease and Saturday Night Fever were it not for his breakout role as Vinnie Ba-ba-ba Ba-Barbarino, who never had a problem scoring dates!




But the reunion is still minus one Sweathog and the big-mustachioed teacher himself.

As of now, only Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington), Ron Palillo (Arnold Horseshack) and Marcia Strassman (Mrs. 'Kot-tear') have rsvp'd yes.


C'mon, Robert Hegyes and Gabe Kaplan. It won't be a true reunion without Juan Epstein and the joke-cracking Mr. K. (Perhaps Epstein, like the good old days, has a creative excuse for being absent.)

Fortunately, TV Land assures me more cast members from the 1975-1979 sitcom will soon be announced.




This is shaping up to be the biggest and best TV Land Awards ever, with "Family Ties" and "The Cosby Show" cast reunions also planned.

The show tapes April 10 and will air on TV Land Sunday, April 17 at 9 p.m.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Kecks-Exclusives-John-1030281.aspx

I sure hope they can get the whole cast together.

Very cool!! I hope they get the whole group together, too. They could also include people like Charles Fleischer and Stephen Shortridge. :cool:

I sure hope they can get the whole cast together.
Unless they have a way of bringing John Sylvestor White (Mr. Woodman) back from the dead they won't be able to reunite the entire cast. The same goes for Debralee Scott (Rosalie "Hotsy" Totzie). But I hope everyone else shows up.

It would also be great to see Helaine Lembeck (Judy Borden) included, too!! :cool:

As long as they have Kaplan, Strassman, Travolta, Hegyes, Palillo and Jacobs, that's all that matters. The late John Sylvester White aside, the others were just supporting and recurring players. Stephen Shortridge was a regular, but somehow, I doubt they want to remember the last season.

It would be nice if they could also get together for a series retrospective and talk about their time on the show, which bits were their favorites, etc.

Official press release:

WELCOME BACK!!!

JOHN TRAVOLTA AND THE CAST OF

“WELCOME BACK, KOTTER” TO RECEIVE 35TH ANNIVERSARY AWARD AT THE “TV LAND AWARDS 2011”

The “Sweathogs” Of Brooklyn To Be Honored At Taping On Sunday, April 10

Show To Air On Sunday, April 17 At 9 p.m. ET/PT


March 3, 2011, New York, NY -- TV Land announced today that Golden Globe® winner and two-time Academy Award® nominee John Travolta will reunite with the cast of “Welcome Back, Kotter” at the “TV Land Awards 2011.” The network will salute the beloved sitcom – set in Brooklyn, NY – with the 35th Anniversary Award at this year’s show taping in New York City at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on Sunday, April 10 and airing on TV Land on Sunday, April 17, 2011 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.

Travolta will reunite with co-stars Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Ron Palillo and Marcia Strassman – with more cast members to be announced – to accept the 35th Anniversary Award for the popular edgy sitcom which ran from 1975-1979.


“Welcome Back, Kotter” ran for five seasons and revolved around an inner-city high school teacher, Mr. Kotter (Gabe Kaplan) who returns to his alma mater to teach a new generation of under-achieving misfits nicknamed the “Sweathogs.” As a former “Sweathog” himself, Kotter uses his own life experiences to try and get through to this misunderstood group led by wisecracking Vinnie Barbarino (Travolta). The talented cast is rounded out by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington, Ron Palillo as Arnold Horshack, Robert Hegyes as Juan Epstein and Marcia Strassman as Mr. Kotter’s wife, Julie.

Now in its ninth year, the "TV Land Awards 2011" pays tribute to classic and contemporary luminaries of television, music and movies. The ninety-minute telecast will feature exhilarating musical performances and will reunite some of the most iconic celebrity TV casts. Previously announced honorees include Regis Philbin (Legend Award), “Family Ties” (Fan Favorite Award) and “The Cosby Show” (Impact Award).

Michael Levitt ("Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D List,” "Ask Oprah's All Stars,” "Scream Awards") is executive producer; Glen Weiss is director (The 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards,” “BET Awards,” “The 64th Annual Tony Awards"); Greg Sills is supervising producer ("VH1 Rock Honors," "The Teen Choice Awards," "Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards") and TV Land's Larry W. Jones and Casey Patterson are executive producers.

Nice!

Kotter ran for four seasons, not five.

Robert Hegyes and Gabe Kaplan aren't going?

And with this hoopla of a reunion you'd think they'd release season 2 on DVD.

Robert Hegyes and Gabe Kaplan aren't going?

And with this hoopla of a reunion you'd think they'd release season 2 on DVD.
The announcement did say more cast members to be announced. And you just know those cast members will be Gabe Kaplan and Robert Hegyes!

We can only hope!

Robert Hegyes I can definitely see appearing. Gabe Kaplan's more unpredictable - but we'll just have to wait and see what happens!!! :cool:

Robert Hegyes I can definitely see appearing. Gabe Kaplan's more unpredictable - but we'll just have to wait and see what happens!!! :cool:
Well Gabe definitely has plenty of time on his hands now that he has been relieved of his job as host of that Poker show.

I'm so grateful superstar John Travolta is going to be a part of this reunion, just like Tom Hanks joined his fellow Bosom Buddies castmates recently at the TVLand Awards.

Hey, Warner Brothers? Wouldn't this be a good time to get back to Welcome Back, Kotter dvd releases?

Only cable exposure will get the remaining seasons released not a TV land reunion of the cast members

That's awesome! I wish I could get TV Land! I'd love to see a reunion of the cast!

Kotter and Epstein have signed on! It will be a full cast reunion now! Read:
http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/03/tv-land-honors-facts-of-life-at-9th-tv.html

Woohoo!!!! Yay!!!! The gang's all here!!!! :cool: :D

Wow! That's great! Gabe, Julie and all 4 original Sweat-Hogs!!

I'm assuming John Sylvester-White (Mr. Woodman) has passed on?

Wow! That's great! Gabe, Julie and all 4 original Sweat-Hogs!!

I'm assuming John Sylvester-White (Mr. Woodman) has passed on?

Yeah, he died in 1988 or so.

Kotter and Epstein have signed on! It will be a full cast reunion now! Read:
http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2011/03/tv-land-honors-facts-of-life-at-9th-tv.html
:thumbsup:

That's great to hear everyone will be on board. Maybe this reunion will lead to the 2nd season released on DVD.

It looks like Ron Palillo was not at the show afterall. :confused:

On Good Morning America this morning, they said that Ron Palillo was "under the weather."

For those who missed it, the segment is on the GMA website:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/

Since Ron Palillo is at virtually every reunion, I was disappointed that he wasn't at this one, but I believe that he probably was under the weather. On the upside, we got not one but TWO Travoltas - I'd forgotten that John's sister Ellen had played Horshack's mother. Plus, how cool is it that John's young daughter is a fan of WBK? :cool: :D

As cool as that was, I wish that the others would've gotten more of a chance to speak - even Gabe didn't really seem to get many questions directed at him. Marcia Strassman looks incredible - she has aged VERY gracefully. They all have for the most part - except Bobby Hegyes looks scary with his Sammy Hagar look!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Here's some photos of the cast at the TV Land Awards.

Great pics!!!! :D

Whose the freaky looking dude? :shocked:

--Oh, That's Epstein!, first I thought it was Mr. Woodman, but he's deceased!

I know - compared to John and Larry, he looks frightening!! :eek: :eek: :eek: