I don’t think Welcome Back, Kotter could have had a long run. The primary reason is that the actors playing high-school students were obviously well into adulthood when they were cast. Can you really expect a sitcom set in a high school to be on the air for ten seasons and have actors well into their thirties playing students?

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DawsonCasting

I read that Gabe Kaplan's idea for a 5th season was that Mr. Kotter would get a new job teaching college somewhere and that the sweathogs would end up being his students there. So there's that.

I don’t think Welcome Back, Kotter could have had a long run. The primary reason is that the actors playing high-school students were obviously well into adulthood when they were cast. Can you really expect a sitcom set in a high school to be on the air for ten seasons and have actors well into their thirties playing students?

https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DawsonCasting
Happy Days did. Ron Howard was 20 when HD came on. Anson Williams was 24. Donny Most was 20. Henry Winkler was nearly 30.

I pegged the show as a likely candidate for a short run NOT because of anyone’s age but because of poor writing—the plots were often cliched and tired-and the characters felt more like charactures than real people.

Happy Days flourished because of great acting and GOOD writing. On Happy Days the characters weren’t one dimensional.

WBK didn't have a long run mainly because Travolta left the series and Kaplan and Komack had a feud which resulted in an unwatchable 4th season. When I watch reruns I never watch the last season.

This show actually did better in the ratings than Bob Newhart it's first two seasons

I read that Gabe Kaplan's idea for a 5th season was that Mr. Kotter would get a new job teaching college somewhere and that the sweathogs would end up being his students there. So there's that.

That could have worked.

Hmmmm Dunno. I liked it while the original cast was on.

I read that Gabe Kaplan's idea for a 5th season was that Mr. Kotter would get a new job teaching college somewhere and that the sweathogs would end up being his students there. So there's that.

that could have worked, but unfortunately ABC rejected the idea.

that could have worked, but unfortunately ABC rejected the idea.

It wasn't ABC who rejected the idea, it was Executive Producer James Komack.

And this sparked a war of egos between star and co-creator Kaplan and Komack, who was his boss

the sweathoggs wasnt college material:lol:

But they were JC material. And being in the real world a bit more might have sparked some genius buried somewhere.

It was excellent the first season. The second season was ok but the show jumped the shark once the twins were born. Gabe leaving was pathetic. Most scenes in the last season were not even in a classroom.
I also think there are only so many scripts you can write about a classroom of kids. IMHO, this is also the reason Head of the Class was only good for about 2 seasons. Gosh it got so ridiculous at the end (both shows).

Julie was never needed along with the awful addition of Beau

Travolta leaving. Beau replacing him. Kotter there part time. The show is named after Kotter and he is not there. Lol Julie working at the school. Della Reese joining. Horshack falling in love and having a drinking problem. The last season was crap.

I watched season 4 on the DVD just because I never had the opportunity but its no reason for me to ever watch it again

Travolta leaving. Beau replacing him. Kotter there part time. The show is named after Kotter and he is not there. Lol Julie working at the school. Della Reese joining. Horshack falling in love and having a drinking problem. The last season was crap.

The worst thing about Horshack becoming an alcoholic was that he became an *instant* alcoholic. Today, that would be a storyline that would play out over several episodes or an entire season.

Right writers, right people, 2 more seasons max.

WBK worked well because it was made WHEN IT WAS... Most people are so dumbed down and conditioned now it wouldnt be good at all..........

I love that show.....

Could have lasted longer if it started with characters in middle school but not highschool and already grown men

I read that Gabe Kaplan's idea for a 5th season was that Mr. Kotter would get a new job teaching college somewhere and that the sweathogs would end up being his students there. So there's that.

The idea is that Kotter would have moved on to a community college and the Sweathogs would have followed him there. And I'm sure, somehow, that Woodman would have ended up there as well. Sitcoms were like that back then.

I think had they gone with the idea, it would have worked. It would be a new environment and the "fish out of water" thing would apply to the Sweathogs, who would be in the adult world having to fend for themselves at the new college.

I'm sure that Kotter would have guided them along.

;)

Right writers, right people, 2 more seasons max.

I think you're right.

The show had already begun sliding in the ratings during season three when Travolta and Kaplan were still regulars on the show.

The changes in season four just accelerated the demise...not to mention changing the time slot from Thursday to Monday nights.

WBK worked well because it was made WHEN IT WAS... Most people are so dumbed down and conditioned now it wouldnt be good at all..........

I love that show.....

If they tried to air WBK today, they would say it was prejudiced against special needs students.

Quite the opposite: It showed that these kids had intelligence (well, okay, maye not Barbarino;)), but required alternative methods to help them learn.

Horshack was even briefly promoted out of the class and probably was the smartest of all of them.

Ya the world is so screwed up its sad.......

I read that Gabe Kaplan's idea for a 5th season was that Mr. Kotter would get a new job teaching college somewhere and that the sweathogs would end up being his students there. So there's that.
That might have been interesting. The HS aspect of the show only had a 4 year run with the same cast at most.

https://nitter.pussthecat.org/pic/media%2FE5i8tuuVoAAJhmJ.jpg%3Fname%3Dsmall

The 5th season would had to be one of sweathogs working at the school with home life shown 60% of the time

The 5th season would had to be one of sweathogs working at the school with home life shown 60% of the timeno, I think it would have worked with them as students.

no, I think it would have worked with them as students.

The problem with season 4 is that it got too far from the premise of the show.

There was virtually no Kotter, very little Barbarino and parts of the show were taking place outside the school.

The show was built on Kotter and the four Sweathogs and their interactions at school. Once you take that away, it's not the same show anymore...and wasn't.

The main factor in all this was James Komack's demands for a change in direction and hiring an entirely new set of writers and producers, who didn't really get the show's tone.

It's doubtful Travolta would have come back for a fifth season -- maybe a guest appearance or two -- but if Kotter had returned and the characters allowed to graduate and transfer to a community college, maybe the show's fortunes could have been revived.

But we'll never know.

I think you're right.

The show had already begun sliding in the ratings during season three when Travolta and Kaplan were still regulars on the show.

The changes in season four just accelerated the demise...not to mention changing the time slot from Thursday to Monday nights.

Yeah, that time slot thing can really ruin a show. WBK doesn't fit on Monday nights.

Yeah, that time slot thing can really ruin a show. WBK doesn't fit on Monday nights.

Especially when it had been on Thursday nights since the first season.

You also have to remember this was pre-DVR. Hell, most people didn't have a VCR because they were new.

If you went to go watch a show and it was no longer in the same time slot, some people assumed the show was cancelled.

Not everyone read TV Guide from front to back every week like I did!

:D

Especially when it had been on Thursday nights since the first season.

You also have to remember this was pre-DVR. Hell, most people didn't have a VCR because they were new.

If you went to go watch a show and it was no longer in the same time slot, some people assumed the show was cancelled.

Not everyone read TV Guide from front to back every week like I did!

:D

Makes sense, lots of households didnt even buy tv guides

Makes sense, lots of households didnt even buy tv guides

Rule of thumb was you watched it or you missed it.

You couldn't always count on summer reruns, because sometimes they might not run it or, in the case of Kotter, the show was pulled from the schedule in March of 1979 and returned in May to burn off the remaining episodes.

When your final episode airs in June after the May sweeps, it's one of the signs that it's over.

Of course, I remember hearing WBK was cancelled before that.

I remember feeling a little sad.

But in reality, the show had not merely run its course...it had been run into the ground by Komack.

Especially when it had been on Thursday nights since the first season.

You also have to remember this was pre-DVR. Hell, most people didn't have a VCR because they were new.

If you went to go watch a show and it was no longer in the same time slot, some people assumed the show was cancelled.

Not everyone read TV Guide from front to back every week like I did!

:D

That's true, I sure as hell didn't:lol:.