Gabe Kaplan - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Pavan · 07-27-2001, 07:34 PM

(I know I know this but I forgot)

From an e-mail I got:
Why wasn't Kotter in the last season much? I saw this show on Nick at Nite's TV Land and noticed this. I know why Travolta was not in it much the last year or so because of his stardom, but why Kotter?

luvinjuan1980 · 07-28-2001, 11:05 PM

Kotter wasn't in the last season episodes much because James Komack fired alot of Kaplan's writers and hired writers from The Carol Burnett Show. He and Kaplan did not like each other.

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ericperlin · 12-27-2001, 11:37 PM

So it was James Komack who fired the show's best writers, and drove Kaplan to stop appearing? James Komack ought to be convicted of murder --for killing a once-great TV show.

It seems to me that if Kaplan had his way, and retained the show's writers, WBK would have remained strong throughout the fourth season, despite the frequent absence of John Travolta. (Other TV sitcoms such as MASH and Barney Miller succeeded in retaining high levels of quality after losing key players.) With Kaplan continuing to star and the same talented writers retained, WBK might have remained a top quality sitcom for eight or nine seasons.

As far as having to explain why the same students would have remained in high school for all those years, it would not be a major problem. After all, they let Korean War last for 11 years on MASH!

07-27-2001, 07:34 PM	#1
Pavan SO News/Reviews Director Administrator Forum Superstar Join Date: Feb 17, 2000 Location: Linden, NJ (Where Hal Linden got his last name from!) Posts: 26,821	Gabe Kaplan (I know I know this but I forgot) From an e-mail I got: Why wasn't Kotter in the last season much? I saw this show on Nick at Nite's TV Land and noticed this. I know why Travolta was not in it much the last year or so because of his stardom, but why Kotter?

12-27-2001, 11:37 PM	#3
ericperlin Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Oct 13, 2001 Location: Blue Point, NY USA Posts: 7	So it was James Komack who fired the show's best writers, and drove Kaplan to stop appearing? James Komack ought to be convicted of murder --for killing a once-great TV show. It seems to me that if Kaplan had his way, and retained the show's writers, WBK would have remained strong throughout the fourth season, despite the frequent absence of John Travolta. (Other TV sitcoms such as MASH and Barney Miller succeeded in retaining high levels of quality after losing key players.) With Kaplan continuing to star and the same talented writers retained, WBK might have remained a top quality sitcom for eight or nine seasons. As far as having to explain why the same students would have remained in high school for all those years, it would not be a major problem. After all, they let Korean War last for 11 years on MASH!
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07-28-2001, 11:05 PM	#2
luvinjuan1980 Member Forum Regular Join Date: Jun 08, 2001 Location: West Sand Lake, NY Posts: 568	Kotter wasn't in the last season episodes much because James Komack fired alot of Kaplan's writers and hired writers from The Carol Burnett Show. He and Kaplan did not like each other. ------------------ These posts are brought to you by the Freddie Television Workshop and... "Ed Brown's Garage, Home of the Dirty Mural."