The life of a teacher is often filled with toil, meager wages, and scant recognition – a script teeming with the ingredients for a hit sitcom. Currently, the most beloved school-based comedy, “Abbott Elementary,” garnered three Emmys in 2022 during its first season (with creator Quinta Brunson honored in the writing category and supporting actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who captivated viewers with her impromptu song on stage, also receiving an award) and added another Emmy win in 2023, resulting in a grand total of four victories and 24 nominations.
Half a century ago, “Welcome Back, Kotter” pioneered its genre. Airing from 1975 to 1979, the series starred Gabe Kaplan as Gabe Kotter, a high school teacher who formed an unconventional friendship with his group of students, dubbed the Sweathogs. This gang included Vinnie Barbarino (John Travolta), Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo), Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), and Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes). At the start, they were all newcomers to the spotlight, but by the third season in 1977, executive producer Jimmie Komack told The Hollywood Reporter, “We call it ‘Five Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. That’s how wild things got.” He further mentioned, “On Tuesdays, they put on quite a show. And despite all their grumbling – ‘I won’t be there’, ‘I want a new dressing room’, ‘Where’s my bodyguard?’, ‘I need a cook.’ Cook? COOK! I didn’t even think they were eating when I first met them.
Despite never winning an Emmy, Kotter was nominated four times: for editing, comedy series, art direction, and technical crafts, with Dick Wilson’s sound editing in the episode “Barbarino’s Baby” earning a nomination in the latter category. It was Travolta, already a successful movie star with Saturday Night Fever (1977) and Grease (1978) to his credit, who played the role of Kotter before he graduated from the show in 1979. In this series, Travolta’s character was not academically brilliant but was already a high-achiever in Hollywood.
Originally published in a special solo edition of The Hollywood Reporter magazine last May. If you’d like to get this magazine, consider subscribing by clicking here.
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2025-05-29 23:24