Welcome Back, Kotter - TV-PG

Classic high school hijinks from the '70s.

TV Rating: TV-PG Network: Syndicated, TV Land Cast: John Travolta, Gabriel Kaplan, Robert Hegyes Genre: Comedy
Available on: DVD

Common Sense Note

Parents need to know that this often-silly sitcom follows a bunch of remedial students attending an inner-city high school. Teens make fun of each other constantly, calling guys things like "cream puffs" and women "dogs," but other than that, the language is pretty clean. Race, poverty, and drug/alcohol use are occasional topics, though the treatment of the issues is always sanitized. The students are under-achievers, and their apparent stupidity is a source of humor.

Families can discuss the difference between the school experience portrayed on the show and kids' own experience. Do you think the differences between the TV version and the real-life version were less notable in the '70s? How have high school and high schoolers changed since the show first aired? Does the relationship between teacher and student seem realistic? Do teens have a teacher like Mr. Kotter? What kind of trouble do kids get in at your school? How is discipline handled?

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Common Sense Review

Reviewed By: Sierra Filucci

In the classic 1970s sitcom WELCOME BACK, KOTTER, Gabe Kaplan stars as Gabe Kotter, a teacher who returns to his Brooklyn alma mater to teach a group of remedial high school students known as the "Sweathogs." Kotter's sense of humor and heartfelt affection for the teens make him an ideal advocate and mentor.

The lighthearted sitcom follows the antics of the dumb-but-loveable students, who are led by wise-cracking Vinnie Barbarino (a young John Travolta), tough Juan Epstein (Robert Hegyes), basketball-playing Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), and goofy Arnold Horshack (Ron Palillo).

Episodes usually center on a problem within the Sweathogs that Mr. Kotter helps solve. In one episode, for example, Epstein loses a fistfight and is embarrassed to return to class and face ridicule. After his friends make fun of him, he runs away, and Mr. Kotter and the gang look for him. He eventually turns up in Kotter's apartment, where he gets a lesson from his teacher about manhood: "Manliness is not measured by the amount of macho [you've] got."

Welcome Back, Kotter takes a comic approach to the difficult circumstances of the kids' lives, joking about things like food scarcity and race relations. While some episodes touch on drinking and drug use, Kotter rarely reflects the reality of its inner-city public school setting. (For one thing, real urban schoolteachers would be more horrified than amused if their students climbed through their apartment window for an unexpected visit.) But this breezy treatment allows for some memorable, if superficial, characters.

Fans might also like Saved by the Bell, The Steve Harvey Show, , and That '70s Show. For a more dramatic take on high school situations, check out Degrassi, Old School and Degrassi: The Next Generation.

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Content		CS	adults	kids
Content
Sexual Content Mr. Kotter and his wife sometimes kiss and hug chastely. Discussion of dating and making out. Some episodes feature sexy Sweathogs with some sexual innuendo.
Violence Off-screen fighting, some physical threats -- all slapstick humor.
Language Insults fly regularly, like "cream puff" for a weak male, and "dog" for an ugly female.
Message
	Social Behavior Students engage in some troublesome behavior -- minor stealing, truancy, etc. -- but these incidents mostly lead to moral lessons. Kotter helps the students that others treat poorly, showing that you don't have to be smart or rich to deserve respect. That said, the students' chronic underachievement and lack of smarts are often tapped for laughs.
	Commercialism
	Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco Rare episodes deal with drug and alcohol addiction, though without graphic detail.