Welcome Back, Kotter - DVD

Welcome Back, Kotter - The Complete First Season

Amazon Price: $24.99 List Price: $29.98 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Warner Brothers - Model: WARD113099D Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $20.87

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 41 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Great Show, Unusually Good DVD Release! 4 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

I guess you could say I'm picky with DVD releases, but this one was quite good. The theme song is intact, the studio audience laughter is still there and the episodes are mostly complete, with the episodes usually running from 24-25 minutes. It's always annoying when a show is released on DVD but is badly edited, glad to see they left this show mostly intact. The price is also quite good, you get 22 episodes, compared with some DVDs which contain 15 at a higher price (I'm looking at you, Paramount). Picture quality is decent, certainly not the level seen in "I Love Lucy" or "MASH" but those shows were done on film, and considering this show was done on tape I'd say it's pretty good. As for the humor, well taste is subjective but I enjoyed this even if I didn't quite get the occasional topical joke, with much of it being quite watchable.

Why don't they do something like this? 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I'll keep it short and simple. I LOVE this show. It seems they always do something like this when releasing old shows. They release a season or two and then they just stop. Why don't they release the entire series as a box set. Wouldn't that be easier, and satisfy all of us who want the entire series. Quite annoying... and from the looks of it, it looks as though we will never see Season 2. Argh... argh indeed!

Editorial Review:

Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 06/12/2007 Run time: 553 minutes Rating: Nr

Welcome Back, Kotter (Television Favorites Compilation)

Amazon Price: List Price: $9.98 By: Warner Brothers - Model: 4084 Amazon Marketplace: 15 new & used starting at $4.96

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Welcome to DVD, Mr. Kotter. Born of Gabe Kaplan's stand-up comedy reminiscences, this 1975 series stars the Marxist (as in Groucho) comedian as a teacher who returns to the tough Brooklyn high school of his youth to teach students who are as unmotivated and undisciplined as he was. If Ron Paillo, as "village schmendrik" Arnold Horshack was Kotter's class clown, then John Travolta, as Vinnie Barbarino, the dim leader of the Sweathogs, became this series' "Most Likely to Succeed" star pupil. He gets extra credit for graduating from Teen Beat idol to A-list movie star, and seeing him at the beginning of his roller coaster career is the main fascination. Not to take anything from the rest of the cast, including Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs as Freddie "Boom Boom Washington," Robert Hegyes as self-described "flim-flam man" Juan Epstein, the late John Sylvester White as curmudgeon Mr. Woodman, who remembers Kotter from his delinquent days; and Marcia Strassman (displaying an off-center Diane Keaton quality) as Mrs. Kotter, whose main purpose seems to be an audience for Kotter's jokes that open each episode. This collection contains six episodes from the series' first three seasons: "One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest"; "Father Vinnie"; "Sweatside Story"; "I'm Having Their Baby"; "The Deprogramming of Arnold Horshack"; and "Goodbye, Mr. Kripps," something of a Very Special Episode in which Vinnie blames himself for a teacher's heart attack. Welcome Back, Kotter is grade-A nostalgia, but points are taken off for lack of commentary or interviews with Kaplan or any other members of the ensemble who aren't John Travolta. Casting memo to Ice Cube, who is reportedly preparing a big screen remake: Philip Baker Hall for Mr. Woodman! After that, you're on your own. --Donald Liebenson

Welcome Back, Kotter

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

"What? Where? When?" 4 out of 5 stars.
40 of 40 people found this review helpful.

This was one of my favorite TV shows as a kid. Gabe Kaplan played Mr. Kotter, a teacher in Brooklyn, NY (Buchanan High, I believe, was the name). He was funny, clever with a good bit of wisdom in his teaching style and cared a lot about his students (aka the Sweathogs). He'd often start and end the show with a corny joke about one of his uncles ("Did I ever tell you about my Uncle So-and-So?"). Marcia Stassman played his long suffering wife, Julie (Gabe Kotter loved his wife, but not her tuna casseroles!). John Sylvester White played Mr. Woodman, consumate curmudgeon who had little tolerance for the Sweathogs. John Travolta (Saturday Night Fever and Ladder 49) played Vinnie Barbarino, the class stud. He was the most popular with the ladies. He could be difficult when Mr. Kotter asked him questions in class ("What? Where? When?"). Sometimes when frustrated, he'd shout "I'm so confuuuuused!" When annoyed, he'd tell one of his fellow Sweathogs "Up your nose with a rubber hose!" His theme song was "Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbarino" (to the tune of "Barbara Ann." Ron Pallillo played Arnold Horshack (pronounced by little Arnold as "Hawwwwshaaaack!"), the lovable class dork ("Hallo! Howrya? Very impressive, Mista Kotta!"). To get Mr. Kotter's attention, he'd often shout "Oh-oh-oh-oh!" He also had the best laugh in the class (he'd grunt "heh-heh-heh-heh!" like a seal). Lawrence Hilton Jacobs (Cooley High and The Jackson Story) played Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington, lovably hip African American. He was the only Sweathog with a steady girlfriend (Verna Jean) and played on Buchanon's basketball team. He'd address Mr. Kotter "Yo, Mr. Kottair!" and when addressed in class, he'd smile and say (in a deep voice) "Hi there!" or "Unfortunately, I don't have my homework haaandy!" Finally, Robert Hedges played Juan Julio de Huevos Epstein, who was part Puerto Rican, part Jewish. He was often late for class (I've got a note, Mr. Kotter!"). His late note was often signed by Epstein's mother (I wonder how many kids in school tried that?)! When annoyed (often by Barbarino), he'd say "Vinniiiiie! You gonna diiiiiiiiiie!" The theme song was written, sung and performed by John B. Sebastian (formerly of the Lovin' Spoonful).

Unfortunately, this is not the Complete 1st Season (which is why I had to dock this one star). The pilot episode introduced the class as unresponsive and difficult. The Deprogramming of Arnold Horshack shows Arnold being moved to a different class after he's excelled in Mr. Kotter's class (the trouble is, he doesn't really fit in with the "smarter" kids). In Father Vinnie, Vinnie Barbarino almost drops out of school to become a priest, just to please his family's wishes.

Hopefully, Warner Bros. will release the entire seasons of this show. It may not be politically correct by today's standards, but it was funny, clever and often taught a good lesson.

Editorial Review:

You get 6 A+ episodes from this beloved series. 1) One Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest, 2) Father Vinnie, 3) Sweatside Story, 4) I'm Having Their Baby, 5) The Deprogramming Of Arnold Horshack, and 6) Goodbye, Mr. Krippsd.