NOT that I knew what was cool in the eighties.
Welcome Back Kotter was one of THE shows of the seventies. It was something that both reflected and became part of our culture. If you’re not familiar with the show, it’s about a New York City high school classroom of lovable losers calling themselves ‘Sweathogs’. They were the traditional school troublemakers and no teacher wanted them. Until a former Sweathog comes back to his roots with a teaching degree and a mission. To pay back the community that helped him by becoming teacher, mentor and friend to the current-day Sweathogs.
The concept, plot details, and themes are applicable to any era in a timeless way. The clothes, speech patterns, situations, and atmosphere are distinctly seventies. Class nerd Horshack carries a Planet of the Apes lunchbox and most of the cast sport afros. But for the most part, the plot lines are pretty standard sitcom-fare. Nothing really groundbreaking. That’s not what made it special.
What made it special were the particular, outlandishly large personalities of the four main Sweathogs. All four are really fantastic. As I sit watching the show with my kids, watching as my kids totally fall in love with the show, I get a full appreciation of what made it so popular.
The main character of the show is Gabe Kotter, played by Gabe Kaplan who was a popular comedian of the day. There would probably not be a show without his presence to anchor it. However, his presence swiftly becomes overwhelmed by the Sweathogs themselves. A young John Travolta as pretty boy thickhead, Vinnie Barbarino. A smiling, girl chasing, perfectly coifed lover who has taken leadership of the group. Puerto Rican Jew, Juan Epstein, played by Robert Hegyes. A simmering bucket of nervous and powerful energy. He plays the hoodlum so well that you end up wanting him on your side. Ron Palillo as the unforgettable nerd Arnold Horshack, with his big laugh, whiny voice, and deadpan delivery. And my personal favorite, Freddie “Boom Boom” Washington played by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs. Freddie is a smooth talker and charmer. You get the sense that he can get his way with almost anything. I’ve loved him since I first heard the deep-voiced, smiling “Hi there” that turned into his catch phrase. Twenty years before Joey’s “How you doin?” on Friends.
I keep wanting to use the adverb ‘likable’ in my descriptions of the individual Sweathogs. But it’s meaningless because it applies to all of them. I guess that was the whole point.
On August 14th of 2012, Ron Palillo passed away from a heart attack. Even though I haven’t seen him in anything in years, I still feel the loss. Probably because we’re only a few episodes into season two of Welcome Back Kotter, and even though the show is over thirty years old it still seems fresh to us. I haven’t told the kids yet.
The effect the show has on my kids is interesting. My youngest, Alex, keeps imitating Horshack’s throaty laugh to get a laugh from whatever adult is passing by. And occasionally he’ll quote one of Horshack’s opening lines: “My name is Horshack. Arnold Horshack. It means the cattle are dying.”
My oldest, Ashton, swiftly took the show to school, conceptually speaking. Forming his group of friends around him and creating a new group of Sweathogs. His use of tricks and jokes from the show were popular with his friends. And no… he never told them about the show.
My daughter, Katie, now has an endless arsenal of come-back jokes. “Up your nose with a rubber hose” or some other similar line can regularly be heard around the Dill household.
So yeah, what was cliché and old and uncool in the 1980’s has become fresh and new and popular again here in the present day.
Thanks,
DCD
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