Welcome Back, Kotter

Welcome Back, Kotter is an American television sitcom that originally aired on the ABC network from 1975 to 1979.

Characters

Gabe Kotter is a wise-cracking teacher who returns to Buchanan High, the school from which he graduated ten years earlier, to teach a group of remedial academics students known as the Sweathogs. Having been a Sweathog himself, Kotter has a special appreciation for the potential of these 'unteachable' students. His first day on the job, he shows the students both his authority and his playful side when he fires a giant paper airplane at them in response to a similar attack. Kotter is married to Julie, with whom he eventually has twin girls. When Buchanan High principal John Lazarus retires, Kotter becomes the vice-principal, though maintains some teaching duties.

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Julie Kotter is Gabe's wife and closest friend. Though she has a sense of humor, she often wishes Gabe would take matters more seriously. She is occasionally upset with the amount of time her husband spends with his students, who regularly visit their apartment. An anthropology major in college, she eventually becomes a substitute teacher at Buchanan High.

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Michael Woodman is the vice-principal (and later principal) of Buchanan High. A short, bitter man, he has an open aversion to the Sweathogs, whom he considers the bottom of the totem pole at his school. He refers to non-Sweathogs as "real" students.

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Vinnie Barbarino is the unofficial leader of the Sweathogs. If he had as much success in school as he did with women, he would be getting A's instead of toiling in Mr. Kotter's classes. His trademark lines include "I'm so confused!" (spoken with both hands smushing against his face), and the nonsensical response of "What? When? Where?" to any number of questions. He is the first of the Sweathogs to move out on his own when he gets a job as a hospital orderly.

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Juan Epstein is one of the toughest students at Buchanan High. A proud "Puerto Rican Jew," he seems to have notes from his mother excusing him for all manners of wrongdoing, with each slip of paper signed by "Epstein's mother." He normally wears a red hankerchief hanging out of his right back pocket and was voted "Most Likely To Take A Life" by his peers.

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Freddie "Boom Boom" Washington, a hip African-American, is known as the athletic Sweathog for his skills on the basketball court. He often greets people with his familiar "Hi there," always accompanied by a handsome smile. Though he's often the voice of reason among his classmates, he's a willing participant in the Sweathogs' various antics and pranks. Freddie also found success as a radio disc jockey along with another former Sweathog, Wally The Wow (played by George Carlin). He always referred to his teacher as "Mr. Kot-Tare."

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Arnold Horshack is the class clown in Mr. Kotter's room. A truly odd young man, he is known for his wheezing laugh, which has been compared to that of a hyhena, and unique observations. He is the only one of the central Sweathogs to be "promoted" out of remedial academics class, but he soon returns after feeling out of place. He marries Mary Johnson, a co-worker and fellow Sweathog.

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Beau De Labarre, introduced as a regular character in the fourth and last season, is a smooth-talker southerner who transfers to Buchanan High after being kicked out of several other schools. Naturally, he ends up in Kotter's class, though his first reaction to the term "Sweathog" is, "That sounds gross." Filled with whimsical sayings, such one about how a real man never steps on a pregnant alligator, he added some folksy charm to Kotter's class.

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