The BEST episodes of Welcome Back, Kotter season 1
Every episode of Welcome Back, Kotter season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Welcome Back, Kotter season 1!
Gabe Kotter, formerly a Sweathog, returns to James Buchanan High as a teacher and is assigned the remedial class to which he once belonged. Mr. Kotter is an involved and caring teacher, which one would have to be in dealing with a certain four students in his class, who end up in trouble on a regular basis -- lady's man Vinnie Barbarino, the always cool Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington, the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, and the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshack. Welcome Back, Kotter was based on Gabe Kaplan's own high school experiences with redmedial education and a teacher who cared dearly for her students. Changes on the show. Gabe Kaplan left the series in the third season. He hadn't expected the show to run as long as it had. Kotter was made Vice-Principal, and thus was seen considerably less. John Travolta, of course, found his own place as a celebrity, leaving the show around the same time Gabe Kaplan did (returning every so often as a "spec
#1 - The Election
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 10/7/1975
Barbarino is running for Student Body President but his campain turns into disaster.
#2 - Father Vinnie
Season 1 - Episode 22 - Aired 2/26/1976
Vinnie's grandmother's dying wish is for him to become a priest, and he takes the request seriously, until the strain of being holy becomes too much for him.
#3 - California Dreamin'
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 12/2/1975
The sweathogs go bananas over Bambi, a pretty blonde girl from California. We get some very funny scenes of the guys in various costumes: Epstein as a guru, Freddy in a colorful shirt, Horshack as a movie producer, and Vinnie as a surfer. When Mr. Kotter gets fed-up with them disrupting the class, it's revealed that Bambi was just pretending to be from California in order to get attention.
#4 - Kotter Makes Good
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 2/19/1976
Gabe is forced to take final exams when it's revealed by Mr. Woodman that he wasn't really qualified to graduate when he did.
#5 - Welcome Back
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 9/9/1975
Gabe Kotter wakes up in the morning ready to start his first day as a teacher at James Buchanan high school. When he arrives, Mr. Woodman assigns Kotter to the remedial class, the class he was in years before. Gabe walks into the room and "teaches" class. He's introduced to four main students. Vinnie Barbarino, Juan Epstein, Freddie Washington and Arnold Horshack. The class turns into a disaster and Kotter quits. When Kotter gets home, he and his wife, Julie, get a visit from the Sweathogs. In the end, Kotter returns as teacher.
#6 - Arrividerci, Arnold
Season 1 - Episode 13 - Aired 12/16/1975
Arnold is promoted to a regular class, but is less than happy about the forced transition.
#7 - Whodunit?
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 9/30/1975
Tired of her reputation as easy, Rosalie Totsy tells the Sweathogs that she's pregnant -- and that one of them is the father -- in an effort to make the boys admit that the tales they tell about their "fun dates" with her aren't true.
#8 - The Great Debate
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 9/23/1975
The sweathogs out debate a smarter debate class.
#9 - One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 2/5/1976
A flu epidemic hits Buchannan and everybody gets sick except for Kotter, Horshack and a few students in the other classes. In the end, the few healthy students team up with the remaining Sweathogs in the classroom.
#10 - The Telethon
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 2/12/1976
Kotter and the "Sweathogs" raise a telethon to raise $700 for new supplies. If not the remiedial class will be cut.
#11 - Follow the Leader (2)
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 1/22/1976
The Sweathogs tire of Freddy as leader, and even Mr. Woodman admits that he misses Barbarino. Gabe makes peace with Julie and Vinnie, and all is returned to normal.
#12 - The Reunion
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 11/18/1975
Gabe is less than thrilled when an old too-perfect classmate, and his too-perfect wife, decide to pay him a visit.
#13 - Follow the Leader (1)
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 1/20/1976
The class votes to make Freddie the new leader of the Sweathogs, making Vinnie so upset that he quits school and stays with the Kotters. But Julie is growing tired of the Sweathogs taking all of Gabe's time.
#14 - Classroom Marriage
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 10/21/1975
With Vernajean's family moving, she and Freddie decide that they must get married in order to stay together. Their classmates act out married life to discourage the young couple.
#15 - Basket Case
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 9/16/1975
Freddy is convinced he will become a basketball star, so he decides to draw pictures on Gabe's test instead of trying to pass it. Gabe refuses to pass him even though he is the school's basketball star. When Gabe offers Freddy a make-up exam, Freddy still refuses. Gabe then offers to play a one-on-one game against Freddy to convince Freddy he's not as good as he thinks. If Gabe wins Freddy agrees to take the test, and if Freddy wins Gabe agrees to pass Freddy. Freddy naturally wins, but Gabe's score of 16 to 21 makes Freddy realize that he'd better complete school rather than rely on becoming a big basketball star.
#16 - One of Our Sweathogs Is Missing
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 10/28/1975
After losing a fight with Todd Ludlow, Juan is made fun of by his fellow Sweathogs. His feelings and his pride hurt, he runs away -- to the Kotters' bathroom.
#17 - Dr. Epstein, I Presume
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 1/29/1976
Juan, because of his love for animals, decides that he would like to be a veterinarian. A guidance couselor quickly thwarts his dream, until he performs an emergency operation on his pet hamster.
#18 - Mr. Kotter, Teacher
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 11/4/1975
Gabe's teaching theories in question, he is temporarily suspended. The Sweathogs, liable to lose their teacher, come to his defense.
#19 - The Longest Weekend
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 1/6/1976
When Julie goes away on a ski trip with a friend, stories from the Sweathogs and Mr. Woodman lead Gabe to be worried about the possibility of Julie cheating on him while she is away.
#20 - Barbarino's Girl
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 11/25/1975
In order to bring up Vinnie's grades, Judy Borden, highly unpopular with the Sweathogs, is called in to tutor him. But when the two start liking one another, problems arise.
#21 - No More Mister Nice Guy
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 10/14/1975
After returning to his roots by taking over the Sweathogs' history class for a day, Mr. Woodman turns into a nice guy; and Kotter turns into the new Mr. Woodman.
#22 - The Sit-In
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 1/13/1976
The Sweathogs, diverged from a food-fight, hold a sit-in to protest the school cafetieria's Wednesday liver.