Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Saturdays, I will be reviewing Welcome Back Kotter, which ran on ABC  from 1975 to 1979.  The entire show is currently streaming on Tubi!

As I mentioned yesterday, I’ve got a sprained wrist so typing is kind of painful.  For that reason, today’s review is going to be a quick one.  You might even call it a …. MINI REVIEW!

Episode 3.23 “Goodbye, Mr. Kripps”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on February 16th, 1978)

Shop teacher Mr. Kripps (Jack Fletcher) is famous for being cranky and for not liking the Sweathogs.  Even when Gabe was a student at the school, Mr. Kripps was a teacher known for his bad temper.  When Mr. Kripps drops dead of a heart attack, only Barbarino is shocked.  Barbarino also feels guilty because Mr. Kripps was yelling at him when he died.

Woodman, Gabe, and the Sweathogs attends the funeral and then all return to Gabe’s apartment.  I get that the Sweathogs are in a co-dependent relationship with Gabe but why is Woodman at the apartment?  Gabe and the Sweathogs are depressed.  Woodman talks about how July is the best month for a funeral.  “August is too hot!”

Barbarino turns himself into the police for murder.  Awwwww, poor Barbarino!  Seriously, this is an unbelievably dumb thing to do but John Travolta is so crestfallen and child-like as Babarino that your heart still breaks for him.  No-nonsense Lt. Eddie Lasky (Norman Alden) comes down to the school to investigate Mr. Kripps’s death.  Gabe and Lasky help Barbarino to understand that it’s not his fault that Mr. Kripps had anger problems.  And again, it’s kind of dumb but Gabe Kaplan and Norman Alden play off of each other really well and Travolta’s puppy-dog earnestness just makes you want to hug him.

Woodman gets upset when he sees that Lasky parked in his spot.  Woodman vandalizes Lasky’s car and gets taken to jail.  When he returns to the school, Gabe cheers him up with a joke about Uncle Willie, who was sentenced to a 99-year sentence.

This was a good episode.  It felt like a throwback to the humane and sweet-natured episodes of the first season.  Travolta once again shows why he’s the Sweathog who ended up with the Oscar nominations.