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!

Gabe finally realizes that there’s more to life than teaching!

Episode 3.20 “There’s No Business: Part One”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on January 26th, 1978)

After Vinnie attempts and fails to be a hit at the Comedy Connection’s open mic night, the Sweathogs decide that Gabe should give it a shot.  According to the Sweathogs, the audience at the Comedy Connection loves it when people get on stage and tell really old jokes.  Gabe admits that he’s thought about doing stand-up before.  He decides to give it a shot.

And you know who is really happy about that?  Mr. Woodman.  Mr.  Woodman can’t wait to heckle Gabe.  Woodman explains that he’s a master heckler.  He’s been heckling people his entire life.  “Ever hear of Shecky Rubinstein?” Woodman asks.  No, Gabe replies.  That’s because Woodman heckled him until he quit show business.

The first night that Gabe performs, Woodman gets many opportunities to heckle.  While Woodman, the Sweathogs, and Julie sit in the audience, Gabe struggles through a routine about his aunts and uncles.  The audience is not amused.  Woodman laughs but only at the fact that no one likes Gabe.  As dispirited Gabe retreats to his dressing room, where he tells Julie that he’s going to give up on comedy.

That’s when agent Peter Charnoff (Sam Weisman) enters the room and tells Gabe that he’s funny.  It doesn’t matter that Gabe bombed because “there’s some crazy old man out there heckling anyone.”  Peter tells Gabe that he should talk about his students in his act.

The Sweathogs are surprisingly cool with the idea of Gabe making fun of them.  The next week, Gabe again takes the stage and the audience loves his jokes, especially the ones about how Freddie always says “Hi there,” and Epstein forges his own notes.  Gabe is a hit!  And, with Peter’s encouragement, he announces that he’s stepping away from teaching so that he can be a stand-up comedian.  The Sweathogs and Julie are stunned!

And run the end credits!

Hey, Gabe quit and apparently, he’s abandoning his wife and children.  I guess the show’s over now.  Thanks for reading, everyone!  I wasn’t expecting things to end this abruptly but overall, I enjoyed….

Oh wait.  This is a two-parter and this is just the end of part one.  So, maybe the series isn’t over.  We’ll find out next week, I guess!

As for this episode, it made sense that Gabe would eventually become a stand-up comedian.  I’m a bit surprised it took him this long.  I’m not really sure that audiences would actually go crazy over the rather anodyne jokes that Gabe told about his students but whatever.  It’s television.  (In Gabe Kaplan’s actual stand-up act, Arnold Horshack was named Arnold Horseshit.  Obviously, that wasn’t going to happen on network television in 1978.)  The highlight, as usual, was Woodman’s unhinged delight in being a jerk.  Mr. Woodman is a true treasure.

We’ll see how Gabe’s new career progresses next week!