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!

It’s time for a new school year and a new addition to the Kotter family!

Episode 3.2 “And Baby Makes Four, Part One”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on September 15th, 1977)

This episode opens with the sad scene of Gabe Kotter staring at himself in the bathroom mirror and telling himself a joke about his Uncle Charlie.  Even Gabe is not impressed with the joke and tells himself that he needs to be more funny.  Poor, Gabe!

Watching this scene, I was reminded of all the stories I’ve read about how much Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman disliked each other and how Strassman apparently really couldn’t stand having to listen to and laugh at Kaplan’s jokes.  Apparently, by the time the third season rolled around, the hostility between Kaplan and Strassman was so pronounced and obvious that even the actors playing the Sweathogs were forced to take sides, with Ron Pallilo siding with Strassman, Robert Hegyes and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs siding with Kaplan, and John Travolta trying to get along with everyone.  On the one hand, the opening scene here once again reminds us that Gabe is compulsive joke teller.  On the other hand, it’s hard not to feel that it was written to give Strassman a break from Kaplan.

Of course, the very next scene features Gabe and Julie awkwardly interacting, as Gabe tells the very pregnant Julie everything that she should do if she goes into labor while Gabe is at school.  Gabe tells Julie to call a cab, call the school and tell Woodman and then Gabe will call Dr. Melman and they’ll all meet at the hospital.  Julie assures Gabe that she’s not due for another week but Gabe says that he’s not sure that the baby knows that.  He then tells a joke to the baby while Julie grimaces.

It’s the first day of school!  Horshack is super excited while Epstein and Washington are still thinking about the fun they had during the 1977 New York City blackout.  (Epstein gave lemonade to “people running with a TV set.”  Washington “ran with a TV set.”)  Barbarino is not at all excited because, just before school began, he received a letter telling him that he was going to have to repeat the 10th Grade.  Barbarino explains that he skipped the exam that all the students were required to take to be promoted into the next grade but he thought that Mr. Kotter was going to handle it for him.

(Myself, I’m just shocked to learn that the Sweathogs were only supposed to be in the 10th Grade when the show began.  Considering that Horshack and Epstein both appear to be in their 30s, Washington appears to be in his mid-twenties, and Barbarino looks like he’s around 20, I’m going to guess that getting held back is not necessarily a new experience for this group.)

Determined not to be held back, Barbarino decides to sit in the classroom as if nothing has happened and he’s been promoted with the rest of the Sweathogs.  When Gabe arrives, he’s not surprised to see Barbarino in his classroom, mostly because Gabe doesn’t know that Barbarino was held back.  It’s not until Woodman, ordered by Principal Lazarus to personally welcome back each class, steps into the room that Barbarino’s status at a 10th Grader is revealed.

Gabe is shocked to hear that Barbarino was held back.  Barbarino says that Gabe was supposed to take care of it.  Gabe says that he did when he arranged for Barbarino to take a makeup exam.  But Barbarino thought that, when Gabe said he would take care of it, Gabe would sneak into the principal’s office and fix the records  Barbarino didn’t realize he still actually had to take the test and now, his dreams of being “a doctor …. or a longshoreman” have been put at risk.

Woodman laughs maniacally as Barbarino leaves the classroom.  Hitting his breaking point, Gabe kicks Woodman out of the classroom and tells him to stop interrupting his class.

Rather than go to his new classroom, Barbarino goes to the Kotter apartment, where he tells Julie about his problems.  Julie is a bit more concerned with the fact that she’s having contractions.  When she gets out her suitcase and calls for a cab, Barbarino worries that she’s leaving Gabe.  When she says she’s going to the hospital, Barbarino worries that his story made her sick.

Meanwhile, Woodman — banned from entering Gabe’s classroom — uses the PA system to let him know that Julie has gone into labor.  Gabe rushes from his classroom, accompanied by Horshack, Washington, and Epstein.  I kind of doubt Julie is going to be happy to see the Sweathogs at the hospital but whatever.  Julie’s stuck with them in her life.

And so ends Part One of this special three-part episode!  This episode was a bit uneven.  The scene between Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman felt a bit strained, largely due to the fact that the two of them could obviously barely stand to look at each other while delivering their lines.  John Travolta was charming as Barbarino but his co-stars were all obviously getting a bit old to still be playing high school students.  As always, John Sylvester White made me laugh with his portrayal of Woodman’s growing insanity.  The studio audience was very loud as they went out of their way to make sure that anyone watching knew how much they loved John Travolta.

Next week, Julie gives birth!