Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.2 “The Drop-Ins Part 2”

Posted on October 5, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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!

This week, the fourth season premiere concludes.

Episode 4.2 “The Drop-Ins Part 2”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on September 11th, 1978)

When last we saw the Sweathogs, they were planning on dropping out of school and getting real jobs, just like Barbarino.

At the start of the second part of the fourth season premiere, we discover the details of Barbarino’s new job. He does indeed work at the hospital but, unlike what his classmates assumed, he’s not a doctor. He’s not a nurse. He’s not an X-ray technician. He’s an orderly. He mops the floor and he changes the sheets and he fluffs the pillows. As he puts it, “I make 68 dollars a week and ten of that goes to Uncle Sam.”

(Little does Barbarino know that only having to give ten dollars to Uncle Sam would sound pretty good to future viewers. I imagine by this point next year, we’ll be giving every cent to Uncle Sam and maybe we’ll be lucky to get some stale bread and Flint water in return. And, of course, everyone will pretend to love it.)

Gabe comes down to see Barbarino. He tells Barbarino that the Sweathogs look up to him and he asks Barbarino to talk to them about staying in school. Barbarino, who is mopping the floor, points out that he dropped out and he’s already got a job.

“If this is all you want to do with your life,” Gabe says, looking at Barbarino’s mop and bucket, “you didn’t need to go to school.”

“Now you to tell me,” Barbarino replies.

As for the Sweathogs, they’ve already talked to Barbarino and applied for jobs at the hospital. But, looking over their applications, they realize that they have no job experience, no educational accomplishments, and no chance of getting a job.

When a patient nearly dies because Barbarino didn’t know how to push the emergency button or where to find the crash cart, he realizes that he needs to get more education. Soon, he and the Sweathogs are standing in the doorway of Mr. Kotter’s classroom, ready for a new schoolyear. Barbarino says he’s going to be a doctor but he knows he has to graduate high school first. As for the other Sweathogs — well, they’re 40 year-old high school students. What other choice do they have but to go to class?

Part Two of The Drop-Ins is a significant improvement on Part One, largely because the majority of the episode follows John Travolta’s Barbarino. None of the Sweathogs were bad actors but, when watching an episode like this one, it’s easy to see why Travolta’s the one who went on to become a movie star. As Barbarino, Travolta just has a natural charisma that can’t be faked. Of the main Sweathogs, Barbarino is the one who you really find yourself hoping will eventually graduate. He’s just such a nice guy, even if he is a little …. slow.

And so ends the fourth season premiere. The Sweathogs are back in class …. but for how long?

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 4.1 “The Drop-Ins: Part One”

Posted on September 28, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, we begin the fourth and final season of Welcome Back, Kotter.

Episode 4.1 “The Drop-Ins: Part One”

(Dir by Norman Abbott, originally aired on September 11th, 1978)

The fourth season of Welcome Back, Kotter opens with a few changes.

First off, there’s new opening credits.

Did you notice one very big change? That’s right. Sebastian Leone is no longer president of the borough. All hail Howard Golden.

Did you notice another big change? John Travolta is now a special guest star! That’s what happens when you star in two hits films in a row but you’re too nice to tell your former sitcom colleagues to go away.

However, there are even more changes waiting as the new school year begins. For one thing, there are new background students in Gabe’s classroom, joining Epstein, Washington, and Horshack. (Barbarino is not present as the school year begins.) Epstein has gotten a haircut and now looks like he’s 40.

Carvelli and Murray have moved into the district and are now students in Gabe’s class.

Principal Lazurus has retired and Woodman has finally achieved his dream of becoming principal.

Finally, Gabe is now Vice Principal! The Sweathogs are superexcited and tie up Carvelli and Murray to celebrate. Gabe is not amused and takes Epstein, Horshack, and Washington to his office. He gives them a week’s detention. The Sweathogs accuse Gabe of having sold out but Gabe tells them that it’s time for them to get serious about their lives and to start preparing for the world outside of high school. Eventually, the Sweathogs are able to convince Gabe to give them two days detention on the condition that they all get jobs around the school.

Horshack and Washington run the school store. Epstein runs the projector for the audio visual department. But when Horshack and Washington leave the store a mess and Epstein unrolls a film in the middle of the school hallway, Gabe is again forced to be the disciplinarian. Now, even Horshack thinks that he’s sold out.

Suddenly, Barbarino shows up! The audience goes crazy. Barbarino is wearing what passed for good clothes in the 70s. He tells the Sweathogs that he has dropped out of school and he has a job at the local hospital. The Sweathogs, seeing Barbarino’s success, decide that they should drop out as well. Gabe can only watch in stunned silence as the four Sweathogs walk out of the school….

And that’s the end of Part One!

This episode was kind of depressing to watch, to be honest. It’s not just that the Sweathogs themselves all appear to approaching middle-age, though that certainly didn’t help. It’s that no one seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about starting another season of this show. (From what I’ve read, due to all of the third season’s backstage drama and the open animosity between Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman, just about everyone in the cast was ready to move on.) Even Gabe Kaplan appeared to be bored with the whole thing. The strength of this show was its cast. For the fourth season premiere, everyone is obviously just going through the motions and, compared to the earlier seasons of this show, it’s sad to see. There’s just no energy or joy to any of the performances.

Hopefully, things will improve with the second part! We’ll find out next week.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.27 “Class Encounters of the Carvelli Kind”

Posted on September 21, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, the third season comes to an end.

Episode 3.27 “Class Encounters of the Carvelli Kind”

(Dir by Robert Hegyes, originally aired on May 18th, 1978)

At the Kotter apartment, Gabe tells Julie a joke about his Uncle Bruce, the dressmaker. Julie responds by slamming the bedroom door in his face. Poor Gabe! Julie, if you hate his jokes that much, just get a divorce!

The next morning, Gabe steps into his classroom and finds Mr. Woodman sitting at the window and watching the rain falling outside. “Being alive is overrated,” Woodman says. “Try telling that to a dead person,” Gabe replies. Woodman reveals that, when he was young, he dreamed of being a podiatrist. “I love feet but I hate socks …. Sock stood between me and happiness!”

Woodman has every reason to be depressed. There’s some sort of weird student exchange program going on. Epstein is spending the week at another high school. (In real life, Robert Hegyes was not available to play Epstein because he was busy directing this episode.) Meanwhile, Carvelli (Charles Fleischer) and his buddy Murray (Bob Harcum) are going to Buchanan.

When Carvelli and Murray tell a story about being abducted by aliens and taken to the planet Yorksl, Gabe takes them to the vice principal’s office so Woodman can straighten them out. To Gabe’s surprise, Woodman not only believe Carvelli’s story but he decides that he wants to go live on another planet. He gives Carvelli permission to invite the aliens to land in the school’s courtyard. Gabe is even more shocked with the alien does show up and it turns out to be Julie! Julie explains that she’s a Yorsklite and then she agrees to Woodman away with her. “You look like a nice little fella….”

Wow, I guess the show’s over. I mean, Woodman is gone. Julie’s an alien. How do you do another episode about homework after that….

Oh wait, it was all a daydream.

Okay, never mind!

Usually, I hate it when a show does the whole “It was all a dream” thing but I actually enjoyed this episode because it gave John Sylvester White a chance to be totally unhinged as Woodman. White’s performance as Woodman has been one of the few things to remain consistently strong through the first three seasons of Welcome Back, Kotter. Watching him lose his mind, piece-by-piece, has truly been entertaining.

The episode and the third season ends with Washington tells Mr. Kott-air a joke about how ugly his aunt is. Gabe is impressed enough to write the joke down on a notepad.

And that’s it for Season 3! This was definitely an uneven season, with the humor ultimately getting a bit too broad for its own good. The Sweathogs themselves are all obviously adults now. This was something that Gabe Kaplan himself noticed. He reportedly suggested setting the next season at a community college and having Gabe get a job as a professor. (His students would, of course, be the graduated Sweathogs.) ABC disagreed, which resulted in Gabe not appearing in several season 4 episodes. Meanwhile, John Travolta also only appeared in a handful of episodes as he was now busy being a movie star.

What would all that mean for Season 4?

We’ll start finding out next week!

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.26 “The Kiss”

Posted on September 14, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Gabe’s in trouble!

Episode 3.26 “The Kiss”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on April 13th, 1978)

Gabe tells a joke about Uncle Milton the medium. Uncle Milton talked to a spirt named Max. In life, Max was a waiter. “Come closer,” Milton said. “I can’t,” Max replied, “it’s not my table.”

Gabe’s going to need all the jokes and laughs that he can get because he’s in a lot of trouble. After asking student Laura Stevens (Sally Hightower) to see him after class, Gabe is shocked when she suddenly faints. Gabe just wanted to talk to Laura about her habit of putting on her makeup while he’s trying to teach but instead, he finds himself performing mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Of course, just as he’s doing this, Woodman walks into the room.

Mr. Woodman is scandalized. Judy Borden (Helaine Lembeck, making one of her infrequent appearances in the third season) is scandalized to the extent that she declares she wants to transfer to an all-girl’s school. The school board and Principal Lazarus are planning to hold a meeting to discuss what to do with Gabe. Julie tells Gabe that she believes him when he says that he wasn’t actually kissing Laura but then she adds, “How pretty was this girl?” Julie then complains that homely girls never faint….

Well, you would know, wouldn’t you, Julie?

Sorry, that was mean. I fainted more than a few times in high school so this is an episode that I took slightly personally. Listen, being beautiful in high school is a lot of pressure. People have no idea.

The Sweathogs are on Gabe’s side and they even stop by the Kotter apartment to let Gabe know that Laura’s brother, Baby, is angry with him. Gabe laughs. How much of a threat can a baby be?

Then, Baby shows up.

Baby really doesn’t look that tough to me but everyone else is scared to death of him. Gabe is scared until he find out that Baby is only responding to rumors. He hasn’t even asked Laura what actually happened. Gabe sends Baby off to talk to his sister.

The Sweathogs also talk to Laura. Laura doesn’t really remember what happened. The Sweathogs note that Laura is on an all-bean sprout diet. That’s why she fainted! Laura then goes to the principal’s office, where Kotter is currently being grilled by an investigator from the school board. While waiting in the lobby of the office, she faints once again! This time, it’s Woodman who gives her mouth-to-mouth. In all probability, Laura has got a serious eating disorder that could very well prove fatal but, since this is Welcome Back, Kotter, the only thing that’s important is that Gabe is exonerated. Laura is told to head down to the cafeteria and eat a lot. A grateful Laura says that she will as she leaves the office.

Happy to in the clear, Gabe tells the school board guy a joke about a Chinese waiter who spoke perfect Italian because he thought he was leaning English.

This episode is a good example of the type of story that Welcome Back, Kotter would have handled with a lot of skill back in the first season. Unfortunately, by the time the third season rolled around, the show had gotten way too cartoonish to effectively deal with real-life issues, like teachers kissing students. As well, the Sweathogs — with the exception of John Travolta, who was in his early 20s — all very much look like adult, 30-something men now. Time to get out of high school!

Next week, the third season comes to a close.

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

Posted on September 7, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I guess it’s time to get back to reviewing those Sweathog antics!

Episode 3.25 “Horshack and the Madame X!”

(Dir by Al Schwartz, originally aired on February 23rd, 1978)

So, I’m finally ready to start reviewing Welcome Back, Kotter again and …. OH NO! It’s a Horshack episode!

Listen, don’t get me wrong. Ron Pallilo, despite what some critics have said, did not give a bad performance as Arnold Horshack. Consistently, he gave the best performance that he could with the material that he was given. It’s just that, as the series progressed, the character was written in a way that was more and more cartoonish. By the time the third season rolled around, a little bit of Horshack went a long way. If the first season present Horshack as being a relatively believable class clown, the third season Horshack was the type of weirdo who made you want to take out a restraining order.

This episode finds Horshack depressed because he can’t get a girlfriend. The Sweathogs try to help but the truth of the matter is that no one wants to date Horshack. (Not be mean but would you want to date Horshack? Especially when Barbarino, Epstein, and Washington are right there?) When Gabe mentions that he’s going to be teaching a night class at NYU, the Sweathogs announce that they’ll go over to his apartment to keep an eye on Julie. Gabe agrees to this, mostly because he secretly hates Julie.

At the apartment, Julie tries to give Horshack some encouragement and makes the mistake of allowing him to show her how he asks a girl out on a date. Horshack falls in love with Julie and he decides that she’s in love with him. As I said, restraining order time!

The next night, Julie invites Horshack to dinner so she can let him down easy. Unfortunately, Horshack shows up early and Julie has to try to talk to him with wet hair and wearing a bathrobe. Then the other Sweathogs shows up and assume that Julie is leading Horshack on. This episode did the impossible, in that it made me feel sorry for Julie. Usually, Julie comes across like someone who is just permanently in a bad mood but this episode really drove home just how unfair it is that she has to continually play hostess to her husband’s students. To be honest, Julie has the patience of a saint in this episode.

Travolta made me laugh a few times but otherwise, this was one of those episodes where I just wanted the Sweathogs to leave the apartment and leave the Kotter family alone. Probably the most interesting thing about this episode is that Gabe was barely in it. Reportedly, Gabe Kaplan and Marcia Strassman did not get along and it’s easy to sense that during the third season.

As for this episode’s opening joke, Gabe told Julie about his uncle who became a mailman and then bit himself because he thought he was a dog. Gabe’s family is just wacky!

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.24 “The Return of Hotsy Totsy”

Posted on July 6, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, it’s Welcome Back, Rosalie!

Episode 3.24 “The Return of Hotsy Totsy”

(Dir by Bob Claver, originally aired on May 11th, 1978)

Using fakes IDs provided by Epstein, the Sweathogs go to a strip club and are shocked to see their former classmate from season one, Rosalie “Hotsy” Totsy (Debralee Scott), dancing on stage. Rosalie is not particularly happy to see them either, especially when Horshack keeps calling out her name and saying “hi” while she’s performing.

At first, almost all of the Sweathogs are very judgmental of their former classmate, never mind the fact that 1) she has a baby to support and 2) they were the ones who went through all the trouble of getting fake IDs so that they could illegally go to the club to the first place. Only Horshack refrains from judging Rosalie. Instead, he gets an extra job so that can give the money to Rosalie and her baby. Awwwwwww!

Fear not. Gabe eventually finds out that his former student has fallen on hard times and with the help of Woodman, he finds employment for her as a receptionist. That made me smile a little bit. Being a receptionist is harder than a lot of people realize but I have faith in Rosalie.

This episode deserves some credit for explaining what happened to Rosalie, who was a fairly prominent character during the first half of season one before disappearing without an explanation. I liked the fact that the episode was clearly on Rosalie’s side and not afraid to call out the Sweathogs on their misogyny. Debralee Scott gave a heartfelt performance as Rosalie, reminding us of how edgy Gabe’s students used to be.

At the same time, it’s hard not to feel this episode would have worked better during the second season, before the Sweathogs became caricatures and, even more importantly, when Robert Hegyes, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, and Ron Pallilo could still convincingly pass for being young enough to need fake IDs to get into a bar. (Travolta, who was the youngest of them all, was the only one who still made for a convincing teenager during season 3.) Watching this episode, it was hard not to regret how the show transformed Horshack from just being slightly eccentric to being someone who appeared to come from a totally separate planet. Ron Palllilo, it must be said, still managed to give a good performance in this episode but the character was still so broadly drawn that it was hard to believe that the Sweathogs would have invited him to the strip club to begin with. Still, his interactions with Rosalie were undeniably sweet. Horshack may be annoying but he’s a good person.

Interestingly, this episode was written by Gabe Kaplan. Perhaps that explains why Marcia Strassman’s Julie only gets a few seconds of screentime and only one line of dialogue.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/19/24 — 5/25/24

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Abbott Elementary (Wednesday Night, ABC)

Okay, I’ll admit it. I was wrong. I thought last week was the finale but it turns out, the season finale was this week. And what a finale. Janine threw a party and learned a lesson about not being a control freak. Gregory finally stopped being so annoying and kissed Janine. Yay! And what’s really great is that all of this was due to the wonderful advice of Mr. Johnson, who is one of the best characters on television right now. I had some issues with this season but this finale made up for almost all of them.

Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

I watched the first episode of Netflix’s acclaimed stalking drama on Tuesday. It was undoubtedly well-made but it was coming from a bit too dark of a place for me so I haven’t watched any of other episodes yet. I’ll watch the rest of it next week.

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)

I wrote about Baywatch Nights here!

Booked: First Day In (Hulu)

I watched a few episodes of this A&E series on Tuesday night. It follows people as they are being booked into jail. As always with these shows, the cops came across as being cocky jerks while the people being booked were far more sympathetic. I felt especially bad for the 70 year-old owner of a used car dealership who was booked for the crime of not putting some tag on the windshield of some of his cars. Seriously, if you didn’t already hate the regulatory state already….

Check It Out! (Tubi)

A mini-review of this week’s episode will be dropping in a few hours.

CHiPs (Freevee)

I wrote about CHiPs here!

Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)

I wrote about Degrassi Junior High here!

Dr. Phil (YouTube)

On Sunday, I watched an episode of Dr. Phil in which Phil interviewed a woman who had coached her 4 year-old son to falsely accuse her ex-husband of being a part of a child porn ring. The man was obviously innocent and easily passed a polygraph test. In what can only be described as being a massive tell, the woman appeared to be upset at the fact that her husband was cleared of a terrible crime.

On Saturday, I watched an episode with a teenage girl who got pregnant because she wanted to be on 16 and Pregnant. Ugh. That entire episode made me want to throw something.

Fantasy Island (DVR)

I wrote about Fantasy Island here!

Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)

I wrote about Friday the 13th here!

Highway to Heaven (Tubi)

I wrote about Highway to Heaven here!

The Larry Sanders Show (Max)

Jeff and I watched a few episodes of this old HBO show on Thursday night. Rip Torn made me laugh every time he spoke. What a great actor!

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here!

Malibu CA (YouTube)

I wrote about this terrible show here!

Miami Vice (Prime)

I wrote about Miami Vice here!

Monsters (YouTube)

I wrote about Monsters here!

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

On Friday night, Jeff & I watched an episode that profiled musician Bryan Ferry.

T and T (Tubi)

I wrote about T and T here!

Welcome Back Kotter (Tubi)

I wrote about Welcome Back Kotter here!

Mini Retro Television Review: Welcome Back Kotter 3.23 “Goodbye, Mr. Kripps”

Posted on May 25, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 5/12/24 — 5/18/24

Posted on May 18, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This was a week of season finales. I watched two of them.

On Wednesday, I watched the third season finale of ABC’s Abbott Elementary. While I certainly had my issues with this season, I did really enjoy the finale. Jacob tried to set up the perfect field trip and, needless to say, things did not go as planned. My favorite part of the finale was, not surprisingly, Ava standing up for her school. I know some would complain that the show is dragging out the will they/won’t they stuff with Janine and Gregory (and sometimes I get annoyed with the deliberate pace myself) but I think the show is avoiding the mistake that The Office made when it got Jim and Pam together too quickly. Janine and Gregory are destined to be together but I think, as characters, they’re more fun when they’re single.

On Thursday, I watched the season finale of NBC’s Law & Order. Together with last week’s episode, the finale erased any doubt I may have had about Tony Goldwyn as the new District Attorney. In fact, there’s a part of me that kind of wishes the Nick could somehow step down as D.A. and take over Price’s job because Goldwyn is believable and compelling on this show in a way that Hugh Dancy never has been. (Dancy is a fine actor but, as a character, Price is just too wishy washy.) Price could become second chair and Maroun, who spent the entire third season whining about having to do her job and prosecute people, could join the Public Defender’s Office.

On Thursday, I also watched Spacey Unmasked on Max. Spacey Unmasked is the latest documentary to feature people sitting on an empty soundstage and talking about how badly they were treated by a celebrity. The ten men featured in the documentary all told stories about their encounters with Kevin Spacey. Some of the men were compelling but it still felt as if the main reason this documentary was made was because Kevin Spacey is currently an easy target who really doesn’t have the resources to retaliate. I’d have more respect for a documentary that exposed someone who is currently in power as opposed to someone who is already on his way to obscurity.

On Friday and Saturday, I binged a few episodes of Seinfeld on Netflix. George obsessively wanting to tell someone that the “Jerk Store called and they’re all out of you!” was definitely the highlight of the episodes I watched. I also enjoyed Kramer turning his apartment into a talk show set.

Finally, on Friday Night, I watched an old 90s talk show called Night Music on YouTube. David Sanborn interviewed musicians and performed with them. Sting, who I usually can’t stand, performed a really good version of Ain’t No Sunshine.

Watched And Reviewed Elsewhere:

Baywatch Nights (YouTube)
Check it Out! (Tubi) — My review should be dropping in about an hour!
CHiPs (Freevee)
Degrassi Junior High (YouTube)
Fantasy Island (DVR)
Friday the 13th: The Series (YouTube)
Highway to Heaven (Tubi)
The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)
Malibu, CA (YouTube)
Miami Vice (Prime)
Monsters (YouTube)
T and T (Tubi)
Welcome Back, Kotter (Tubi)

Retro Television Review: Welcome Back, Kotter 3.22 “What Goes Up”

Posted on May 18, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This week, Freddie gets hooked on pills!

Episode 3.22 “What Goes Up”

(Dir by Jeff Bleckner, originally aired on February 9th, 1978)

At the new, big, how-does-he-afford-that-on-a-teacher’s-salary apartment, Gabe tries to avoid taking out the trash by telling Julie a joke about his Uncle George. Julia tells Gabe to shut up and take out the damn trash.

Meanwhile, at school, Freddie has a problem. After injuring his knee while playing basketball, Freddie is given a prescription for pain killers. But the pain killers leave him feeling groggy so he also starts taking pills to give him energy. The other Sweathogs are concerned. Freddie insists that he’s just taking vitamins. Horshack insists that Freddie would never lie to him. If Freddie says that the pills that he’s buying in the bathroom and carrying around in his shoe are harmless vitamins than Freddie is telling the truth!

Woodman, however, is concerned. He tells Kotter that Freddie entered the cafeteria, took off his shoes, and said, “Ho ho ho, I’m the Jolly Black Giant.” “Is he on the dope!?” Woodman demands to know.

Epstein and Barbarino decide that the best way to handle this problem is to act like they’re on drugs as well so that Freddie can see how dumb he looks. Epstein tries to act spacey. Vinnie walks around hunched over and repeating, “Give me drugs …. give me drugs …. give me drugs….” Freddie doesn’t buy it for a second but then …. what’s going on with Horshack!? Horshack explains that he took some of Freddie’s special vitamins and then he tries to jump out of the classroom window!

(What the Hell was in those pills? I pretty much take the same thing for my ADHD and I have never been tempted to jump out a window.)

That’s all it takes for Freddie to realize that it’s time to stop taking the pills. Gabe encourages him to flush them down the school’s toilet and Freddie agrees to do while the studio audience watches in reverent silence.

Back at the apartment, Gabe tells Julie a joke about his Uncle Luther. Julie does not care.

It’s hard to know where to begin with this episode. On the one hand, Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs was often underused by the show so it’s always nice when he gets a chance to show off the fact that he was one of the better actors on the show. That said, the show’s portrayal of drug use was so cartoonish that it ultimately kind of made being a speed freak look kind of fun. If nothing else, this show left me wondering how a bunch of teenagers in the late 70s could be so naive about drugs.

Of course, if Barbarino had been the one who nearly died, I imagine the audience would have been more upset. If Epstein had gotten hooked due to Freddie’s lies, it could have led to some drama. But Horshack? Eh, who cares? When the show first started, Ron Pallilo was often given an opportunity to show that there was some hidden depths underneath Horshack’s eccentricity. But, by the time the third season rolled around, Horshack had become such a cartoonish character that it’s impossible to take anything involving him seriously.

To give credit where credit is due, John Travolta made me laugh with his delivery of “Give me drugs …. give me drugs….” Travolta appeared to be having a lot of fun in this episode, perhaps because he knew he wouldn’t be on the show much longer.

Anyway, for someone who couldn’t go an hour without popping a pill, Freddie got over his addiction pretty quickly. That’s good because next week, Vinnie is going to have to deal with the death of one of his teachers and Freddie’s going to have to be there for him. As for Horshack, this episode ends with him being taken to the school nurse but I assume he’ll eventually make a full recovery as as well. It takes more than pills to keep the Sweathogs down.