Welcome Back, Kotter

TLDR: Up your nose with a rubber hose. And 

John Travolta!!

Welcome Back, Kotter is an American sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan as a high-school teacher in charge of a racially and ethnically diverse remedial education class nicknamed the Sweathogs. Recorded in front of a live studio audience, the series aired on ABC from September 9, 1975, through May 17, 1979. It provided John Travolta with his breakthrough role.

Welcome Back, Kotter's first season was controversial. In Boston, the local ABC affiliate (WCVB-TV) initially refused to air the show.  The city was going through a tumultuous school busing program that involved widespread protests and riots, and the local affiliate felt Kotter's fictional integrated classroom would exacerbate the situation. The show became an early ratings success, however, and the affiliate relented, picking it up from its fifth episode.

Teachers in other cities had concerns about how Kotter would be portrayed, so producers allowed a union representative on the set to ensure the show protected the image of those in the profession. Kaplan opposed the idea, at one point asking a reporter if there was a junkman on the set of Sanford and Son to protect the reputation of junkmen.

Censor concerns about depiction of juvenile delinquency faded after the Sweathogs' antics proved to be silly rather than criminal. Like Kaplan, Hegyes was a fan of the Marx Brothers. Hegyes claimed that he suggested that the Sweathogs be modeled after the Marx Brothers in order to reduce tension.

Ratings slipped greatly in the third season. Kaplan later attributed the decline to the age of the actors playing the Sweathogs, all then in their mid- to late-twenties, claiming that they were no longer believable as high school students. As the series entered its fourth and final season, Travolta, the youngest Sweathog, was 25—while Palillo, the oldest, would turn 30 before season's end.

Kaplan's idea to bring the show in line with the age of its cast was to have Kotter join the faculty of a community college attended by the Sweathogs, but this storyline never materialized. In order to increase viewership, the Kotters had twin girls, but this did not prove to be enough to regain the show's earlier momentum. The show introduced a female Sweathog, Angie Grabowski, played by Melonie Haller.

Major changes took place in the fourth and final season. Shortly before the season began, the series was moved from its successful Thursday 8:00 p.m. time slot to Monday 8:00 p.m. to make way for the impending hit series Mork & Mindy.  Much of the writing staff turned over after season 3, and Travolta, who had already starred in box office hits such as Grease, Saturday Night Fever, and Carrie, began to focus more time on his film career. He appeared in ten episodes, earning $2,000 (roughly $9,300 now) for each one, and he was billed as a "special guest star".  Vinnie got a job as a hospital orderly and his own apartment and the Murphy Bed that came up and down at inopportune times became a running gag. Mr. Woodman was promoted to Principal of the school (Principal Lazarus quit to take a "less stressful" job at a high-security prison), and Kotter was promoted to Vice-Principal, purposely moving the show's focus away from Kotter's class.   Major off-screen disputes led Kaplan to break his contract and reduce his appearances. To help fill the voids, Stephen Shortridge joined the cast as smooth-talking Southerner Beau De LaBarre, and Kotter's wife, Julie, became a school secretary and occasional fill-in teacher, despite having one-year-old twin daughters.  Also in season 4, Della Reese was introduced as English teacher and Buchanan High talent show coordinator Mrs. Jean Tremaine.

Knowing the series was in a nosedive, producer James Komack attempted to spin-off a newly married Arnold Horshack into a new sitcom

Up your nose with a rubber hose.
The real life Horshack used to say, “Up your hole with a Mello roll.” The phrase was considered too naughty for TV use, so TV executives changed it to “Up your nose with a rubber hose” which became one of Vinnie Barbarino’s famous catchphrases.

So Welcome back P.S.  may the distractions begin 😉