By Sharon Oliver
Contributing Writer
BOSTON – “Welcome Back, Kotter” might have been a successful sitcom right out the gate in most cities in 1975, but Boston was not so quick to get on board. According to one 1975 newspaper article, WCVB claimed the decision to not air the comedy series was “because its cast of non-scholastic high schoolers might have an unhealthy influence on local students.” The argument was that a TV show about slacker students might inspire students to become slackers.
Heightened tensions during busing crisis
Boston was in the throes of a school busing crisis brought on by a court order to desegregate its public schools. The show was about a New York City high school teacher named Gabe Kotter and his classroom of wisecracking multiracial troublemakers dubbed the Sweathogs. There were fears in Boston that airing the show might heighten tensions in a city that had already seen numerous protests and incidents of violence.
During the time, actor and comedian Gabe Kaplan, who played Mr. Kotter, called the station’s decision “the worst kind of censorship” in an interview with New Jersey’s Courier Post and added that “there’s really nothing controversial about (the series).” However, the affiliate remained undeterred. A press representative for the station said in a 1975 interview, “The people who produce the show have said we aren’t carrying it because the show is controversial. That’s not the case at all. We don’t consider the program offensive in any way. (Station vice president and general manager Robert) Bennett acted independently because of our school situation here.”
Set in Brooklyn, “Welcome Back, Kotter” showcased a multi-ethnic cast of characters like Freddy “Boom Boom” Washington (African American) played by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, Juan Epstein (Puerto Rican Jew) played by Robert Hegyes, Gabe Kotter (Jewish) played by Gabe Kaplan and of course, Vinnie Barbarino (Italian American) played by two-time Academy Award nominee John Travolta.
In a bonus scene from CNN Original Series “History of the Sitcom,” co-star Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs stated, “’Welcome Back, Kotter’ was not trying to make a statement about integration. It just showed you it as a norm. When we came on – on a Tuesday at 8:30—we got the most insane ratings.”
Boston TV station relents
The following year, WCVB finally welcomed the hit sitcom to their primetime lineup and fans praise the show not only for the lovable and mischievous Sweathogs but for its theme song as well.
Musicqueen 6617 wrote:
“Listening to this makes me want to cry. It’s a nostalgic cry. This brings back so many awesome childhood memories. Dancing school, Girl Scouts, family get-togethers every weekend so the adults could play their card games while all the cousins played games of our own, simple birthday parties, ice skating, playing outside with neighborhood friends who were considered second family, are what I miss about the 70s. Life was so simple back then and so many people seemed much happier. I would do anything to relive the 70s.”
Staffordbrent971 added:
“My big brother and I would both watch this together from our twin beds in the 1970s..My big bro is no longer with us…but my 56 year old self watching this today brings a smile with a tear not far behind. To the good ole days…Gonna play this again now.”
Although the series only lasted for four years, its success proved the value of targeting a young, teenage demographic. In 2012, TV historian and Syracuse professor Robert Thompson told the Los Angeles Times, “You had this racially diverse cast and yet they didn’t make a big deal out of it. They were integrated as something that was natural and at the time not even worthy of comment. That was a pretty progressive thing to do.”
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