The third episode of Welcome Back, Kotter had a hardly noticeable moment where a woman was shown completely naked in front a few minutes into the show. “Welcome Back” featured Gabe strutting into the room to meet the Sweathogs for the first time, but some of the students are shown ogling at a magazine centerfold, which the camera cuts to be before focusing on Kaplan.
Surprisingly, the few seconds of lewdness were not left out of the cut and went unnoticed for years. It is likely that censorship bodies or the show’s creators never picked up on it, leaving fans to discover later on with the rise of streaming websites letting them pause and replay as they wished.
‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ was not all kid-friendly
Although Welcome Back Kotter did not come with strict age restrictions, it addressed social issues such as teenage pregnancy, sexism, classism, and vices such as smoking through humorous means. The sitcom put John Travolta in the limelight and quickly made him a fan favorite among adolescents.
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In fact, a season four episode titled “X-Rated Education” zeroed in on pornography, featuring Charles Fleischer’s Carvelli, who planned to show a stag film to his mates. Marcia Strassman’s Julie also planned to teach parents sex education via an educational movie, and in a twisted turn of events, both tapes get switched.
Interestingly, some actors did not find their time on the set of Welcome Back, Kotter enjoyable, with Marcia being the most vocal about her experience. She hardly got along with Gabe and even admitted to praying for the show’s cancellation. Marcia and Gabe’s feud also divided the castmates.
After a four-year run of 95 episodes, Welcome Back Kotter was discontinued in 1979 due to declining ratings. The plot remains open-ended, with no finale or graduation for the Sweathog students. The last run simply addressed animosity between Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs Washington after he got a job meant for Epstein.
