At first, Gabe Kaplan was just doing a bit. He'd string together five- or six-minute set pieces into a larger premise as part of his stand-up act – and one of them involved a few perpetually immature ...

When “Welcome Back, Kotter” debuted on September 9, 1975, on ABC, viewers were charmed by the sitcom and its endearing group of unruly high school students. That is, unless those viewers were in ...

UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 09: WELCOME BACK, KOTTER - pilot - Season One - 9/9/75, Gabe Kotter (played by Gabe Kaplan, center), a former Sweathog, returned to his Brooklyn high school to teach the new ...