‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ breaks 35-year awards drought

[HMG Celebrity News] – When John Travolta made his TV debut in ‘Welcome Back, Kotter’ America was overwhelmed with indifference. Soon the show was a hit, but the awards never came. Last night that was corrected.

From its modest debut in September 1975, ‘Kotter’ made the 21-year old Travolta a star overnight. But despite great ratings the show didn’t win one award in four years.

Last night the original ‘Sweathogs’ gathered at the Javits Center in New York and got the nod they deserved.

“After 35 years, I wondered what Barbarino would be doing, and he’s standing here tonight very proud to be here,” John told the audience at the 9th Annual TV-Land Awards.

John was joined on-stage by Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (‘Boom Boom’), the show’s creator and co-star, Gabe Kaplan (Gabe Kotter), Robert Hegyes (Juan Epstein), and Marcia Strassman (Julie Kotter.) And Gabe had no doubts why the show had such a fan base;

“It just worked because everybody at every school had a Horshack, and Epstein, a Washington, and a Barbarino,” he said.

And despite waiting 35-years for recognition, Lawrence took the delay in good part;

“I think it’s a little overdue, but thank you very much,” he said. “Thank you for the award, for honoring us and the legacy.”

The nostalgic night also reunited the casts of ‘The Cosby Show,’ ‘Facts of Life’ and ‘Family Ties.’ But a comment by Travolta summed what many may have felt about the event.

“Bar none, this is absolutely the coolest night in television,” he told the assembled admirers.

If you’ve seen the endless re-runs do you think the show got dissed when it was on? Or did TV-Land drop the ball by even recognizing it now? Everyone has an opinion on Kotter; G’head – give us yours…

Source: NBC