Welcome Back, Kotter - Episode Guide

Kotter arranges a debate between the Sweathogs and the debate team.

Kotter is pressured to give Boom-Boom a passing grade on his exam, which he fails, so that he can continue to play on the basketball team.

Gabriel Kotter is a teacher in Brooklyn, New York who ends up teaching at his old alma mater: Buchanan High School. He has been assigned to teach the remedial students, better known as the Sweathogs, a group to which he used to belong.

Tired of her reputation as easy, Rosalie Totsie tells the Sweathogs that she's pregnant -- and that one of them is the father -- in an effort to make the boys admit that the tales they tell about their "fun dates" with her aren't true.

Vinnie runs for student body president, but his campaign is a disaster, despite Gabe's efforts.

After returning to his roots by taking over the Sweathogs' history class for a day, Mr. Woodman turns into a nice guy; and Kotter turns into the new Mr. Woodman.

With Vernajean's family moving, she and Freddie decide that they must get married in order to stay together. Their classmates act out married life to discourage the young couple.

After losing a fight with Todd Ludlow, Juan is made fun of by his fellow Sweathogs. His feelings and his pride hurt, he runs away -- to the Kotters' bathroom.

Mr. Woodman accuses Gabe of not following standard teaching procedures because he isn't teaching from the standard textbook. The Sweathogs come to his defense in front of the school board.

Gabe is less than thrilled when an old too-perfect classmate, and his too-perfect wife, decide to pay him a visit.

Mr. Kotter talks Judy into tutoring Barbarino. The two eventually become friends, but Barbarino doesn't want the other Sweathogs to know about it.

The Sweathogs go bananas over Bambi, a pretty blonde girl from California. When Mr. Kotter gets fed up with them disrupting the class, it's revealed that Bambi was just pretending to be from California in order to get attention.

Arnold is promoted to a regular class, but is less than happy about the forced transition.

Kotter begins to behave erratically when he learns that Julie will be going on a weekend ski trip, marking the first time that they've been separated since their marriage.

Instead of the planned food fight, Kotter convinces the Sweathogs to stage an all night classroom sit-in to protest the school's serving of liver for lunch.

The class votes to make Freddie the new leader of the Sweathogs, making Vinnie so upset that he quits school and stays with the Kotters. But Julie is growing tired of the Sweathogs taking all of Gabe's time.

The Sweathogs tire of Freddie as leader, and even Mr. Woodman admits that he misses Barbarino. Gabe makes peace with Julie and Vinnie, and all is returned to normal.

Epstein wants to become a veterinarian, but is discouraged by his guidance counselor since his grades don't show that he can.

A flu epidemic requires several advanced students to join Kotter's class, where they quickly outshine his struggling students. Kotter boosts the battered self-confidence of his Sweathogs by demonstrating that not all smarts are book smarts.

Arnold and Mr. Kotter persuade the Sweathogs to hold a telethon for much needed school supplies.

Mr. Woodman gleefully informs Kotter that there are no records of his having completed his senior exams, so Kotter has to take the tests alongside his Sweathogs, who commit to tutoring him.

Vinnie's dying grandmother wants him to become a priest. Vinnie tries, but gives it up when he has to stop dating.

During the schools career day, Mr. Kotter and the Sweathogs meet a Mr. Takahashi, who offers Gabe a job with his company at three times his teacher's salary.

When the Sweathogs' treasury money is stolen, all fingers point to Washington who has just purchased a new bike.

The Sweathogs try to form their own gang in response to a scare from another gang. Gabe, Arnold, and Mr. Woodman act tough enough to scare both gangs out of any violent activity. 

Sparked by the fact that Vinnie neglected to do Freddie's homework, the Sweathogs spend the better part of class fighting with one another.

The Sweathogs go on a field trip to a museum and meet its mysterious, superstitious curator. In the process, they all get locked in a tomb of a mummy which supposedly holds a curse.

When the school arranges free medical checkups Gabe must confront his discomfort of going to the doctor.

Julie's sister from Nebraska visits and enrolls at Buchanan. She wants to be in Gabe's class and develops a fondness for Epstein...much to Julie's dismay.

With the approach of Sadie Hawkins Day, where the girls ask the guys to the school dance, everybody, including Horshack, has a date - everyone but Barbarino.

A student teacher joins Kotter's class only to find that normal teaching methods don't work with the Sweathogs. Then she adopts Kotter's style only to find out that it doesn't work for her.

When the opportunity to fight Carvelli in a boxing match arises, Arnold wants to be the one to do it; and when the other Sweathogs put down his manhood, he is even more determined to prove himself by getting in the ring.

The Sweathogs try to convince Epstein to give up his smoking habit.

To get into the Christmas spirit, the Sweathogs give a homeless man a shave and a new suit. But after he shows up at the Kotter's Christmas party wearing his old clothes, he tells them he's a bum, but he's a happy bum.

Epstein's younger sister is enrolled in Kotter's class and Arnold is immediately attracted to her, but so is Vinnie, and this drives Juan crazy. Freddie is also in a romantic mood and Kotter sees it as an opportunity to teach the Sweathogs about love.

Barbarino wants revenge after a gym teacher slaps him in the face.

The Sweathogs join the school newspaper and investigate the break-in at the principal's office. During their investigation, they discover some shady happenings at Buchanan High School.

Kotter's father travels 1,400 miles to see him and to see what he does at school. While the senior Kotter observes his son teaching about the Great Depression, he tries to take over the class and tell stories of living through that time.

Kotter needs $1,400 to fix his teeth. He becomes so desperate he starts moonlighting at a second job only to be discovered by the Sweathogs.

Horshack takes on the role of Cyrano de Bergerac for the school play. But when the other Sweathogs rank on him, he gets upset and runs away. Now, since nobody can find Horshack, Barbarino has to go on stage in his place as Cyrano.

After his fifth stepfather dies, Horshack decides it's time for him to grow up and become the head of the house.

When Gabe learns that Julie is pregnant, he cannot understand why she is less than thrilled to be having a baby.

The Sweathogs visit a radio station and get introduced on the air. When Freddie gets his turn to talk, he proves to be a big hit and develops a large fan following, but the other Sweathogs become jealous of his success.

With Kotter away on a teacher's conference, the Sweathogs decide to spend quality time with a pregnant Julie. However, Julie is not so thrilled with all the attention from the Sweathogs.

Epstein spies a sexy art teacher kiss Kotter and assumes that Kotter is cheating on Julie.

The Welcome Back, Kotter flashback episode. The Sweathogs throw Kotter a surprise party before the start of the new semester. During the party, Kotter and the Sweathogs reflect back on all the good times they had over the first two seasons.

As the Kotters prepare for the birth of their baby, the Sweathogs discover that Barbarino got left back in the 10th grade.

Julie goes into labor and Gabe waits to hear what she has. After waiting impatiently, Gabe is surprised to learn he's the father of not one, but two baby girls.

Woodman subs for Kotter while he and Julie bring the babies home from the hospital. Then Julie's parents drop in from Nebraska for a visit, and Gabe has to sleep on the fire escape.

Kotter buys Barbarino's share of the Sweathogs' lottery ticket, but Barbarino says he wants no part of it because they never win. When they do win the $1,000 semifinal prize, Barbarino and Kotter disagree on who should get the money.

Kotter refuses to help Barbarino study for his test that would promote him to the eleventh grade. So the Sweathogs make a deal with Kotter. If he helps Barbarino study, they will help Julie and the babies.

Horshack joins a religious cult and decides to drop out of school to go live with with the cult members. But before he leaves, the Sweathogs pull him into the school bathroom and try to deprogram him.

The Kotters are looking for a new apartment and having no luck. Juan has an answer to their problem. His Uncle owns a building in a good neighborhood at the right price. The gang helps the Kotters move in and everything seems to be going great...until Moe Epstein tells them that there are no babies allowed.

Woodman writes a novel set during the Civil War era that very closely parallels the Sweathogs, and the Sweathogs are not happy about it. So they write a novel of their own set in outer space and depicting Woodman as the villain.

The Sweathogs' singing group wins the city-wide talent contest semi-finals. Then Barbarino becomes infatuated with one of their finals competitors. When they start dating, it jeopardizes the Sweathogs' chances of winning.

Barbarino makes up with the Sweathogs and gets the band back together. But when the judges found out Barbarino quit the band, they disqualified them from the contest.

When Woodman's contract for renewal is up, Kotter decides he wants to apply for vice principal. Then he has a dream that he is the king of Buchanan High School and the very old Sweathogs want to oust him from power.

Washington scores a 90 on his literature exam and Woodman accuses him of cheating. So to prove his innocence, Washington agrees to to take a make-up test.

Epstein paints a mural of a nude woman on the wall of the school, using the image of Julie Kotter as his inspiration.

A Welcome Back, Kotter flashback episode. The Sweathogs share Christmas memories as they help the Kotters trim their tree.

The Sweathogs host a radio station at school, but Horshack's ratings are so bad that he gets canceled. In his final broadcast, he becomes a radical radio broadcaster causing his ratings to soar.

Woodman brings a computer into the Sweathogs' class to teach their lessons and the class grades increase dramatically. But now, Kotter is jealous because the computer is making him feel obsolete.

The new girl in Kotter's class declares that she is going to become a Sweathog, but the other Sweathogs strongly oppose her joining their group. So she pulls a stunt to prove her worth which backfires getting the Sweathogs nearly expelled.

The Sweathogs purchase term papers from a couple of local hoods. Kotter recognizes Epstein's paper as one he himself had handed in years ago.

The Sweathogs convince Gabe to pursue his dream as a stand-up comic. His imitations of them are a success, and he gives up teaching for a job at a nightclub.

Kotter is a success at being a comedian but it is putting a strain on his marriage and his relationship with the Sweathogs. Second of a two-part episode.

Freddie is prescribed painkillers to treat a nagging injury he suffered playing basketball ... and soon becomes hooked. His friends become concerned about Freddie's increasingly scary behavior, but "Boom-Boom" tries to brush them off - after all, it's just "vitamins." What becomes even more scary is that Horshack blindly believes his friend's explanation, even though it becomes clear that Freddie needs help before something goes horribly wrong.

Vinnie blames himself for his shop teacher's fatal heart attack, which came on while Mr. Kripps was yelling at him.

Arnold is depressed because no girl will go out with him. After Mrs. Kotter consoles him and helps him find his confidence, he falls in love with her.

Gabe's job is at risk after he is accused of kissing a girl who fainted, though he actually performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

The Sweathogs sneak out to a strip club and recognize one of the dancers as their former classmate Hotsy Totsy. Shortly after, the Sweathogs, Kotters, and Woodman step in and try to find her a more respectable job.

Carvelli goes to Buchannan High as part of an exchange program and tells the students about his encounter with aliens. Woodman, convinced his story is true, plans to go on the spaceship when it lands in the schoolyard.

Kotter becomes the new vice principal and the Sweathogs think they can get away with anything they want. When they tie up Carvelli and Murray, Kotter gives them detention and they decide to quit school and get jobs.

Horshack, Epstein, and Washington, now dropped out of school, decide to look for jobs. Kotter then asks Barbarino, now working as an orderly, to convince them to go back to school.

Buchanan High gets a new student, Beau DeLabarre from New Orleans, who uses his southern charm to hit on several girls including Juan's girlfriend. Juan strikes back, then Beau sets him up with a girl who has a jealous husband.

Barbarino gets his own apartment and the Sweathogs think they have a new hangout. Barbarino tells them they are only welcome at his apartment when he invites them over. Offended by this, the Sweathogs storm out of his apartment.

A new girl at Buchanan High contemplates suicide after having a hard time making friends.

Carvelli offers to sell the Sweathogs his car so they tell him about the time they bought a car from Barbarino's uncle. While waiting at the hospital for the car, the Sweathogs see Uncle Louie wheeled in on a gurney after a car accident.

Woodman goes to the hospital to have a bunion removed. After the surgery, Barbarino takes him back to his room but loses him on the way. Now the Sweathogs scour the hospital looking for Woodman.

Carvelli brings in an X-rated film and asks Epstein to show it for the guys. Meanwhile, Julie prepares to show a sex education film to protesting parents. The two films get mixed up and the parents see the X-rated film.

When Vinnie gets dumped by a girl in front of the Sweathogs, he gets depressed and is too ashamed to leave his apartment.

A nerdy student tries to win the approval of the gang by emulating Washington.

The students are told as part of their biology requirement they're going to have to dissect a frog. And Arnold refuses to do it. He even protests by trying to take the frogs. He is told if he doesn't do it, he will get a failing grade and he's asking the other Sweathogs for support.

Freddie rewrites Woodman's version of the school anthem. A big time recording artist hears him singing it and decides he wants to use it on his next album. But Woodman opposes the idea of the school song going commercial.

Vinnie selfishly buys himself a new camel hair coat for Christmas. He feels it makes him stylish. So to him it's a tragedy when a couple of hoods steal it from him. Will the coat crooks be caught or a Christmas lesson taught?

The word is out that Barbarino is getting married. But he isn't marrying his girlfriend and the secret marriage has something to do with Epstein.

Barbarino is frustrated because he doesn't get a good job at the hospital. So he is excited when he has to take a pregnant woman to her room. But the elevator breaks with them in it and she goes into labor. Now he has to deliver the baby.

Mr. Woodman's niece, Kelly, babysits for the Kotters one night when Epstein comes by looking for Mr. Kotter. He finds Kelly instead, they become acquainted, and they eventually move in together, to Mr. Woodman's horror.

Terrified of going out with pretty Mary Johnson, Horshack believes he can find courage in a bottle.

Epstein is assigned to the school paper and changes it from a dull, lifeless weekly to a gossipy, sensationalist money maker -- almost losing his friends in the process.

Freddie and Juan compete in the school talent show, but Carvelli woos the judges so he can win the competition. So Horshack and Beau become alternate judges and fill in when the other judges are unable to fulfill their duties.

Arnold and Mary express their love for each other, then Arnold learns his mother married a blackjack dealer in Atlantic City, and now he has to leave school and the woman he loves. So Instead of leaving, Arnold asks Mary to marry him.

Arnold gets upset when the other Sweathogs tease him about not being able to provide for Mary, and he vanishes. Mary finds him and convinces him not to worry, and the two get married.

Beau plays pranks on Mr. Woodman in order to redeem himself to the Sweathogs.

While Horshack adjusts to married life, Epstein sets up an interview for a job. Washington gets the job before Epstein, unaware that it's the same job. The two get into a fight and end up in a gym ready to box.