WELCOME BACK, KOTTER: HARK, THE SWEATKINGS (TV)
Summary
One in this series of programs about high school teacher Gabe Kotter, who returns to his alma mater, James Buchanan High in Brooklyn, to teach a group of incorrigible students known as "sweathogs."
Christmas approaches and the sweathogs run across “Angie”, a homeless man who sometimes appears near the school. Gabe sees them together and says hello, recalling Angie from his own days in high school. Gabe takes the sweathogs aside and asks them not to insult Angie, although they insists that they were only kidding around with him. They leave and Gabe apologizes to Angie, although Angie points out that Gabe behaved similarly when he was their age. Gabe tries to give Angie some money to help him, although Angie feels that he cannot accept it since it comes from a “friend.” Instead, Gabe invites Angie to come into his class as a guest speaker. Vice Principal Woodman finds out about this and mocks Gabe. At first, Angie relays blatantly false details about his life, but at Gabe’s encouragement he foregoes this and speaks honestly.
Angie agrees and begins again, introducing himself as “Angelo DeMora” and explaining that he used to work as a butcher supporting his wife and four children. He recalls how he slowly became addicted to gambling on horse races, and that this addiction became increasingly costly for both himself and his family. This caused his wife to leave him, taking their children with her. The sweathogs are touched by his story, and Angie says little else before departing. The sweathogs feel guilty for mocking Angie and with encouragement from Gabe they decide to pool their Christmas money and spend it on Angie. Part of this entails getting Angie cleaned up, and Epstein gives him a shave and haircut himself. They also purchase new clothes for him, and Gabe invites him to a Christmas party at his apartment. Gabe gets a small Christmas tree for Julie, while Julie gets a Hanukkah bush for Gabe; Julie reacts well when Gabe tells her that he used the money he was going to spend on jewelry for her to help Angie instead.
The sweathogs arrive, although they tell Gabe that they were unable to find Angie. They suspect that Angie may have conned them and bet away the money they gave him, but Gabe has more faith that Angie has responded in kind to their good will. Soon thereafter Angie arrives wearing his old hobo clothes; he explains that he feels that his new image did not represent who he has become, and that despite being homeless he is “a happy bum.” He says he has stored away his new clothes and that he may one day feel ready to wear them and assume a new identity. He thanks everyone for their help and leaves. The sweathogs are confused by Angie’s apparent refusal of their generosity, although Gabe helps them to realize that they all derived great satisfaction from using their time and money to help him. After everyone leaves, Gabe has a brief (possibly hallucinatory) encounter with Santa Claus. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: ABC
- DATE: December 23, 1976 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:25:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:48848
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; High school teachers
- SERIES RUN: ABC - TV series, 1975-1979
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- James Komack … Executive Producer
- Peter Meyerson … Supervising Producer, Developed by, Writer
- Eric Cohen … Producer, Based on characters conceived by
- George Yanok … Producer
- Michael Manheim … Associate Producer
- Bob LaHendro … Director
- Gabriel Kaplan … Created by, Based on characters conceived by
- Alan Sacks … Created by, Based on characters conceived by
- Nick Arnold … Writer
- John B. Sebastian … Music by
- Gabriel Kaplan … Cast, Gabe Kotter
- Marcia Strassman … Cast, Julie Kotter
- John Sylvester White … Cast, Vice Principal Michael Woodman
- Robert Hegyes … Cast, Juan Luis Pedro Felipo de Huevos Epstein
- Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs … Cast, Freddie "Boom Boom" Percy Washington
- Ron Palillo … Cast, Arnold Horshack
- John Travolta … Cast, Vinnie Barbarino
- Michael V. Gazzo … Cast, Angelo "Angie" DeMora