Welcome Back, Kotter
The Bread Winners
TV Flash files “The Bread Winners” as a desk essential hour — Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979) on ABC, season 4, episode 23, aired 1979-06-08, 30 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S04E23: listed hour 95 of 95 in the Welcome Back, Kotter guide, last listed hour of season 4. It aired 1979-06-08 (30 min). The listed hour before it is “I'm Okay, But You're Not” (S04E22). No later hour is listed in this guide.
Essential hour: “The Bread Winners”. The Bread Winners is the 1979 closer. Four seasons of Brooklyn remedial heat, then a paycheck title: the Sweathogs clocking out after a theme song that outlived the classroom.
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
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.
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Bread Winners sit in the Welcome Back, Kotter guide?
S04E23 is listed hour 95 of 95 — last listed hour of season 4, season 4 episode 23.
When did Welcome Back, Kotter S04E23 air?
The Bread Winners aired 1979-06-08 and is listed at 30 minutes.
Is it only worth it for Travolta?
Barbarino is the mid-run supernova, not the whole class. Kaplan, Horshack, Epstein, and Washington are the ensemble snap.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Gabe Kaplan returns to Brooklyn to teach the Sweathogs and turns a remedial classroom into a catchphrase variety act. John Travolta's Barbarino detonates mid-run; Horshack, Epstein, and Washington complete the back row. ABC youth comedy with a theme song that actually charted.
Welcome back — the lyric charted for real, which is how you know a classroom sitcom had already left the school. ABC's Welcome Back, Kotter (1975–1979), from Gabe Kaplan and Alan Sacks, ran four seasons, 95 episodes, with Kaplan returning to a Brooklyn high school to teach the Sweathogs: remedial troublemakers who make education a variety act. John Travolta's Vinnie Barbarino became a scream-magazine idol mid-run. Ron Palillo's Horshack, Robert Hegyes's Epstein, and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs's Boom Boom Washington…
Filed against
- Gabe Kaplan as Gabe Kotter
Gabe Kaplan returned to Brooklyn as Gabe Kotter on Welcome Back, Kotter — Sweathogs as catchphrase variety act, John Travolta's Barbarino detonating mid-run, a theme song that actually charted. ABC youth comedy from a remedial classroom.…
- Marcia Strassman as Julie Kotter
Marcia Strassman held the apartment as Julie Kotter on Welcome Back, Kotter — Gabe Kaplan back in Brooklyn teaching the Sweathogs, John Travolta’s Barbarino detonating mid-run, a theme song that actually charted. ABC youth comedy with a…
- John Travolta as Vinnie Barbarino
John Travolta’s Vinnie Barbarino detonated Welcome Back, Kotter mid-run — Gabe Kaplan back in Brooklyn teaching the Sweathogs, a remedial classroom as catchphrase variety act. Horshack, Epstein, and Washington in the back row, ABC youth…
- Robert Hegyes as Juan Epstein
Robert Hegyes's Juan Epstein completed Welcome Back, Kotter's back row — Gabe Kaplan teaching the Sweathogs, John Travolta's Barbarino detonating mid-run, Horshack, Epstein, and Washington as catchphrase variety. ABC youth comedy with a…
- Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs as Freddie 'Boom Boom' Washington
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs's Freddie 'Boom Boom' Washington completed Welcome Back, Kotter's back row — Gabe Kaplan teaching the Sweathogs, Barbarino detonating mid-run, a remedial classroom as catchphrase variety act. ABC youth comedy with a…
- Ron Palillo as Arnold Horshack
Ron Palillo's Arnold Horshack turned Welcome Back, Kotter's back row into a catchphrase with a waving hand — Gabe Kaplan's Sweathogs, John Travolta's Barbarino detonating mid-run, Epstein and Washington completing the set. ABC youth…