From Mr. Peepers to Mr. Cooper, classrooms and comedy comprise a favorite TV pairing, but no show combined the two with its era better than Welcome Back, Kotter. From floppy hats and bell-bottoms to the slightly stoned-out look on the students' faces, Kotter became the 1970s for most kids. Products such as lunch boxes, board games and dolls (including a perfectly coifed John Travolta) solidified the iconic stature of the series and its cast. Ron Palillo, who played lovable schnook Horshack, took some time to raise his hand (with a quick, "Ooh-ooh-ooh!") and answer a few questions about Kotter's new Season 1 DVD (available now;
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June is shaping up to be a great month for TV-on-DVD releases. June 5th was packed with releases, and June 12th, while offering less than on the 5th, has some great sets as well.Comedy fans have lots to choose from; Welcome Back, Kotter season 1, What's Happening Now! season 1, Doc Martin series 1, Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List season 1, Mile High season 2 (available in two volumes), and Trapped in TV Guide season 1 are being released on the 12th.Fox is releasing The Practice volume 1, which contains 13 episodes on 4 discs, plus a featurette, "Setting up The Practice." MGM has The Rat Patrol season 2, and CBS Home Video is releasing Walker, Texas Ranger Season 3, and the second season of Diagnosis Murder.My pick of the week comes from HBO - Deadwood season 3, the final season of David Milch's wild west series. This is definitely mature viewing, but it's a great series. The DVD set includes 4 commentary tracks with David Milch, Executive Producer Gregg Fienberg, Writer Mark Ti...
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Responding to the news that a big-screen version of Welcome Back, Kotter is in the works — with Ice Cube in the title role and the locale switched to South Central L.A. — Gabe Kaplan told Access Hollywood, "It's totally acceptable. I think it could work and I think [Ice Cube] is the perfect guy." Asked to flesh out the cast, Kaplan suggested "Snoop Dogg will play Horshack and Vanilla Ice would play Barbarino."
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On the topic of big-screen TV remakes (and John Travolta for that matter), Variety is also reporting that Ice Cube has been tapped to produce — and fill the title role in — Welcome Back, Kotter, a feature based on the late-1970s high-school comedy. To bring these first two news blurbs full circle, four words for you: Marc Anthony is Epstein.
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