Welcome Back, Kotter: Classroom Marriage

Welcome Back, Kotter: Classroom Marriage
ABC
October 21, 1975
Sitcom
DVD
B

This is the only WBK script written by Myles Wilder and William Raynor, who had collaborated on three Brady Bunch episodes, but it is the first where everything falls into place.  The characters and their interactions are recognizably what they would be for the next three years.  (Season Four is a different animal, of which more later.)  It's not just a matter of catchphrases but things like the Jewish wedding ceremony Epstein performs and how Freddie and Vernajean (21-year-old Vernee Watson in her first of thirteen WBK appearances) do little disco moves to it.  The cast is clearly having fun, as can be seen by Kaplan and Strassman trying not to break character too much when Horshack comes in wearing a gorilla mask.  Epstein's backwards disguise is I'm fairly certain a shout-out to Harpo's in Duck Soup, especially since Gabe goes into a Groucho impression.

As with Carol's sudden marriage on The Bob Newhart Show, it does feel abrupt for Washington to suddenly be in love with a character we've never seen before, but this bothered me less in syndication, when episodes wouldn't necessarily air in order.  Also, I like the chemistry Hilton-Jacobs and Watson have together; they're believable as a couple, whether kissing or quarreling or, at Kotter's prompting, being honest with each other.  I'm glad she became a semi-regular.