Watching Sitcoms

Last night, I finally saw Hairspray. Call me cheap if you want, and it’s true, but I just don’t see the need to pay money to go see a movie in a theater, when I can just as easily wait a little while and see it for free on my big screen TV with surround sound, comfortably in my jammies. Beyond that, I am already paying for cable, and HBO, and Starz, and HBO on Demand, and Starz on Demand, and . . . you get the picture. So I just keep track of what’s coming to On Demand when and then I watch it. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is coming on June 23 and I’m very excited.

Anyway, back to Hairspray. I really liked it. My husband left about halfway through cause he couldn’t take any more singing. The wimp. But I’m a big fan of musicals. As a matter of fact, just last week we saw Grease (or at least I saw it; my husband does actually like Grease, but there was still too much singing) and The King and I (which my husband avoided at all costs). In any case, watching Grease and Hairspray, reminded me yet again why I like John Travolta so much. Not too long ago, I saw the first DVD of the first season of Welcome Back, Kotter. (You can buy them here from Amazon.) It was great. I keep meaning to get back to the library and get the rest of the eps. In any case, back then I was talking about John Travolta and how great he is at everything he does:

I’m always amazed at how many different genres in which he has performed and excelled. He’s been in comedies, dramas and musicals. He has sung and danced, delivered jokes and acted as the evil bad man, and he’s been believable. Plus, he’s been successful in both small and big screens . . . not many actors are versatile enough to do well on both TV and in movies.

. . . and now he’s proven that he makes a pretty good woman, too!

All those DVDs I borrowed are gonna have to go back to the library soon, but I did manage to watch the entire disk of Welcome Back, Kotter episodes. I think there were six of them, and for some reason, the pilot episode didn’t air first, but was actually shown third in the series. I’m not sure why it was that way, but that’s how they are on the DVD as well. However, I’m a rebel, so I watched the pilot first and then went back and watched the other eps.

They were pretty funny. Even now, they didn’t come across as totally dated. OK, they were definitely dated, very 70’s and hip and all that, but still, it didn’t detract in any way from the show.

I think I must relate to that type of humor much better than I do to whatever is considered more modern humor. It was basically a bunch of one-liners and zingers back and forth. Gabe Kaplan was a stand up comedian at the time, which is very much a standard for your typical good sitcom scenario (think Raymond, Cosby, Seinfeld, etc.) He did a lot of voices and always told a joke at the beginning and end of each ep, with his sitcom wife, Julie, played by Marcia Strassman, as his straight man. She was great in that role, although she does, occasionally crack a smile. One of his favorite characters was Groucho Marx and, somehow, as hackneyed as that sounds, it was funny.

So much of that show crept into our culture at the time, plus, they gave us John Travolta. I’m always amazed at how many different genres in which he has performed and excelled. He’s been in comedies, dramas and musicals. He has sung and danced, delivered jokes and acted as the evil bad man, and he’s been believable. Plus, he’s been successful in both small and big screens . . . not many actors are versatile enough to do well on both TV and in movies. I’m not plugging him or anything, its not like he’s even one of my favorite actors, he’s just good.

He wasn’t the only good person on Kotter, though, they were all really funny in their own way and worked very well together as an ensemble.

If you have the time, Kotter is worth watching again. I’m not certain how it will appeal to a younger audience who didn’t actually grow up with the Sweathogs in their living room every week, but I really enjoyed it. Plus, there are 95 eps and I’ve only seen the first 6. It should keep me busy for a while.

Welcome Back Kotter, Gabe Kaplan, Marcia Strassman, John Travolta