U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
Humour
NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > JOHN TRAVOLTA RETURNING TO 'WELCOME BACK KOTTER' FOR CAREER SWAN SONG
JOHN TRAVOLTA RETURNING TO 'WELCOME BACK KOTTER' FOR CAREER SWAN SONG
March 8 2011
Los Angeles, CA – Many have said that the 1970’s were the golden age of the sitcom. There is little doubt, that at least in comparison to much of what came before and after that decade, that the 70’s does indeed stand apart. Revolutionary programs
such as ‘All in the Family’, ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’, ‘Soap’, ‘Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman’, ‘The Jeffersons’ and ‘MASH’ are all legends in the field, shows that destroyed existing barriers and gave the still fledgling medium of television a much needed boost.
Of course like all eras, we only remember the best of what came around. While those shows certainly dominate the fond memories of TV viewers, they were only a small sampling of what was actually aired during that decade, most of which has been long forgotten, and rightly so. Other shows like ‘Mork and Mindy’ are certainly well known and extremely popular, but did little to advance the creativity of the sitcom. However that show did have a long-lasting effect on popular culture by introducing the world to Robin Williams and everything he would eventually accomplish. Similarly the successful but poorly received ‘Welcome Back Kotter’ did little to better the sitcom genre, however it did introduce John Travolta to the world. Now more than thirty years and all kinds of ups and downs later, Travolta is returning to the small screen to likely finish his career where it all began.
“We are thrilled that John has decided to come back for the show. We have worked hard to secure all the original cast members for the program, something that hasn’t happened since before the show went off the air in 1979,” said a spokesperson for TV Land which is producing the new version of the show. “Obviously John became a huge star and he quite rightly broke away. Now though he is willing to come back and is going to end his career in the most poetic of ways, as a sweathog.”
Travolta only appeared in a portion of the show’s final season after breaking out as a star with movies such as ‘Saturday Night Fever’ and ‘Grease’.
“The one sticking point has been Gabe Kaplan who is making all kinds of dough as a 
professional poker player. That has made the negotiations with him particularly tough but I think, we all hope at least, that with John aboard it will make him a little nostalgic for the old days and jump on board with the show, assuming of course we can work around his busy schedule. That really hasn’t been an issue for the other actors,” continued the spokesperson. “Obviously the show won’t pick up exactly where it left off. All of the ‘kids’ from the show are a little old to be in high school, well I suppose theoretically they could be going back for their degrees they never finished, but that isn’t the direction we are going. It will be great and we are really looking forward to starting production.”
Travolta had been in discussions to star as John Gotti in the story of the mobster’s life though that is now deemed unlikely.
“There have been few stars that have had the kinds of professional ups and downs that Travolta has had. He was a huge star, then vanished, then a huge star again, and then vanished. Some of that is undoubtedly a result of poor choices but part of it is just the way people view him. Big stars appear in bad movies all the time but carry them,” said Scrape TV Entertainment analyst Tracey Temple. “It will be interesting to watch this new show and see whether or not it allows him another opportunity to break out again. If not, well then it’s poetical. Maybe this will finally be Ron Palillo’s opportunity to shine, that would be great.”
Travolta has reportedly stopped eating everything in sight in preparation for the role.
Samantha Dryden, Entertainment Correspondent
NEWS > ENTERTAINMENT > JOHN TRAVOLTA RETURNING TO 'WELCOME BACK KOTTER' FOR CAREER SWAN SONG
LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Entertainment/pages-9/John-Travolta-returning-to-Welcome-Back-Kotter-for-career-swan-song-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html |
TWEET IT! http://tinyurl.com/4rzcudc |
BOOKMARK IT!  
|
|---|
Scrape Store
