Gabe Kaplan has fond memories of the early days of Welcome Back, Kotter.
The legendary comedian, 81, helmed the beloved show, which ran for four seasons from 1975 to 1979 and followed a Brooklyn teacher who returns to his old high school stomping grounds to teach the Sweathogs: a ragtag group of underachievers. A member of the squad was the airhead ladies' man, Vinnie Barbarino, played by then unknown John Travolta.
In a new interview with Remind Magazine, Kaplan opened up about the prank he played on Travolta after the show first aired.
"After the first episode, I falsely told John Travolta he had a lot of fan mail in the office. The office wasn’t close to the rehearsal hall, but he trudged over and asked for his letters. He came back disappointed and empty-handed. Everyone laughed a little and he said, 'Very funny.'"
Of course, the joke was on Kaplan soon after, since Travolta's character soon took off like wildfire.
"A few weeks later he got a whole canvas sack of fan mail," Kaplan added.
(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)(Photo by ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Half a century later, the show is still stuck in the hearts and minds of TV fanatics and those who were raised on reruns. This September will even mark the show's 50th anniversary. When asked if he stays in touch with any of the surviving cast members, Kaplan says they do.
"I’ve seen Larry frequently over the years and have seen John at reunion events," Kaplan said of Travolta and Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs, who played basketball player Freddie "Boom-Boom" Washington. "I talked to him for the article in Emmy Magazine, and it was like we didn’t miss a beat, we had a great time reminiscing."
He also noted that he stayed good friends with Marcia Strassman, who played his wife Julie on the series, until she passed away from breast cancer in 2014.
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What's Gabe Kaplan Up To These Days?
Kaplan went on to say that he hasn't retired from the standup stage.
"I still do a little stand-up and play a little poker. I’m still pretty good at stand-up but a lot funnier at poker," he joked.
He went on to say that he's also written a movie based on a summer he spent in the White Mountains of New Hampshire when I was 14. The coming-of-age story is called Lucky Feinberg, and Kaplan says he has the financing to start production.
"I wanted to play the juvenile lead but the producer thought it was a bad idea," he laughed.
Related: John Travolta Almost Became a Pilot After This 1985 Movie Disaster
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