by Sam Madsen

Created on: June 02, 2009   Last Updated: July 23, 2010

A Fast talking, wise cracking, good looking stud muffin "Vinnie Barbino", also known as John Travolta of the seventies shows "Welcome Back Kotter". This is where it really started to take flight for John Travolta. And the movie industry would never be the same again.

The show ran from September of 1975 to June of 1979, during which it became a household name for funny shows to watch that had a corny sense of humor. The show was originally based off Gage Kaplan's (Mr. Kotter) stand up routine. The show was a great success from the beginning, with our favorite characters such as Vinnie, who was known for his class room antics and catch phrases as "up your gizzard with a rubber lizard". But let's not forget the phrase "I'm so conf-used" as he smashed up his face, with great drama being used for the line.

John Travolta character Vinnie Barbino was the unofficial leader of the "Sweathogs", the group of kids the school thought for sure were no good and nothing but trouble makers. Although Vinnie was a cocky Italian - American, he was probably best remembered as the Sweathog's resident heartthrob. If Vinnie had applied as much effort to his schooling and grades, as he did pursuing the girls in the school, he would have been a strait A student.

But it was far more interesting to watch them in class giving their wise cracking teacher Mr. Kotter a hard time, than it was to actually pay attention, or so we thought as the audience.

Mr. Kotter being a former sweathog himself, he could relate to these guys on their level and instead of trying to bid his time and wait for all of them to fail and drop out of school, he decided to give them the chance he felt they deserve and try to help them all make their way in life, with an education behind them. Everyday on the show, it was a different message about what not to do and how to do it the correct way in life. Sometimes this alone was enough to confuse Vinnie and have him asking what? when? Where?. It was not all about a bunch of guys that didn't want to get an education; it really showed a group of guys that needed a little extra guidance to get them through the year, without getting expelled.

From the long hair and celebrity smile and those eyes that appeared to look through you, these are just some of the reasons that John Travolta became so famous. His character in the show Welcome back Kotter, was John's tipping point in his career. From the one liners he was famous for on the show to the conclusion of the show, when Vinnie became the first in the class to move out on his own and get a job at the hospital as an orderly. We all learned that Mr. Kotter's way of teacher worked out well and he did get through to the sweathogs, regardless if the school thought is possible or not.

At the end of the show in 1979, it wouldn't be long until John Travolta was on to bigger and better things in the world of actors. But it all started with the sexy long hair sweathog, with an Italian flair and a desire to be someone people would look up to.

Learn more about this author, Sam Madsen.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.