Welcome Back, Kotter uses comic relief to cover the tense urban space where the characters perform. After re-watching the first and second episodes, I noticed that the space allotted is quite clustered. In the first episode, Pilot, we see Kotter’s cramped bedroom, kitchen, living and dining room all in less than one floor of the house. The theme song then interrupts and we see multiple shots of a bustling city environment. There is the sign of Brooklyn being the 4th largest city of the world followed by a crowded street. Once the theme song finishes, we are presented with the irregular structure of the school where the hallway twists and turns, and appears almost abnormal in appearance. Though we are less than three minutes into the episode, it is quite clear of the uninviting space which occupies most of the scenes.
To complement the small and narrow spaces presented before us, we are introduced to the solemnness of the unresponsive class, which almost seems like a jail cell. At the beginning there is hardly any life to the students and we are turned away from the classroom by the characters, especially Ebstein, who is “most likely to take a life” (4:40) and whose favorite subject is assault. The awkwardness of Horshack and the principal’s rugged attitude further discourages the viewer in this space.
However, to much avail, we are lured into Kotter’s world by the comedy presented before us. Throughout every moment of tight spaces, we find ourselves laughing and though we do not want to be a part of the space, we cannot resist. At the end of the first episode, the students have a desire to write a paper on whatever they are passionate about and this creates an atmosphere of where we wouldn’t mind being sucked into the urban landscape because the students are showing a positive change.
Basketcase, likewise, does not seem welcoming at all. The spatial arrangement of Kotter’s ‘house’ is still cramped. Additionally, we are resisting the urban space occupied by Kotter because there is much tension presented in two scenes: Kotter versus the class and Kotter versus the principal and coach. In both scenes, Kotter stands alone, but the comedy presented in both situations cuts the tension and does an excellent job in making it seem as if it’s not even there. When Kotter is not able to win the class over regarding the grades of “Boom-Boom,” Barbarino shifts the attention in participating in a comedic talk with Kotter.
Thus, the space does not seem inviting, but this is of no concern to the viewer. We are caught in the moment of the joke and this partially shifts our attention away from the problem at hand because we feel confident that our protagonist Kotter will find some way to deal with it.
