A number of folks have written to inform me that a complete DVD set of Welcome Back, Kotter, a show I once worked on, is coming out in August. One wrote they were going to buy it in order to put some money in my pocket. I appreciate the sentiment and if you want to own a complete DVD set of Welcome Back, Kotter, don't let me stop you. In fact, here's an Amazon link to pre-order. But sending bucks my way, though a laudable goal, is a very bad reason in this case.
Years ago when home video was just starting to segue from taping your favorite shows off the air to the purchasing of pre-recorded cassettes, the Hollywood unions made a series of very bad deals to cover our share of those revenues. Actually, the Writers Guild made a very good deal when most folks didn't guess where the market was headed and then in '85, the producers made it a strike issue that we had to give that deal back and take a much worse deal. A group of "visionary" members within our guild, some of whom I suspect were bribed to do so, led a movement to fold and accede to the producers' demands. They managed to somehow convince a lot of their fellow members that —
- There was no money to be made in videocassettes (this was before DVDs), especially in releasing TV shows that way. No one would ever pay for episodes of M*A*S*H or Star Trek or any television series and there wasn't any cash there and not that much in tapes of motion pictures. Ergo, it was foolish for us to turn down the offer and go on a prolonged strike for, essentially, nothing.
- There was so much money to be made in videocassettes that the studios wouldn't hesitate to crush us rather than cut us in. They'd keep us out on strike for years if they had to and we'd all lose our homes and our pets would starve and eventually we would too and the Guild would collapse and we'd better take their offer and save ourselves.
Now obviously, those two views are mutually exclusive. If one is true, the other is not. But somehow, the "no strike" faction of our guild managed to convince some members of one, others of the other, and a lot of writers of both. If this seems impossible to you, you're obviously not familiar with the Writers Guild of the eighties. It's a much saner organization these days.
So even if I'd worked on all 95 episodes — which I did not — and if this DVD set sold hundreds of thousand of copies — which it will not — I wouldn't see a lot of dough. And I'll let you in on a secret: If you buy the set and watch all 95 episodes, you'll see a lot more of them than I ever did.
I hope none of this sounds bitter. I think my guild did a very, very stupid thing…though they had a lot of assistance from other Hollywood labor organizations. But I only bring it up every now and then in the spirit of remembering the past so we don't make the same screw-ups in the future. I'm not mad about it…and though I couldn't wait for my job on Kotter to be over, I still look back on it fondly. It was an exciting, positive experience even if it wasn't exactly what I wanted to do with my life. Between now and the time the DVD set comes out, I'll try and write a few posts here about that chapter of my silly career.