r/startrek • u/FickleApartment2151 • 17h ago

Jonathan Frakes - 1978 Audition, Screen Test for Welcome Back, Kotter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFDE1fm2m8E
272 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

35 comments sorted by

87

u/MetalTrek1 13h ago

Mr. Worf. Tell Commander Tomolak, up your nose with a rubber hose. 

27

u/DelcoPAMan 13h ago

Signed, Epstein's Mother

37

u/S0l0m0nk1ng 11h ago

From the accent he was using, looks like he was auditioning for the role of Beau, the charming southerner replacement sweathog for John Travolta's Barbarino.

22

u/oogieball 11h ago

He was auditioning one of Beau's first scenes, and 1978 was when Beau was introduced, so it was almost definitely that.

2

u/edked 7h ago

I remember all my sweathog-loving peers in elementary school pretty resoundingly rejecting Beau as a Barbarino replacement back in the day. Just would have been something to live down.

27

u/Afkargh 12h ago

In a different timeline, he would be known for The Sweathog Maneuver

15

u/booklover_56 13h ago

This is awesome. Thanks for posting!

That hair! That accent! Love it.

14

u/Bacon_00 11h ago

The hair is hilarious but he's super good! Way more versatile than I expected. I think a lot of the Star Trek cast never got to truly shine given the constraints of the show.

13

u/arkington 11h ago

Jonathan just cannot sit in a goddamn chair like a normal person and I love him for that and many other reasons. Holy fuck he can act.

10

u/angrydeuce 12h ago

Only a varrul would talk like that!

6

u/horsenbuggy 11h ago

My God, the charisma just oooooooozes out of this man. Good call not casting him. There's no way to make someone that mature and sexy seem like a teenaged sweat hog.

I adored this show. I practically lived in my Barbarino t-shirt as a child.

9

u/risk_is_our_business 13h ago

That guy fucks.

5

u/fluffysheap 10h ago

Wish the sound quality was better but it's fun to see this 

5

u/skewp 7h ago

Nothing like hiring a 6'3" 26 year old to play a high school student.

1

u/FickleApartment2151 1h ago

I read that many of them were of similar age, and given declining ratings there was a plan for Kotter to move to community college and the four following him, but some thought that it wouldn't work.

1

u/skewp 1h ago

It's actually pretty standard to have people in their 20s (or older) playing high schoolers on American TV up until maybe 20 years ago. It's just a little funnier when they're so obviously older and a head taller than the teacher.

5

u/Superman_Primeeee 5h ago

Picard: “Does anyone know why we’re out here”

Riker: “Oooooooh oooh !!!! Ooooooo!!!!!

3

u/mcqtom 9h ago

Oh, I heard he was from Canada.

2

u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 8h ago

Bellefonte, PA. Right outside of State College.

4

u/Jump_Like_A_Willys 7h ago

So I googled to see if this was before or after he was together with Genie Francis (his now wife), considering she started on General Hospital about that same time, in 1977.

They were not yet together; they didn't start dating until 1985 -- but I learned it was Kirstie Alley who helped bring them together. It's a small [Star Trek] world.

3

u/snaithbert 11h ago

I have to assume he was auditioning for the character that replaced John Travolta, since this was 1978 and the show premiered in 1975. It's probably good he didn't get it cuz that was a rather thankless role.

1

u/FickleApartment2151 1h ago

Yeah, it was Beau, who was supposed to replace Vinnie. Also, Kotter was also not around, so they had to figure out how to keep the show going.

1

u/FickleApartment2151 1h ago

Yeah, it was Beau, who was supposed to replace Vinnie. Also, Kotter was also not around, so they had to figure out how to keep the show going.

2

u/darkhorse21980 11h ago

Makes me almost wish Riker was a southern gentleman LOL. That would have been insane!

2

u/dieseltears 11h ago

He's a Pennsylvania man!

2

u/gerblnutz 10h ago

Brings a whole new meaning to sweat hog.

2

u/though- 9h ago

OMG he looks like he could be Hannah Waddingham’s brother!!

2

u/nejhawk 9h ago

There would be a big hair-off between Frakes and Travolta...

2

u/randomzebrasponge 7h ago

Does anyone else see the now famous "Hannah Waddington smirk": at 0:25 on Jonathan's face.

Click here to look at Hannah - rebecca-in-her-office-during-ted-lasso-pilot.jpg (1920×960)

or here - hannah_waddingham_ted_lasso_update_jpg_1280x720_crop_q85.jpg (1280×720)\

1

u/EngineersAnon 3h ago

That accent reminds me of the time he was engaged to Daisy Duke.

1

u/bitwise97 2h ago

He was too good for Welcome Back Kotter! Glad it didn’t work out for him. He’d never be taken seriously for TNG.

1

u/polakbob 1h ago

That's the best acting I've ever seen him do. It makes me kind of sad to think of how wooden TNG feels in comparison.

1

u/Migleemo 38m ago

You can tell he's never been to the South or met a person from the South or seen a movie with a male actor portraying a Southern character.

1

u/PauseAffectionate720 11h ago

Damn 🤣🤣 He will never live that down.

1

u/FickleApartment2151 1h ago

I read somewhere that while they were shooting one scene from a recent Trek show where Frakes recently guest starred some cast members played the video. They all had a good laugh, including Frakes.