There Goes Number 5

Loved the show back when it first came out. Well, most of the episodes with Travolta as Vinnie. The show was different, funny, and us schoolkids could relate to the situations.

This brings me to There Goes Number 5. They may have well called it There Goes Horshack. Back then a lot of us didn't know that they were trying to give Horshack his own series. He was quite popular on Kotter, but I liked the Sweathogs as a group, not a solo act. Horshack worked very well amongst his peers and teacher in the school setting.

With the previous episode it became obvious that they were trying to make Arnold act more dramatic. I wasn't buying it. I always thought Horshack should stay within the confines of his character and not go bursting with over the top angst unless it was a joke. Some may call it character development, I call it overkill. Keep what works. And don't break up a perfect set and go with a single. The producers found out soon enough that a Horshack spinoff wouldn't work out. I could obviously see why. It just wasn't funny.

"There Goes Number 5" served as the second half of a one hour broadcast, a failed pilot for a spin off featuring the Horshack family, marking the debut performance of Ellen Travolta, John's eldest sister, as Arnold's mother, Mrs. Dingfelder Horshack O'Hara (two return appearances). Directing for the third and final time (and acting for the only time) was executive producer James Komack, Arnold's two sisters played by Elyssa Davalos and Andrea McArdle, his brother played by Dean M. Solomon, Susan Lawrence as pretty neighbor Goldie. With his latest father now deceased, Arnold decides he needs to get a job through his Uncle Harry (Komack), while his mother works on finding hubby number six. Pretty rough sledding with Arnold's proboscis challenged by No Nose Bloomberg (Fred Karger). Ellen Travolta's two other appearances were in "The Deprogramming of Arnold Horshack" and "Frog Day Afternoon."