WELL, so much for Tony Danza’s “Welcome Back, Kotter” moment.
Plans have fallen through for Danza, a Brooklyn native, to shoot an A&E reality show in which he would return to New York to teach high school students — echoing the ’70s sitcom starring Gabe Kaplan and John Travolta.
Instead, Danza is hoping to take the show, “Teach,” to Philadelphia pending approval from that city.
Insiders say there were just too many obstacles to overcome in getting approval to shoot the show in New York.
Danza, the former “Taxi” and “Who’s the Boss?” star, told The Post in May that he would teach 10th grade English in what he called “responsible reality” TV. A&E then announced that Danza, 58, would be “returning to his roots to teach high school students in his native New York.”
Insiders say A&E hadn’t decided on a New York school at that time.
“We explored several school districts in a few cities and it just turned out that Philadelphia offered the best opportunity for Tony,” a network spokesman said.