That 70s Show appreciation thread

Anybody fans of That 70s Show?
I watched it the entire run and still watch the reruns occassionally.
Any favorite characters?

 

One of the best shows of the past 20 years. Having "been there", I can see meticulous research into the fashions and attitudes of the day. Best of all, they started with good writers, and the characters were well-developed and cast. It did start to come unraveled in the last year or so.

 

They had done everything there was to do. It wasn't terribly authentic, but it was really funny.

 

I like seasons 1, 2 and 5. Consistently played for laughs, even in the serious moments. I only find Kelso annoying (and Fez in the later seasons).

 

Really funny show - underrated by a lot of people, I think. The writing was quite good. The actors had great chemistry, and you can tell that they had a blast on the set. Topher Grace has great comic timing, and the show suffered with his departure in the last season. And I know a lot of people roll their eyes at the mere mention of Ashton Kutcher, but I thought he was hilarious as Kelso. He really brought some crazy energy/charisma to that role. My favorite episode is probably the one where they "dine and dash."

 

Red is hilarious! A high school friend had a dad that acted like and resembled red. He was just as gruff and blunt as Red and often used the phrase my "foot in your A$$". We used to love to get him wound up about something.

 

Donna..

 

Great show, and also having "been there", somehow they did capture the vibe.

 

I thought they missed an opportunity to keep the show alive by changing the name to "That 80s Show", bringing in all the 80s stereotypes, and having the main characters head off to college in Madison.

I suspect the stars got too big for the show, though - kinda like Welcome Back Kotter trying to hold on to John Travolta.

 

I didn't like it when Donna went blond. Lost that hawt factor.

Darryl

 

I love this show. I recently saw about 2/3 of the entire series, watching with an old friend who hadn't seen ANY of it. We'd get on line at the same time and watch via Youtube (almost all the episodes are there, if you've not discovered that).

Moving the location and staying with it would have been great IF the core of 6 kids/young adults had remained. How's this for an alternate universe:

Eric comes home and he and Donna are headed to Madison, but decide at the last minute to go to Chicago to college. Red has the money now to pay for Eric's college (and he got a partial credit for staying in Africa for six months). Kelso is already there. Fez and Jackie come to Chicago for her to chase her dream of TV stardom again, and Hyde sells Grooves to move down with the gang and open a store there.

Red and Kitty move to minor roles awhile, but Kitty decides her house isn't the same without the gaggle of kids there, and before long, she and Red also make the move. Bob decides a bait shop on Lake Michigan makes a lot of sense, as he wouldn't have to work year-round.

All that would have meant the stars wanted to keep going, and as was pointed out, the script writer could have adjusted to not having the built-in tension of parent-child(ren) conflict. The basement as the focal point would have been replaced by something--backroom at Hyde's, maybe--and the opportunity to develop some new supporting characters would have presented a challenge. Maybe a new woman for Bob, perhaps a girlfriend for Kelso and Hyde, Eric and Donna's friends from college, etc.

Yeah, I've thought about this too much--but it was a long boring road trip one day...

JcS

 

Must have been after I stopped watching.

 

The Brit version got took off the air after two episodes I think. We just didnt want to be reminded of the UK in the 70's. Not a great place.

I mentioned this the other day, the show lost all credibility in the first episode when the son was able to borrow his dads car to go to a gig. That would never have happend. After the house the car was the next most precious item and most familys only had the one if they were lucky. TVs and phones in bedrooms didnt happen either.

Oddly it was re-written by the guys that write Peep Show. Now that works.

The original US version was fun to watch, what I saw of it.

 

One of a hand full of sitcoms I actually have enjoyed in recent years. Favorite characters? Pretty much all of them - this cast had a great ensemble chemistry that don't come along too often. I even thought the last season without Eric Forman was pretty decent. Some favorite quotes from the show:

"Get bent, man" (Hyde)

"Eric, what the hell?!" (Donna Pinciatti)

"Good day!" "I said 'Good day!!" (Fez, "the foreign kid")

and, of course, "...my foot up your ***!" (Red Forman)



btw, it was good to see Mila Kunis in a major role in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". In addition, Tommy Chong as Leo was always a hoot to see on this show. And the couple of episodes with Tim Reid (WKRP) as the record store owner were pretty hilarious, also, the classic rock song inserts in the series did a lot to maintain the 70's feel.

 

Great show IMO.

It captures the real deal of being a teenager in the 70's quite well.

 

Kitty Forman: Why don't they put record players in cars?

Darryl

 

There actually was a THAT 80'S SHOW, but I remember not liking the 1 or 2 episodes I watched. According to wiki, it had many of the same writers and crew. It aired for 13 episodes in 2002. It didn't have anything to do with the characters on THAT 70'S SHOW (which I loved, especially earlier seasons).

 

I watched every show faithfully until the 'Eric skips out on the wedding' episode, and never went back. Jackie's hair was just like the pics I saw of my wife's best friend cica 1972-74. She was a hot lil Tamale herself, always dressed yummy, never knew tight bell bottoms and platform heels could still do it for me..............

 

Mila Kunis is a babe.

 

How you spend your time is up to you, of course, but the "skip-out" occurred at the end of the 6th season. There were some nice shows in the 7th year. As for the 8th, it was like a weak Beatle album to fans of that group--good, but a bit maddening because it wasn't better.

Virtually all of the shows are on YouTube these days.

JcS

 

No argument here.

Still prefer Donna as a redhead.


Darryl

 

DAYS LIKE THESE, I think it was called. I saw, via YouTube or something like that, the episode where Grandma died and Eric's birthday party. The direct rip off of the original script was hilarious, but in a bad way.

JcS

 

Captured what it was like to be a teen very well, and was well written and acted too. I couldn't believe they even depicted the kids getting high, which was a big part of growing up in that time!

Evan

 

I always thought the show was 'missing something', but couldn't put my finger on it. The funniest parts were the stoned scenes of them sitting around the table with the camera-in-the-round. Very realistic.

And Eric's tramp-sister was hot.