That '70s Show

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That '70s Show
That '70s Show logo
Format	Sitcom
Created by	Mark Brazill Bonnie Turner Terry Turner
Starring	Topher Grace (1998–2005, 2006) Mila Kunis Ashton Kutcher (1998–2005, 2006) Danny Masterson Laura Prepon Wilmer Valderrama Debra Jo Rupp Kurtwood Smith Tanya Roberts (1998–2001) Don Stark Lisa Robin Kelly (1998–2003) Tommy Chong (1999–2002, 2005–2006) Josh Meyers (2005–2006)
Opening theme	"In the Street" performed by Cheap Trick & Ben Vaughn, written by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	8
No. of episodes	200 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Caryn Mandabach
Location(s)	Point Place, Wisconsin
Running time	approx. 22 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	Fox
Picture format	NTSC (480i)
Audio format	Stereo
Original run	August 23, 1998 (1998-08-23) – May 18, 2006 (2006-05-18)
External links
Official website

That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centered on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976 to January 1, 1980. It debuted on the FOX television network on August 23, 1998 and ran for eight consecutive seasons, concluding with the 200th episode airing on May 18, 2006. That '70s Show was a launching pad for the film careers of some of its stars, who were mostly unknown at the time they were cast.

The show's main cast was Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, and Wilmer Valderrama. During the eighth and final season, Josh Meyers was added to the cast after Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher's departure from the series.

As of June 2009, the series is syndicated worldwide.

History

That '70s Show was created by the writing-producing team of Bonnie and Terry Turner and writer Mark Brazill.^[1] The primary working title for the series was Teenage Wasteland, inspired by the lyrics of the 1971 The Who song Baba O'Riley; other names considered were The Kids Are Alright (also by the Who), Feelin' All Right (by Traffic), and Reeling in the Years (by Steely Dan),^[2] all of which are lines from popular songs of the period.

The series was commissioned by the Fox Network, and the first season premiered on August 23, 1998, with an initial order of 22 episodes (extended to 25 on January 12, 1999).^[3] The series did well, rating highly among several target demographics, including adults aged 18–49, as well as teenage viewers.^[3] In February 1999, Fox ordered a second season, and as ratings rose the following September, the network opted to renew the series for two more seasons, bringing the total to four.^[3] Continuing success saw changing time slots (Sundays to Mondays to Tuesdays to Wednesdays to Thursdays), as well as four additional seasons.

Characters

Set in Point Place, Wisconsin, That '70s Show depicts the lives of 7 teenagers: Eric Forman (Topher Grace), the show's main protagonist, a skinny teenager who loves Star Wars and G.I.Joe ; Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), his girlfriend and next-door neighbor; Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson), Eric's best friend and a rebellious recreational drug user who eventually moved in with the Formans after his mother abandoned him; Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), a dim-witted ladies' man, commonly called Kelso; Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis), a self-involved high school cheerleader overly preoccupied with wealth and social status; and Fez (Wilmer Valderrama), a foreign exchange student from a country that is never identified; During the show's final season, Randy Pearson (Josh Meyers) becomes Donna's new love interest after Eric goes off to Africa. He is a handsome young man who works with Hyde.

Relationships among the teens are explored, the primary focus being between Eric and Donna. Their relationship sharply contrasts with the on-again, off-again relationship between Kelso and Jackie, who were usually portrayed as mutually obsessed despite their arguments and denials of love to spite one another. In both relationships, the couples have harsh disagreements, but come to terms with their differences. Jackie subsequently moved on to Hyde and later Fez as the series progressed.

Other main characters include Eric's aggressive, overbearing yet humorous and well-intentioned father, Red (Kurtwood Smith), a World War II and Korean War veteran, his kind-hearted, considerate yet pushy mother Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), who is struggling to be a caring mom and housewife while working as a nurse in a local hospital, and his older sister Laurie (Lisa Robin Kelly, 1998–2003 and Christina Moore, 2003–2004), whose promiscuity is the butt of many jokes by the teenagers but does not deter Kelso from making moves on her. The show also depicts the relationship of Midge and Bob Pinciotti (Tanya Roberts and Don Stark), Donna's dim-witted parents, both of whom are easily influenced by the 1970s movements and fads, which places occasional stress on their marriage. Tommy Chong appeared as a frequently recurring character, Leo Chingkwake, the dimwitted aging hippie owner of the Fotohut who frequently gives marijuana to the kids.

Cast

Elements of the show

The Seventies

The show gained recognition during its first season for providing a bold retrospective of a decade full of political events and technological milestones that have dramatically shaped today's world. The show tackled significant social issues of the times, such as feminism and progressive sexual attitudes and the reaction of the Greatest Generation to their burgeoning influence; the economic hardships of recession; mistrust in the American government among blue-collar workers; teenage drug use; and developments in entertainment technology, from the television remote ("the clicker") to the video game Pong, and probably the most frequently noted Star Wars.

Beginning with the second season of the show, the series' theme changed dramatically, and 1970s current events no longer had a significant bearing on the plot of the series. Successive seasons focused less and less on the socio-political aspects of the story, to the point that the decade simply became a backdrop against which the storylines unfolded. The dynamic of the relationship between Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti, which was the focal point of the series through most of its run, was dramatically altered in later seasons to more closely resemble the relationships of other "power couples" on teen dramas, removing the emphasis on their awkward attempts to reconcile their conservative upbringings with their desire to have a "progressive" relationship founded on 1970s values. Likewise, the first season of the show featured a recurring, non-comedic storyline in which the Forman family was in constant danger of losing their home due to Red's hours being cut back at the auto parts plant where he worked. Recurring storylines in later seasons, even when they carried dramatic elements, were always presented as comedic.

The show also notably featured actors from '70s TV shows, such as Tanya Roberts (Charlie's Angels), Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati) and Tommy Chong (Cheech and Chong).

Split Screens

An example of the show's use of split screen.

One common scene in the show is to depict a split screen in which two groups of two characters speak. One character is usually seeking advice on some sort of problem with someone in the second pairing, and the other character advises them. The humor in such scenes stems from the conversations usually mirroring each other, but coming to entirely different conclusions. It is most often used for the couples of the show, which each member of the couple being advised on their relationship in a different fashion. For example in one such scene, Donna and Eric consult Jackie and Kelso for advice on attending a drive-in; as the scene closes, Kelso offers to accompany them and is rejected by Eric, while Donna asks Jackie to accompany them and she agrees.

Dream sequences

Signature elements of That '70s Show include surreal, sometimes elaborate, dream sequences to depict various characters' vivid imaginations or dreams, some of which include references to or parodies of fads and films of the time, such as Star Wars, Rocky, and Grease.

In early dream sequences, the characters who were dreamt of were talking with voices of those who were imagining the scene. In That '70s Pilot, for instance, as the boys imagine the party scene, the partying adults speak with their voices. This was soon phased out.

Sometimes, those who imagine scenes are heard narrating them, but even if they don't, the other characters perceive them (which means those who imagine tell them what they are dreaming about while the audience gets to see the scene). In the episode "Stone Cold Crazy," as a parody Jackie mentioned she liked the song which was playing in Fez's dream sequence. Such scenes are usually introduced by the wabbling screen transition. Sometimes, the transition is absent when the characters imagining the scene believe those scenes are real (for example, Eric's dream about Donna in "Eric's Birthday" or Jackie's dream about Hyde proposing in "It's All Over Now").

In the 100th episode "That '70s Musical", all singing scenes were Fez's dream sequences.

The Circle

The Circle was used primarily to illustrate the teens' marijuana use, usually in Eric Forman's basement. The scene shown is the final scene of the series (Note Donna's blonde hair, Hyde's mustache, and Kelso's short hair.)

Another signature element is The Circle scene, in which a group of characters sitting in a circle engage in a conversation in Eric's basement room, as the camera slowly spun around in a circular direction, stopping at each successive individual as he or she speaks. It was primarily used as a means for conveying to the audience that characters were under the influence of pot. Thick clouds of theatrical smoke and an extreme wide-angle lens added to the "drug-induced" feel of these sequences.

To prevent any issues with standards and practices, the producers avoided any visual appearance of marijuana, matches, water pipes, or any similar substances. Characters never spoke the word "marijuana" or any slang term for it unless it carried negative connotations. However, in the episode "Bye-Bye Basement," Theo (Leo's cousin) refers to it as "weed." In another episode, Red explains "That kid's on dope!" about Eric while learning about the side effects of it. Positive references to marijuana always used vague, broad terms such as "stuff" or "stash."

However, a creative problem arose from attempting to demonstrate that the characters were under the influence of drugs without blatantly depicting its effects. The characters' erratic behavior during "Circle" scenes, combined with the rapid spinning of the camera and the presence of great quantities of smoke and incense in the background, allowed the inclusion of recreational drug use in the show without the need to constantly address it. One of their occasionally-used gimmicks was Eric watching the kitchen wall moving around erratically, performed as a mechanical special effect live on the set, this also would sometimes show that he was drunk. As the series progressed, the circle became one of the series' defining features, and it was quickly adopted by the shows' writers as a narrative technique to streamline the flow of dialog even in non-drug influenced scenes.

The Stupid Helmet

Another common feature of the show is the "stupid helmet". The stupid helmet is an old Green Bay Packer helmet that a character is forced to wear when he or she does something that is deemed stupid by the rest of the gang. This helmet is most commonly worn by Kelso, however he isn't the only one to have worn it. Eric had to wear it when he told the gang he wanted to propose to Donna, and Fez wore it when he started banging his head on the table after he helped Kelso keep Jackie. The helmet can be seen in the basement on a shelf behind the main cast. When the series concluded in 2006, Kelso took the helmet with him. This is due to the fact that the last one up the staircase had to call Red a "dumbass", something he always calls the kids. Since Kelso was the last one he grabbed the helmet as protection.^{[citation needed]}

The Water Tower

In many episodes the main characters are often hanging out on the water tower; at the end of several water tower segments at least one of the main characters falls off (usually Kelso). When Charlie fell off in season 8, he died. The water tower was renamed in his honor.

Scene Changes

The scene changes were used for almost every scene transition. They featured the main characters doing something in front of a colorful background. These sometimes included the mirror image of the character doing the exact same thing. Transitions included:

• The gang dancing
• A shot from below of Red suspiciously looking at the camera (sometimes with Kitty or Eric on screen)
• A shot from below of Donna walking/dancing
• A shot from above of Eric jumping
• A shot from above of Donna jumping
• Various characters jumping as if on a trampoline
• Red yelling at the camera while Kitty dances
• Kelso looking confused with people around him
• Eric falling to the ground (usually when in trouble)
• Hyde, Fez, and Kelso on swings
• Jackie dancing and blowing kisses while Kelso rubs his chin
• A shot from below of Red suspiciously looking at the camera while Eric is seemingly doing push-ups

Scene changes in the first season were typically still images of faces with only the mouth moving (a la Conan O'Brien's "Fake Celebrity Interviews") using Syncro-Vox, usually yelling in a rock form, "Yeahhh!" or similar.

Often, in early seasons, the scene changes included no people what so ever. They were usually black backgrounds with something colourful (such as a ball, balloon, flowers and things like that) doing strange things, like exploding, replicating, deflating or bouncing around and so on. Sometimes they would be visuals of lava or lava lamps with the That 70s Show logo plummeting to the bottom of the screen in front of it.

Running Gags

• Jackie making jokes about Donna's tall stature and Donna making jokes about Jackie's small stature.
• Red calling Eric a dumbass (other characters sometimes use the term dumbass).
• Red calling Fez various foreign names like The Foreign Kid, Hadji, Sabu, Ali Baba, etc.
• Red talking about sticking his foot up people's asses.
• Fez making candy metaphors in reference to the female cast.
• When Kelso fights Hyde he always injures his eye.

Timeline

The creators had wanted the show to have a 1970s "feel" from the beginning, and so opted to set the series later in the decade, when trends and political ideologies had become firmly established and disseminated. The idea that the duration of the series would carry socio-political undertones also necessitated a chain of social events which could influence the characters, Thus, 1976 was chosen, which allowed episodes set within a short time frame to address streaking, the Equal Rights Amendment, the 1973 Oil Crisis, and Richard Nixon's presidency, all of which were culturally influencing events that occurred over the span of several years earlier in the decade. The shift to 1977 during the last half of the first season also allowed the inclusion of a Star Wars episode as a ratings tactic in episode #22, as its premier airing roughly coincided with the box office debut of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Throughout the show, every episode opened with title cards stating the season/month and year (example: Late Spring, 1977 or June, 1977). These, however, were eventually abandoned after seasons 1 and 2, with few episodes after using them. From the premiere onward, the year in which the episode took place could be determined by the registration tags on Eric's Vista Cruiser at the end of the opening credits and the end of the closing credits. The final episode's closing credits showed an "80" year tag.

The show was set in May 1976 upon its August 23, 1998 premiere. After twelve episodes, the series transitioned to 1977. The 23rd episode, "Grandma's Dead," was also set in 1976, because it was supposed to be the season finale of Season 1. The show remained in 1977 for the next two seasons. Near the end of the third season, the series transitioned to 1978 until early in the sixth season. The remaining episodes took place in 1979, and the series finale abruptly ends during a New Year's Eve party as the characters reach "one" during a countdown to January 1, 1980.

The show's unexpected longevity (it was the only series to debut on Fox in 1998 to survive cancellation) combined with the first season jump to 1977 necessitated a slow-down of the series' time line, which over time proved problematic from a narrative standpoint: Nearly every year featured a Thanksgiving and/or Christmas episode, and the teenaged actors playing high-school student characters all aged into their mid-twenties by the time their characters graduated high school after five seasons (except Mila Kunis who wasn't even 20). As the series time line sped up and slowed down with more rapidity near the series' climax, the time line necessitated that several major events depicted as having occurred months apart would have in fact happened within weeks or even days of one another.

8th Season and Series Finale

Eric Forman was written out of the series after the seventh season, as Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher were to star in movies to be filmed during the eighth season. (Grace in Spider-Man 3 and Kutcher in The Guardian). However, Kutcher's character hadn't been written out yet so to give closure to Kelso, Kutcher appears in the first four episodes of the eighth season (with Kutcher credited as a special guest star) before moving to Chicago. Longtime character Leo returned with a more prominent role to help fill the gap. Jackie and Hyde became the show's new central characters focusing on their relationships and jobs (Jackie with Fez and Hyde with Samantha). Eric was originally supposed to be replaced by his new friend Charlie, played by Bret Harrison, but the character was killed off after the actor was offered a lead role for the show Reaper. A new character named Randy Pearson, played by Josh Meyers, was introduced to take Eric Forman's place. Another new character, Samantha, played by Judy Tylor, was added to the cast as Hyde's wife for nine episodes. Both Eric and Kelso returned for the series' final episode. However, Eric's role was uncredited. The location of the show's introduction was also changed from Eric's 1969 Vista Cruiser to the "Circle."

The eighth season was announced to be the final season of the show on January 17, 2006,^[4] and the final episode was filmed a month later, on February 17, 2006.^[5] "That '70s Finale" originally aired on May 18, 2006. The Show is currently syndicated on FX, ABC Family, The CW and The N.

Remakes

British remake

In 1999, the show was remade by the British ITV network as Days Like These using almost verbatim scripts with minor changes to cultural references. The show failed to attract an audience and was removed from the schedules after 10 of the 13 episodes were broadcast. The remaining three episodes were shown in later reruns.

Chilean remake

In early 2009, the channel Chilevision broadcast a remake of the show by Ross Film named Mis Años Grosos (My Great Years). The show initially did not receive high ratings and before filming of the second season, the main actor died in an accident, and there has been no subsequent news about the continuation of the show.

International broadcasts of US version

Country	Channel	Notes	Foreign Title
Canada	VRAK.TV	In French	70
Canada	Fox, Global TV, CH	As the US television station FOX is available in Canada, Canadians were able to watch the series for its entire run on that network. In addition, seasons 1-7 aired on Global TV, while season 8 aired on Global-owned CH. It also aired on latenight on Global in markets where CH isn't available.
Canada	TVtropolis
UK	Trouble
UK	Paramount Comedy
UK	Virgin 1
UK	Virgin 1
Mtv R
UK	MTV One
UK	Bravo 2
UK	VH1
UK	Channel 5
Ireland	RTÉ Two
Ireland	Channel 6
Ireland	Comedy Central
Ireland	MTV
Spain	Paramount Comedy, Antena.neox and Localia		Aquellos Maravillosos 70 (Those Wonderful 70s)
Asia	Star World	First started airing in 2000, every Monday nights from 8:00-8:30pm for a few months, then are replaced by other shows in the same block in while later seasons are acquired.	That 70's Show
Philippines	Associated Broadcasting Company, Jack TV	Although ABC 5 (now TV5) aired Season 1 in 2002 (not in order), Jack TV took the lead and started airing all eight seasons in 2006.
Poland	Polsat		Różowe lata siedemdziesiąte(Pink '70s years)
Netherlands	Comedy Central		That 70's show
Denmark	TV2 Zulu		Dengang i 70'erne
Norway	TV2 NRK2		That 70's Show
Romania	Naţional TV		www.rebelii.70
Australia	Seven Network	First Run
Mexico	Sony Entertainment Television, Canal 5		El show de los '70
Mexico	The N		That '70s show
Australia	111 Hits	7:30 Weeknights, 12:30p.m.-2:00p.m. Weekend afternoons, 7:30-8:30p.m. Sunday nights.
Middle East	MBC4, dubai channel ONE , SHOWtime comedy channel	subtitled to Arabic, aired several times in the region
Latin America	Sony Entertainment Television
Brazil	Rede 21	Until 2006
Brazil	Rede Bandeirantes
Republic of Macedonia	Sitel
Estonia	ETV		Kuumad seitsmekümnendad (The Hot '70s)
Finland	Nelonen		70's Show
New Zealand	TV 2	Now airing on rival station TV3 & the BOX (see below)
New Zealand	TV3
New Zealand	the BOX
Belgium	2BE
France	France 2
France	Comédie!
France	NRJ12
Germany	Kabel 1, RTL	Last two seasons didn't air until August 2008.	Die wilden Siebziger (Those Wild '70s)
Sweden	TV4		That 70's Show
Serbia	B92		Vesele sedamdesete
Slovenia	Kanal A	All seasons aired.	Oh, ta sedemdeseta (Oh, that 70s)
Slovakia	Markíza	Aired first four seasons dubbed in Slovak.	Tie roky 70
Montenegro	Atlas TV
Croatia	Nova TV		Lude sedamdesete (Crazy 70s)
Bulgaria	GTV	Premiered in 2008. Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4 dubbed in Bulgarian.	Шеметни години (Dizzy Years)
Turkey	TV8, ComedySmart
Colombia	Canal Capital
Israel	HOT3, STAR World, Bip		מופע שנות ה-70 (The '70s Show)
Portugal	TVI		Que loucura de família (What a crazy family)
Bosnia and Herzegovina	OBN		Lude 70 (Crazy 70)
Venezuela	Televen
Thailand	True Series Star World		That '70s Show
Pakistan	Star World		That '70s Show
South Africa	M-net		That '70s Show
India	Star World		That '70s Show

Theme song

The show usually opens with the theme song, "In the Street," by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star. It was initially sung by Todd Griffin, but beginning with the second season, the song was performed by the band Cheap Trick, whose version is referred to as "That '70s Song (In the Street)." In a Rolling Stone magazine article in 2000, Chilton thought it was ironic that he is paid $70 in royalties each time the show is aired. ^[6]

According to the official That '70s Show website, during the first season, at the end of the opening song, Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde) yells "Hello Wisconsin!" Robin Zander (lead singer for Cheap Trick) takes over this job in all other seasons.^[2] The lyrics were also slightly different during the first season, with instead of "We're all alright!" being shouted twice, "Whooa yeah!" is heard.

Alternate holiday versions of the theme song were arranged for Halloween, Christmas and musical specials, using organ music and bells, respectively.

Opening Credits

From Seasons 1-7, the opening credits showed the cast driving in Eric's car singing the theme song together. After Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher left the series, the new opening credits for Season 8 showed a close up shot of the actors singing a line of the theme song in The Circle. (Example: Mila Kunis- "Hanging Out...", Danny Masterson- "Down the Street."). The only actors to not say or do anything in the new opening credits were Kurtwood Smith and Tommy Chong with the exception of the first episode of season 8 when Chong sings the last "We're all alright". Notably, new cast member Josh Meyers is not in those credits probably due to the fact that Randy Pearson wasn't introduced yet. Smith looks at the camera frowning and rolls his eyes. Chong looks around the room, confused starting with the second episode of the season.

Soundtracks

Several prominent songs from the decade can be heard on the series, and two soundtracks were released in 1999. The first is a collection of funk, soul and disco. The second is a collection of Album-oriented rock songs.

• That '70s Album (Jammin')
• That '70s Album (Rockin')

U.S. ratings

DVD releases

Production team

• Mark Brazill - Creator/Executive producer
• Bonnie and Terry Turner - Creator/Executive producer
• Marcy Carsey - Executive producer (Carsey-Werner Productions)
• Jackie Filgo - Executive producer
• Jeff Filgo - Executive producer
• Caryn Mandabach - Executive producer
• Tom Werner - Executive producer (Carsey-Werner Productions)
• Ben Vaughn - Composer
• Jeff Sudakin - Co-composer (season 2-4)
• David Trainer - Director
• Timothy Ryder - Editor

See also

• List of That '70s Show episodes
• List of recurring characters of That '70s Show
• Point Place
• Days Like These
• That '80s Show
• That '70s Finale

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: That '70s Show

• Official website
• That '70s Show at the Internet Movie Database
• That '70s Show at TV.com
• The That '70s Show Wiki