"Just what the world needs, a nerd dating a red head, a guy that gets high a lot,a dumb "good looking guy", a rich bitch,a over-welmed mother, a angery dad, and a horny foreign kid."
That '70s Show is an American television sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin from May 17, 1976 to December 31, 1979. It debuted on the FOX TV network on August 23, 1998 and ran for eight consecutive seasons, concluding with the 200th and final 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.
Currently, the show remains syndicated around the world, including four channels in the United States (FX, ABC Family, The N, and on local channels
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; Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis), a self-involved high school cheerleader overly preoccupied with wealth and social status; and Fez (an acronym that stands for Foreign Exchange Student), played by Wilmer Valderrama, from a country that is never identified (but is presumably somewhere in Latin America).
Relationships among the teens are explored, the primary focus being between Eric and Donna, who are the responsible ones, as evidenced in episodes such as "Dine and Dash." 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 overbearing father, Red (Kurtwood Smith), veteran of World War II and the Korean War, his nice, yet overbearing 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, the aging hippie owner of the Fotohut.
Eric Forman and Michael Kelso were written out of the series after the seventh season, as actors 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). Kelso 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. Eric Forman 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, but both she and Meyers had their roles minimalized following a negative response from the fans over the season's new characters. Both Eric and Kelso returned for the series' final episode. The location of the show's introduction was also changed from Eric's 1969 Vista Cruiser to the "Circle."
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