Welcome back to your favorite basement.
"Why did you open our house to chaos again? We had it made! All the dumbasses were gone!"
— Red Forman
That '90s Show is an American sitcom and Sequel Series to That '70s Show. It is created by original creators Bonnie and Terry Turner, along with Lindsay Turner and Gregg Mettler. Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith executive produce and reprise their respective roles as Kitty and Red Forman. Original cast members Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Wilmer Valderrama, Don Stark, and Tommy Chong also guest star in their respective roles.
As the title suggests, the show moves forward two decades into The '90s, as Red and Kitty play host to their granddaughter, Leia Forman, for the summer. Along the way, there are new friends, new shenanigans, and new opportunities to get stoned in the basement.
The series premiered on Netflix on January 19, 2023. A second season has been ordered
.
Previews: Trailer 1, Trailer 2.
That '90s Show includes examples of:
- Acoustic License: Played with in "Rave". The dialogue during the rave is so hard to hear over the loud music that subtitles have to be used for the audience to be able to follow along, yet none of the characters appear to have any trouble understanding each other.
- Actor Allusion: To keep Bob from helping with Leia's birthday party, Kitty puts cold medicine in his drink. To her surprise, Bob doesn't pass out until after three such attempts, prompting her to remark, "It was like trying to drug a rhino!" Don Stark voiced The Rhino on Spider-Man: The Animated Series.
- Almost Kiss: In the finale between Nate and Leia following Jay wanting to break things off with Leia because he doesn’t want to commit to a long distance relationship, and Nate starting to doubt there's a future between himself and Nikki. Gwen walking in interrupts them before their lips can touch.
- Anachronism Stew: Like the parent show, this one takes certain liberties with the era it's set in:
- In Leia's Sudden Video-Game Moment, the HUD has a "Menu" button which makes sense for a smartphone game, but has never been a staple of '90s video games.
- The shelves at the video store have movies that, in July 1995, were either yet to be released on video, such as Batman Forever and Hackers, or to come out at all, such as The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Con Air, both from 1997.
- At one point, the terms "rando" and "tramp stamp" are used. That slang didn't exist in 1995, coming into use roughly a decade later.
- Many food items are seen in packaging that did not exist in 1995; most notably, the Forman kitchen has a Pringles can with the 2021 logo.
- Artistic License – Law: Red wouldn't have been able to take Leia to get her learner's permit as she's a resident of a different state. It is remotely possible, however, that she and her parents lived in the far southeastern corner of Wisconsin considered part of the Chicago metro area.note
- Artistic License – Pharmacology: In the pilot, the gang finds an old bag of weed hidden in a board-game box. It’s depicted as being just as potent as when it was first stashed away. In reality, harvested marijuana loses 16% of its aroma and THC content after one year, even if stored correctly. After that it keeps going down, usually having lost just over a quarter of its original potency within two years so after 15 years of storage, that Devil's lettuce would have had as much THC as actual lettuce.
- Awful Wedded Life: Kelso and Jackie to no one's surprise. They've been married and separated twice and when introduced in the show, are going to get married again. She's just as controlling and horrible to Kelso as she was when they were teenagers.
- Bait-and-Switch:
- The first circle in the series is of Donna, Eric, Kitty and Red awkwardly playing cards in a smoke filled kitchen. When Red questions why there is so much smoke, Kitty realizes the popcorn is burning.
- When Ozzie came out to Kitty, revealing that he has a boyfriend in Canada, Kitty doesn't know how to feel about it... because Kitty's friend Sharon married a Canadian man, who left her as a mess.
- Bait-and-Switch Comment: In Sherri's introductory scene, she comes to the Formans' door to ask which one of them yelled at her kids. (Kitty immediately says, "Red, it's for you!") As it turns out, though, Sherri hasn't come to complain... she's come to say thanks, because she's tired of having to do all the yelling at them herself.
- Blackmail: When Leia's attempt at disguising herself as a pregnant woman so she can buy a beer tap fails and she's faced with the police being called, she points out that the owner of the store is screwed regardless since her staff had already given a beer keg to a group of minors earlier in the day. This is enough to convince the owner to just sell the kids the beer tap.
- Borrowed Catchphrase:
- In the first episode, Leia wants to stay in Point Place, against Eric's wishes. When she says she's not going, Eric threatens to put his foot in Leia's ass. Red is overjoyed.
- Jay uses his father's "BURN!!!" after Nikki mocks Nate in the season finale.
- Call-Back:
- Many hallmarks of the original series are reintroduced in the trailer, such as "the circle" where the kids get stoned, the water tower Kelso would fall from, and Red's threats of shoving his foot into people's asses.
- As the page quote by Red implies, his Season 3 "fear" of the grandchildren being as overwhelming as Eric and the gang has been realized.
- The gang finds their first stash of the summer in one of Eric's game boxes. The '70s gang would often use them to hide their stashes.
- The finale sees Fez and Fenton rekindle their feud.
- While discussing Jay's similarities with his father, Red recalls a moment from the original series where Kelso had glued his hand to the Forman's fridge.
- The Cameo: While Red and Kitty are main characters, Fez, Donna and Leo remain in a recurring capacity for the series, Bob appears for Leia's birthday and Eric, Jackie and Kelso appear in the pilot. Though in the season finale Eric, Kelso and Jackie appear in archive footage from That '70s, as Fez remembers previous "Circles".
- Catchphrase Interruptus: It seems like Red is about to cap off a parental pearl of wisdom to Eric with yet another "foot in the ass" line...only for Eric, Donna and Kitty to finish it for him as they saw it coming from a mile away.
- Celebrity Paradox: At one point, Leia mentions Friends, on which Debra Jo Rupp had a recurring role as Phoebe's sister-in-law Alice.
- Chaos Architecture: Unlike the Formans' fathfully recreated house, the Runcks' (formerly Pinciottis') house has a completely different kitchen. And Donna's old room has somehow moved from the second floor to the first, appearing to occupy the space that used to be the Pinciotti's living room.
- To a lesser degree: The former Foreman sofa has morphed into a loveseat in its relocation to the basement.
- Character Catchphrase:
- Red's trademark variations of "foot in ass" make a triumphant return.
- Jay and Nate's exchanges of "Bro!".
- Averted with Fez and his former catchphrase "I said good day" which he no longer uses. He does say it in the ad for his hair salon, but giving it a completely different meaning.
- Childhood Brain Damage: In the season finale Gwen jokes that Nate has been dropped as a baby, prompting Jay to scream "Burn!".
- Cluster F-Bomb: When Leia accidentally grinds on a random man at the rave and immediately realizes said man is Red, coming to bring her home after it was discovered she had lied about where she was going. Due to the loud music in the scene, her cursing isn't discernable without subtitles or lip-reading skills.Leia: Oh fuck, I'm fucking fucked!
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: There's no mention, even in passing, of Donna's mother Midge or Kelso's daughter and Jay's half-sister Betsy. Eric's sister (and Leia's aunt) Laurie gets a nameless passing mention when Red refers to Eric as their second kid, but that's as close as the show gets to acknowledging Laurie's existence. In the case of Midge and Laurie, their actors have passed away so it's probably for the best to not mention them. There is also no mention of Hyde or what he's been up to, likely due to actor Danny Masterson's criminal trial.
- Comically Missing the Point: After watching Nate struggle to bring his open umbrella through the basement door, Nikki tells him to "Just close it". Cue Nate closing the door, leaving the umbrella outside.
- Continuity Nod:
- The old couch and armchair located in the Forman basement in That '70s Show has been replaced at some point in the intervening period between series with… the corresponding pieces of furniture from the Forman’s living room in That '70s Show.
- Not only do Eric and Donna have a conversation sitting on a car like they did in the original show, it ends with them jokingly pushing each other like they did in "That '70s Pilot".
- Fez's ad for his salon ends with his old catchphrase: "I said good day".
- Explaining to Sherri who Fez is, Kitty recalls that he was originally a foreign exchange student who somehow never got exchanged back.
- Red's present for Leia's 15th Birthday is Eric's old Vista Cruiser.
- Jay uses a box for dog treats to hide their stash, mentioning the Formans don't have a dog anymore. They did briefly have a dog named Schatzi in the original show.
- Fez has the exact same response to Red accidentally seeing him naked as he did in That '70s Show: "I don't know what you've heard, but this show ain't free".
- After learning about Leia dating a Kelso, Donna tells Leia how she dated Casey Kelso at one point, clearly none too thrilled about it.
- A Degree in Useless: Eric's job is as an adjunct professor in Chicago teaching a course entitled "The Religion of Star Wars", Red is clearly not impressed.Red: This country is going to lose the next war.
- Dirty Old Woman: Nate and Jay go to pick up a supposedly free hot tub, but the woman giving it away talks the boys into giving it a "test run" with her. The boys don't realize something's not right until the woman's granddaughter arrives and reveals this is a pattern for her.
- Divorce Is Temporary: Jackie and Kelso are about to get remarried for the second time.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: After Nikki and Gwen hang out with a Circle and some glamor shots, their conversation afterward sounds like two friends who had a drunken one-night stand.Gwen: About yesterday...did we...Nikki: Yes. Twice.
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: As she attempts to get her first kiss, Leia literally chases after an uncomfortable Ice Cream parlor worker before complaining that he got away, and later, just walks up and kisses him before he can react. This is played entirely for laughs, and Leia is encouraged to do this by both Gwen and Ozzie.
- Downtime Downgrade: Fez got dumped by Jackie between the two shows, which freed him up for his relationship with Sherri in this show.
- Embarrassing Tattoo: The plot with Gwen wanting to get a tattoo leads to Kitty of all people getting one. It remains visible for the rest of the season.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!:
- When explaining why Leia and her friends should stay out of her and Red's bedroom, Kitty warns that lots of people keep private items in their room, saying her father kept a whip and pair of fuzzy handcuffs in case of burglars only to just suddenly realize their actual purpose.
- While telling Leia who Leo is, Kitty suddenly stops, shocked, realizing what kind of person also fits the description of an "older man who hung out with teenagers". Even after reassuring herself that nobody ever said anything of the sort, she still leaves his yard in a hurry - though in a less dark interpretation of the joke, she may have had a moment of realization that Leo was their pot dealer.
- Expy: Gwen, Nate, Nikki and Ozzie each serve as one to a member of the gang of the 1970s.
- Gwen embraces the riot grrrl culture and is the generally rebellious lancer to Leia, like Hyde was to Eric.
- Nate is the brainless but generally well-meaning nitwit in a relationship with a much smarter and domineering girlfriend, much like how Kelso was with Jackie.
- Nikki is the loud, controlling beauty with successful parents dating a man who hung on her every word, similarly to Jackie was when she was first introduced.
- Ozzie is the camp minority, as both an Asian and gay member of the gang, similarly to how Fez was the Camp Straight Funny Foreigner of his group.
- Flirtatious Smack on the Ass: Jackie gives one to Kelso in the pilot.
- The Friends Who Never Hang: Invoked by Gwen and Nikki in "Step by Step", who later end up having fun together between a "Circle" and Glamour Shots, to their own shock.
- Generation Xerox:
- Eric has become this for both his parents, inheriting Kitty's clinginess and Red's anger at being defied.
- Generally speaking, the whole of the new group is this to the group of the 1970s, but this applies to two specific members of the group:
- Leia is the nerdy and snarky everyman like her father, Eric.
- Jay, despite being Michael's son, is not the Kelso of his group, instead acting as the cool love interest, much like Donna. However, he clearly inherits his father's looks, The Casanova tendencies, and love of a good burn, and whilst he's clearly more intelligent than his father, is still somewhat dim-witted.
- Get Out!: After catching the teens in the bedroom rummaging through his clothes and telling them to leave, Red says this to each one of them as they exit the house, while Kitty acts more cordially.
- Gilligan Cut:
- In the second episode, Leia isn't sure about getting high with the guys.
Leia: I think we should just say... [cut to her in the "Circle"] Whoa!- In the season finale, Ozzie objects to drinking from the keg they got and already tapped in the premiere.
Ozzie: Old, flat, skunky beer? We are not this desperate. [everyone looks at him, then cut to all of them dancing with a cup in hand] - Girlfriend in Canada: The gang does not believe Ozzie when he says he has a boyfriend named Etienne in Canada. As his phone call at the end of the episode reveals, Etienne's friends don't believe Ozzie is real either.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Red and Kitty when interrogating Ozzie in "Rave", after having watched Law & Order. When Kitty gets mad at Leia, Red treats her nicer, then congratulates Kitty on being a great "bad cop".
- Good Parents: Most of the parents we see are at least some degree of decent role models:
- Red and Kitty are loving and supportive grandparents to Leia, as are Donna and Eric (albeit a bit smothering in the latter case). Bob is also very close to Leia and tries to see her whenever possible.
- Sherri, despite being flighty, does her best as a single mother for Gwen and Nate. Averted by their fathers, however, who are very distant (emotionally and physically).
- Despite their own dysfunctions, Jackie and Michael are effective co-parents for Jay, who grew into a well-mannered teenager.
- Happily Married: Red and Kitty are still happily married in the 90s. Eric and Donna have a snarky but stable marriage too. Jackie and Kelso, however...
- Happy Ending Override: At the end of That '70s Show, Jackie was dating Fez. This series reveals that not only did they break-up, but Jackie dumped Fez while they were on vacation to get back together with Kelso.
- Hopeless with Tech: Every time Kitty tries to use the computer, she somehow restarts it.
- Imagine Spot: Not as prevalent as in the original show, but still an occasional part of the formula: a Beverly Hills, 90210-themed one in "The Birthday Girl", a talk show-themed one in "Boyfriend Day One" and a more grounded one in "Dirty Double Booker".
- Impractically Fancy Outfit: As good as they look on him, Fez's tight pants take him a while to put on (or, as he puts it, "wiggle into") and when he needs to pull something out of his pocket, he has no other choice than to stretch his leg and hope for the best.
- The Internet Is for Porn: Kitty catches Red looking at provocative images of Raquel Welch on their new computer. Rather than being mad, Kitty is thrilled that Red is embracing technology, and asks him to find her an image of Kirk Douglas.
- Kinder and Cleaner: Granted, the original series wasn't particularly family unfriendly, but this sequel overall has way fewer adult-oriented jokes (the younger cast probably being part of the reason). More noticeably, the 90s teens are not as mean-spirited and toxic compared to their 70s counterparts - Gwen doesn't go around committing crimes and throwing her friends under the bus like Hyde; Nate and Jay have very little of Kelso's negative qualities other than being somewhat idiotic and in fact, so far, Nate is mostly a Nice Guy while The Casanova Jay is shown to be more respectful towards girls than his father was; Nikki isn't nearly as mean and condescending as Jackie was; and finally, Ozzie isn't as pervy as Fez was.
- Marijuana Is LSD: As in the parent show, the effects of weed are greatly exaggerated for comedy's sake (see Sudden Video-Game Moment below).
- Mood Whiplash: The episode "Summer Storm" ends with the Runck siblings reconciling and Leia and Jay finally kissing. Sitting peacefully in her chair, a happy Leia wishes for the bliss to last forever. And then...Sherri: Kids, your school schedules came. Summer is finally over, all this is gonna end!
- Noodle Incident: Bob apparently has a prosthetic testicle now; it isn't explained how exactly this happened.
- Not Even Bothering with the Accent: Inverted. Sherri is the only character in the history of the franchise who actually sounds like she's from the Midwest.
- Oh, Crap!: Red's reaction when he finds out Jay's last name is Kelso. Donna has a similar reaction when she finds out that the boy her daughter's been swooning over all summer is a Kelso. Though she later admits that the whole family's irresistible. "It's the hair."
- Paranoia Fuel: In-Universe, applied to Kitty. Bill Clinton could be listening to you through your computer right now.
- Parental Substitute : Nate really wants Red to be one, especially since his own father is emotionally and physically distant. Sherri also has a moment with Red when he teaches her to ride a bike.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis Failure: In "Free Leia" Leia claims to know and like the movie Clerks as a way to fit in, even complimenting the looks of Kevin Smith whom she assumes to be the star, but who is actually the writer/director playing a minor rolenote .
- Rearrange the Song: The show uses a Pop Punk cover of Big Star’s "In The Street" as the theme song - the same song that was used as the theme song of That '70s Show.
- Rebuilt Set:
- The Forman home sets have been rebuilt to match the original series, albeit with a 90s makeover.
- Gwen’s bedroom is another example, existing in the original series as Donna’s bedroom.
- The kids wind up at the water tower towards the end of the Pilot.
- The Hub is still the local spot where the kids hang out, albeit having undergone a makeover since the original series.
- Retcon: The inconsistences with the ages of Eric, Leia and Jay might be an attempt to shift the start of the previous show from 1976 to 1974. This could explain away the Comic-Book Time of the original show, which had five Christmas episodes and could possibly mean it ended in New Year's 1979 instead of 1980, giving enough time for Leia and Jay to be born.
- Running Gag: In both the premiere and the finale, Donna is always the one to carry all the luggage for her family, and she always carries it all at once. Neither Leia nor Eric even think about helping her, and nobody around them finds anything wrong with it.
- Sequel Non-Entity: Hyde is not mentioned or referred to even once, most likely due to Hyde's actor being on trial at the time of the show’s production, but it remains unclear as to his current whereabouts in-universe. Kitty doesn't mention Hyde when explaining to Leia who Leo is, despite Leo's original role in the parent series as Hyde's cool boss/father figure/Satellite Character and the gang (as well as the adults) having met Leo through Hyde, and during Fez's flashback/hallucination in the season finale, Hyde is noticeably not included.
- Shout-Out:
- Thanks to Eric's love of the original trilogy, Star Wars receives more than its fair share.
- Leia is named after the female lead of the trilogy.
- Eric directly quotes Yoda's "Do or do not, there is no try" when lecturing his daughter.
- Eric admonishes his daughter by calling her "Leia Tatooine Forman" although Donna's quick to remind him that isn't their daughter's middle name.
- Leo has developed a fondness for MTV's The Real World.
- When Gwen realizes they left Ozzie behind going to the rave, they recreate the "Kevin!" scream from Home Alone.
- When Leia tells Jay they should just be friends, he asks if she means like Ross and Rachel from Friends, before she corrects him that she means like Joey and Chandler.
- While telling Nate the story of how she got thrown out of the country club, Leia compares herself to DJ Jazzy Jeff.
- Thanks to Eric's love of the original trilogy, Star Wars receives more than its fair share.
- Sins of Our Fathers: Red is not at all thrilled that Leia is dating a Kelso because of all of the shenanigans Michael pulled as a teenager. This is despite the facts that Jay is both a much more polite and well-mannered boy than his father was, and the fact that he's also Jackie's son, and Jackie was one of the "dumbasses" that Red actually liked having around. Kitty, Jay, Leia, and Sherri all call him out on it and he eventually lightens up (with some reasonable ground rules).
- So Proud of You: Red's reaction in "That '90s Pilot" when Eric threatens to put his foot in Leia's ass after she storms off following an argument over Leia spending her summer in Point Place. Eric is not exactly happy about it.
- Something We Forgot: When the gang arrives at the rave, Gwen realizes they left Ozzie behind, and he was the one who wanted to go there in the first place.
- Spin-Offspring: A Sequel Series focusing on two kids of the original cast members. There's Leia Foreman, the daughter of Eric and Donna, and Jay Kelso, the son of Kelso and Jackie.
- Sudden Video-Game Moment: When Leia gets high the first time, Red and Kitty appear to her like characters on Donkey Kong Country. Red even scores points for throwing fruit.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- When Nate unwittingly reveals that Jay intends to break-up with Leia, Leia is stunned when all of her friends agree with Jay's logical arguments regarding the practicality of the distance between Point Place and Chicago, and Leia likely not returning until the following summer.
- It’s rather disheartening to learn that in spite of all the fun and misadventures they shared together, the old 70s gang are no longer close and have gone their separate ways in adulthood, having little to no contact with each other. Despite visiting for the weekend, neither Eric or Donna talk about visiting Fez, Michael or Jackie despite the latter having been Donna's best friend. Unfortunately, signs of this were apparent in Season 8 when both Eric and Michael left Point Place, meaning it was only natural that they would continue to drift apart.
- At the very least, Fez is Eric's only friend to have remained in regular contact with Red and Kitty, and he and Donna are still very close when they interact on screen (with Fez even proclaiming Eric to be his best friend), so it's not like the group has entirely fractured.
- It's strongly implied that Michael and Jackie are not on speaking terms with Fez, due to Jackie suddenly dumping him to get back with Michael.
- The Forman family also seem to not be in touch with the Kelsos, given they had no idea that Michael and Jackie reunited let alone have a son together.
- Leo doesn’t come around anymore either. When he encounters Kitty, it's implied that she hasn't seen him in ages. And also, when he meets Leia and Jay, he’s completely in the dark about them being the offspring of old friends.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: The new gang is not much different from the old one:
- Strait-laced and geeky Leia and her rebellious friend Gwen are Distaff Counterparts to Eric and Hyde.
- As Leia's romantic interest, Jay becomes one for Donna.
- The incompatible yet inseparable couple Nate and Nikki are one for Michael and Jackie.
- Ozzie could be seen as both Fez's counterpart and opposite. While Fez was (initially) naive and Camp Straight, Ozzie is smug and openly gay.
- Sherri, Gwen and Nate's mother, is basically the Distaff Counterpart to Bob, who moved down to Florida, as the annoying next door neighbour who perpetually invites themselves into the Forman house. Her behavior and stories of her previous relationships, not to mention hair color, also bring Laurie to mind.
- Take That!:
- The kids all mock the D.A.R.E. program and its anti-drugs message, pointing out the terrible phrasing of their t-shirts can be read as daring people to try drugs.
- As the kids watch Free Willy, Ozzie keeps complaining that it's just E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial with a whale.
- That Nostalgia Show: Much like its parent show, albeit focusing on The '90s rather than the The '70s.
- Truth in Television: Eric and Donna’s group of friends drifting apart over the course of the intervening time between the two series - before cell phones became common place and the rise of social media, people generally didn’t keep in touch with their old friends from school as they grew up and started having families of their own.
- Two-Timer Date: In "Dirty Double Booker", Leia agrees to go with Jay on a picnic out in the woods after already making plans with Gwen to break into a country club. Leia tries to do the picnic first, then go to the club, but she and Jay get lost, and by the time she makes it to the club, Gwen is angry at her for choosing Jay over her.
- Unconventional Electives 101: Eric teaches "The Religion of Star Wars" at an unnamed Chicago-area university as an adjunct professor. The course is so popular that he has a parking space for his bicycle.
- The Un-Reveal: When Kitty tells Sherri where Fez is from, her line is drowned out by a whistling kettle, keeping up the Running Gag from the original series.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Invoked by Jay when he purposely stands shirtless in front of the Formans' garage with his guitar to draw Leia's attention. He's also slathered himself in body oil, which makes it difficult for him to hold on to his guitar or lean against his car.
- What the Hell, Hero?: After learning that Leia has been dating a Kelso, Donna is upset that her mother-in-law didn't mention this before.Donna: (to Kitty) We talk all the time, you didn't think to mention this!
- Writers Cannot Do Math:
- Neither Leia nor Jay should be the ages they are in 1995. Leia should be a few months younger unless she was born premature and Jay is supposed to be older than her despite the fact that his parents got together later than Leia's.
- Eric's age is also inconsistent. In That '70s Show he celebrated his 17th birthday in 1976 (season 1, "Eric's Birthday") and his 18th birthday in 1978 (season 6, "The Magic Bus"), but in "That '90s Pilot" Donna says he is 38. Meaning, his birth year shifted from 1959 to 1960, and then to 1957 (which would make him older than his older sister Laurie, who was born in 1958).
