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08 December 2024

ReView: That '90s Show

11/30/2024 06:20:19 PM

Photo credits: Netflix

Nearly two decades since its conclusion, That '70s Show have left as one of the iconic sitcoms in the 2000s – just except for its last seasonal run. From 1998 to 2006, the Fox-based show depicted teenage life of Americans in one iconic period between 17 May 1976 to 31 December 1979 

Fast-forward to January 2023 – and story-wise speaking, to July 4, 1995; the elder Formans (Red and Kitty) still lives in Point Pace, Wisconsin, with the house have a slight redo (almost none, unless you really want to nitpick those details), a visiting granddaughter from Chicago, and a sudden circle of friends which perhaps serve like a deja vu for the elder Forman couple. 

Then, more than a year later on the production following labor disputes on Hollywood – the summer thereafter, storyline-wise – the Forman grandfamily reunites again, although it's noticeably the father's missing as Donna was the only parent who managed to swing by from Chicago to Point Place to see Leia and her misadventures as a teenager in the final decade of the 20th century and the millennium. This includes the sudden revelation that put friendships and relationships on crossfires and a life-changing decision that eventually gonna left hanging – and it's because Netflix canceled That '90s Show after two seasons-slash-three parts (with the second season split in two parts).

As always, the Kitty-and-Red tandem delivered and carried the show despite not being the totally focal point of the show. Should it be a bad thing? Nope, not at all, because the series are depicting teenage life in the 90s, and it should be done that the elder Forman couple would serve as guardians of sorts for these kids.

Although, I must say, Red's character really has taken a whole lot of turn. Sure, he was predominantly less tempered during the first season of That '70s Show, too, but it was a different time back then, which obviously means that Red isn't that of an open-minded person. It helped that with the “coming of age”, so does the slowly opening up on the gay-related stories like the 'coming out' of Ozzie.

I think the amount of exposure between the stories among age generations and all the main characters as a whole remains balanced – somehow, formulaic compared to either its predecessor and the entirety of the traditional live studio-audience shot sitcoms. They also managed to put the cameos to its bare minimum, which is respectable to give way to the new generation of stories and people involved. Way to control the 'old time's sake,' huh? Of course, the iconic 360-degree camera panning sequence is still there. You know that isn't a legendary Carsey Werner produced series if that style and scenes does not exist, huh?

With just 26 episodes in total (10 for Season 1 and 16 for Season 2) seems short yet adequate; considering That '70s Show averages 25 episodes per season – quite a drag to binge-watch nowadays.

However, there are some drawbacks that has put this show on notice, like the over-sexualization among the main characters. As if teenage life solely draws on peer pressure involving sex, love and romantic relationships, huh? It somehow overshadowed any elements that do exist over time such as the emergence of hip-hop and punk rock music genres, internet, counterculture, and other news items (they subtly injected a reference to the crime committed by the Menendez brothers somewhere), to name a few.

Plus, not to mention, while Danny Masterson is out for obvious reasons, wouldn't it be nice to let's say have some update about his character as well as those details that remained missing since the last two seasons of That '70s Show? You probably don't want to nitpick on how the old two cars (including Eric's Vista Cruiser) were present and absent like an irregular college student, don't you? Hey, at least, they made Fenton and Bob retained their looks like Red and Kitty. There's also Miller who still remains a simp for Donna.

That 90s Show is obviously a feel-good sitcom for all the nostalgia lovers. Too bad, while they did tremendously good on production, the writings didn't have a better pay-off. Maybe this was a 'fan service' spin-off show went wrong – but at least way better than Joey of FRIENDS.

The Verdict: 7.6/10

Author: slickmaster | © 2023, 2024 The SlickMaster's Files

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