by Austen Terry, Contributing Writer
During my middle and high school days, one of my favorite TV shows was That ’70s Show. I loved it so much so that at one point I had all eight seasons on DVDs. Since I owned all the seasons (this was before streaming), I rewatched the show a few times. When several of my other favorite shows growing up started getting revivals, reboots, or spinoffs I became hopeful that one day we would get one for this show. Well the wait is finally over, because Netflix finally dropped the long-awaited sequel series, That ’90s Show, which not only brings back a lot of the original cast, but a whole host of new characters as well. This leaves only one question to be answered: is this series another hit like That ’70s Show, or is it a dud like the forgotten original followup series, That ‘80s Show?
That ’90s Show follows Leia Forman (Callie Haverda), daughter of Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna Forman (Laura Prepon), who comes to Point Place Wisconsin to spend the summer with her grandparents, Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp). Similar to Eric and his gang, Leia finds her own group of friends in her neighbor Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide), Gwen’s half brother Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan), Nate’s girlfriend Nikki (Sam Morelos), Ozzie (Reyn Doi), and Jay Kelso (Mace Coronel). Returning for That ’90s Show, we also have Michael (Ashton Kutcher) and Jackie Kelso (Mila Kunis), Fez (Wilmer Valderrama), and lovable stoner Leo (Tommy Chong). Leia only has the summer to spend with her new friends as she comes into her own as a teenager, and she must navigate similar circumstances that her parents went through before her.
There are many things that work with this new series, but they are almost outweighed by the bad causing, which causes its rating to fall to the middle of the road. Firstly, when I say similar circumstances, I am not exaggerating, because it seems like either the writers picked their favorite episodes from ‘70s to throw in a unique 90s spin, or just picked episodes to mimic at random. This could be understandable for one or two episodes, but from someone who has watched That ’70s Show through at least five times, it wasn’t hard to notice that more than half the episodes of That ’90s Show have plot points very similar, or even the exact same, beats as That ’70s Show. I won’t spoil it by painstakingly pointing them out, but while repeating these storylines sometimes works, they mostly fall flat, leaving me just wanting to go watch the original series again. This also leads me to my next gripe about this series, which is a nostalgia overload.
Even though I lived through the ‘90s, I was only born in 1992, so I don’t remember much, but the ‘90s nostalgia is either bogged down or virtually non-existent in favor of making room for nostalgia for the original series. There have been plenty of shows that come along with new reboots, sequels, or spinoffs over the years, and That ’90s Show seems to take the cake, and not in a good way. I was able to move past the glaring similarities between the two shows, but one thing that really annoyed me was the applause and cheering track every time one of the legacy characters cameos. Let me explain: Every time Eric, Donna, Kelso, Jackie, Fez, or Leo enter a scene, they play an obnoxious cheering track that is seemingly just to say, “Look! Do you see they are here? See? It’s them!” It gets old because it is every time, not just the first time they are seen.
Another thing that doesn’t flow as well is the dynamic of the group. Don’t get me wrong: Leia’s friend group is great, all the actors work well together, and they seem like lifelong friends. But it seems the writers are just trying to make these new characters fit into the mold of the old characters, instead of just having new characters. Leia’s a perfect blend of both her parents. You can 100% thank Haverda for how she plays the goofball Eric really well, while still pulling off the stern Donna. She is who their kid would turn out to be. If you were on the internet, you will see the praise Coronel has gotten for basically looking like he is Kelso’s son. He and Kutcher look eerily similar, and he does a fantastic job at playing who Kelso’s son would be. The only other character to truly stand out is Ozzie, and Doi does a fantastic job here as well. He is really learning how to be himself, especially in the ’90s era they are in.
Even though I seem to have harped on the negatives of the series, I still found myself enjoying the show. The set designers put in the work, seemingly painstakingly recreating the sets from the original series with some updates; I felt like I was back in the Foreman house. Having seen That ’70s Show so much, it was like another home to me, and coming in for That ’90s Show, I immediately felt like I was home again. When they step into the basement for the first time, it is almost like returning to the days when Eric’s gang hung out down there.
Having Red and Kitty back is also a treat. They go from being like parents to now grandparents. Smith and Rupp will always be these characters to me no matter who else they play in their careers. They also work so well that the teenagers; just having more of them would bring happiness to my streaming. All the actors really flow well together and have great chemistry, which even caused me to want to come back to the show again. I hope we can get a second season. The show really feels like a newer show, because it is about Leia and her new friends making their way in this world. Most of the now-parents in Eric’s friends only make cameos, so you aren’t really bogged down with their lives as the show wasn’t about them.
Another positive is the opening, which keeps the original song, but with a more ‘90s-era sitcom feel. The song “In the Street,” which was covered by Cheap Trick for the original series, was great and honestly made me a Cheap Trick fan today. For That ’90s Show, writer Gregg Mettler worked with his daughter and guitarist James Iha from Smashing Pumpkins to cover a new version of the song Gone are the days where the cast sings the theme in the old Vista Cruiser; the intro now features Leia going around the house in a music video-esque nature that remind me of Malcolm in the Middle‘s opening. Music is a great positive here, too, as many shows and movies recently have brought classic ‘70s, ‘80s, and now ‘90s rock to a whole new audience. Some of the artists I happened to notice while watching are Alanis Morissette, Salt-N-Pepa, Boyz II Men, and Foghat, all of whom really capture that ‘90s feel.
Before I wrap up, I feel like I must address the elephant in the room: The show not worse off for having Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson, who was left off this sequel series due to criminal charges), one of the main group from the original series, absent. Even though he was my favorite character from the original, I am glad he wasn’t brought back, and he was not missed. Having Chong come back as Leo perfectly fills the only role Hyde could’ve had if he was here.
That ’90s Show definitely left me in the middle ground, but it makes me hope we can get another season — it should actually stick to the years it is supposed to be set in. The acting is great, and the studio did a fantastic job of capturing the feel of the original series and bringing it into the ‘90s. If you were a fan of the original, I believe you can and will get something out of this new series, which makes it fall into the recommended category.
But I should warn you: We are upstairs people now.
Score: 6/10
That ‘90s Show is currently streaming on Netflix
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