Aside from checking out the premiere episode way back in 1998, I'd never watched THAT 70s SHOW until I started in on this 4-disc collection of the complete eighth and final season. I got the feeling that I'd missed out on a lot, and indeed those of you who are regular viewers may be disappointed by the absence of the series' main character, Eric Forman (Topher Grace), and the fact that Ashton Kutcher's "Kelso" appears in only four or five episodes. However, as a newbie watching this last season of the show with few preconceptions, I found it to be one of the most entertaining and innovative sitcoms I've seen in recent years.
It only took me an episode or two to get into the swing of things and sort out all the characters and their various relationships. Most of the action takes place in the house of conservative middle-class parents Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith, ROBOCOP) and his wife Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp). Their nebbishy, STAR-WARS-fanatic son Eric, around whom the show revolved until Topher Grace decided to go off and make movies, is now living in Africa, but his friends still hang around in the Formans' basement since Eric's juvenile delinquent pal Hyde (Danny Masterson) lives there.
Even if you weren't around during the 70s, you'll probably find something to identify with in these characters and their situations. Masterson is nicely deadpan as the perpetually-stoned slacker Hyde, who runs a small record store. Wilmer Valderrama plays the delightful Fez, a foreign-exchange student who resembles one of the Czech brothers from SNL although his nationality remains a mystery--probably so that the others can make fun of him without specifically offending anyone. Mila Kunis is the spoiled, conceited Jackie, who thinks she's all that but is actually quite insecure and yearning for love. Eric's former girlfriend, the tomboyish girl-next-door Donna, is played by the adorable Laura Prepon, while Topher Grace-replacement Josh Meyers gamely struggles against a tide of negative fan reaction as Donna's new love interest, the big-haired pretty boy Randy. Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp are hilarious as the hardass war veteran Red and the ditzy, terminally-tipsy Kitty. Rounding out the cast are Donna's goofy disco-swinger dad Bob (Don Stark) and Hyde's old-hippie record store employee Leo, played in his usual brain-dead style by Tommy Chong.
Unlike most sitcoms which have self-contained stories with tidy wrap-ups at the end, THAT 70s SHOW is like a comedy soap opera filled with musical-chairs relationships and stories that continue over several episodes. The pace is attention-deficit quick, with lots of short scenes edited together in "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" style and resembling a more grown-up version of one of those Nickelodeon comedies like "You Can't Do That On Television." Gags fly fast and furious, with the clinkers sailing by so fast that you don't have time to dwell on them before another funny one pops up. Thankfully, the writers manage to keep all the romantic entanglements and other situations wacky and funny without getting overly sappy or sentimental, while still making us care about the characters.
My favorite thing about THAT 70s SHOW is Ashton Kutcher's "Kelso." Kutcher plays this human cartoon character with such reckless, dorky, slapstick abandon that he's a joy to watch. Kutcher appears in the first four or five episodes of the season and then returns for the finale, and as much as I enjoyed the non-Kelso episodes, I gotta get my hands on some of the earlier seasons and see more of this guy. Whether jumping off the roof, plummeting off the water tower where the kids often hang out, or simply flailing through a scene like a hyperactive Great Dane loose in a one-room apartment, Kutcher makes this show sparkle with waves of pure comic wonderfulness whenever he's onscreen.
Another nice thing about this collection is that you never know who's going to show up as a guest star. (Skip this paragraph if you'd rather be surprised.) We get appearances by 70s icons such as Tom Bosley, Don Knotts, Isaac Hayes, and Mary Tyler Moore (still funny but veering dangerously close to Jocelyn Wildenstein territory) along with a great cameo by none other than Bruce Willis as a sleazy, toupee-topped stripclub owner named Vic. And Fez's disco heroes The Village People appear in one of his fantasies in which he gets to join the group as "Chicken Suit Guy." As a Brady Bunch fan, though, my favorite guest-casting stunt was seeing Barry Williams and Christopher Knight as Red and Kitty's new gay neighbors.
Along with the season's 22 episodes, four of which contain commentary tracks by the show's director, David Trainer, this set also includes some bonus features such as cast interviews, a tour of the show's sets by director Trainer, a retrospective of the show through the years, and some TV promos. The final episode in the set, "That 70s Finale", sees the return of not only Ashton Kutcher as Kelso but also a final-scene appearance by Topher Grace as Eric, which, after all the buildup, comes as a bit of a letdown. I guess I need to go back and watch some of the earlier stuff to see what was so great about his character. Anyway, the last season of THAT 70s SHOW may have suffered from his absence in the eyes of fans, but for a newbie like me, it was pure fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment