that '70s show

That '70s Show is a Fox Network television sitcom centered around the lives of a group of teenagers living in the fictional suburb of Point Place, near Green Bay, Wisconsin, during the late 1970s. It debuted on August 23, 1998. Although the show has been on for six years, the timeline has been noticeably slowed. When the show first began in 1998, the show was set in 1976, and in the past six seasons, only three years have gone by.

About the show

The first working title for the Fox Network series was called Teenage Wasteland, before being changed to That '70s Show. The show was remade by the British ITV network as Days Like These using almost verbatim scripts with minor changes to cultural references. The show failed to attract an audience and was removed from the schedules after 10 of the 13 episodes had been broadcast. The remaining three episodes were shown in a later run of repeats. However, That '70s Show is one of the longest continuous running sitcoms for Fox in the US. The show follows the life of Eric Forman (Topher Grace), and his five teenaged friends; Donna Pinciotti, who is also his girlfriend, Steven Hyde, a dissillusioned hard-rocking stoner, Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), the unintelligent narcissitic lady's man, Jackie Burkhart, a highschool cheerleader who is self-involved and extremely concerned with wealth and status, and Fez (Wilmer Valderama), the nicknamed foreigner whose country of origin is ambiguous, whose real name is unknown to all but him, and whose hormones are out of control. Other main characters include Laurie Forman, the promiscuous older sister who can do no wrong in the eyes of Red Forman, Eric's overbearing veteran father, obsessed with making "...him a man, which he's not." (Red Forman: episode 421: Prank Day) and his overprotective emotional mother, who is caught up in trying to be a fulltime mom and housewife, while maintaining a job as a nurse in a local hospital. The show also follows the relationship of Bob and Midge Pinciotti, Donna's Mom and Dad, both of whom are slow witted and easily influenced by the movements and fads of the 70's, which sometimes places stress on their marriage. The show has gained recognition for providing a bold retrospective to a decade full of political events and technological milestones that have dramatically shaped the world today. The show manages to use humor in tackling all significant characteristics of 1970's America, dealing with major political movements such as feminism, new attitudes towards sexuality, economic hardships of recession, a developing lack of trust from blue collar workers in American government, as well as the use of marijuana among teenagers and impact of new technology on entertainment, from the TV remote or "the clicker" to "pong," a simplified ping pong video game. The theme song, "In the Street," by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star, is performed by the band Cheap Trick. Its lyrics are as follows:

Hanging out, down the street

The same old thing we did last week

Not a thing to do, but talk to you

We're all alright! We're all alright!

The line "Hello Wisconsin!" following the opening theme song was said by Danny Masterson ("Steven Hyde") during season one and Robin Zander (the lead singer of Cheap Trick) during the following seasons. The final part ("We're All Alright!") is from the Cheap Trick song "Surrender". Starting from the fifth season of the series, all the episode titles have a '70s song reference in them (Led Zeppelin songs in Season Five, The Who in Season Six, Rolling Stones in Season Seven.)

Characters

Complete credited cast

Topher Grace as Eric Forman (1998-2005)
Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart
Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso (1998-2005)
Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde
Laura Prepon as Donna Pinciotti
Wilmer Valderrama as Fez
Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman
Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman
Tanya Roberts as Midge Pinciotti (1998-2001)
Don Stark as Bob Pinciotti
Lisa Robin Kelly as Laurie Forman (1998-2001, 2002-2003)
Tommy Chong as Leo (1999-2002, 2005-)

Note: Starting with the 2004-2005 season, Laurie Forman was played by Christina Moore as a recurring character.

Missing characters

Donna has a younger sister, Tina, who appears in one episode. Valerie is an elder sister of Donna's who is also mentioned. Neither are ever seen or mentioned again. This phenomenon is often referred to as Chuck Cunningham syndrome. Donna's mom leaves her family but returns at a later time.