‘That 70’s show’ spinoff disappoints
That 90’s show fails to live up to its predecessor, That 70’s Show. PHOTO CREDIT: Rotten Tomatoes
A staple to growing up in the early 2000’s was the core memory of leaving the TV on and waking up in the middle of the night to Nickelodeon showing reruns of shows from the 90’s.
My favorite quickly became “That 70’s Show” which blossomed my love for a well done time period piece, and my teenage obsession for classic rock. In the 2010’s, I remember hearing rumors of the cast of “That 70’s Show” preparing for a spin-off for a show called “That 90’s Show.”
At the time, 14-year-old me would have been all over that. However, nearly 10 years later, after having this childhood dream fulfilled, I was disappointed to say the least.
As with any spin-off series, the best part of the new show is the return of original characters or references to original series.
In case you missed it, let me fill you in. The show began in Point Place, Wisconsin, on the fourth of July weekend in 1995. Eric and Donna come to visit Red and Kitty with their daughter, Leia. Eric and Donna encourage their daughter to go make memories as they did when they lived there. Leia then stumbles upon the girl-next-door, Gwen. Leia and Gwen quickly become best friends. The gang forms from Leia and Gwen, Gwen’s brother Nate, his girlfriend Nikki, Kelso and Jackie’s son, Jay and their queer, Asian friend Ozzie.
Ultimately, Leia convinces her parents to let her stay with Red and Kitty for the summer so she doesn’t have to leave behind her new friends. The new gang also visits places from the original show, like the water tower and the hub. They get into similar schemes like stealing a keg of beer but not having a tap, finding a hidden stash of weed and facing teen romance issues.
While all of this seems like a recipe for a successful show, there is something lackluster about the spin-off. I think the show has potential, and I definitely enjoyed it more than other spin-offs, but trying to recreate the magic of a show is always a difficult task.
Here’s why I think the show failed:
Lack of original characters. Besides Red and Kitty, the spin-off did little to focus on the main characters from the original series.
Spin-offs are supposed to be about different characters, however, I would have enjoyed seeing more of the gang all together. This may be because of some unresolved issues between some members. Ultimately, I think it’s hard to have actors come back to series because they don’t want to be stuck on that character.
Besides wanting to see more original characters, I felt like it was harder to feel like I was submerged into the time period. When I used to watch “That 70’s Show” with my dad, he would comment on how authentic it felt. The experiences, the costumes, the music all contributed to having a sunny feeling of nostalgia. Although I felt lost in the time, I do want to acknowledge some good attention to details in the set design. The furniture set that used to occupy the living room is now in the basement. You can pick up on some other small details in the kitchen from table wear and painted cabinets.
However, I think even with more original characters and better costume design, it still wouldn’t help what I think ultimately made the show hard to watch.
Ultimately, what I think did a disservice to this series is Netflix’s set up of the 10 episode season isn’t enough for substantial character development in this style of show.
Over the first few episodes, I noticed that there was little to no character development from the new cast; and while typically that could be normal for this type of 30-minute sitcom, by the time characters started facing some turmoil, the season was almost over.
For the way these shows used to be set up, a longer season allowed the audience to get to know the characters better in a less rushed format.
I hope that if this series continues in a second season, they bump up episode lengths to 45 minutes or expand to a few more episodes.
I think this series could hold great potential, but could be executed better.