“THAT ’90s SHOW” DOESN’T HAVE THE SAME FEEL AS ITS PREDECESSOR

Back in 1998 a show hit the airwaves that hit home for those that were born or grew up in the 1970s. “That ’70s Show” watched as a group of friends growing up in Wisconsin navigated their teenage years filled with school, dating, and what ever other shenanigans they could find themselves in. It hearkened back to a slightly simpler time when the Vietnam War was freshly ended and all those hippies from the 60s were working now and raising families. The show was a bit edgy as well as the kids in the show weren’t exactly perfect and would sit in the basement and smoke a bit of the “Devil’s Lettuce”. Even though we never saw them do it there were heavy indications of smoke in the air, the camera rotating from person to person where they would say something goofy while trying to be prolific, or would just smile or laugh uncontrollably. Topher Grace (Eric), Laura Prepon (Donna), Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde), Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso), Mila Kunis (Jackie), and Wilmer Valderrama (Fez) were all perfectly cast and carried their characters so perfectly that they became icons in the same vein as “Happy Days” or any Friday night sitcom on ABC. Eric’s Parent Red and Kitty played by Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp brought us a mom with an infectious laugh and somewhat oblivious to the kids’ transgressions and a dad that would put “his foot in your ass”. They were easily lovable characters and were skilled comedians and their stories all fit together even though at times they really shouldn’t have. Since we are a society that pines for “the good ol’ days” it was only inevitable that someone would want to revisit the show’s characters and see where they are 20 years later. That brings us to the 90s and a new generation of basement dwellers that have familiar names.

“That ’90s Show” tries to capture the magic from the show it was born from. It focuses on Leia (Callie Haverda) who is Eric and Donna’s daughter and her summer spent living with her grandparents, Red and Kitty. She is a bit of an awkward teen, like her dad used to be that befriends the neighbor girl, Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide) who introduces her to her group of friends, Nate (Maxwell Acee Donvan), Nikki (Sam Morelos), Ozzie (Reyn Doi) and Leia’s love interest Jay (Mace Coronel). Luckily they didn’t make them all mirror images of the former cast other than Leia being a direct descendant along with Jay who is Kelso and Jackie’s son carrying around the player image his father had in high school, but he has the smarts of his mother. While nostalgia is great sometimes shows can try too hard to try to hit the mark. While the 70s version had actors with smooth deliveries and great chemistry, mostly due to them being 20 year olds playing high schoolers the 90s version has age appropriate kids who seem a bit stiff. In fact, I had trouble not thinking I was watching a Disney Channel version of the show trying to keep the laugh track amused. The acting isn’t bad, but it does seem forced. This generation of kids isn’t much better as they find Eric’s “stash” in the basement and take part in the same pot induced deep thinking as the former crew. They’re still a group of high school kids in the 90s summertime so they are still going outside to play and there are still no cell phones in sight. There are only 10 episodes with a couple of great ones with “Rave” being my favorite because of the dialogue that you can’t hear when they get busted at a rave in Milwaukee. The kids themselves are all good actors, but you just feel like maybe a tamed down version on Nickelodeon was what they were really going for here. It has some edgy moments and Kitty and Red get a bit frisky (as Howard and Marion Cunningham would have put it) and get busted by their neighbor Sherri (Andrea Anders). By the way, Anders nails her Wisconsin accent and is great comedic relief in the show that delivers some great lines. All the original cast make appearances at one point or another except for Masterson who got in legal trouble and Eric’s sister, Laurie or former Foreman neighbor, Midge as Lisa Robin Kelly and Tanya Roberts have both passed away.

I really wanted to like this show more than I do. While it does have some good scenes and they hit the lines and scenarios you want to have a touchstone back to the original show “90s” at times tries to hard to be funny. It’s almost like it’s screaming, “LIKE ME! I’M FUNNY TOO!” While the child actors are good in their roles and the 90s topics are on point they don’t have the fluidity that the original cast had. Sometimes they seem like copies of the original cast, but they give them different individual characteristics. I’m not saying to avoid this show because it will produce some laughs, but don’t think you’re going to have new pop culture gems to quote like the original show. In fact, you’ll still be quoting the old ones. I’m not sure if 90s kids will find this show nostalgic enough to give them feelings either as one thing that they don’t focus on is that in the 90s kids were playing more video games than ever before and reality TV was starting to take over the airwaves. So sit and and enjoy your memories of “That ’70s Show” and maybe find some new memories, but don’t expect to be blown away. Also, pickle weasel is still a funny word.