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''That '70s Show'' is an American Television Sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of Teenager s living in Point Place , Wisconsin , a fictional suburb of Green Bay from May 17 , 1976 to December 31 , 1979 . It debuted on August 23 , 1998 and its final episode aired May 18 , 2006 . ''That '70s Show'' proved to be a launching pad for the film careers of its young stars, unknowns at the time they were hired. The show remains in Syndication on FX and various Broadcast Television stations in the United States and United Kingdom, CH in Canada, as well as the Seven Network and FOX8 in Australia. It will begin airing on ABC Family and The N in 2008.1 SERIES OVERVIEW History ''That '70s Show'' is the brainchild of '' 3rd Rock From The Sun '' creators Bonnie And Terry Turner and writer Mark Brazill . The working title for the series was ''Teenage Wasteland'', before being changed to ''That '70s Show''. Other names considered were ''The Kids Are Alright'', ''Feelin' All Right'', and ''Reeling in the Years''. The series was commissioned by the Fox Network , and the first season premiered on Sunday, August 23 , 1998 , with an initial order of 22 episodes (extended to 25 on January 12 , 1999 ).2 The series did well, rating highly among several target demographics, including adults aged 18-49, as well as teen viewers. In February 1999, FOX ordered a second season, and as ratings rose the following September, the network opted to renew the series for two more seasons, bringing the total to four. Continuing success saw changing timeslots (Sundays to Mondays to Tuesdays to Wednesdays to Thursdays), as well as four additional seasons. The eighth season was announced to be the final season of the show on January 17 , 2006 , 3 and the final episode was filmed a month later, on February 17 , 2006 .4 " That '70s Finale " originally aired on May 18 , 2006 . Characters Set in , Jacqueline Burkhart ( Mila Kunis ), a self-involved high school cheerleader overly preoccupied with wealth and status, and Fez ( Wilmer Valderrama ), the nicknamed immigrant from an ambiguous country of origin and whose hormones are raging out of control. The latter character's name is known to have originated as a loose acronym for Foreign '''E'''xchange '''S'''tudent . Relationships among the teens are explored, the primary focus being between Eric and Donna, who are the responsible ones, as evidenced in episodes such as " Dine And Dash ". Their relationship sharply contrasts with the on-again, off-again relationship between Kelso and Jackie, who were usually portrayed as mutually obsessed despite their arguments and denials of love to spite one another. In both relationships, the couples would have harsh disagreements, but would come to terms with their differences. Jackie eventually moved on to Hyde and later Fez as the series progessed. Other main characters include Red Forman ( Kurtwood Smith ), Eric's overbearing war Veteran father, Eric's overprotective Menopausal mother Kitty ( Debra Jo Rupp ), who is struggling to be a fulltime mom and Housewife while maintaining a job as a Nurse in a local Hospital , and Laurie Forman ( Lisa Robin Kelly , 1998-2003 and Christina Moore , 2003-2004), Eric's older sister, whose Promiscuity is the brunt of many jokes by the teenagers but does not deter Kelso from making moves on her. The show also depicts the relationship of Midge And Bob Pinciotti ( Tanya Roberts and Don Stark ), Donna's dimwitted parents, both of whom are easily influenced by the 1970s movements and fads, which places occasional stress on their marriage. Tommy Chong appeared as a frequently recurring character, Leo , the aging Hippie owner of the Foto Hut. Eighth season changes Eric Forman and Michael Kelso were written out of the series after the seventh season, as actors Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher were to star in movies to be filmed during that season (Grace in '' Spider-Man 3 '' and Kutcher in '' The Guardian ''). Longtime characters such as Leo returned with more prominent roles to help fill the gap. A new character named Randy Pearson , played by Josh Meyers , was introduced to take Eric Forman's place. Another new character, Sam, played by Judy Tylor , was added to the cast as Hyde's wife. Kelso appears in the first four episodes of the eighth season (with Kutcher credited as a special guest star) before moving to Chicago ; both he and Eric returned for the series final episode. The location of the show's introduction was also changed from Eric's Vista Cruiser to the "Circle". CAST
ELEMENTS OF THE SHOW .]] The show gained recognition for providing a bold retrospective of a decade full of Political events and Technological milestones that have dramatically shaped today's world. The show tackled significant social phenomena of the times, such as Feminism , progressive Sexual attitudes (although in some episodes more traditional values would carry the day, such as when Red ended his friendship with a fellow veteran when he was unknowingly invited to a Key Party ), the economic hardships of Recession , mistrust in the American Government among Blue-collar Worker s, political figures such as Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter , teenage Drug Use , and developments in entertainment technology, from the television Remote ("the clicker") to the videogame '' Pong ''. Signature elements of ''That '70s Show'' include surreal, sometimes elaborate, dream sequences to depict various characters' vivid imaginations, some of which include references to or parodies of fads and films of the time, such as '''', '' Rocky '', and '' Grease '', and the 360-degree scenes, also known as "The Circle" (seen below). The "Circle" is used to illustrate the teens' Marijuana use typically occurring in Eric's basement. All of these segments combine nonsensical dialogue with Deadpan Humor . Of note, no actual smoking is depicted in these scenes, as smoke is only visible in the background and foreground. Other stylistic elements include the use of Split Screen s, which tends to involve two characters talking to each other about a given topic, as two other people with foil viewpoints speak. The viewpoints are disturbingly similar yet contradictory in key ways for optimal comic effect. The series is something of a homage to the hit 1970s series '' Happy Days '', which itself looked back twenty years to the Wisconsin of the 1950s. TIMELINE use, usually in Eric Forman's basement.]]
The year is determined in the last scene of the opening credits, which reveals a close-up of a Wisconsin license plate that reads the names of the creators and the sticker with the two-digit year — in this case, either "76", "77", "78" or "79" and, in the final episode, "80".The year stickers for Wisconsin plates are issued for the upcoming twelve months (e.g., a sticker for "80" would be issued in 1979). The plate also appears at the end as the production logo for Carsey-Werner , also showing the year. BRITISH REMAKE In 1999, 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 were broadcast. The remaining three episodes were shown in later reruns. After the failure of the UK remake, rival commercial terrestrial Five started broadcasting the original show in primetime before moving it to a post 11pm timeslot. The American version of the show is currently shown on Trouble , Paramount Comedy , and Bravo 2 in the UK and Ireland, and RTÉ Two , Channel 6 in Ireland, Paramount Comedy in Spain , Star World in Asia , Fox in Latin America, Jack TV in the Philippines , Comedy Central in the Netherlands , TV2 Zulu in Denmark , TV 2 (Norway) in Norway , Channel 7 in Australia , MBC4 in the Middle East, Sony Entertainment Television in Brazil, Sitel in the Republic Of Macedonia and Eesti Televisioon in Estonia . THEME SONG The show usually opens with the theme song, "In the Street", by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star . It was initially sung by Todd Griffin , but beginning with the second season, the song was performed by the band Cheap Trick , whose version is referred to as "That '70s Song (In the Street)". The Lyrics are as follows:
According to the official ''That '70s Show'' website , Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde) yells "Hello Wisconsin!" during the first season and Rick Nielsen (lead guitarist/songwriter for Cheap Trick) in all other seasons.5 The lyrics were also slightly different during the first season, with instead of "We're all alright!" being shouted twice, "Whooa yeah!" is heard. The first season's theme was also in the key of G, whereas in subsequent seasons it was lowered to the key of D. Alternate holiday versions of the theme song were arranged for Halloween, Christmas and musical specials, using organ music and bells, respectively. SOUNDTRACKS Several prominent songs from the decade can be heard on the series, and two soundtracks were released in 1999. The first is a collection of Funk , Soul and Disco . The second is a collection of AOR songs. NIELSEN RATINGS 2001-2002 Season: #67 2003-2004 Season: #49 2004-2005 Season: #85 2005-2006 Season: #103 DVD RELEASES
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