Shark Bytes

Three words: Hyde's real father.

Jumped within the course of a few seasons, due to the 70's kitsch factor having been either entirely exhausted, or simply abandoned outright by the writers for whatever reason. The first few seasons were filled with references to Gerald Ford, streaking, swinging, roller disco, rock legends of the era, awesome vans, not-so-subtle marijuana usage, even the economic woes of the day. Those references combined with the stupid haircuts (which quickly made the leap from being hideously dated and wince-inducing to being embraced by modern youth culture as "retro cool", sadly) and the general decor and atmosphere of the Foreman household are what set the show apart and defined it as a "70's Show". After a few seasons, a large majority of the kitsch-y fun was stripped away, and we were left with just another typical sitcom filled with vapid, pretty kids and their increasingly unbelievable hijinx.

Also, why was the "Fez" character never developed? He started out as the oblivious Foreign Exchange Student everyone knew in high school, culture shocked yet affable (and really horny), and pretty much remained that way for the duration of the show. And hey...where were the Wisconsin accents?? Bob's catch-all Chicago accent was close, but not quite there.

I didn't keep track of seasons; I just know it jumped when they started pulling the "Niles and Daphne" game with trying to stretch out the "inevitable couple" gimmick-- Eric's going to Africa was Fonzie on waterski's. And as others wrote, they pulled every major shark-jump after that; I wanted to kill Randy every episode, while "Casey Kelso" was also a major pain in the a$$. Unfortunately, the last season in any series is the one that loses money, so the 70's was a great decade for movies-- but just like the 80's that followed, "That 70's Show" went the way of all sequels, i.e. they started out milking a cash-cow and ended up beating a dead horse until even Alpo wouldn't touch it.

when randy showed up.

I agree, Harneet! the first 4 seasons were great. The fifth was OK. Once the "kids" grew up, that was the end to me. When Eric left, that's when I stopped watching. I wathced the last episode and said godbye to a once GREAT TV show. Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher are from what I heard two of the most uncouth arrogant jerks around. Previous posts will attest to that. It's sad to see just how "success" can go to a person's head. Sometimes I wathc the season 1 reruns, which are now 10 years old.

Omg, the worst was Randy -- every scene he was in sucked like a day old lollipop. Without Eric, the show just collapsed and the eight season was like sitting around a dying man's bed, waiting for him to conk off so you'd see the end

This was one of the best shows since 2000, but as soon as Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher left it just became a series where the only enjoyable parts were Hyde-Fez exchanges and Donna being hot. Randy also had one of the biggest hands in Damning the show, his character was terrible, and poorly acted.

Randy is the worst thing to happen to That 70s Show. Every word that comes out of his mouth is so unfunny it drains the funny out of all the other characters. Whenever there's a Randy episode on TV, I can't watch it because I just want to punch him in his gumpy goofy face.

after they dona and eric came back from California. they shold have ended the show with eric and donna together on the beach in Cali.

Did someone say 'That 80's Show'? Yep, that was that for me.

what does 'exit stage left' or 'exit stage right' mean?

see, for me, everything started going downhill when donna dyed her hair. not that the actual coloring process was a bad plot move, (though i do prefer Laura Prepon as a redhead) but after that wedding was called off, the whole of season 7 had this kind of forced air about it. we all know season 8 was terrible (as topher was the heart and soul- not to mention best actor- of the show) but season 7 was monotonous, repetitive, while at the same time, it was like the writers were coming up with something new. i hated angie, the record store, the police academy, eric's laziness, the muffler shop, everything. to many changes in one season...maybe they were trying to prepare us for what was to come? the worst part, though, was the acting. with the possible exception of Kelso, everyone seemed so bleak and stuck in a rut, Prepon's ordinarily dead-pan deliveries became even less believable, i no longer believed in Hyde's animosity, Fez was sooo over the top, and you could tell Topher didn't care about Eric anymore. He was just riding it out. i think the entire cast knew the best days were behind them and knew they were losing a key member and so the motivation to truly act just left the stage...
on the matter of the series finale, while i always knew donna and eric would end up together (i mean, donna and randy?? come on...) i'm like many others who hated the idea of fez and jackie. hyde was just too perfect for her. yet, i do think the countdown and license plate (FINALLY!!) was superb.
Still...i watch on FX every day and still think seasons 1-6 were spectacular (season 2 in particular.)

Up until eric left the show was pretty flawless but it just didnt work without the center of the show. From the start eric was the character that tied the story togethar and with him gone it lacked something... and then kelso left wich really made it obvious the show was over

I loved the show from beginning till when jackie and hyde broke up...because of the difference in the personalities that made it enjoyable, jackie and kelso was the same so it didn't work...jackie and fez was just a 'what the heck not' kinda ending and it sucked. i was really dissappointed to see that, i really thought they would have put hyde and jackie together in the end and as for donna and eric...well it ended ok in that story line, we didn't really need to see a wedding to know they would be together. i think kelso was awesome from beginning to end, i love ashton!
Overall, funny as hell show but ridiculous ending...rewrite please!!!

This show jumped big time when Tanya Roberts' character (Midge) left.