That 90s show is a sequel to the successful TV show That 70s show. That 70s show was a cult hit with a large cult following so a sequel was just a matter of time.
Episode 1: The Pilot
The first episode of That 90s show has Donna and Eric dropping off their daughter Leia at her grandparent’s house, Red and Kitty. It was supposed to be for a day but it is decided that Leia stays the summer while her parents go back home to Chicago.
As it turns out, Eric Forman is now a professor in Star Wars religion and this explains why his kid is named Leia. His wife Donna is now a published author. You could wonder why Donna would also agree to name her kid Leia. Since she’s the other half who gets to decide. Apparently, Leia’s second name is Anne. Although Eric argues that he never agreed to that and calls her Tatooine.
The cameos were fun to watch and pivotal as it is decided then why Leia is staying with her grandparents: It’s for the summer vacation of July 1995. At least that’s what the videotape says.
The first episode shows Leia as the innocent next-door neighbor who hasn’t seen much of the world. So when she meets her next-door neighbor, Gwen Runck, a whole new world opens for her. Which is also the actual start of the show. We meet Gwen and her dimwitted brother, Nate. Leia takes Gwen and her friends to the iconic basement from the old That 70’s show. Where the only thing left is the old couch Leia’s parents used to hang out on when they were in their teens.
The group of friends consists of Gwen, Nate, Jay Kelso (Yes, of Kelso and Jackie), Nate’s girlfriend Nikki, and Ozzie.
The group goes out for a ride and by accident, they are thrown a keg of beer in their lap. What better way to start your summer vacation? The only problem is that they don’t have a tap. So they visit Mama’s store. But since Mama knows all of them except Leia, she is the one who goes in and pretends to be pregnant by using a pillow under her dress. Of course, the scheme fails when Leia shoves aside her ‘pregnant belly’ to grab her money to pay.
The kids manage to get away with it even after Mama tries to call the cops. Leia argues that she was perfectly willing to sell it to a minor and shuts Mama down. After their visit to Mama, the kids go to the water tower to get drunk. They get busted and that’s when Eric Forman, Leia’s father, just explodes. Eric has trouble watching Leia grow up, even after Donna tells him that she is and that he needs to let her go. And he tries but doesn’t really know how to.
Eric’s father, Red, was amused and told him that he was proud to see Eric lose it because now he knows how it feels now that he is a parent himself. And I have to admit, it was a great moment to see the perfect Eric lose his mind over things because in the original show, he was Mr. Calm.
At the end of the episode when Leia gets settled and the basement is cleared, Kitty gives them a bunch of old games and stuff that belonged to Eric. There was a bag of weed in it as well. So after the beer, it’s time for the weed.
The first episode establishes Leia as the new girl in town. To her, everything is new, which makes you wonder if Donna and Eric just kept her in a cage and drove her to school or kept her on a tight leash when she was at home. But then again, Leia is 14 when the show starts so you could also argue that she’s taken her first step into a bigger world. And yes, that’s a Star Wars reference.
The cameo of real-life couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher was a treat. Too bad they didn’t get any scenes with Donna and Erik. It was fun to see, that the characters are still together albeit in their 3rd marriage. Well hey, it took Elizabeth Taylor 7 marriages to finally find the one, or did she?
Another nice 1990s reference was the song “You oughta know” by Alanis Morrissette. They did want you to know when they had Gwen play the song very loud in That 90s show.
Episode 2: Free Leia
The gang smokes a bag of weed that was given to them by accident by Kitty in the previous episode of That 90s show.
Before they smoke, the gang wonders why Donkey Kong is a gorilla and not simply a donkey. And the entire episode just turned into an episode of Donkey Kong as Leia is seeing things when the gang gets the munchies. Leia runs downstairs to get cereal and Kitty and Red just turned into the characters of Donkey Kong. That part was hilarious, especially if you know who Donkey Kong is. When Red and Kitty find out that the gang is high, they get kicked out of the house.
Back in the 1980s and 1990s, Donkey Kong was a platform game that was available on Nintendo on the Gameboy and as a standalone handheld game. The pocket games were predecessors of the Nintendo Gameboy. The difference between the handheld and the Gameboy is simple: The Gameboy had a cartridge that you could be exchanged for different games such as Mario. The handheld could only play one game for example Donkey Kong.
That the game is referenced on That 90s show, sure made me chuckle because I remember playing it on the handheld, Nintendo 3 on the Nintendo 16 bit. Those were many hours of fun. Especially if you add the weed to it.
Another great reference to the 1990s in the show is the movie Clerks. Jay works in a video store (that is a reference altogether) and asks Leia if she’s watched Clerks, the movie by Kevin Smith. Leia who has the hots for Jay says yes of course. To make up for kicking Leia’s newfound friends out of the house, Kitty proposes a movie night and Leia of course wants to show off that she knows Clerks. The movie however is missing.
The quest for the movie starts and Kitty and Leia end up at none other than Leo, from the original show. Leo is an old hippie who was a father figure for Steven Hyde, who was played by Danny Masterson. Leo is as confused as ever and weed usually gets him going. He gives the Clerks tape to Leia and Kitty. When they put it up for movie night, they watch an audition of Leo trying to get into The Real World, a show on the old MTV.
Instead, Leia puts up her favorite movie, Free Willy. Which again shows the youthful innocence of Leia. I mean, Clerks is a great movie when you have some life experience.
The movie Clerks is one of my favorite movies and I have watched all of the movies. I was surprised by the writers of That 90s show who picked that movie. Especially since Pulp Fiction was a bigger hit in the 1990s. Or Reservoir Dogs. Yes, you can tell I am a Quentin Tarantino fan. But you don’t hear me complain, Clerks is a great movie for a teenage movie night but does it beat Free Willy? I think not!
Episode 3: Lip Smackers
The 3rd episode of That 90s show is yet another eye-opener for Leia. As Nikki and Nate are making out for hours and on display, Leia realizes she’s the only one who’s never been kissed.
She feels pressured because she feels left behind. And I can understand that. Who wouldn’t feel left behind?
The gang goes to a shopping mall where Leia tries to get kissed but can’t find a ‘victim’ whereas Gwen gets kissed easily.
The best part of this episode is of course the return of Fez. Fez is now a successful barber and is dating Gwen’s mother, Sherri, who is trying to get rid of him. She gets help from Kitty but Fez is such a smooth talker that even she can’t do it and instead congratulates him on his new girlfriend.
Then they get the big guns out and ask Red to break up with her. And he can’t do it either. Fez is such a smooth talker even I fell for it. I am still looking for him.
Fez of course you know from the original cast of That 70s show. He is now a successful barber and an even bigger womanizer than he was in the original show. He manages to smooth talk his way into your panties, your wife’s panties, and Sherri’s.
Another great scene from this episode is when there is a misunderstanding when Kitty calls Donna about Leia and sex. Donna runs in and brings anti-conception immediately for Leia. Which is a great way to see that there is sexual education.
Donna also seems to be the most open-minded but let’s not forget that Leia is only 14. Maybe it’s just me but isn’t that a bit on the early side for sex?
Episode 4: The Rave
There is a Rave happening in Wisconsin and Ozzie wants to go. Leia however realizes that her grandparents won’t ever let her go.
However since Kelso rejected Leia for a relationship, Leia finds the need to go to that Rave. Gwen and Leia tell Red and Kitty that they are going to watch the newest Batman movie. Instead, they go to the Rave. Kelso is there as well and has a lot of flirts with girls which makes Leia jealous of course. Ah puppy love, can’t do with and can’t do without.
The best scene of the episode was Red and Kitty’s interrogation of Ozzie. Ozzie didn’t flinch at all but when Kitty sweet-talked to him, he caved and gave up the location of the Rave which led to Leia being picked up by an angry Red.
The episode itself was ok. It was good to see the spotlight at least a little bit on Ozzie who doesn’t get that much air time except for a few oneliners. All we know is that Ozzie is gay and is dating a guy named Etienne who is French-speaking. That’s it.
Episode 5: Step by Step
And no, the title of the show isn’t a reference to the New Kids on the Block song, which was a great hit back in the 1990s, just like NKOTB was.
Episode 5 is the best episode of the entire season. It’s not so much the introduction of Red and Kitty to a PC, complete with a CRT screen and a mouse with a trackball. That felt like yesterday, uhh I mean like ages ago.
But back to the real story here. As stated before in the Episode 4 paragraph, Ozzie is gay and he explains to Leia that he has told his closest friends, which is the gang. And then he told random people like the pizza delivery boy and the mailmen. “Hey, thanks for the pizza, also I am gay.” And now in this episode, he tried to tell Kitty that he’s gay.
The coming-out episode was wonderfully acted by Leia and Ozzie. Ozzie deserves more screen time.
The attempt to come out was a difficult choice and not easily made. Especially for Ozzie who has come to terms with his own sexuality but hasn’t worked up the courage to tell his parents, which is why he is trying it step by step. I have to say that the episode is incredibly powerful and that coming out was difficult in the 1990s, just as much as it is today. Kudos to the writers for making the scene credible in That 90s show.
Episode 6: The Birthday
It’s Leia’s 15th birthday and it is time to celebrate. Even though Jay Kelso stood her up and is now dating someone new, she invites him to the birthday party. And that’s where the fun starts.
The entire episode is a homage to the hit series Beverly Hills 90210. Which is amazing all by itself. Leia plays none other than Kelly Taylor who fights for Kelso’s affection by dragging him away from his new girlfriend.
The entire homage to 90210 was good. We saw the intro of the old show with the gang posing as Dylan McKay, Kelly Taylor, Brandon and Brenda, and more. I have to say that when the show pays homage, they do it really well. The characters even reacted like they would in the original series. Of course with a little more comedy instead of the dramedy Beverly Hills 90210 was.
On top of the 90210 treat, we also got a cameo of Brian Austin Green. He played David Silver, who was a bit of an outcast in High School until he started to date Donna, played by Tori Spelling. He is Leia’s soundboard when Leia is waiting for Jay Kelso to arrive at her birthday. He shows and Leia kisses him and they start dating.
Red gifts Leia her dad’s old car. It’s a gift, Grandpa Bob can’t compete with. It’s another great homage to the original show where Red and Kitty compete with Bob over who’s got more pull with the group of friends.
When Kelso and Leia go for a ride, they get pulled over by the police.
Episode 7: Boyfriend
The Boyfriend refers to Kelso and to Nate. Kelso because he is dating Leia and Nate because he suspects that Nikki is dating her tutor, Trevor since they spend all their time together.
And in other scenes, Kitty gets a tattoo while she is high. She even almost kills Gwen, Kelso, Leia, and herself because she puts her hands on Kelso’s face who was driving the car. It’s a dangerous thing to do even if it is just comedy.
When Nate finds Nikki with her tutor Trevor, he figures out that he’s got nothing to worry about but he wants to talk to Ozzie about his feelings anyway and the show turns into a 1990s talk show.
Back in the 1990s talk shows were huge. We had The Oprah Winfrey Show and Geraldo. And even worse Jerry Springer took it to the extreme by having controversial topics. But Ozzie’s show seems close to the Ricki Lake show which was a bit mellow with day-to-day topics instead of the controversial stuff like Springer and Geraldo.
The 1990s talk show’s popularity has carried over to this decade of the 2020s but more evolved for instance The View has multiple co-hosts. And there are now morning talk shows like Morning Joe on MSNBC or CNN This Morning that focus on current events.
But at the time, the concept of talk shows was new and thus very exciting. Good job from the writers to include a cultural phenomenon in That 90s show.
Episode 8: Summer Storm
A summer storm keeps the gang in the basement. And they start having talks with each other and thus Nikki brings up a sensitive sexual topic by asking Leia if she has touched Kelso’s thing. “What thing?” You know, the thing…and Leia hasn’t yet.
While they discuss that, Red is trying to fix Sherri’s house so that Kitty can get rid of their old junk. She asks Gwen and Nate for help. And this starts out as a comedic scene with a lot of comments on the cheapness of Red. Apparently anything over $4,- isn’t allowed to be thrown out. That 90s show really does justice to Red’s cheapness.
But as the scene progresses, Nate notices that Gwen is wearing a shirt that was given to him by his father and he gets upset that she’s splattered paint over it, driven over it with a car to make it look vintage, and cut some holes in it.
The half-siblings get into a fight and it turns nasty when Nate steals Gwen’s blanket, the one she needs to fall asleep with.
It turns out that despite Gwen’s argument that Nate doesn’t fit the shirt anyway, Nate has an emotional attachment to the shirt because he never sees his father. Or rarely sees his father.
This is an important theme and a delicate topic. We know that Nate and Gwen are half-siblings and that they live with Sherri. The thing is: kids from divorced couples do have a need for either parental figure. It is an underexposed problem in society back in the 1990s and before that and it still is. It is good that the writers brought up this sensitive topic because it really deserves attention.
Episode 9: Dirty Double booker
It is almost the end of summer and Kelso wants to take Leia for a picnic at the best spot in Wisconsin. But Leia, in her clumsiness, booked time with Gwen and Ozzie as well at the country club.
While Kelso and Leia walk through the hills trying to find the overpass they encounter Leo. This led to a hilarious scene where they ask him where the overpass is. Leo tells them to find the underpass because that’s where the overpass is.
Leia acts nervous because she wants to join Gwen as well at the club. When she finally admits to Kelso that she is double booked, Kelso is understanding and lets her go. At the club, Gwen is upset with Leia’s double booking and has her removed from the club. Which drives Leia home.
When Leia goes to the basement of her grandparent’s home, she finds Nate who can’t move because of his sore muscles after overdoing it during a workout.
They have a heart-to-heart and you can see the romance sparkle because Nate understands Leia and in some odd way Leia understands Nate in a way Nikki never could. Is this the beginning of the end for Nate and Nikki and Kelso and Leia?
Nate tells that Gwen is so upset because while Gwen is here and spirited, at school Gwen is an outcast but because she hides her feelings so well, Nate just tells Leia the truth about Gwen. Gwen is going to miss her newfound friend so much which made Leia realize that Gwen’s friendship is more meaningful than she initially thought.
As the episode progresses, Kelso talks to Nate about being worried about their romance after the summer vacation.
It’s another good theme: What to do when summer love is over? Is your bond strong enough to be separated for 9 months? And interlocal calls in the 1990s were incredibly expensive so it’s not going to be easy.
I am sure a lot of you have been in that spot where you have to say goodbye to your summer love and you don’t want it to end. But you have to. In my case, I just let it go because you know…distance…but back in the 1990s I had friends who did everything to stay in touch with their summer love. It resulted in crazy hours on the internet using chat platforms like mIRC and ICQ. And at odd hours too because the guy lived in Denmark and the girl in New York state which is a 6-hour time difference.
Summer love is the best thing ever but the hangover is ugh.
Episode 10: Kids in America in That 90s show
Episode 10 is the final episode of the first season of That 90s show. The gang’s having a farewell party for Leia and they hope that the night never ends or do they?
Nate accidentally spills the beans when he says something out loud about Kelso wanting to break up with Leia because he doesn’t believe in a long-distance relationship. Leia promptly breaks it off.
The next day, Leia is staying away from Kelso and stays in the house. Despite her friends urging her to make up with Kelso, Leia is incredibly upset and wants nothing to do with Kelso anymore. She hangs up the phone when Kelso calls 2x.
Leia talks to Nate about her romance woes and the 2 almost kiss if not for Gwen’s interference. Leia runs off and Gwen later finds her at the water tower where they make a sign to let people know they were there. It’s a huge graffiti with their names and the year 1995.
When it’s time to say bye to the gang, Nate and Leia have trouble hiding their feelings for each other in front of Nikki. Just when they want to kiss, Kelso runs in and tells her that he’ll call and write Leia whenever he can.
Is this the end for Leia and Kelso? From my point of view, Nate and Leia make the better couple. They have better chemistry, they have a better understanding of one another. And while it’s early days, because the show hasn’t been renewed yet, I think pairing Kelso with Nikki would do the show great justice.
Final thoughts on That 90s show
That 90s show is a fun show but aimed at a younger audience. The show has a variety of themes like going through a divorce, your parents go through a divorce but so do you. It is nicely picked up without the writers making it like they are telling how it’s done.
Other themes that I was a fan of while watching the show were coming out. Like in Ozzie’s case, he has a hard time coming out to his parents and he was building up confidence. If there is a season then I would definitely like to see that but I somehow doubt that because we never see his parents at all. If we do have a second season can we have Jimmy Yang portray Ozzie’s dad? That’d be awesome.
The cultural references were great as well. References to Talk Shows and Beverly Hills 90210 make it fun for the older viewer. But also the use of Alanis Morrissette’s song You oughta know brought back memories of my first breakup. It was tough but well worth it.
The cast itself is pretty strong. While they take the forefront, Red and Kitty seem to stick to the background more. I think it was done so that the new cast could establish itself while at the same time creating an acting safety net for when the cast runs into an issue.
I also enjoyed the cameos of the original cast, bar Danny Masterson who is plagued by legal issues in real life. And the fact that they didn’t overdo it with the old cast shows that there is enough room for the current cast to develop and grow without having to rely on the old cast to achieve success.
What That 90s show season 2 should offer
As stated before, the show hasn’t been renewed yet for a 2nd season. But if it is then there are a couple of things I’d like to see.
For instance a Kelso and Nikki romance. The two of them would hit it off. Not sure what Kelso’s college plans are, if any, but if he’s just as ambitious as Nikki then why not?
Then there are the romantic sparkles between Nate and Leia. The writers should really give it a go.
And it is time we get to meet Etienne, Ozzie’s Canadian boyfriend. Ozzie’s a bit underused which gives the writers all the room they need for possible exploration of the character in the 2nd season.
And what of Gwen? Who knows, she may just encounter someone in her life that makes an even bigger difference than Leia did.
Other storylines would be having the gang visit Chicago to visit Leia during Christmas break. Why stay in just Wisconsin? I know that having at least a skeleton crew of the original cast is needed to tie the show to the original That 70s show but they can be replaced by Donna and Eric. It would be nice to see what kind of parents they are. We already know that Donna is fairly open-minded and we saw Eric looking more and more like Red, his father.
And if there is a 2nd season then what of Kitty? She just applied to become a school nurse. Which could be a problem if the show does go mobile. But in my opinion, the ties are established and I think there is less need for the original cast to keep the show alive.
That 90s Show has managed to capture the essence of the 1990s, not just of the cultural highlights displayed throughout the show like Beverly Hills 90210 and Talk Shows but also because of the cast and cameos. The cameos should just be reduced to cameos giving the That 90s show cast even more space to shine.
