A Heartfelt Reminder Of Why We All Totally Loved 'That 70's Show' At Some Point In Our Lives
That '70s Show. Go on, be honest, you watched it, we all did at some point in our lives, it's an institutional American classic that everyone can relate to and enjoy. The American television period sitcom that originally aired on Fox from August 23, 1998, to May 18, 2006. The series focused on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin--What's not to like, eh?
The main teenage cast members were Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Danny Masterson, Laura Prepon, and Wilmer Valderrama and i can guarantee we all had a crush on one of them at one time or another.
The show addressed social issues of the 1970s such as sexism, sexual attitudes, generational conflict, the economic hardships of the 1970s recession, mistrust of the American government by blue-collar workers, and teenage drug use. The series also highlighted developments in the entertainment industry, including the television remote ("the clicker"), the video game Pong, MAD magazine, and Eric's obsession with Star Wars.
The creators had wanted the show to have a 1970s "feel" from the beginning, and so opted to set the series later in the decade, when trends and political ideologies had become firmly established and disseminated. The idea that the duration of the series would carry socio-political undertones also necessitated a chain of social events which could influence the characters.
That 70's Show follows the life of geeky Everyman Eric Forman and his five teenaged friends: Donna Pinciotti, his feminist girlfriend and next-door neighbor; Steven Hyde, a disillusioned hard-rocking stoner; Michael Kelso, a dim-witted narcissistic ladies man; Jackie Burkhart , a self-involved high school cheerleader overly preoccupied with wealth and status; and Fez, the nicknamed goofy foreigner whose country of origin is ambiguous, whose real name is unknown to all but him, and whose hormones are out of control. Eric drives a 1969 Vista Cruiser, a station wagon given to him by his father in the first episode.
The show usually opens with the theme song, "In the Street," by Alex Chilton and Chris Bell of the band Big Star. Beginning with the second season, the song was performed by the band Cheap Trick. The lyrics are as follows:
Hanging out, down the street
The same old thing, we did last week
Not a thing to do, but talk to you
We're all alright! We're all alright!
The final line ("We're all alright!") is inspired by the chorus to the Cheap Trick song "Surrender".
Danny Masterson, who plays Steven Hyde, yells "Hello, Wisconsin!" at the end of the theme song in the first season. In the first season, the lyrics were the same except that instead of shouting "We're all alright!" twice, they shout "Whoa yeah!"
(Thx Wiki for the supplying some of the background info and reminding me of why it was one of my favorite TV shows when i was growing up and i still love re-watching it.)