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"Nienke de Boode gives "That ’90s Show - Season 1" a 7."
Written by Nienke de Boode on 20 February 2023.
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That ’90s Show - Season 1
Fifteen years after the end of That 70s Show, it is time for a new decade and a new show. That 90s Show is the sequel with new teenagers but (for the most part) the same vibe.
The premise: Eric and Donna from the original show have a daughter named Leia (Callie Haverda, Shut Eye), who decides to spend the summer of ‘95 at her grandparents’ house after making some friends there. Her grandparents are, of course, Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith), with whom you might be familiar from That 70s Show. Similar to That 70s Show, we follow her and her friends as they get drunk, smoke weed, and go on teenage adventures. Of course, there is some space for love and relationships as well. All of this is done with a 90s vibe. Many of the That 70s Show characters make some small guest appearances.
What else; the guest appearances of the old cast are generally good. The main problem with the cameos, however, is that it shows how lacking the new cast is. There are too few episodes, of which a large portion is about Red, Kitty or some other character, to really get attached to the kids. There is little character development, except that Leia goes from ‘dorky’ to ‘cool with friends and a boyfriend’, but this feels forced and rushed in the number of episodes that we have. The plot twist in the finale adds to this forced and rushed feeling. It makes little sense in the greater whole of the show.
Furthermore, the show tries to be very woke on the one hand, but then goes showing that it is okay and funny for a girl to forcibly kiss a guy who does not want it. They have this double standard going on, which is just meh. Luckily, there are actually a lot of jokes in there that I did find funny. Admittedly, there are also quite a few that did not make me laugh as much as the laughing track makes me think I should have, but I would say that the jokes are overall good. You can definitely watch this if you have never seen That 70s Show; some of the cheering from the studio audience might make no sense, though.
In short, it is not great, but it is also not horrible. I enjoyed binging it, which is very doable with its ten short episodes. Kitty and Red make it worth it, you just have to kind of ignore the laughing track.
The premise: Eric and Donna from the original show have a daughter named Leia (Callie Haverda, Shut Eye), who decides to spend the summer of ‘95 at her grandparents’ house after making some friends there. Her grandparents are, of course, Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith), with whom you might be familiar from That 70s Show. Similar to That 70s Show, we follow her and her friends as they get drunk, smoke weed, and go on teenage adventures. Of course, there is some space for love and relationships as well. All of this is done with a 90s vibe. Many of the That 70s Show characters make some small guest appearances.
Kitty and Red absolutely carry the show. Their acting and jokes are on point and the chemistry is still great. The other younger actors are a bit less consistent. Haverda does a decent enough job of portraying Leia and Mace Coronel (who plays Jay Kelso) is also believably a Kelso. The rest of the group have their moments but often feel exaggerated. This type of exaggeration is a more general problem of this show; where the original thrived on exaggeration and absurdism, it does not work as well here. There are definitely highlights, but it also sometimes feels a bit forced. This is definitely not aided by the laughing track in the show. The forced cheering when a character from the original enters is absolutely horrible. Removing the laugh track would have added at least half a point to my grade for the show.Kitty and Red absolutely carry the show.
© Netflix
What else; the guest appearances of the old cast are generally good. The main problem with the cameos, however, is that it shows how lacking the new cast is. There are too few episodes, of which a large portion is about Red, Kitty or some other character, to really get attached to the kids. There is little character development, except that Leia goes from ‘dorky’ to ‘cool with friends and a boyfriend’, but this feels forced and rushed in the number of episodes that we have. The plot twist in the finale adds to this forced and rushed feeling. It makes little sense in the greater whole of the show.
Furthermore, the show tries to be very woke on the one hand, but then goes showing that it is okay and funny for a girl to forcibly kiss a guy who does not want it. They have this double standard going on, which is just meh. Luckily, there are actually a lot of jokes in there that I did find funny. Admittedly, there are also quite a few that did not make me laugh as much as the laughing track makes me think I should have, but I would say that the jokes are overall good. You can definitely watch this if you have never seen That 70s Show; some of the cheering from the studio audience might make no sense, though.
In short, it is not great, but it is also not horrible. I enjoyed binging it, which is very doable with its ten short episodes. Kitty and Red make it worth it, you just have to kind of ignore the laughing track.
About author, Nienke de Boode
She started with watching NCIS, CSI and Bones, but over time her passion for TV shows has grown to what it is today, with dozens of shows that need to be watched. You can always wake her up for a good crime show, but she is also open to different things. Comedy and fantasy are on her list of favourites as well. Since October 2014, she also writes for MySeries to combine her love for TV shows and writing.
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