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That '70s Show - Season 1 Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 5 Reviews)

Flashbacks Have Never Been This Much Fun FULL SKULL BABY!

I can still remember seeing ads for this show 7 years ago, and I can't believe that this show has been on that long. Don't get me wrong, this show is hilarious, probably one of my favorite comedy shows (although based on what's out there, there aren't too many truly great comedies). It's just that I never thought that a period show such as this could ever become so popular.
The show centers around Eric Forman (Topher Grace), a 17-year-old living in 1976 Point Place, Wicsonsin. Eric, along with his friends Hyde (Danny Masterson) and Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), his best friend/girlfriend Donna (Laura Prepon), Kelso's on-again/off-again girlfriend Jackie (Mila Kunis), and a foreign exchange student nicknamed Fez (Wilmer Valderama) go around town in an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser stopping at discos, hanging out at burger places, and going to see Star Wars. Meanwhile, they try to avoid their quoirky parents. Eric has Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), two people who prove that there is truth behind the saying "opposites attract". Red is short-tempered and conservative, while Kitty is a loving and passive woman. And Donna has to deal with Bob (Don Stark) and Midge (Tanya Roberts). Bob is an old-fashioned (read: somewhat mysogonistic) guy and Midge is a very dull (yet very attractive) girl who gets wrapped up in every fad just for the fun of it (she joins feminism groups to fit it, much to the chagrin of Donna, who truly believes in feminism and the Equal Rights Amendment).
The gang gets involved in a bunch of crazy situations, such as the time they decide to go streaking at a Ford for President rally, when they decide to throw a keggar in an empty swimming pool, their trip to Jackie's remote ski lodge, or their outing to a WWF match. About half of the humor comes from the setting (there is a lot to poke fun at in the 70's), while the other half comes from the characters themselves. Whether it be Kelso's stupidity, Jackie's shallowness, Red's curtness, or Eric's cluelessness, there's a lot of fun to be had with this group.
One of the cool things about this show was that a lot of big names from the 70's showed up to do guest spots. This season, Danny Bonaduci shows up as Eric's boss in one episode, but as the seasons go on, we will be treated to Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper, and even Tommy Chong (who becomes a regular castmember).
This show is particularly strong for its first season; while it would go on to have some really great episodes, I had forgotten just how funny these early episodes were. One of my favorite episodes of the series is "A New Hope", which is about the gang going to see Star Wars. And while the show would definitely go on to become better, it was by no means bad this year.
As someone who's been a fan of the show since it came on, it was great to see the beginnings again, and to see how the show has changed. While we get to see the origins of amazing running gags, such as the single camera panning around circular tables while characters were eating or "relaxing", we also get to see old gags that were discontinued at some point, such as the mock videos that parody educational and training tapes of the time.
The one problem that I do have with this boxed set isn't even the fault of the show; it is the fault of the producers of the DVD set. For some reason, FOX aired a a few episodes from the middle of the season later in the year, and the episodes are in order of air-date on this set, as opposed to the order of production/continuity. While this show isn't very arc-heavy, and for the most part can be seen out of order, there is a continuity to it, and the episode order on Disc 4 is a little off. The last three episodes of the season were "A New Hope", "Hyde Moves In", and "The Good Son". However, a few middle-of-the-season episodes were placed in between those three episodes on Disc 4. Strangely, this is one of the few DVD sets that arranges episodes by air-date rather than by continuity's order. Even shows like Arrested Development and Firefly (both of which are also FOX DVDs), which were aired out of order, have their episodes arranged correctly (although episode order is much more important for those two shows). But while I would have preferred the correct order, it doesn't take too much away from the overall set, since the show doesn't depend too much on the arcs (at least not yet anyway).
As I said, this is a great show. While it isn't as witty or clever as Arrested Development, it is far better than most of the comedy shows that appear on television. If you've never seen the show before, you should consider checking it out. Unlike certain shows, I could reccomend this as a "blind buy". Enjoy.

laugh out loud 70's FULL SKULL BABY!

watch the gang go through crazy life and make it out alive.sooo goofy!!!!!!

Great FULL SKULL BABY!

Ive been a fan of that 70s show for a very long time, and Im glad they finally decided to release a DVD series. This show has many characters, all of which bring something different to the table.

The main characters of the show are the Forman family (a large portion of the show takes place in the Forman house). Here you have Eric, a 17 year old "smart mouth" kid who is very witty and funny. You also have Laurie, Erics sister, who doesnt make a ton of appearances, but she is very evil and mean (in a funny way, though). Then you have Kitty, the loving mother who takes care of Eric and Laurie, but has a slight drinking problem and can tend to get angry sometimes. And then theres Red, a Vietnam veteran who is very hard and angry all the time. He gives alot of orders and yells at Eric alot, and he can be witty very often.

Other characters in this show include Erics friends: Donna, Hyde, Kelso, Jackie and Fez, who all hang out in Erics basement. Donna is Erics girlfriend. Jackie is Donnas best friend who is a short, rich, popular girl who is extremely superficial. Jackies boyfriend, Kelso, is the exact same way. He is very vain and shallow, in addition to being hopelessly stupid. And perhaps my favorite one of Erics friends, Fez. Fez is a foreign exchanged student who never says what country he is from...he is new to the American language and culture, but he acts like a big, horny child. He has many hilarious moments on this show.

My personal favorite episodes are "Grandmas Dead" and "Hyde Movies In", but they are all funny. You dont have to wait through slow boring episodes like you do with alot of TV DVD releases. The only complaint I have about this DVD set is that the extras are pretty lame, but overall I think it is a good value.

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