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This Episode Of That 70's Show Rescued That 70's Show
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Apr 1, 2025
That 70's Show was at one time one of the most popular sitcoms on television. Building memorable characters in Eric Forman, Michael Kelso, Donna, Jackie, Hyde, and Fez gave audiences a nostalgic look back at the 1970's. As the show grew, the actors became more famous and in demand. After Topher Grace left the show, and they tried to force this new Randy character on us the ratings took a nose dive. Until this one episode saved the entire 70's Show series.
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0:00
Mr. Forman, can I light this off in your house
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Sure, and then I'll light my foot off in your ass. This is the season finale of That 70s Show
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and despite the disjointed and empty mess the show's eighth season makes of the primary storyline
0:14
the season finale comes together in a way that feels like a perfect ending to the series
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When a sitcom is ending its run, it's usually existing on borrowed time and wrapping up a show that is losing steam
0:24
something which That 70s Show was definitely in the process of doing. The series finale doesn't just stick the landing
0:29
it effectively pulls the entire show out of a complete nosedive. And it's largely due to a return to form
0:35
The final episode of a sitcom is almost never anyone's favorite episode
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Time and time again, networks have found incredible difficulty delivering a satisfying finale to fans of their respective properties
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Seinfeld's finale decided to focus on plot rather than humor. Scrubs had a finale and then awkwardly returned for a ninth season
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And How I Met Your Mother killed off the mother that the show is titled after. These shows all kind of fall into the same trap over and over again
1:01
That trap being trying to do something big or trying to go out with a bang, if you will
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Sitcoms are often a reflection of daily life. That's what makes them resonate so much with us
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And that's what makes them so successful in the long term. They remind us who we are, the importance of our relationship to the world around us
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and the friends we've made within it. When a finale takes all of that and throws it into the garbage for the sake of creating
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a largely unbelievable and exaggerated final episode, we don't go along for the ride
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We actually disconnect entirely. This is what makes the finale of that 70s show so impactful
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It never goes for some ridiculously huge moment. Instead, that 70s show reunites its cast
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for one final episode for the show to do what the show does best
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telling small, personal stories through the eyes of well-thought-out characters, while leaning heavily into nostalgia
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to connect us to the story and drive the narrative. You may or may not be familiar with the concept of nostalgia porn
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As a phrase, it refers to the current trend of filtering a story through a pastiche of
1:59
various time periods. Some shows deliver nostalgia porn with great success, like the first season of Stranger Things
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However, some shows rely on it too much and end up sacrificing story to pander to nostalgia
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like the third season of Stranger Things. As a tool, nostalgia is best when it's utilized as a spice and not as a main course
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That 70s show isn a successful show because of all its subtle nods to 1970s culture It successful because it tells stories people can connect to while using the backdrop of the 70s to support it Whoa This will buy me a monster bag of
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marshmallows. The finale of that 70s show piles this nostalgia on top of more nostalgia
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A nostalgia inception, if you will. It is truly the end of an era
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not just for our characters in Point Place, Wisconsin, but also for us as viewers
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The episode centers around the gang getting back together for one last hurrah before closing the door in the 1970s
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and it feels like we're right there, celebrating alongside with them. New Year's Eve is the perfect setting because it's a time where we can put our differences aside
3:05
and celebrate a universally appealing concept. This is also true for both the characters in that 70s show and the audience
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as the eighth season leading up to this point had left viewers confused and, well, a little upset
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At the end of that 70s show's seventh season, the show suffered a major setback
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with the departure of Topher Grace's character, Eric Foreman. In television, characters get written off
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with incredible frequency, but less frequent is the removal or replacement of a show's primary lead role
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When it does happen, the show usually ends up becoming a shell of its former self
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while desperately trying to fill a massive void left by these departures
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Fans might have been disappointed that Ashton Kutcher reduced his role as Michael to just a few episodes
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throughout season eight, But removing Eric Foreman from that 70s show entirely
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was a five-finger death punch into the heart of the series. And the show's eighth season was the final steps
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it was taking before completely collapsing. Eric, not real good with words
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so I thought I'd say goodbye the only way I know how. Hit it, boys. After Eric left, the show went into immediate decline
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Eric Foreman was the glue that held the show together, and without him, all of the pieces felt disjointed
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They tried to shove this Randy character down our throats as a replacement, and it just really didn't work
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New guy, you're hired. Leo, you're not fired. Jobs for everyone. Well, that was hard, but it had to be done
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We covered this in a previous video, and we placed the link in the description. The point is, That 70s Show was in trouble
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When it got announced that Topher Grace would be returning for the finale of That 70s Show
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fans were given a glimmer of hope that the show might be able to somehow clean up the mess that
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it had made and deliver appropriate closure. And despite many of them being turned off by the introduction of Randy, audiences tuned
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in to see the series off in whatever capacity that ended up being In the last day of the 70s you know thinking back it like one big blur You welcome
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That 70s show's finale starts off in the absolute most perfect place for that 70s show to end
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which is on the final day of 1979. This turn of the decade setting is satisfying to us right from the get-go, as it kind of
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fills in the blank that we'd been filling in our heads for so long, in that the series
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would inevitably end when the 1970s ended. We immediately jump into the exact thing the series had lost for an entire season
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Our characters just hanging out in their natural states. It's not trying to force anything to work
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It's not trying to manufacture relationship drama or anything like that. It's just our favorite characters reflecting on the last decade and preparing to move on with their lives
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Why are we wasting our time talking about this? Donna's leaving town. It's the end of the decade
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We should be doing something awesome, man. Something we have never done before. Or this
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there's something about nostalgia that makes us really forgiving about the past
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We look back on things as being maybe a little better than they actually were
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and sometimes we even get a little protective over the idea of that pristine nostalgia being tarnished in any way
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This is true in life, and it translates directly into our viewing of this finale
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There's this great moment at the top of this finale. Let's call it Red Foreman's foot-in-the-ass soliloquy
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How'd you like to own a little bit of my foot in your ass? How about I drive my foot into this thing called your ass
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Delivering this at the top of the show makes us laugh right away, which loosens us up for the remainder of the episode
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This also serves a powerful second function by pulling on our sense of nostalgia
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and wistfully connecting us to a better time. This brief trip down memory lane
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primes the pump for a really enjoyable experience. The episode also backtracks
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on some of the more forced elements of the eighth season. First of all, that Randy character
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is only in this episode for about five seconds. He's just hanging around in the kitchen
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watching while Hyde delivers Packers tickets to Kitty and then disappears from our lives forever
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It's incredibly awkward to watch, but thankfully the show didn't elect to waste any time wrapping up a character
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that should have never existed in the first place. The largest backtrack, however
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comes in about one third of the way into the episode, with Red and Kitty Foreman deciding
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that they will not be moving to Florida after all. Ever since we decided to move
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you've been so happy and smiley and you're never that way except for when you kill a deer
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This is met with much rejoicing by the show supporting cast but it also helps this finale feel great because we know that despite the show ending its run our characters are going to be right where we inevitably leave them They aren heading off to some stereotypical retirement in Florida
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selling a sitcom based on their lives or anything like that. They're simply remaining
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And it's quite comforting to think about. The initial tease of Eric Foreman missing his flight also hits home with us
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I circled the airport so many times that my finger actually hurts from flipping people off
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mostly because Topher Grace's return to the show was also an exciting prospect for viewers
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who had spent the last 21 episodes yearning for him. In a way, we are all Donna at this moment
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We're disappointed that he isn't there yet, but this delay in his arrival provides for an extremely impactful moment
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when he shows up in the show's final act and reconnects with Donna
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which again pulls at our feelings of nostalgia for the series. Throughout the rest of the episode
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we're treated to some really familiar and heartwarming connections with the ensemble
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and some genuinely hilarious moments with some of the show's supporting cast
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really getting some time to shine. Everyone gets a little nostalgia flashback sequence
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while they reminisce upon the last decade. The final image of the series is a nod
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to the first thing we see from season one, which is the gang hanging out in the basement
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while there's a huge party going on upstairs. It tells us that despite the excitement
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and goings-on in the world around them, the real party has always been down here
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with Eric, Donna, Kelso, Jackie, Hyde, and Fez. Instead of sneaking upstairs to steal some of Red's beer
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the gang heads up and joins the party, counting down to the end of the decade
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and the end of the series. Three, two, one. The episode's ending doesn't really feel like an ending either
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It feels like a new beginning without the promise of another season. These characters' lives are going to continue
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their relationships are going to grow, and our imaginations are left to run wild
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as the gang heads upstairs to usher in the 1980s. Hopefully someone insults Red
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and maybe someone will actually get a foot up their ass. Do you ever actually do that with your foot
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Once. The finale of That 70s Show is one of the few truly great sitcom finales to ever air
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It doesn't focus on grandiose moments that feel out of place and instead returns to its roots
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providing the audience with a sense of wistful nostalgia while taking a look backward before it moves itself forward
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It's well-placed, thoughtful, touching, and very funny. exactly the way any great episode of That 70s Show would be
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The finale brings us a little bit of closure without causing us any grief or hardship
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and leaves us wanting more
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