UPDATE, 11/30/22:
Netflix has released the first teaser for its upcoming spinoff of the popular television sitcom, That ’70s Show. Title That ’90s Show, the new series will premiere on the streaming service on January 19, 2023.
The much-anticipated trailer begins with the heads of the beloved Forman clan, Red and Kitty, in the kitchen of the family home in Point Place, Wisconsin. Leia, the teenage daughter of Donna Pinciotti and Eric Forman, then arrives to spend the summer with her grandparents.
Anyone who watched the original series knows that things likely descend into chaos from there. After getting settled, Leia meets Red and Kitty’s rebellious neighbor, and before long finds herself hanging out with the girl and her group of friends. The trailer then returns viewers to the infamous basement, where Eric, Donna and their friends spent the majority of their free time in the original series.
A number of throwbacks to That ’70s Show also make an appearance in the one-minute clip, including the much-beloved Circle, Red’s tough attitude and Kitty’s sweet nature. There’s even a sneak peek at the updated version of the original series’ theme song, which features a 1990s-esque grunge sound.
Speaking about the reboot with Variety, Greg Mettler, who wrote a number of episodes for That ’70s Show and returned for the new series, revealed the aim of the project was to bring back the magic of the original.
“I wanted to have the same feeling as That 70s Show did,” he said. “The show had a very special tone. It was playful, it had a heart, it was sarcastic, it was filled with love within this family, within the friend group. I missed being in the basement with those kids.”
It’s also been revealed that each season of That ’90s Show will take place during the summer, while Leia is out of school. This not only allows the character to grow over a relatively short period of time, but also serves a practical purpose, as Terry Turner, one of the show’s creators, told Variety.
“Setting it only during the summer gets the whole school and having-to-go-to-class thing out of the way, which we discovered on the original show, that wasn’t where it was interesting,” he revealed. “It was more interesting in the basement…
“Also, people change where they go away. They come back nine months later and when they’re teenagers, sometimes there’s a radical change, sometimes not. But sometimes people have decided to go a completely different path.”
As mentioned in the original article, a number of the original cast have returned for the reboot, including Topher Grace and Laura Pepron. Members of the original crew also came back, including costume designer Melina Root and hair department head Gabriella Pollino.
ORIGINAL:
After it was added to Netflix, That ’70s Show became one of the streaming platform’s most-watched series. That’s why it came as no surprise that it ordered a spinoff, titled That ’90s Show. While the original focused on Eric Forman and his group of friends, this show will center around his and Donna Pinciotti’s teenage daughter, Leia.
That ’70s Show ran on FOX from 1998 to 2006, and starred Topher Grace (Eric Forman), Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti), Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso), Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart), Wilmer Valderrama (Fez) and Danny Masterson (Steven Hyde).
The new series was announced in October 2021, with Netflix revealing it had ordered a 10-episode spinoff set in the 1990s. It will feature Callie Haverda as Leia Forman, who’s visiting grandparents Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty Forman (Debra Jo Rupp) for the summer.
While there, she’ll make a new group of friends, which consists of Jay (Mace Coronel), Nikki (Sam Morelos), Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide), Ozzie (Reyn Doi) and Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan).
Recently, it was announced that the majority of the main cast will be reprising their roles, including Grace, Pepron, Kunis, Kutcher and Valderrama. Masterson will not be appearing, as he’s standing trial on charges of sexually assaulting three women in the early 2000s. He has pleaded not guilty.
It’s currently unclear if the group of friends will reunite onscreen or if they’ll each appear in different episodes. There’s also little known about the show itself, other than it’s set in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin in 1995. The logline, as shared by Deadline, adds that “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll never dies, it just changes clothes.”
Given that the show will take place in 1995, we can make some assumptions as to what life will be like for Leia and her friends. A lot of big pop culture events happened that year, such as Michael Jordan‘s return to the NBA, the privatization of the internet by the US government and the Playstation 1 being introduced to North America. O.J. Simpson was also found not guilty of the murders of Ron Goldman and ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson.
1995 also saw the release of a number of classic films, including Toy Story, Clueless and the Adam Sandler comedy, Billy Madison. Among the most famous musical artists at the time were Mariah Carey and TLC, the latter of which had released their hit single, “Waterfalls,” the previous year.
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That’s not to mention the fashion from the time. You can bet the show’s teenage characters will be wearing cargo pants, oversized Gap sweaters, overalls and maybe even some looks inspired by the decade’s grunge culture. All this paired with the decade’s frosted eyeliner, dark red lipstick and hair likely inspired by Friends‘ “the Rachel” are sure to transport everyone back in time.