We're Not In Wisconsin Anymore That 70’s Show: Season 8

High school graduation is a difficult time. For most it means deciding where to go to college, leaving your home and your friends and essentially saying goodbye to the life you've come to know. For TV writers with graduation age characters, the last day of senior year means finding sneaky ways to keep your cast together. Sometimes it works - the kids of 90210 went on to awkwardly share a house and, though sometimes far fetched, still plausibly managed to hold their social circle together. Some shows decide to call it quits - no one at Felicity thought that following her as she interned at MOCA was a good idea. And then there’s That 70’s Show. The pot smoking, super chill cast have weathered not only high school graduation, but almost marriages as well as unplanned pregnancies, but now they may have finally met their match in an eighth Eric-less (Topher Grace), season.

The news that Topher Grace planned to leave the show didn't come as much of a surprise to those who had been watching his skyrocketing film career. The shocker was that Fox renewed the show anyway. Not only had they lost their central character, Ashton Kutcher was also pulling back on his commitment to loveable loser Kelso by agreeing to a whopping four episodes, and, as if that weren't enough, according to a January 2005 report by Entertainment Weekly, That 70’s Show lost 35% of their audience (this due mostly to the unfortunate circumstance of being up against Lost last year).

Fast forward to the season opener - Eric is in Africa finding himself and Hyde (Danny Masterson) is missing after catching Jackie (Mila Kunis) and Kelso in a compromising position in Chicago. So what are the writers to do? The answer seems to be getting Eric back in the mix as fast as possible. Even without his physical presence the show centers around Eric as doting mother Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) runs around trying to give her son a play by play, via tape recorder, of all he’s missing back in Wisconsin. In keeping with the show’s trademark one liners, this does prove for some funny moments, but, unfortunately, not enough of them. The characters seem lost without their leader and truly become an ensemble cast, a bunch of pretty and funny people running into each other without any rhyme or reason. Without the anchor that was Eric, That 70’s Show reads more like a sketch comedy program whose hook is that all the skits have to be showcased in the same basement location.

Having the kids still hanging around the Forman household seems creepy. Sure, they spent the last seven years smoking pot in Eric’s basement, but isn't it time for them to find a new, adult hangout? Still, finding a reason for the kids to be in the basement is nothing compared to finding a reason for them to still be unemployed and living with their parents. Really, Eric’s absence just cements the fact that the show has run its course by suggesting that he was the only one who realized he had to get out. Grace’s decision to leave the show in pursuit of a "next step" too closely mirrors Eric’s flight to Africa in search of direction and consequently makes all those who stayed behind devoid of initiative.

That’s not to say that season 8 isn't full of the usual hi jinks we've come to expect from the gang. In the first hour-long episode, Hyde quickly learns that what happens in Vegas sometimes follows you home and in trying to come to terms with her broken love life, Jackie exposes too much on a night out. Unfortunately, all the great jokes are bogged down by too much emotional drama and adult concerns. Every time the show veers towards drama it takes away from the 1-2 comedy punch that audiences have come to love. Laugh out loud funny moments are overshadowed by talk of marriage and careers, painfully reminding us just how old these kids are and reinforcing the fact that they've outgrown Eric’s basement hideaway.