"That '70s Show" started as a slightly ribald, freewheeling look back at life in the 1970s. Point Place, Wisconsin could have been any small midwestern hometown, and Eric Forman (Topher Grace) could have been any well-meaning, underachieving teen struggling his way to success and happiness. His sandbox love affair with his childhood friend, Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), felt like the kind of romance that any teenager might find themself living through.
His friends — the goofy meathead Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), spoiled princess Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis), rebellious and conspiracy-obsessed Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson), and wannabe ladies' man Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) — felt like real teens living through realistic rites of passage. And yet, no other coming-of-age comedy could have put on a musical episode featuring Roger Daltrey, and no other program could have made the act of clandestinely smoking marijuana with your friends look like a work of art.
That's just a short list of the many things that make the whole sitcom such a lovely thing to experience.
However, as mighty as "That '70s Show" was at its peak, it had a great fall, and one of the most classic late-series declines of all time for a sitcom.
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