"That 70s Show" is a sitcom centering around six teenage friends growing up in Point Place, Wisconsin. It aired on the Fox network from 1998 to 2006 and, as the name suggests, was a nostalgic look at the last part of the 1970s. The show was a big ratings-draw for the network.
The main characters are Eric (played by Topher Grace), Hyde (played by Danny Masterson), Michael Kelso (Ashton Kutcher), Fez (Wilmer Felderama), Jackie (Mila Kunis), and Donna (Laura Prepon). The teens often hang out in the basement at Eric's house, where he lives with his parents and sister. The show mostly follows Eric's life. Throughout the series, Eric is in love with Donna--the girl next door--and many episodes center around the evolution of their feelings for each other.
Jackie is the rich girl at their school. She is first introduced to the friends due to her relationship with Kelso, the pretty boy of the group. Later in the series, she dates Hyde. Hyde is the rebellious, cynical teen. He comes from a dysfunctional broken home but later moves in with Eric's family and reconnects with his biological father. Fez is a foreign exchange student; one of the show's running gags is he never actually reveals his country of origin. He starts out as an awkward, shameless flirt but eventually turns into a real ladies' man--finishing out the series as Jackie's boyfriend.
Because the 1970s was a decade of great social and economic change in America, the show often touched on subjects and concerns indicative of the time period. Some subjects were fun--streaking, video games, Penthouse magazine, and the movie Star Wars. Other subjects were quite controversial and compelling--birth control, feminism, divorce, economic hardships, recreational drug use, and attitudes toward sex in the 70s.
While the subject matter stayed true to the decade, the series never lost sight of what the show was really about: a group of friends hanging out and growing into adulthood together. They faced the challenges any teenager faces; they fell in and out of love, argued with each other, made each other laugh, caused mayhem together, and learned who they were throughout it all. Any kid in any decade could relate; and that's why this show was a success.
That 70's Show is a series that ran for 8 seasons (200 episodes) between August 23, 1998 and on