Stuck in Time: How the Characters of ‘That 70s Show’ Fail to Grow (Up)

That 70s Show has been a form of escapism for me in my late teenage years. It was almost soothing to watch a group of teenagers stuck in a small town just act their age and enjoy each other’s company. However, as I rewatch the show now in my late 20s, even though I still laugh my ass off most times, occasionally I get this unsettling feeling inside that I couldn’t quite name until recently.

Now I think I finally know what it’s about – what is the line between characters being a pleasant form of escapism and characters that are forever doomed to wander around in circles, never achieving any form of personal growth? Turns out, it’s pretty thin. In this article I will talk about each character separately and how they regressed as the show went on. Small disclaimer – I will keep my season 8 discussions to the bare minimum as like most fans, I don’t count it as proper canon. Let’s begin.

Novelty doesn’t last forever

The entire point of That 70s Show is that a group of burnouts have nothing better to do than hang around in a basement and get high. I imagine it echoes a lot of real-life small towns with young people not having many forms of entertainment or means to get to said entertainment. When they are sixteen-eighteen, it can be seen as endearing as you’d want teenagers to actually enjoy their childhood without having to worry too much about things. Sure, the whole drug aspect is not ideal but again, that is kind of the point of the show.

However, once the gang graduate, this charm starts to wear off as it becomes apparent none of them are that aspirational and still want to spend their days doing nothing. This falls flat not only because they are now adults and living with their parents (not that there’s anything wrong with that, especially nowadays) but because it shows the writers did not think to develop them past the comical surface of weekly shenanigans. Because of that even said adventures they go on quickly lose their charm.

From a sweetheart to a slimeball

Eric is a prime example for this. If anything, any kind of aspiration he might’ve had in the early seasons is extinguished as the show goes on. Some might argue that this is him crumbling under the pressure Red put on him and rebelling against that but I’m not sure I want to give the writers that much credit.

While initially Eric staying behind and delayed college to take care of his dad seems like room for character development, it becomes clear that is not what the writers intended. He slowly but steadily becomes a lazy slob who then leaves his fiancé at the altar (the night before technically but it still counts) and when said former-fiancé-now-girlfriend forgives him, he has the nerve to sell her ring and use it to fund his year of being an annoyance. Season seven is the one that I now skip on my rewatches cause it’s just painful to watch his drifting that is framed as whimsical.

She did end up marrying the first idiot she met

Donna is essentially a victim by association. I understand the writers thought they needed to keep the group in the same town and therefore they couldn’t actually send her away. Plus I’m sure there were some logistics with that cause Laura Prepon was still a main cast member.

Story-wise though, it is once again quite heartbreaking to watch Donna put her dreams on hold for a man who couldn’t even properly commit to her (yes, she had doubts too but if he actually talked to her about things I’m certain this could’ve been avoided). Said man then refused to properly define their mess of relationship while still expecting to be treated like a long-term partner. She’s then reduced to waiting around for said partner in a town she couldn’t wait to leave, only for him to dump her long distance. Honestly, love or not, at the point if I were Donna, I never would’ve taken him back.

Mrs Jackie Hyde that wasn’t meant to be

Honestly, Jackie and Hyde’s relationship has been discussed to death but is still a whole other meta in itself. Jackie has always wanted commitment for various reasons, some more shallow than others and Hyde has always struggled to give it to her. While it’s quite understandable why and season six seems to kind of wrap it up by stating that they will get married someday, season seven completely blows it out of the water. Hyde acts like a dick and goes back on his stance by refusing to give her an outright answer to her question.

Sure, Jackie is persistent and they are quite young but it’s not like she asked for him to do it now, she just wanted to know that was where they were headed, which is a valid argument for couples. One should consider that back in those times, it was still a societal expectation as well and deep down, Jackie was quite conventional. The back and forth that goes on in the season is just crappy writing at this point and has been discussed in detail but facts are facts – yet another character of the show is ruined just cause the writers were too afraid to let the conflicts develop organically and wanted to maintain the status quo.

The show didn’t want her to be great on her own

Speaking of Jackie, I feel like the writers just set her up to fail, in a similar way they did Donna, only with a touch of sexism. When Jackie dumps Hyde due to his inability to commit to their future, she at first has a bit of an existential crisis trying to make him jealous. When this fails, she decides her time is worth more and hosts a local TV cable show. This is actually framed as her finding her own strength and even stilts her reunion with Hyde (as he decides to let her thrive instead of telling her he still loves her).

All in all, it seems the season sets up a good arc for Jackie to discover herself outside of her relationships and even as her and Hyde get back together, she is quick to give him an ultimatum that either they have a clear path or she is going away to Chicago after graduation. So what happened? Why did the writers think the best cliffhanger for her character was for Hyde to discover that she sought out comfort sex with Kelso after she thought they broke up once again? Why this character regression? Jackie got completely reduced to her romances and though I stand by what I said about season eight, I know her character gets screwed over the most out of all and that’s saying something.

So much for doing the right thing

It’s safe to say Kelso had some proper character growth during season six. Ironically, his one night stand with Brooke resulted in the first time in his life he genuinely wanted to be held accountable for his actions. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, this is all but forgotten in season seven, with only a couple of episodes referencing Becky.

Although Kelso and Brooke never got into an actual relationship and he agreed that her moving in with her mother was for the best (in what could be argued one of his few genuinely decent moments in the show), it’s disheartening to watch him immediately regress into his playboy ways the minute Brooke’s no longer around. Him and Jackie being pushed back together is just the icing on the unpleasantness cake.

From a subversion to a stereotype

Red and Kitty started the show out as a nice subversion to the resentful marriage stereotype as they genuinely enjoy spending time together and can’t keep their hands off each other. Throughout the seasons though, Red’s infatuation with his wife seems to fade, evidence by his crush on Jackie’s mother Pam, as well as him ditching Kitty on a car show and taking photos with Playboy bunny-esque girls. It’s quite sad considering it goes against everything Red’s character stands for while Kitty in return becomes the nagging shrill wife image that is over-presented on other TV shows. Yet another travesty of what used to be quality writing.

Conclusion

That 70s Show is undoubtedly a classic regardless of a less-than-stellar finish. Although a lot of enjoyment coming from this show is now ironically derived from nostalgia. Can we remembering the highs of something and enjoy them for what they are or are the lows too much? All in all, when the show was good, it represented the innocence of your teenage years all too well and should one wish to isolate those storylines, it still holds up as that step before adulthood. It’s the afterwards that disappoints. Then again, adult life is not as it’s cracked up to be, am I right?