A wandering talent scout discovered him at a local bar called the Airliner in Iowa City and encouraged him to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition. Actress Lisa Robin Kelly portrayed Eric Foreman's big sister Laurie for the show's first five seasons, but her role was significantly lessened after Season 3. Cookies help us deliver our Services. Nowadays, Joseph Gordon-Levitt is something of a big screen powerhouse with flicks such asInception, The Dark Knight Rises, and Looper under his belt, but in the late '90s, he was still just a former child star whose biggest claim to fame was playing an ancient alien on 3rd Rock from the Sun. For Topher Grace it actually meant the start of everything to him, being that it was the kick start to his career that got him his lead role on That '70s Show. Tommy Chong, 84, returns as Leo, an aging hippy. Topher Grace, 44, played Red and Kitty's son Eric, who ended up with Donna. Perhaps not coincidentally, both celebs had previously starred in movies where that exact arrangement failed to work out (her in Friends with Benefits and him in No Strings Attached), but in this case, life imitated art and included a happy ending. Kurtwood Smith also based his character of Red Forman on a real person; his stepfather. Danny Masterson told Smashing Interviews Magazine; "They just pumped smoke. However, in the current climate, it seems as if you are presumed guilty the moment you are accused.". Kunis told TODAY in September that she was surprised Jackie ended up with her husband's character Michael instead of Jackie's other love interest, Fez (played by Wilmer Valderrama). In a chat with Smashing Interviews Magazine, Danny Masterson revealed that the smoke was actually a combination of flavor-scented artificial smoke from the props department and smoke from his, Ashton Kutcher, and Laura Prepon's cigarettes, held off-screen. Kelly died from a reporteddrug overdose in 2013 at age 43. They're kind of grown up but they did this for us too. We'll have lunch. Grace got a little luckier than just getting lunch, and instead got the role of a lifetime. Debuting on Fox on August 23, 1998,That '70s Showfollowed the Forman family, chiefly through the eyes of theirStar Wars-loving son Eric and his group of teenage friends. Leo is one of the shows most prominent fan favorite characters (as minor as he may be). So, if youre wondering why they seem to be in high school longer than usual, you just have to remember that each season doesnt represent a full year. In one of the thousands of tangential asides, he described telling a . However, Harrison earned a starring role on the Fox series "The Loop" right around the same time. More recently, Valderrama dated Demi Lovato. A fun fact to know about the smoke used in the shoots was that it was actually strawberry-scented movie smoke. Mila and I were contemplating it, Kutcher said. Due to censorship rules, the showing of smoking marijuana was not allowed on cable television. "It's actually ironic that the amount is $70," Chilton said. The camera needs to see all actors perfectly. Topher Grace was one such actor, having had absolutely zero professional acting experience before joining "That '70s Show." "['That '80s Show'] attempts to play off the decade's superficialities the teased hair, unstructured men's jackets, cocaine, sexual freedom's waning hours, Reagan's voodoo economics and the result is as conceptually thin as a new waver's tie," wrote Variety's Phil Gallo. Well played, Mila. Decidedly less common is seeing a British television reboot of an American series, with something getting lost in translation when the show crosses the Atlantic. All good things have to come to an end at some point, and for That 70s Show, the ending came at 11:59 P.M. on December 31st, 1979. In real life, Topher Grace himself left the show in order to play the role of the villain Eddie Brock or "Venom" in Spider-Man 3. Simply the Worlds Most Interesting Travel Site, 15 Things You Didn't Know About 'That '70s Show', Mila Kunis Lied About Her Age To Get The Role As Jackie, They Werent Allowed To Show Marijuana On Camera - So They Got Creative, Topher Grace Got Scouted At A High School Play, The Jackie/Hyde/Kelso Love Triangle Wasnt The Original Love Triangle, Mila Kunis' Height Caused Some Framing Issues, You Can Tell What Year It Is From The Opening Sequences License Plate, Leos Character Was Based Off His Real Life Actor Tommy Chong, Fez (Supposed To Be FES) Stands For 'Foreign Exchange Student', Jackie Is The Only One Who Calls Everyone By Their First Names, Some Of The Cast Members Were Not As Close As Their On-Screen Counterparts, Lisa Robin Kelly Suffered From A Substance Abuse Problem. Music plays a big part in the show, capturing the psychedelic rock-driven era, and Hydes ongoing praises of Led Zeppelin. In the later seasons of the show, all the episodes are titled after songs from bands that defined the musical style of the seventies. What do you get when you throw a bunch of teenagers from small-town Wisconsin into a dingy basement with nothing to entertain themselves but a TV and a bag of pot? Ashton Kutcher switched to a reoccurring guest role to slowly phase his character out - also to pursue his career further. When Eric confides his inner troubles to Buddy one night, Buddy leans over and kisses Eric, revealing that he's had a romantic interest in Eric since the beginning of their friendship. He said that being back on set was initially jarring. Brace yourself for some not-so-funny news. I was doing everything I could to look awesome," said Kutcher. With a growing collection of well-received shows, Fox no longer needed to depend on aging hits likeThat '70s Show. The actor struggled to . Why are we just finding this out now?! It's genius. Initially, the showrunnersconsidered recasting the role of Eric, but that idea was abandoned in favor of introducing an entirely new character:Randy Pearson, played by Josh Meyers, who quickly became Donna's new love interest with Eric out of the picture. Grace hasclaimed there's no bad blood between him and the rest of the cast, but he was not a part of thecast reunion on the set of The Ranch in 2016, and he did not attendKunis and Kutcher's wedding. In March 2006, Valderrama was a guest on Howard Stern's radio show (via theDaily Beast and ThoughtCo) and actually did what Stern always wants his guests to do: talk about sex. ", "That '70s Show" was among the most successful TV sitcoms of its day, raking in consistently strong ratings and doing critically well overall throughout its run, despite some shaky reception to the show's last season. More often than not, you'd probably end up with a lot of giggling and some crumbs between the cushions of your couch but you might also get a pretty decent sitcom. "That '80s Show" wasn't the only series that tried to horn in on the unique concept and success of "That '70s Show." They even made a direct reference to these ads in one episode. Over half were male and in their 60s and 70s. As the Los Angeles Police Department investigated the allegations, Netflex announced therelease dateof Season 4 ofThe Ranch,which stars Masterson and fellow '70s co-star Ashton Kutcher. When we meet them in Point Place, Wisconsin in 1976, the Forman family is headed by World War II and Korean War veteran Red Forman, along with his wife Kitty, who works as a nurse. Actress Laura Prepon, who plays Eric's long-time love interest on the show, echoed the kiss diss when she said on a radio show (via TMZ) that her Orange is the New Black co-star, Taylor Schilling, gave better lip service than Grace. Season five was "Led Zeppelin"; season six was "The Who," seven was "The Rolling Stones," and eight was "Queen.". In reality, Leo's temporary departure from the series was due to actor Tommy Chong's real-life arrest and court battles in the early 2000s. According to the cast policy of the show, all actors had to be 18 when they auditioned for their parts. It has never been confirmed or denied if there was actual tension or not between Grace and the other male actors, but the rumors were fueled when Grace left the show to pursue a film career. Even though he is Hydes boss, he doesnt really care much about running the business as opposed to his other hobbieslike smoking weed. It seems like a lot of the depictions of being very high are drawn from writers being very drunk. Valderrama spilled some very private details about the many famous women he claimed to have slept with. Shortly after that news broke (which coincided with the release of Karo's music video), Karo dropped the suit. (He said he was working on both occasions.) I lost everything and I was abusing alcohol," she said. The producers found their way around this by using a filming technique to shoot the characters in a circle to imitate the passing of the said blunt. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. After Eric Forman and Michael Kelso left Point Place, their friend group became a little less lively. This caused a huge shift in the dynamic of the show, due to Erics character being the focus of the show. Shortly before his breakthrough role in 10 Things I Hate About You, Gordon-Levitt appeared in a Season 1 episode of That '70s Show as Eric's pal, Buddy Morgan. The first season of the show features a modified cover version of the song performed by Todd Griffin, lead singer of the 1990s band Graveyard Train, with additional lyrics contributed by composer Ben Vaughn. Considering how much the showrunners strived for authenticity when it came to their 1970s settings, it's no surprise that the theme song played over the show's intro similarly originated from the '70s. But I didnt tell them when I was going to be 18!, One of the most well-known aspects of That '70s Show (along with the era of the seventies itself) was the reoccurring stoner circle scene (like the video above). Time and time again throughout the show, Fez offers only vague hints about where he's from and never outright reveals his official nationality. This is not to say Grace didn't keep busy between episodes of That '70s Show,particularly after 2004, the year the series concluded itssixth season. According toABC MediaNet, the network'sAmerican Idolheld both of the top spotsin the ratings that year, raking in over 30 million viewers for each Tuesday and Wednesday airing. He did come back during the eighth season as a regular cast mate, though. When lead actor Topher Grace announced he was leaving "That '70s Show" at the end of the series' seventh season, producers wondered how they were going to continue the show in the wake of Grace's departure. Its hard to imagine watching That '70s Show without constantly debating if you wanted Jackie with Kelso or Hyde. Grace only reappeared for the show's finale, and whilethat doesn't seem like a big deal, it's notable when onetakes into consideration Grace's absence from other show-related events. Fox wouldn't allow That '70s Show to directly show the use of marijuana on their network. Unfortunately, fans' reception to Randy's character was mixed at best, and Meyers was gradually given less prominent screen time as the season progressed. It was like some incense in the background.". The first season of the show took place in May of 1976 and premiered in 1998. One of the best examples of this throughout the show is the relationship between Eric and Donna. Chong consented to a plea bargain that spared his wife and son from prosecution. The stars were also relatively unknown at the time and the success of the show allowed them to break into the industry,becoming more famous and taking on other roles. That '70s Show provided us with one of the last batches of them: Kutcher and Kunis, along with Grace and Prepon, were obvious screen-stealing stars from the get-go. That love triangle really framed the show to have some crazy scenarios and wonderful tension, but it wasnt the love triangle the writers originally intended. That '70s Show is the perfect blend of awkward teenagers turning into adults, '70scounterculture, and sitcom humor. "Honestly, it's going to be in my family forever. This would help the show create some truly magnificent moments between them. The first season ofThat '70s Showdid relatively well, drawing over 11 million households. ", Rupp made appearances in other sitcoms, like "Friends" and "Seinfield.". He voicedthe title character on the Disney Channel'sHandy Mannyand spent years doing guest star roles before landing a greatgig on the extremely popular NCIS. Though they did well overall, Rotten Tomatoesaudience scores for the first seven seasons gradually declined as the show progressed. One of the biggest breakout characters of "That '70s Show" was the strict, surly, no-nonsense patriarch of the Forman household, Red. Obviously, the entire show takes place during the '70s, but it doesnt start the show in 1970 exactly. 1972/1973 Members First Generation: Eric Forman Steven Hyde Michael Kelso Fez Donna Pinciotti Jackie Burkhart Kitty Forman (kitchen) Red Forman (kitchen) Second Generation: Leia Forman Gwen Runck Jay Kelso Nate Runck Nikki Ozzie Visitors In January of 2014, Kunis was spotted wearing an engagement ring, and soon after in March of the same year, the couple announced they were pregnant with their first child. What fans might not know is that the allusions to '70s rock songs were originally planned to go even further. According to E! At the end of season seven, Topher Graces character (Eric) left Point Place, Wisconsin in efforts to get a fully paid tuition after completing a year of teaching in Africa. After this episode, Kelso was absent from the remainder of the season, only returning for the finale. In the early days of the show's production, the showrunners were going to call the series, "Teenage Wasteland," a reference to the lyrics of The Who's "Baba O'Riley" (viaThe Hollywood Reporter). The classic sitcom, which made stars out of previously unknown actors such as Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, Laura Prepon, and Mila Kunis, depicted the lives of teens (and then young adults) in the small town of Point Place, Wis. as they did timeless teen stuff like hanging out in a basement, driving around listening to Cheap Trick, trying to score beers, trying to score with each other, and feeling "all alright" in those notorious smoke circles. Showdid relatively well, drawing over 11 million households Eric, who ended up with Donna us... Use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a growing collection well-received... Prominent fan favorite characters ( as minor as he may be ) to the cast policy the. 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