The ’70s and ’90s may have more in common than we think, if the first trailer for Netflix’s sequel to That ’70s Show has anything to say about it.
A first-look teaser for That ’90s Show released Tuesday shows a younger, more diverse generation wreaking havoc in the fictional town of Point Place, Wisconsin—or more specifically, inside Kitty and Red Forman’s house. It’s the year 1995, and Kitty’s (Debra Jo Rupp) voice is as cheery as ever while a grungy take on the original Fox sitcom’s theme song plays. Meanwhile, Red (Kurtwood Smith) snarls at his visiting granddaughter Leia’s new friends and, once again, threatens to put his foot in every ass in sight.
Kitty and Red’s wallpapered kitchen is immediately recognizable to anyone who spent their formative years watching marathons of the original, save for a couple new appliances (hello, two-door fridge!) and repainted cabinets that reflect the new decade.
But the basement, as basements are wont to do, looks almost exactly the same as it did when we last saw it back on Jan. 1, 1980, when the original show’s story ended. It serves as the new group’s cozy hangout spot, and it’s still being hotboxed to death. Not much has changed in Point Place after all.
In fact, it’s so similar that Leia convinces her parents to let her stay in town for the summer. The restless teen is sick of hanging out with her dad, and she decides Point Place is the right place for her to get into some of her own hijinks.
In an interview with Variety about the making of the sequel, co-creators Bonnie and Terry Turner said they first considered making Leia (whose name is an ode to Eric’s obsession with Star Wars) Eric’s love child: the spawn of a hookup at a rock festival who shows up at Kitty and Red’s doorstep 15 years later. Netflix reportedly told them to rework the promises as “audiences just don’t warm up” to a surprise illegitimate child.
Alongside Rupp and Smith as her grandparents, the show stars Callie Haverda as Leia, the daughter of Eric Forman (Topher Grace) and Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), the central couple in That ’70s Show. Rounding out the cast of friends are Ashley Aufderheide as Kitty and Red’s rebellious teen neighbor Gwen, Maxwell Donovan as Gwen’s lovable brother Nate, Sam Morelos as Nate’s whip-smart girlfriend Nikki, Reyn Doi as the sarcastic Ozzie, and Mace Coronel as the charming Jay, according to a synopsis provided by Netflix.
Also returning are some of the original That ’70s Show cast members. In April, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that original stars Grace, Prepon, Mila Kunis (Jackie), Ashton Kutcher (Kelso), and Wilmer Valderrama (Fez) had finalized deals to appear on the sequel after “prolonged negotiations.”
Danny Masterson, who starred in the original show as the oft-quotable and sarcastic Steven Hyde, will not be back. Masterson is currently sitting trial after pleading not guilty to charges that he raped three women at his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003, while That ’70s Show was still on the air.
This marks the second time the franchise has been revived after the short-lived That ’80s Show, which premiered in 2002 and ran for 13 episodes.
That ’90s Show premieres on Netflix on Jan. 19, 2023.
