I know it has been a while since I posted here.
I watched all three parts of That 90s Show on Netflix and watched all episodes of That 70s Show, I am rewatching it on Peacock. A lot of fans have compared That 90s Show to Girl Meets World, which had characters from the original show but focused more on the young characters. That 90s Show has also been called "Disney sitcom" in a disparaging way. Would make sense since Mace Coronel was in Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn, a Nickelodeon show. Here are a couple reasons why it is not working and a couple things that can make it a bit better, maybe it won't fix it all right but something.
Why it's not working:
1. Sex
Sex was not a casual thing in the first seasons of That 70s Show, it might have been later on. Eric and Donna's first time was a big deal in season two and many episodes dealt with "Will they or won't they?" And that anticipation made it authentic. It dealt with it how teenagers do. But in That 90's Show, Leia and Jay wanted sex, they just went with it. It was two episodes of anticipation and that was it. It could've been blamed on Netflix's episode count but it doesn't feel authentic. There are no stakes and no fallout.
2. Family Background
At least in the first seasons, we saw everyone's families, we met Fez' host parents, Jackie's father, and Hyde's mom, here we hear about Ozzie and Nikki's parents but we don't meet them or see family life. Knowing more about their family lives, we get to know them more about them. We only see home life for Gwen, Nate, and Leia We have seen Jay's parents and his sister Betsy. Kelso we never saw a lot of his family life in the original show, only his brother Casey.
3. Adversity
Eric had a real antagonist in Red, they tried having Red say his classic line a couple of times in That 90s Show but it is not the same dynamic with his granddaughter Leia. There is no real antagonist. They tried with Mitch being a boss to the girls but that lasted one episode.
The "gang"'s gender was outnumbered, there were more boys than girls and the first season felt more like boys versus girls. Many conversations were Hyde, Eric, Kelso, and Fez trying to figure out the female sex. The gang in That 90s Show is more even, even though the girls hang out and the boys hang out separately, there is rarely the boys not getting the girls and the girls not getting the boys. Part of the comedy was the misunderstanding of gender. They have Ozzie, who is gay, would be interesting for him to be in the middle of a disagreement and can speak to both sides. Now, I get that That 70's Show was made in the 90s-00s, and the characters spoke more like that era. And that 90's Show is now made in 2020's and they speak like us and the overall theme of gender is to accept everyone and not have machoism. But having gender wars doesn't mean there has to be machismo.
Ways to make it Better:
1. Split Screen
I am surprised That 90s Show hasn't tried this iconic style. Four characters, two characters in one location and another two in another, their conversations having a parallel. Some share lines and reactions.
2. PSAs-Film Strips
In the first season of That 70s Show, there were film strips tied into the episode, it would be interesting if there were PSAs from TV. One PSA from the 90s that is so iconic is penguins saying "Stay in School." There was an 80's PSA about drugs that had a father asking about his son with his drugs and the son would say "I learned from watching you," it would be cool if there was a parody of that with Eric and Leia or Donna and Leia.
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3. Have 90's References be Organic
People have been saying the 90's references have been forced, but they forget how many 70s references That 70's Show had, they name-dropped so many shows like Rich Man, Poor Man, Dynasty, Love Boat, Charlie's Angels, etc. But a lot of things felt organic like when they played Twister or Candyland. That 90's Show has had some clumsy references but also some weird ones like Leia's fantasy with Doug, which was organic, weird but great. They need more of that.
The 70's was the selfish era and the overall theme of That 70s Show was "me, me, me" and it was seen mostly in the characters of Midge and Bob. They were both selfish, Midge wanted to be a feminist and wanted more than just be a housewife. Bob just wanted a wife to cook and clean for him and be hot. Also, Kelso and Laurie were pretty selfish, only thinking of their own needs and not Jackie. The 90's overall feel was disillusionment and cynicism. The best example of this was Daria, the MTV show. Ozzie shows some disillusionment and cynicism but it is not the overall theme of That 90's Show. I am not saying everyone has to be cynical but to have a theme close to the 90's overall theme would be cool. Also, the original show That 70's Show had a focus on vehicles, Eric had his Vista Cruiser, Hyde had the El Camino Leo gave him and Kelso had 2 vans. Leia did get her license in That 90's Show and the Vista Cruiser does still exist, it would be interesting if they had a similar motif.
