That 90’s Show has premiered on Netflix. As a fan of the predecessor “That 70s Show”, I’m not impressed.
I love That 70s Show.
It’s a television classic! Since the reboot release of That 90s show on Netflix, the original show has been back in the limelight. The cast of That 70s Show felt like a real family and it the viewers felt like they were a part of it. The messy teen friend group were mischievous and did reckless things while always feeling like real people.
Nobody is perfect; That is what the characters taught us. Despite each episode being themed with cliché ideals, they were still relatable and reliable.
The last season was terrible, but that is besides the point.
I watched the reboot and, honestly, I was disappointed. The reboot felt like a PG Disney show.
In terms of the positives, it did feel nostalgic to see the old cast and the old sets. The little details in setting, old inside jokes, and costume design kept me watching each episode. Despite this, the actual content beyond that consistently kept my eyes rolling.
Obviously, I turned it off immediately after it was over and put on That 70s Show instead. I’m immediately soothed as I nostalgically relive the episode where the gang goes ice fishing.
It’s beyond cold, Jackie is unprepared, and Kelso can’t control the weather.
I had watched 8 seasons of the group creating and fixing their problems. I was invested in this show, and, in retrospect, subconsciously weirdly attached to the actors.
Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis started a family in real life, made tons of movies, and are active advocates for numerous causes. I watched in awe as Topher Grace portrayed Eddie Brock in Spiderman 3. Laura Prepon made headlines for her work on “Orange is the New Black”.
That is where my praise stops for the cast.
Yes, I watched the actors say the lines that I too knew, and I started to count. One (Eric), two (Donna), three (Kelso), four (Jackie), five (Fez), and… there’s someone missing.
Danny Masterson played Steven Hyde. After the show ended he made the news often, in defense of multiple sexual assault claims made by former partners of the actor. Masterson is charged with three counts of rape by force or fear, which could mean up to 45 years in prison if convicted.
The alleged incident took place with three women between 2001 and 2003 in his home. When his status came to light, he was acting alongside Ashton Kutcher on “The Ranch”. His character was killed off in the show, and he was not featured or mentioned in “That 90s Show”,
I do not think that explanation by the producers or writers was necessary.
Wilmer Valderrama played Fez. Valderrama had numerous roles after the ending of “That 70s Show”, including the voice of Handy Manny. But he made his face well known in the tabloids for his dating profile. Wilmer Valderrama casually dated multiple very young women.
Publicly speaking about his relationships with Mandy Moore while she was 15, four years younger than he was at the time; Lindsey Lohan freshly turned 18 when she dated at the time 24 year old Valderrama. Demi Lovato expressed that she felt groomed by the actor in her song “29”. At the time of their relationship, she was 17 and he was 29. Even after these allegations and released statements from the women, Wilmer Valderrama was featured on “That 90s Show”, as local business owner, fabulous Fez.
I thought that was bold. I felt like the producers lacked morals while making the decision to surround young girl actresses with alleged abusers.
During the original show, the Formans college bound daughter, Laurie, was a recurring character. Laurie was played by Lisa Robin Kelly for the first handful of seasons of “That 70s Show”, but she decided to leave the show after some personal issues with drugs and mental health. She was immediately replaced by a new blonde actress, Christina Moore, without any acknowledgment in the script. The switching of actresses was never really spoken about or promoted.
Obviously, Danny Masterson and his character Hyde were not involved in the production of the reboot. Producers cannot give him that large of a platform after the allegations that were made against him. His name would tarnish the new growing Netflix show’s hype. Why are they not just as concerned about Valderrama and his actions? Furthermore, why not just replace the actors like they had Lisa Kelly?
Here’s the issue: producers and executives at Netflix acted quickly in order to rid Masterson of his connection with the show. In the case of Valderrama, though, they stayed the course.
Although Masterson did spend time in jail for his crimes, Valderrama did not. Regardless, do the producers take into consideration that they are exposing new child actors to possible predators? Are we, as viewers, going to ignore this decision?
I think that we live in a man’s world. Every system in every profession has a totem pole and women always seem to be at the bottom. Women replaced at the drop of a hat, but, excuses are made to keep men with multiple perverted allegations against them.
Being a women in any industry is accepting that people will try to step on you and take advantage of you so that a man can get his next paycheck.
Even though we, as women, should not have to fight to feel safe in a workplace, we will.
The world is a scary place. I think that Hollywood is more worried about money and ratings than it is about the morality of their casting. I think that when it comes to casting celebrities, their personal issues need to be taken into consideration. After all, why should we potentially put young actors in danger?
Looking back at the cast of “That 70s Show”, everything feels kind of haunted. Everything is being rebooted nowadays, but more and more franchises are being tackled by their actors, producers, directors, etc. being predators. Whether the new show is good or bad, the fact is that the cast of this show is too volatile to be redone at this moment (especially with the promotion centering around the actors from the original show).