That ‘70s Show has been off-air for thirteen years now, but it continues to remain relevant to this day. The show was intentionally outdated even when it first came out in 1998 seeing as its setting was two decades before the real-world timeline. This makes it somewhat of a timeless series as we’re about to enter the 2020s soon and That ‘70s Show remains relevant. Part of the reason for its surge in popularity in recent years has been due to the successes of the show’s then-young stars. Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis’ marriage in 2015 also contributed to heightened interest as to where they had their origins.
There’s no denying, though, that the show is quite old by this point. Someone who was born when it premiered is now of legal age, so you can make out just how long ago that was. This gap in its airing has meant That ‘70s Show has had a lot of misconceptions about it. It’s understandable too seeing that the internet is broad now that some outlets will differ from what another has to say, so you don’t really know what to believe. But there are some aspects that are absolutely certain and these are the points we’re bringing here.
If you have any doubts over these points of the show, you’ll find some much needed clarity over them. These points are surprisingly widely mistaken about the show, so pretty much anyone can relate to them and have their queries rectified.
Here are 20 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About That '70s Show.
That Eric Was A Good Kid
Of all the characters from That ‘70s Show, Eric was the one singled out for being the “good guy” of the group. For the most part, he was; however, if you consider how a normal teenager is supposed to be, Eric was nothing like a good kid.
He regularly defied house rules, disrespected his father, engaged in adult relations when he wasn’t supposed to, would engage in “the stash” with his friends, and would get intoxicated. None of these things are what good kids do, so Eric was hardly the model teenager. Then again, he wasn’t nearly bad as Hyde, Fez, and Kelso, so his “good guy” tag is justified in that sense.
That The Actors Were The Same Age As Their Characters
The actors didn’t seem as old as their characters if you were to think about. However, most people didn’t think about it at all and assumed the characters were supposed to be the same age as the actors portraying them.
This was far from the case as none of their ages aligned. For starters, Hyde was supposed to be 16-17 when the show began, but his actor was already 22 by that point; Hyde never reached 22 in the entirety of the show’s chronology! The same went for every other actor who were older than their characters (except for the one in the next point) and these actors far exceeded the ages by the end of the series.
That Mila Kunis Was Of Age When She Started The Show
And on the other end, we have Mila Kunis who was far from the age she was supposed to be. While the ages of the characters were supposed to be lower than 18, the actors were supposed to be at least that age. Mila, however, was nowhere near 18 and was only 14-years-old when she auditioned.
Jackie was around 16 when the show began, which made her two years older than Mila. By the end of the show, Mila was still only 22-years-old, although she did overtake Jackie’s age by a few good years by then. Even today, Mila is a few years shy of turning 40.
That Ashton And Mila Fell In Love During Filming
Contrary to the popular belief around today due to the actors becoming involved and marrying, Mila and Ashton were never an item while they were on That ‘70s Show. They were only cast-mates at the time and had a relationship just like every other member on the show.
In fact, by the time the show ended, Ashton had already married Demi Moore, while Mila was involved with Home Alone actor Macaulay Culkin for eight years from 2002 to 2010. As fate would have it, they would begin seeing each other almost a decade after the series had ended.
That Topher Grace Fought With Ashton Kutcher
People like making stuff up when they have no knowledge of what’s going on. This is why there were stirring rumors in 2005 when both Aston Kutcher and Topher Grace exited the show at the same time. The decisions had seemingly come out of the blue and the two only shared one scene together in the finale.
However, there were no fights between Ashton and Topher in real life as Topher himself quashed this rumor in an episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen when he displayed surprise over being questioned if he was ever involved in an altercation with Ashton. Topher very curtly shot the rumor down.
That The Cast Dated
As mentioned before, Mila and Ashton are popularly thought to have been involved during the show’s run due to them ending up together, but this wasn’t the only rumor. There were whispers that maybe all the cast may have been involved at some point.
This isn’t the case either as Topher also shot that idea down in the same interview with Andy Cohen, justifying very clearly that “the show was mostly guys”. This is an understandable reason seeing that most of the cast was male. The air around the set would hardly have been a romantic one. Since we’ve never heard to the contrary, Topher’s claim stands.
That Fez Is His Name
A lot of the people who become fans of That ‘70s Show are those who come across it on random while flipping through channels or watching clips on YouTube. This is why many confuse the fact that Fez isn’t his actual name.
Then again, perhaps the show wanted it this way as it never made an attempt to tell us what his real name was. In a few instances, whenever Fez would be close to revealing it, he would get interrupted. In a flashback episode, we were shown Fez saying it out loud but was drowned out by the school bell ringing.
That Fez Is Spelled "Fes"
This is an understandable mistake in the part of fans seeing that the full-form of Fez is "Foreign Exchange Student," but that isn’t how it’s spelled. This mistake is so prevalent that we’ve had people accuse us in the comments of previous articles for our oversight; yet, the actual spelling is written with a ‘Z’ not an ‘S’.
This spelling is used in all media for That ‘70s Show and this has been the case for over twenty years since the show began. It won’t take you long to attest this claim as just typing out Fez’s name in a Google search will reveal how his name is spelled.
That The Show Wasn't Mainstream Popular
The series never got any love from major award outlets like the Primetime Emmy Awards or the Golden Globe Awards, which is why it is seen as a show mainly for the younger fanbase. That ‘70s Show did get nominated and win a number of Teen Choice awards which does contribute to the idea that it wasn’t mainstream popular though.
That’s just not the case, though, as a large variety of big names did show up on the series itself. Some names include The Rock, Amy Adams, Bruce Willis, Luke Wilson, Brooke Shields, and Alyson Hannigan. These actors all brought in further ratings and exposure for the show.
That Topher Grace Left Because Of Disputes
If you follow these stars on Instagram, you’ll notice that Topher Grace is mostly missing from pictures of their hangouts, which contributes to the idea he might not be very close to them. These rumors began from his departure in Season 7 as it was seen to be very abrupt.
In actuality, Topher left to film Spider-Man 3; you know, the film almost everyone hated. Topher, a fan of the character, played the first live-action incarnation of the super-villain Venom in that film. While his portrayal has been unanimously slammed, Topher took a shot at it and that required him to step away from being Eric Forman.
That Ashton Kutcher Also Left Because Of Disputes
It would put things into great context if we list the number of films Ashton Kutcher appeared in after he left the show. These would be Guess Who, A Lot like Love, Bobby, The Guardian, and Open Season.
Anyone cluttered with a schedule like that would naturally need to let something go away, and Ashton decided to call time on being Kelso. Around that time, Ashton was one of the hottest actors for commercial value and had delivered a number of films while being on the show as well. He ultimately chose to go with his movie career, although did return for a handful of episodes for the eighth season.
That Fez And Jackie Got Together Out Of The Blue
When the show ended, the final couple we got were Fez and Jackie, and these two are now considered canonically to have been together with no breakups in the future. However, most people dislike this coupling with a passion as the consensus is that Hyde and Jackie were best for each other.
People point out how the Fez and Jackie couple came out of the blue in the last season; this isn’t the case, though. If you look back, you’ll recall Fez had been in love with Jackie right from the beginning of the show. In earlier seasons, he made this very clear but had no chance with her. By the end, he finally had her.
That Randy Was Eric's Original Replacement
At the time, Randy may have been a disliked character, but he’s really not bad if you don’t take his sudden arrival so seriously. Regardless, Randy was never supposed to be in the show according to original plans. A character called Charlie appeared in the last four episodes of the seventh season, only to be written off in the Season 8 premiere.
This happened because the actor decided to be the lead star in a show called In the Loop and opted out of That ‘70s Show. Had that not happened, we might have had a very different eighth season instead.
That Mila Kunis Had Boyfriends Before The Show
Since people love indulging in actors’ personal lives, the fact that Mila Kunis seemed to be single was something young fans couldn’t digest. At the time the show was new, Mila was a reason why boys tuned in, but most were surprised when she revealed she had never had a boyfriend when she started the show.
In fact, it was Ashton Kutcher himself who was her first kiss – regardless of real life or reel life. Since Mila was only 14-15 when she started, this is understandable, but things seem poetic now that they are married and have children. The point here, though, is that Mila was absolutely single when the show started.
That The Actors Were Actually From Wisconsin
The most famous uttering from the show is Kelso shouting “Hello, Wisconsin!” at the end of the intro. It wasn’t just something thrown out there either as the show very much made use of its Wisconsin setting.
Part of the reason why Eric was so through with his life was because he was sick of Wisconsin; he would go to Africa just so he could escape life there. The truth of the matter, though, is that none of the actors actually are from Wisconsin. In reality, it is only Kurtwood Smith – the actor who played Red Forman – who is from the state.
Thinking That ‘70s Show Was The Original Name
The name of a show can make or break it. That ‘70s Show had a not-so-spectacular title, but it was strong enough to indicate what the show was all about, so it worked well. When it was still production, though, a number of names were floated around.
Mostly, the creators wanted to name it after a number of songs from the 1970s; the names included were Teenage Wasteland, The Kids Are Alright, Feelin’ All Right, and Reeling in the Years. All of these names do line up well when you consider what That ‘70s Show was all about, but you have to agree they don’t have the same ring to it.
That Episode Titles After Season 5 Meant Something
If you look at the titles of the episodes from Season 1 to Season 4, you’ll see they are pretty straightforward and have to do with the main story in that particular episode. Starting from Season 5, these titles were completely revamped and had nothing to do with anything.
They seem to be very vague and just named that way for the sake of it, which is almost the reason. What really happened was that the show decided to stick closer to its 1970s theme and decide to name every episode from then on after a popular song from that decade. The names didn’t have any particular meaning with the episode’s events.
That It Was A Single Continuity
The show had taken off in popularity for the young fanbase to the point where it became an international phenomenon. This came in the form of a UK version, full with having the exact same named characters – only set in England – with pretty much an identical story.
However, this show wasn’t known as That ‘70s Show UK or anything like that, but was titled Days Like These instead. No one knows if there was ever going to be a crossover (which would’ve been weird seeing that the characters were supposed to be the same) and we’ll never know either.
That There Were No Spin-Offs
You might recognize a couple faces from the picture above, and these are people who went on to find success in other shows. One of them is the father from Dexter and another happens to have played Lexie Grey in Grey’s Anatomy.
Back then, these cast members formed part of a show called That ‘80s Show. The series was commissioned to cash in on the success of That ‘70s Show; not a bad idea seeing that had the concept taken off we’d have had That ‘90s Show and so on, potentially. As things happened, the show never took off in popularity and That ‘80s Show is barely known to anyone.
That The Chronology Was Eight Years
The biggest misconception to come from the show is this one. Considering the show ran for eight years, it’s easy to assume that was the case in chronology as well, especially seeing that there was a Christmas special in every season too.
And yet, that’s not true as the show actually showed the events from 1976 to 1979. That clocks up to only three years, and reduces further due to the first season jumping from 1976 to 1977 fairly quickly. This means all the action we saw happen on the show only happened within a couple years, which at least explains why there wasn’t as much character development.