The success of That 70s Show made it one of the biggest sitcoms of the late 90s and early 2000s. It was set in the 70s and focused on a group of friends that didn’t mind making fun of each other, especially since the characters all had different personalities with a few common interests who bonded well together. Some of the characters were clearly smarter than others in the storylines.
Today, we will attempt to rank the ten main characters based on their intelligence. The ones that typically grasped common sense and showed their insight will be ranked highly. Unfortunately, not everyone had that level of intelligence. Find out just how the characters compared to each other using their minds. These are the top ten characters from That 70s Show ranked by their intelligence, from dumbest to smartest.
Michael Kelso
Ashton Kutcher’s portrayal of Michael Kelso on That 70s Show was one of the most entertaining part of the series. Kelso provided great entertainment, but he clearly wasn’t known for having the most intelligence of the group.
The others would often prank Kelso by manipulating him into doing silly things or would just make fun of him for his lack of wits. Fans of Kelso would even admit his stupidity was what makes him amusing to viewers. Kelso was the least intelligent of the group.
Leo
The stoner character of Leo became a regular due to his bond with Hyde. Tommy Chong played the character to perfection. Leo was one of the kinder souls on the show and had his fair share of good moments, but he was rarely ever intelligent.
Others had to talk down for Leo to keep up with them. Many would argue we don’t know how intelligent he would have been otherwise if he was not high all the time, but that was part of his identity. Leo wasn’t the one that would help the group study or find challenging situations.
Jackie Burkhart
The role of Jackie Burkhart helped make Mila Kunis a star in Hollywood with her big first run coming on That 70s Show. Jackie often refused to care about her grades or other meaningful things due to putting her looks and popularity above everything else.
The character would spend the first few seasons dating Kelso. Despite being the smarter one in her relationship, Jackie wasn’t going to be the genius of the group. The ranking has her falling low due to using her intelligence for the worst rather than growing it.
Bob Pinciotti
Bob Pinciotti was the father of Donna and the neighbor of the Forman family. The intelligence of Bob declines from the first season and seemingly gets worse with each passing year. Bob’s divorce with Midge just causes him to continue showing his lack of common sense.
Red often tried to get out of spending time with Bob and the kids didn’t enjoy it either. The foolish comments and ability to fall into unappealing situations made Bob one of the weaker minds of the series. No one respected his intelligence (or the lack thereof) when interacting with him.
Kitty Forman
Kitty was the mother of the Forman family, and was Red's wife and Eric's mom. Debra Jo Rupp's portrayal made the character quite hilarious when interacting with the others. In terms of intelligence, Kitty could be placed in the middle tiers.
There is no debate here; she was smarter than the likes of Leo and Kelso, but she would fall below some of the other names at the top. Kitty often would try to keep the peace between Red and Eric, which may have been a dumb decision based on the results never matching her goals.
Fez
Wilmer Valderrama played the foreign exchange student Fez, who was trying to adapt to a new life in the United States with the strangest group of friends possible. Fez tried to hit on all the girls at school while finding his best friends in the Forman basement hangout.
Fez's intelligence was hit or miss throughout the series. Fez was intelligent enough to outsmart the group into doing things that he wanted on a few occasions. However, he would also end in terrible situations due to Hyde and Kelso fooling him.
Red Forman
Red Forman's stern style of parenting showed off his intelligence in the harshest way possible. He often laid down the law whenever Eric and his friends did something that got them in trouble. Unlike Kitty, it was very difficult for Eric to pull one over on Red.
His personality would see him have no mercy when telling off others for rubbing him the wrong. Red may not have been the smartest overall character in the series, but he clearly belongs on the intelligent side of the debate.
Eric Forman
Eric Forman, the lead character, was the main focus on the show throughout the first few seasons with everyone else breaking out as his friends and family. Eric was a mixed bag on the intelligence side like most of his peers, but his smarter moments stood out the most.
His one-liners and snarky jokes showed that he loved to use his intelligence in a manner that annoyed others. Eric was also the unofficial leader of the group that came up with their plans. The dumb moments of getting manipulated by the others and letting Red walk all over prevent him from the top spot.
Steven Hyde
Danny Masterson scored the role of his career when getting to play Steven Hyde on That 70s Show. In class, Hyde's grades were often terrible as he didn’t care about school in the slightest. However, that did not mean he lacked intelligence as he preferred to show it in other ways.
Hyde uses his wits to chase his passions like drinking and smoking in the basement and getting out of trouble with the law. Fans loved the dynamic of Hyde outsmarting Kelso and making him do the dumbest things possible as the master manipulator.
Donna Pinciotti
Donna Pinciotti's undeniable intelligence made her the smartest character on That 70s Show for most of the series. She cared about her grades and general future more than her peers in the early seasons. This started to change in the later seasons, but she was never considered dumb.
Donna always tried to stop the group from going through with the dumbest ideas and provided better options. None of the other characters had the consistency of showing off her intelligence from the start of the season until the end.