{"id":3227,"date":"2016-03-03T14:32:46","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T09:02:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=3227"},"modified":"2016-03-03T14:32:46","modified_gmt":"2016-03-03T09:02:46","slug":"that-70s-show-21st-anniversary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=3227","title":{"rendered":"Why \u201990s Kids Love That \u201970s Show"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A<\/span><\/p><\/div>

t a time, when TV was rife with shows about friendship, love, and dating for older audiences, Indian teenagers were in a spot \u2013 their favourite <\/span>characters <\/span><\/a>were invariably aged between their late 20s and 30s. At 14, in between multiple reruns of <\/span>F.R.I.E.N.D.S. <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>Two and a Half Men<\/span><\/i>, I yearned for characters who would articulate adolescent dreams, ambitions, and rebellion. <\/span>\n\nIt was then that I stumbled upon <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i>. The show depicted post-war \u201970s life in a middle-class neighbourhood in Wisconsin and revolved around the troublesome shenanigans of six impudent teenagers. There\u2019s gawky Eric Forman, pretty-boy knucklehead Michael Kelso, burnout Steven Hyde (who\u2019s actually a softie), no-nonsense Donna Pinciotti, self-absorbed rich girl Jackie Burkhart, and Fez, the foreign exchange student. These proud badge-holders of the \u201cbasement-blazers club\u201d were often found in the throes of adolescence, taking baby steps into the real world, and standing up to their <\/span>parents<\/span><\/a>. I mean, they could\u2019ve easily been my friends.<\/span>\n\nIn the iconic opening of <\/span>That \u201970s Show, <\/span><\/i>we witness classic teenage behaviour. Hyde, slyly coerces Eric into stealing <\/span>beers <\/span><\/a>from the living room where his parents are throwing a party for their friends. Confused between disobeying his parents and winning over his friends, Eric does what we\u2019ve all done with the liquor cabinets of our parents \u2014 sneak some for the gang. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s moments like these that drew me and countless others to the show. Like an essay in <\/span>AV\/TV Club <\/span><\/a>put it, \u201c<\/span>That \u201970s Show <\/span><\/i>is about the smaller stuff, the truly memorable moments of adolescence unseen in the history books.\u201d Over eight seasons and 200 episodes, the show opened up a world of <\/span>coming-of-age moments for its audience. It showed us how truly awkward it is to have sex for the first time or to say those three words to your significant other. It shed a light on the struggles of being attracted to a friend and wanting the validation of our parents without wanting to earn it.<\/span>\n\nIt didn\u2019t just focus on sanitised teenage experiences. Like Eric\u2019s gang in <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i>, even we\u2019ve thrown parties while almost burning the house down and hidden our \u201cstash\u201d hoping that our <\/span>parents <\/span><\/a>wouldn\u2019t find it. We\u2019ve sneakily driven our cars out of town without anybody knowing and much like Eric\u2019s gang, we\u2019ve unfailingly gathered at the same spot every day to horse around, blaze a fatty, throw a \u201cBURN!\u201d at each other, and just made the most of this carefree phase. <\/span>\n\n

Throughout the show, Eric\u2019s father, the hardass Red Forman is convinced that his son is useless and wastes no opportunity to deride him.<\/p><\/blockquote> \n\nNaturally, there a lot of things <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i> gets right: It\u2019s peak ensemble TV, has great laugh-out-loud one-liners like Hyde\u2019s \u201cI don\u2019t like people. I like rock and roll, sex, and pizza in that order\u201d and is one of the rare shows that beautifully employs classic <\/span>rock <\/span><\/a>music to propel its plot forward. But the best part of the show is how accurately it translates the Indian teenage experience, despite being an American sitcom. <\/span>\n\nTake for instance the fact that the show managed to find a way to depict universal adolescent boredom: In most of the episodes, the gang just hangs out at Eric\u2019s basement for hours and sometimes, ends up doing nothing. Just the fact that they were together seemed to be enough. It was how most of us felt as <\/span>teenagers <\/span><\/a>back in the day. Come to think of it, the basement in <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i>, represented a sort of safe space for countless teenagers, who lived with their parents and had very little privacy. <\/span>\n\nOne of the most popular rituals of <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i> is \u201cThe Circle\u201d in Eric\u2019s basement. In it, the whole gang rolls joints, blows smoke, and discusses mind-boggling ideas seated in a circle. It was this circle that all of us would ape when we started lighting up. <\/span>\n\nBut what stood out for me was how the show delved deep into the difficulties of teenagers who were striving hard to live up to their parents\u2019 expectations. Throughout the show, Eric\u2019s father, the hardass Red Forman is convinced that his son is useless and wastes no opportunity to deride him. Like most of our parents, he wasn\u2019t the kind of father who could be easily won over. But during the end of the seventh season, we see Red and Eric bond before he leaves for Africa. When Eric bids his <\/span>father <\/span><\/a>goodbye, Red shows his parental affection by proudly handing Eric his father\u2019s army knife. He also tells him to not bother coming back if he misplaces it, in true Red fashion. But at a time when I shared a rocky relationship with my parents, this golden moment comforted me when I was sure that they\u2019d never take me seriously.<\/span>\n\nAs we celebrate the 21st anniversary of <\/span>That 70\u2019s show<\/span><\/i> this week, I can say one thing: It continues to make me laugh just as hard as it did back when I was 14. Today, as I watch the same episodes as an adult, I realise that I have outgrown my favourite gang but I\u2019m certain that it will manage to have the same effect on teenagers today. For <\/span>That \u201970s Show<\/span><\/i> hits that sweet spot between adulting and adolescence. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a sea of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Two and a Half Men, That \u201970s Show depicted universal adolescent boredom. The basement in the series represented a sort of safe space for countless teenagers like me, who lived with their parents and had very little privacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":205,"featured_media":3228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[82],"tags":[6282,6283,6062,6284,6285,6286,6287,6288,6289,3446,6290,6291],"class_list":["post-3227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-culture","tag-21st-anniversary","tag-american-sitcoms","tag-donna","tag-eric-forman","tag-hyde","tag-jackie","tag-kelso","tag-point-place","tag-red-forman","tag-television","tag-that-70s-show","tag-wisconsin"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy \u201990s Kids Love That \u201970s Show<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a sea of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Two and a Half Men, That \u201970s Show depicted universal adolescent boredom. 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