I only started to watch That 70s Show after it had been on for several years.  I'm still not sure why I didn't start watching it sooner.  I really enjoyed the show once I did start watching it and I continue to enjoy it.  Earlier this year I picked up the seasons of the show on DVD and I just finished watching That 70s Show - Season 6.

While discussing things connected to That 70s Show - Season 6, I will be mentioning things that would be spoilers for people who haven't seen the first five seasons of the show.

That 70s Show aired for eight years on FOX and it still airs in syndication on various stations now.  The show is set in the fictional town of Point Place Wisconsin during the late 1970s.  Only four years pass over the course the show even though it aired for eight.  The sixth season began in 1978 before switching over to 1979.  There are several longer story arcs dealt with in each season even while some episodes can stand alone.  The longer story arcs will make more sense if the episodes are watched in order.

The main focus of That 70s Show is teenager Eric Forman, his friends, and family.  Some family issues connected to some of his friends do turn up, though they usually don't receive as much attention as what is going on with Eric and his family.  Eric and his friends spend a lot of time hanging out in the basement, which is also the site of Hyde's room.  Some of every episodes takes place in the basement and several other rooms in the Forman house are shown as well.  The house is really the central location for the series.  Eric and his friends are frequently shown getting high in the basement.  When that is done, it usually isn't actually said what is going on, but it is very clear what is happening because of all the smoke and the goofy things they say.

The fifth season did end with a cliffhanger, something that has been done for several seasons of the show.  This one involved two things, Laurie announcing that she married Fez so he could stay in the country, and Red having a heart attack immediately after hearing the news.  Red is coming home from his hospital stay during the first episode of the sixth season.  Kitty is still very worried and she is fussing a lot about what he eats and things like that.  His checkups with the doctor and his ongoing stress do play a part in some of the episodes without taking over the focus of the season.  Red's health does impact other things since it ultimately causes Eric to decide not to move and start college, which eventually causes Donna to decide not to go to Madison as well.  Laurie and Fez's marriage does receive a bit more attention as the family tries to deal with the situation, including a visit from an INS agent.  After a certain point, when Fez gets his green card, the marriage just seems to be forgotten about.

The sixth season of That 70s Show deals a lot with Eric and Donna's ever changing relationship.  They had been planning to move to Madison to get an apartment together and start college.  That all changed when Red had his heart attack, though at first Eric was just delaying the move.  Once he really saw how hard Kitty was working, Eric decided that he is going to stay home to help the family out since Red still is not allowed to return to work.  Donna plans to go ahead and go to college in Madison, but she changes her mind at the last minute.  She ends up going to college in Point Place while Eric is working.  The two of them are still engaged, and as the season progresses, more wedding plans come up.  They do have some issues, like Eric still assuming that Donna would stay home with the children and not work, that they attempt to work through.  It is clear that they are in love, but things aren't smooth sailing for them.  The season ends in a way that mostly has closure, though there are some things left unanswered that carry into the seventh season.  There are developments for the other characters as well, though nothing that receives as much attention.  Something is shared about Hyde late in the season without it really being dealt with.

The sixth season of That 70s Show continues to use the same type of somewhat silly humor that has been used in the first five seasons of the show.  I think the humor still works very well for the show, though some people may find it too silly.  Kelso continues to crack me up the most with the goofy things he does.  He decides to become a cop, and some of what is shown connected to him being in the police academy is hilarious.  Fez also does several things that make me laugh.  Even though he is supposed to be trying to stay calm, Red still has some of his fits of anger and he threatens to stick his foot places that people wouldn't like.  Red's fits continue to be funny.  Eric is still obsessed with Star Wars and action figures, which comes up in various episodes.  Spider-Man is mentioned once or twice and at one point, it looks like Hyde has a Spider-Man pillow case.  Red, Donna, and Jackie all make remarks about Canada, some of which aren't exactly nice.  There are a few of the dream type sequences throughout the season that are entertaining and amusing.

Relationships play an important part in the sixth season of That 70s Show.  Hyde and Jackie start off being broken up before they make up.  They seem happy for the rest of the season, even when Jackie gets a bit bossy at times.  Fez is thrilled about being married to Laurie, but that quickly turns to anger when she goes off on the honeymoon with another guy.  Fez continues to call her names like the other guys even while wanting to stay married.  The main reason he wants to stay married is so he can stay in the country, but he also seems to get some sort of thrill out of being married to Laurie.  Kelso has finally moved on and stopped trying to get Jackie back.  Kelso even helps Jackie and Hyde get back together.  Kelso brags about having sex with Brooke, the librarian, but then he flips out when she tells him she is pregnant.  Once he stops freaking out, he starts trying to be more responsible for the baby while also still trying to get Brooke to have sex with him again.  Donna's dad Bob breaks up with Joann and then ends up involved with Pam, Jackie's mom.  Donna and Jackie are horrified by the relationship and try to break their parents up.  It is made clear that some of the characters are having sex, but there aren't any actual sex scenes.

Eric ends up going through a bit more maturing during the sixth season.  He has to face the realities of exactly how Red's heart attack have impacted the family.  He starts off just delaying moving before finally deciding that he needs to stay home to help.  Eric still loves Star Wars, comic books, and G.I. Joe, but he is showing more signs of growing up.  Topher Grace continues to do well with the part.  Donna also makes scarifies because of Red's heart attack and she ends up going to the community college.  She also shows some maturity.  I think Laura Prepon does well with the part.

Red ends up having to deal with the after effects of his heart attack for much of the sixth season.  He can't work, he is supposed to manage his stress, and eat better.  Red is not happy about any of those things, and he still has some of his anger fits, especially were Fez and Laurie's relationship is concerned.  Red does seem to look at Eric differently, but he doesn't really express his feelings.  Kurtwood Smith is wonderful in the part.  Kitty is mostly the same, though she is more stressed since she is trying to take care of the house and work extra shifts since Red can't work.  Kitty does continue to pamper Eric at times.  I really like Debra Jo Rupp in the part.  Laurie is around in a few episodes, mostly tied to her marriage to Fez.  Most of the time, if the marriage isn't playing a bigger role in an episode, then she is just missing.  Christina Moore took over the part of Laurie and did fine with the part.  The little dog that Red got Kitty during the fifth season is missing completely this season and not even mentioned.

Jackie continues to be mostly a vain, superficial person, but she has moments when she acts better and seems to actually care about others.  Mila Kunis fits the part well.  Jackie's mother Pam finally turns up after having gone off to Mexico for a while.  Pam is mostly just an older version of Jackie, superficial and just concerned about herself.  She also doesn't seem that bright.  Brooke Shields does well with the part.  Tanya Roberts turns up briefly late in the season as Midge.  Bob continues to be a bit of a dork, but he somehow ends up with Pam.  Don Stark is really good in the part.  

Hyde has really become like another member of the Forman family.  He tries to act cool about it, but he really does care for Kitty and even Red.  Hyde continues to come up with his conspiracy theories.  He does tend to come up with some odd ideas and then just sit back and let the others go.  Danny Masterson does really well with the part.  Fez ends up married to Laurie so he will be able to stay in the country.  He tries to get on Red's good side which doesn't work that well.  He remains obsessed with candy and keeps doing weird things.  Wilmer Valderrama does really well with the part.

Michael Kelso tries to become more mature and responsible once learning that he is going to be a father, but he remains a bumbling idiot for the most part.  Most of the time, his heart is in the right place, but things tend to go very wrong for him.  Kelso is a very entertaining character and I think Ashton Kutcher is great in the part.  Brooke is a librarian who is slightly older than Kelso.  She is very intelligent and tends to be more serious.  That didn't stop her from hooking up with Kelso one night, though she did try to deny it happened before she discovers that she is pregnant.  She doesn't have a lot of faith in Kelso at first, but she ends up giving him a chance.  Shannon Elizabeth is fine in the part.  Seth Green turns up in a few episodes as Mitch, a really annoying guy with a huge crush on Donna.

Main Cast

Topher Grace - Eric Forman
Mila Kunis - Jackie Burkhart
Ashton Kutcher - Michael Kelso
Danny Masterson - Steven Hyde
Christina Moore - Laurie Forman
Laura Prepon - Donna
Debra Jo Rupp - Kitty Forman
Kurtwood Smith - Red Forman
Don Stark - Bob
Wilmer Valderrama - Fez

DVD Information

The twenty five episodes of That 70s Show - Season 6 are on four discs.  There is the option to play all the episodes one after the other or to select them individually.  When they are selected one at a time, the option to watch the promo spots for the episodes is available as well.  There is commentary by David Trainor, a frequent director for the show, on a few episodes that I haven't listened to yet.  6 Minutes of Season 6 Featurette is just a lot of clips that show the highlights for the season.  A 70s Flashback: Debra Jo Rupp and A 70s Flashback: Kurtwood Smith feature the actors talking about their characters and their experience making the show.  Those two things are interesting.  

Episode List

The Kids Are Alright
Join Together
Magic Bus
The Acid Queen
I'm Free
We're Not Gonna Take It
Christmas
I'm A Boy
Young Man Blues
A Legal Matter
I Can See For Miles
Sally Simpson
Won't Get Fooled Again
Baby Don't You Do It
Who Are You
Man With Money
Happy Jack
Do you Think It's Alright?
Substitute
Squeeze Box
5:15
Sparks
My Wife
Going Mobile
The Seeker

That 70s Show is a wonderfully entertaining show that is very funny, though it won't appeal to everyone.  I didn't like a few of the episodes as much, but I enjoyed the season a lot overall.  That 70s Show - Season 6 is a great DVD set for fans of the show.

This review is part of elvisdo's 2009 Funny Pages Write Off because of the mention of Spider-Man.  It is also part of his 2009 Canadian Write Off because of the several references to Canada during the season.

That 70s Show - Season 1 ~ That 70s Show - Season 2 ~ That 70s Show - Season 3 ~ That 70s Show - Season 4 ~ That 70s Show - Season 5 ~ That 70s Show - Season 7 ~ That 70s Show - Season 8 ~

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD