That ’90s Show: What We’ve Learned About Every That ’70s Show Character (So Far)
Curious about Netflix’s That ’90s Show, but not quite curious enough to watch it for yourself? That’s where we come in.
TVLine has binged every episode of the That ’70s Show sequel series, which centers on a new generation of Point Place basement dwellers, including Eric and Donna’s daughter Leia. The show brings back (almost) every major character from the original show — some just for cameos.
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Despite a lack of screen time, though, we do receive important life updates about the OGs. Not only do we find out what they’re up to in the mid-’90s, but in some cases, what happened to them between 1980 and now.
What follows is a spoiler-heavy, legacy character guide, breaking down everything we learned in Parts 1-3. We also include episode numbers should you want to check out specific appearances. Scroll down to find out what happened to everyone, then hit the comments with your reactions.
RED & KITTY FORMAN
Appear in every episode
Eric’s parents (played again by Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp) are living out their golden years in Point Place when a new group of teens — including Eric and Donna’s daughter Leia — swarm their basement. Kitty is thrilled to see history repeat itself. The same can’t be said for Red.
ERIC FORMAN
Part 1: Episode 1
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: N/A
Topher Grace’s Eric is husband to Donna and father to Leia. In Part 1, he is an adjunct professor in Chicago, where he teaches a course on the religion of Star Wars. The job, he says, comes with a permanent parking space… for his bicycle.
In the summer of 1996, Eric receives the offer of a lifetime: “He’ on his way to Skywalker Ranch to shadow George Lucas and write a book about the making of the new Star Wars movies,” Donna informs us. “It happened really fast. He got the call, packed his bag and said goodbye to me in Wookiee.”
And just like that, Eric is living in California, more than 2,000 miles from his wife and daughter.
DONNA PINCIOTTI
Part 1: Episodes 1, 5 & 10
Part 2: Episodes 1 & 2
Part 3: Episodes 2, 7 & 8
Laura Prepon’s Donna is wife to Eric and mother to Leia. She is also a published author. In the pilot, Red and Kitty mention that they read a review of their daughter-in-law’s latest book, the subject of which remains unknown.
In Part 3, after Eric packs his bags and heads to Skywalker Ranch, Donna announces that she will split her time between Chicago (where she works), Point Place (where Leia will remain for the school year) and California (where she will visit her husband).
FEZ
Part 1: Episodes 2, 3 & 10
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: N/A
Wilmer Valderrama’s Fez, a former shampoo boy, is now the proud owner of hair salon chain Chez Fez, where “every day is a good hair day.” In Part 1, we find him in an on-again/off-again relationship with Red and Kitty’s next-door neighbor Sherri, who just so happens to live in the old Pinciotti house with her two kids, Gwen and Nate.
JACKIE BURKHART
Part 1: Episode 1
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: N/A
After cheating on Fez with Kelso (boo!), Mila Kunis’ Jackie marries Kelso, then divorces him. Then marries him again. Then divorces him again. In the pilot, the exes make a pitstop at the Forman residence on their way to get married for a third time. Together they have a son, Leia’s boyfriend Jay.
We do not learn what Jackie does for a living (if she works at all).
MICHAEL KELSO
Part 1: Episode 1
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: N/A
Ashton Kutcher’s Kelso is occasionally married to Jackie. We do not learn what he does for work — in That ’70s Show Season 8, he moved to Chicago to work security at the Playboy Club — nor does Part 1 reveal if he has maintained a relationship with his daughter Betsy.
Betsy surfaces in Part 3 and reveals that, between Kelso and Jackie’s first divorce and second marriage… or between their second divorce and third marriage — the details are still a bit fuzzy — Kelso got back together with Betsy’s mom Brooke.
BOB PINCIOTTI
Part 1: Episode 6
Part 2: Episodes 1, 2, 4, 5 & 8
Part 3: Episodes 1, 6 & 7
“Hey there, hi there, ho there!” Don Stark’s alter ego is still rocking a perm when he returns to Point Place after more than a decade, to mark granddaughter Leia’s 15th birthday in Part 1. He brings with him a sack of oranges — you know, just to remind viewers that he moved to Florida following ’70s‘ series finale.
In Part 2, Donna convinces her dad to move back to Point Place to keep a lonesome Red company. And now it’s like he never left.
LEO
Part 1: Episodes 2 & 9
Part 2: Episode 8
Part 3: N/A
Tommy Chong’s beloved stoner hasn’t changed a bit, man! But he has developed a love for MTV’s The Real World — and in Episode 2, Leia gets her hands on Leo’s Real World audition tape.
In Part 2, Leo retires from the “family business” (aka selling pot out of his home) and his never-before-seen son (played by Kevin Smith) takes over.
FENTON
Part 1: Episode 10
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: Episode 8
Before he was Dean Pelton, Community‘s Jim Rash was Fez’s arch-nemesis. In 1995, Fenton is the owner of the old Pinciotti house (which he rents out to Sherri), along with three other homes, one duplex and a Dippin’ Dots.
But in Part 3, we learn that Fenton is no longer a slumlord. He currently works a nearby pawn shop.
MITCH MILLER
Part 1: N/A
Part 2: Episode 3
Part 3: Episode 7
Seth Green’s Mitch is still obsessed with Donna. Only now he has a mustache. And manages a Hot Topic. And oversees a local men’s support group.
EARL ARTHUR
Part 1: N/A
Part 2: N/A
Part 3: Episode 7
Red’s slacker colleague (played again by Bob Clendenin) is a member of Mitch’s support group. We learn that each of the last three houses that he’s lived in have burned down — and that he’s probably responsible for all three fires.
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