That 70′s Show: The Complete Second Season

The spring of 2006 was an important time. The war in Iraq raged on; New Orleans began to rebuild itself; an old man got shot in the face by an overzealous quail hunter. But more important than all of that: That '70s Show ended. The eight-season long fox sitcom that made stars of Ashton Kutcher and Topher Grace did not go out in any whirl of Will & Grace or Friends proportions, but instead slinked back rather quietly into that good night. And suddenly, mournfully, the adventures of the Formans, the Pinciottis, Jackie, Kelso, Hyde, and Fez were over.

I'm actually only being half-sarcastic. That '70s Show was always sort of the awkward crossroad of the sitcom world: not big enough to become a breakout hit but not small enough to get cancelled. Most people know it from frequent syndication but a lot less people frequently watched it. Ratings declined over its long run and reviews were never too hot, but many people don't realize that the show, in its prime, was actually quite good. The second season, out on DVD, is a fine example of this.

Plenty of touches are just right. The most obvious smart move, to me, is the inclusion of the parents as major characters. Overall, the show probably spends more time on main character Eric Forman's (Topher Grace) parents, Red and Kitty, than his friends. And they're brilliant: Kurtwood Smith as Red is your classic stick-up-the-butt war veteran dad, and Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty, a nurse and not-so-perfect mother.

Another smart move, and one that sets it apart from most other sitcoms: they're not afraid to make characters unlikable. I'm not talking about Eric's older sister Laurie (Lisa Robin Kelly), a mega-skank who's supposed to be the bane of Eric's existence. I'm talking about characters you're actually supposed to like, namely Ashton Kutcher's Kelso. Through most of the season he's cheating on his girlfriend Jackie (Mila Kunis) with Laurie, and the only thing stopping the audience from hating his guts is his hilariously mind-boggling stupidity. (I do have to hand it to Kutcher, though; Kelso is pretty much humiliated in every possible way in these twenty-six episodes, and Kutcher throws himself into the role every time.)

But then, the show's never been afraid to mess with the sitcom formula a bit. It's really refreshing that none of the actors look like models. Topher Grace really is awkward and skinny, and Laura Prepon as his girlfriend Donna really is tall and lanky and completely physically mismatched with him. The frequent fantasy sequences are often over-the-top cheesy, but "The Circle" is always good. If you've ever seen the show, you've seen it "” four people, usually Eric, Kelso, Hyde, and

Fez, sit on the floor smoking pot, and the camera, in the center of them, pans to each as they try to make sense of the world while high. Sometimes they talk about the plot, and sometimes they just say utterly random things "” usually in the same session. It's almost always a high point of the show. (Of course, being network TV, they can't actually show any marijuana, so it's kind of a fun side-game to watch how they try to fake it with smoke and the occasional lighter.)

As for the plotlines, a handful of milestones happen. Eric and Donna finally do the deed, Tommy Chong shows up as the manager at constant-stoner Hyde (Danny Masterson)’s new job, Jackie gets her first time in the Circle, and Laurie finally moves out"¦only to quickly move back in. The standout, in terms of plot development, was the inevitable episode where Jackie finally finds out that Kelso is cheating on her. Mila Kunis has an effortless charm that's understated to the point where you don't even realize you like her so much, but when you watch her break up with Kelso"¦it's not often that a sitcom can actually move you, and that episode really accomplished it.

While watching, it really surprised me how much I felt myself getting drawn into the characters. By the end of it, I loved all these guys. It amazed me how progressively funnier I found it each time Kitty laughed, or Red called someone a dumbass, or someone made fun of Laurie for being a slut. Or when Fez blurts out a hilarious non sequitur, or when Hyde effortlessly manipulates Kelso. I don't think there's a single weak point in the cast. It draws you in a lot more than you expect it to.

A handful of the standout episodes: "Kiss of Death", the aforementioned Jackie/Kelso breakup episode; "Cat Fight Club", in which Hyde tries to teach Jackie how to be "Zen"; "Afterglow", which deals with the aftermath of Eric and Donna having sex; and "Garage Sale", the season premiere, in which some of Hyde's "special" brownies accidentally end up in the hands of the parents.

Special Features:

An A for effort but slightly less for actual content. They go the extra mile here with commentaries on a few episodes and a talk with director David Trainer, which is all good. But the majority of the special features are handful of five-minute long "Webisodes", which each focus on a particular episode. They're snazzily-edited featurettes on behind-the-scenes action, but it's mostly a mishmash of 3-second clips of the actors walking back and forth to the stage. Sometimes funny, but mostly unnecessary.

DVD Grade: A-