That '70s Show: 4 Storylines To Undo On Netflix's That '90s Show

As we inch closer to the premiere of Netflix's That '90s Show, we can't help but wonder how much of the '70s will be remembered. (After all, those basement dwellers smoked a ton of pot.)

Will Donna still resent Eric for that year he spent in Africa? Will Jackie and Fez have lived happily ever after? And how likely is it that anyone — and we mean anyone — has kept in touch with Randy?

When Will & Grace returned to the airwaves in 2017, the original series finale was considered all but a dream. Neither Will nor Grace had ever had children of their own, and they certainly hadn't gone decades without speaking. And when Roseanne was revived the following year, not only did The Powers That Be jettison the entire final season (including the Conners' $108 million windfall), but also the existence of not one, but two offspring (we barely knew ye, Jerry and Andy!). Will That '70s Show's sequel series follow suit and ignore some of the mothership's most detested storylines?

As previously reported, That '90s Show picks up in 1995, with Eric and Donna's daughter Leia Forman (played by Shut Eye's Callie Haverda) visiting her grandparents (returning cast members Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp) in Point Place, Wis., where she comes of age with a new generation of kids "under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red," per the official logline.

Fellow OGs Topher Grace, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher are said to be in negotiations with Netflix and are fully expected to recur as Eric, Donna, Jackie and Kelso, respectively. With that in mind, we've taken the liberty of pinpointing a few late-in-run plot pivots that we suspect fans would happily accept being ignored...

We can believe that Eric had suddenly found his passion for teaching. We can even bring ourselves to believe that, presented with no other options, Eric would agree to a job in Africa in exchange for a college scholarship after Red spent his tuition money to keep the muffler shop afloat. What we can't bring ourselves to believe is that he would make the choice to leave Point Place without first discussing it with Donna. Topher Grace's own decision to depart the series tied the writers' hands, of course, but this particular exit strategy still leaves a bad taste in our mouths.

Look, whether or not Jackie and Hyde were the better match, the chances of reviving that relationship in the sequel series are slim to none due to... let's call them extenuating circumstances surrounding original cast member Danny Masterson. So in the revival, Jackie and Kelso will be endgame. They have to be. And assuming we don't see too much of Kutcher and Kunis — Fuller House, Girl Meets World and the new Saved by the Bell have taught us not to expect too much screen time for the legacy cast — we'd much prefer if Jackie and Kelso weren't bickering about Kelso's now-teenage daughter Betsy, especially since she's not part of Leia's previously revealed friend group.

Remember when Friends thought it would be a good idea to pair Rachel and Joey? Now imagine if they'd paired Rachel and Chandler. That's pretty much what That '70s Show did in Season 8. All out of options — Hyde was married to a stripper, and Kelso had moved away to be closer to his daughter — the Powers That Be chose to pair Jackie with Fez. Even Hyde in the series finale seemed to suggest that Fez was a last resort, with Jackie having already made her way through the non-Eric members of the friend group. (Side note: We adore Fez. He just wasn't right for Jackie.)

We needn't pile on Josh Meyers for his thankless portrayal of Point Place's very own Cousin Oliver. Randy was brought in to replace not one, but two beloved characters (Eric and Kelso) when Grace and Kutcher left the show. He could have given the greatest sitcom performance in history — Editor's note: he did not — and we still would have hated him. So let's just agree that his Season 8 addition was a fever dream. A really bad fever dream.

What was your least favorite That '70s Show storyline? And what are your hopes for the upcoming '90s-set spinoff? Let us know in Comments.