Netflix Announces ‘That ’70s Show’ Spinoff ‘That ’90s Show’ With Kurtwood Smith & Debra Jo Rupp

The '90s are now the new '70s. And Netflix has made it official by ordering a new spin-off of the previously hit Fox sitcom That ’70s Show, to That ’90s Show. The period TV show told the story of six teenagers, Eric, Kelso, Jackie, Hyde, Donna, and Fez, living in Wisconsin through the hippie period and their struggles through the tumultuous phase of adolescence. The show gave us iconic characters and future superstars like Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher. Now a new generation of viewers is set to be entertained with the same antics of teenagers but in a different time period. 

The spin-off has been picked up for 10 episodes and Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, who played parents Red and Kitty Forman in the original series have been confirmed to be reprising their roles, as reported by Variety. The show will be set in 1995 and Leia Forman, daughter of Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna (Laura Prepon), is visiting her grandparents for the summer. Leia bonds with a new generation of kids at Point Place under the watchful eye of Kitty and the stern glare of Red. Sex, drugs, and rock ’n roll never die, it just changes clothes. There has been no mention of who will be playing Leia yet.

There has also been no indication if any of the other original cast members will be coming back for the spin-off. But there is a considerable expectation that they will be making guest appearances at least. Gregg Mettler, That '70s Show alum, will serve as showrunner. The creators of the original series, Bonnie Turner and Terry Turner, now joined by their daughter Lindsey Turner, are the writers for the spin-off as well as the executive producers. Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner under The Carsey-Werner Company are also executive producing the show along with Smith and Jo Rupp.

Netflix has always been keen on a spin-off for That '70s Show, considering how it managed to attract a huge viewership before it left the streaming platform in September last year. Talks for the spin-off as it stands now began at the end of 2020, reported Deadline. But this is not the first spin-off of the original show. After the massive success of That '70s Show, which ran for eight seasons, Fox came out with That ’80s Show. But it did not see the same success as its predecessor. The original characters were not connected to the premise of the show at all and it followed the lives of a group of friends in their 20s living in San Diego, California.

The show also got its own British spin-off called Days Like These which also did not match the success of That '70s Show. We will have to wait to see how That '90s Show fares.