That 70's Show

That 70's Show

Episode 8: Drive-In

Episode 9: Thanksgiving

By: Carlos Uribe

That 70's Show is a series about a group of teenagers growing up in the 70's. It aired from 1998 to 2006.

Spoilers Ahoy!

The episode “Drive-In” has a particular scene in the episode where they set Red and Kitty up at a bar. The camera slowly zooms out and forms the Nighthawks painting. This is a sense of experimentation that this first season had that the rest of the series would lack. The experiment is slightly ruined by having a guy point out that it looks familiar to the audience. It's rather unnecessary. If the viewer knows about the painting, they would instantly recognize it. If the viewer doesn't then it wouldn't matter. It could be argued that the experiment is actually improved by calling attention to it. The show pays homage to the painting at the scene and it gives a story to go with the painting. The story is simply: Kitty wants the relationship to be more spontaneous and Red tries his best to make her happy. It's a simply sit-com story that has been done before, but this episode sets itself apart by this one scene. It might not have to do much with the plot but it helps to distinguish it nonetheless. The story itself has some good jobs although the cop scene felt too unrealistic to be funny. The cop scene did have a nice misleading transition that led into it from the previous scene.

The episode featured a couple other stories. The first is the main one and is what gives the episode it's title: Drive-In. It has Eric and Donna going to a drive-in movie theater so that Eric can make out with her. He's given the idea by Kelso. Even though Eric doesn't want Kelso to go, Donna wants Jackie to come with them. This leads to some funny scenes but Eric and Donna to end up making out. The movie they see is the Omen, and the episode even features a random promotion of the movie to complement the plot. It's addition isn't necessary but it is a further sign of this episode experimenting with traditional form. The episode features a C-plot to give Fez and Hyde something to do. The two have to deal with Fez's parents after they decide that his KISS music is from the devil. There is a consistency with Fez: at first he doesn't seem concerned with the devil sounds the music makes but then he claims to be bothered by it in another scene. It would have been nice if that plot could have had more coherent narrative. The episode is good and it's funny enough to work, but what sets it aside is the stark experimenting that it was doing.

“Thanksgiving” is the first holiday episode of That 70's Show. It's set during the holiday of Thanksgiving (as if the title hadn't given that away). While there is a Thanksgiving celebration, it largely concentrates on Eric's relationship with Donna. Laura comes to visit the Forman home and she brings her hot college friend with her. The friend immediately hits on Eric and she ends up making out with him. The problem is twofold. The first is that Eric has a “thing” with Donna. The second is that Eric immediately feels guilty. Since Eric isn't capable of hiding things from her, this means that he tells Donna the first chance he gets. This leads to problems between the two of them but Eric is eventually able to get Donna to forgive him. The plot also had elements of experimentation with transparent video over people's heads and on the plate. These elements actually did add to the plot and helped reveal what the characters were thinking.

The rest of the plot did have something to do with Thanksgiving. Throughout the episode, it's established that Red's mother is going to come to visit and that neither Red nor Kitty are very fond of her. The episode built her up but when it came time to make her appearance, she didn't come. She decided to spend Thanksgiving with another family and this left our characters to have a Thanksgiving that they like. The sub-plot was nice but not following up on the promise of seeing Red's mother was slightly disappointing. Considering that she appears in the next episode, here's hoping that all of this build-up makes for a satisfying episode. The episode after that has a younger Joseph Gordon Levitt, which is also promising. Regardless, the fact that I have to wait till next week to see her could either be a good or a bad thing. The build-up might have deflated by then or it might have stuck-depending on what happens, that might make this episode better in retrospect or worse. At this moment, I think the episode was average.