Pop Culture in "That 70's Show"

Hanging out down the street with the funniest kids in Point Place, Wisconsin, Eric Forman, Steven Hyde, Jackie Burkhart, Donna Pinciotti, Michael Kelso, and Fez demonstrate their struggles living in the 1970s. Their parents, Red and Kitty Forman and Bob and Midge Pinciotti, also demonstrate their struggles as adults. But not without the help of pop culture.

Throughout the show so far, there have been references of different movies in TV shows popular in the 1970s. The gang all went to see Star Wars and Annie Hall in the theater. In one episode Red gets a Beta tape player and decides to, unsuccessfully, tape an episode of the miniseries Roots. Several episodes portrayed spoofs of actual films. In the Season 3 Halloween episode, they reference popular Alfred Hitchcock films (Kelso's idea), such as North by Northwest, Rear Window, Psycho, and Vertigo. In the Season 4 premiere, Eric has an It's a Wonderful Life (conveniently the episode's name) moment after his breakup with Donna.

Though I'm currently in the 4th season, I'm still curious how time flies. The show opens in late 1976, and expects me believe they will fill all eight seasons in the in the 1970s.

In season 2, there is an episode where the gang goes to see Star Wars, parents too; that was in 1977. The recent episode I've seen was when Donna and Eric, now broken up, doing what I believe to be a Kramer vs. Kramer spoof. I haven't yet seen the film, so I can only guess; it's 1978. But again, I'm only in Season 4, so I'll just have to wait.

You can watch the gang and their parents on Netflix.