I only watched a few episodes of
That 70s Show (1998-2006), but I saw enough to know the basic plot: a group of high schoolers, nerdish Eric Forman and girlfriend Donna, prettyboy Kelso and girlfriend Jackie, rebel Hyde, and foreign exchange student Fez, gather in Eric's basement to smoke pot, hook up, and make fun of Fez for being nonwhite and gay-coded (although actually heterosexual).
Left: Grown-up Fez, played by Wilmer Valderrama.
I only remember one gay reference: they give a guy two tickets to a rock concert, and he shows up with a same sex date! The guys are disgusted, but Donna says "It doesn't bother me." Apparently there's another episode, with Eric "mistaken for gay." but I never saw it.
The sequel That 90's Show (2023), fast forwards to 1995, when a new group of teenagers led by 14-year old Leia hang out in the iconic Forman basement. They don't smoke pot -- this is the pot-phobic 90s -- but they hookup. And this time diversity has reached Milwaukee: there are three non-white and one gay character, Ozzie, played by Reyn Do. I reviewed the episode where he comes out.
Scene 1: Ozzie is setting up a computer for the Grandparents. Grandpa Red complains. Grandma Kitty is excited but clueless.
Scene 2: In the iconic basement, Prettyboy Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan) is showing Girlfriend Nikki an ad for a free hot tub. "But it's contaminated with other people's juices!" she complains. "Until we contaminate it with our juices!"
Hey, that's dirty! Meanwhile, Focus Girl Leia tells Hunk Jay (Mace Coronel) that she wants to be "just friends." He is distraught. Plot complication: she's actually interested, but too shy to admit it!
Fan plot dump: Leia is the daughter of Eric and Donna, and Jay is the son of Kelso and Jackie, all of whom have guest spots on at least one episode. Hyde is never mentioned, as actor Danny Masterson is currently incarcerated on a rape conviction, and Fez appears regularly as a swishy but heterosexual hairdresser.
Wait -- When That 70s Show ended, it was 1980, naturally, and this is 1995. Those girls mst have gotten pregnant at the wrap-up party.
Scene 3: Up in the kitchen, Ozzie explains to Focus Girl Leia that he's planning to come out to Grandma Kitty, as Step 7 in his 16-step coming out plan: first strangers, then people he doesn't see often, then people he sees all the time, and finally his parents.
In the 90s you didn't come out to anyone, ever, so this is quite ambitious.
Scene 4: Prettyboy Nate and Hunk Jay go to investigate the free hot tub.
Nate: "This is better than that time we found the nude beach...until we saw my coach doing lunges." Jay: "This is what my life feels like right now: a sandy, saggy sack."
Hey, are they talking about his testicles?They play "vagina hands": they put their hands together, open them up, and Jay shoves his face inside and ..um...hey, that's dirty!
The elderly lady who owns the tub suggests that they try it out first.
Cut to the three of them in the tub in bathing suits. She proceeds to flirt. They are uncomfortable. Hey, writers, the actors are over 18, but the characters are 14 or 15-years old. This isn't funny, it's cringey.
Ozzie comes out after the break
