Top 10 Behind the Scenes Secrets from That '70s Show

#10: The Cast Had a Pre-show Ritual

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Anyone who played high school sports is familiar with the ritual of putting your hands on top of each other, then breaking while all screaming something like “win,” “go team” or “champions.” Well, this ritual isn’t just for high school athletes. Jerry, Kramer, Elaine and George used a pinkie version for their “contest” while the cast of “That ‘70s Show” used the classic hand-in version before the filming of each episode. As Wilmer Valderrama explained it, they would put their hands in, select a word that described the episode, then break. And as the seasons went on, says Valderrama, the words “became more and more ridiculous.”

When the “That ‘70s Show” producers started casting for the show there was a policy put in place that all the actors had to be at least 18 years old. But, Mila Kunis wasn’t 18 when she auditioned. She wasn’t 17 or 16 either. Kunis was a 14-year-old in grade nine when she auditioned for the role of Jackie Burkhart. So, how did she get the role? She lied about her age. Well, technically she didn’t lie when she told them that she was going to be 18. What she didn’t tell them was that it was going to be in four years.

#8: Will Forte Turned Down “SNL” for “That ‘70s Show”

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Yes, it’s true, the man who would one day give us “MacGruber” was a writer and producer on “That ‘70s Show.” And while that was a good gig, his ultimate dream was always to be on “Saturday Night Live.” But when SNL came calling, he actually turned them down. As he told Indiewire, “if I do it and then fail, then I’ve destroyed my dream and if I don’t do it, then somehow the dream is still out there.” And while not everyone gets a second chance at “SNL,” Forte did. And the second time they asked he said yes!

Apparently experience is overrated. At least as far as the acting experience of two of the main cast members was concerned. For both Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher “That ‘70s Show” was their first ever professional acting jobs. And while Topher had at least done some high school plays, Ashton’s resume prior to his casting was as a model for Calvin Klein. Although the producers were convinced of his ability, the same can’t be said for Kutcher at the time, who was afraid his acting was so bad he was going to be fired at any moment.

#6: The Smoke in “The Circle” Was Real

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Wait! Before you ask how they were able to get away with smoking pot on the set of a big time television production… We said the smoke was real, not the marijuana. And by real we don’t just mean the “movie smoke” that the crew would fill the scene with. Because as actor Danny Masterson has confessed, he, Ashton Kutcher and Laura Prepon were all smokers at the time and would puff on cigarettes during those scenes. Supposedly the strawberry-scented movie smoke masked the smell of the cigarettes. Although that smell-combo doesn’t sound very appealing to us.

They say that time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. But even Chuck Norris, the man who once won a game of Connect Four in three moves, couldn’t find the time to play Red Forman on “That ‘70s Show.” He was offered the role of the patriarch of the Forman family but, at the time, he was also starring in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and he just didn’t have time for Red also. And while we think Kurtwood Smith ended up being the best choice for the role, we have to admit that seeing Norris threaten the kids with a roundhouse kick foot in the ass would have been pretty awesome!

#4: “That 70’s Show” Wasn't the Original Title

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The show’s producers went through a number of different names before finally settling on “That ‘70s Show” - which for the record, we think is an awesome title! But originally they wanted to call it “Teenage Wasteland” and also considered "The Kids Are Alright" and “Feelin' All Right.” We aren’t sure why “Feelin' All Right” didn’t happen, but the other two were nixed when The Who wouldn’t give them the rights to their song lyrics and song title respectively. Then one day Bonnie Turner, one of the show’s co-creators, just came up with “That ‘70s Show.” Reasoning that that was how people would end up referring to it regardless of what the title was.

There’s no doubt that when “That ‘70s Show” premiered there were many girls, and guys, who dreamt about getting their first kiss from Ashton Kutcher. A dream that came true for Mila Kunis, who has admitted to crushing on her co-star big time while filming the show. So much so that the kissing scene made her very nervous and uncomfortable to film. And if you’re wondering how that made Kutcher feel at the time, well, he didn’t know. And as he told People magazine in 2001, he’s glad he didn’t know, because knowing “would’ve been too much pressure.”

That is if you consider being in jail a “good reason.” Which we do. Although the goodness of the reason Tommy ended up in prison is debatable. Chong’s history as one half of the comic duo Cheech & Chong would lead one to assume the arrest was marijuana related. And it was, but only tangentially. You see, the arrest came when an investigation led to the discovery that Chong was involved with the trafficking of bongs. And although he asked for a sentence of community service he was given nine months in prison. After he got out he was able to return to the show for seasons 7 and 8.

At the start of season six, Lisa Robin Kelly, the actress who played Eric’s sister on the show, was replaced by Christina Moore. And while that was the first time they pulled the actor-change up, it almost wasn’t the last. You see, when Topher Grace left after the seventh season to focus on his film career the producers initially considered keeping the character but replacing the actor - in this case with Josh Meyers. In the end they decided to send Eric off to Africa and bring in Meyers as a different character, Randy. We don’t know if audiences would have accepted him as Eric, but we do know that they didn’t really dig Randy, and he wasn’t seen much in the finale.