Top 10 That '70s Show Storylines the Show Forgot About
#10: Hyde’s Parents
Given that he spends most of the series living with the Forman family, it can be easy to forget that Steven Hyde had his own family. The parents who ostensibly raised him only appear on screen in a few episodes. Hyde does later find out that his birth father is actually a man named William Barnett, and that he has a half-sister, Angie. However, his mother and stepfather are largely forgotten, other than the occasional joke or reference. While the Formans are indisputably light years more loving and supportive, it still would have been interesting to explore more of Hyde’s past.
#9: Fez & Laurie’s Marriage
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Fez’s name stands for foreign exchange student, and after some trouble with his green card, he needs to find a way to stay in the country. To that end, he ends up marrying Eric’s sister Laurie. Although usually spiteful and promiscuous, Laurie has an uncharacteristic moment of charity and helps Fez out with a sham green card marriage. Although it’s a recurring plot point in season 6, it’s never brought up again after that. We’re not even sure if they got divorced or not. Although they talk about doing it, they put it on hold once the wedding gifts start coming in. And it’s rarely brought up again, much like Laurie herself…more on that soon.
#8: Kitty’s Dog Schatzi
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After Kitty begins experiencing menopause, she becomes depressed. To cheer her up, Red gets her a wiener dog, which she names Schatzi. While his appearances are sporadic, the little guy is still a funny and memorable part of the show, even leading to a few memes. However, the dog last appears early in season 7, after which he disappears. Although some people probably assumed Eric killed Schatzi when he knocked a statue onto the pooch, he’s seen in the credits of his final episode alive and on the mend. Animals are always tricky to film, particularly on a sitcom set, so we can understand why the dog was retired.
#7: Laurie Forman
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As we mentioned before, Laurie Forman is a character “That ‘70s Show” forgot about, and it even happened more than once. Laurie disappears during season 3, only to return in season 5, and then vanishes after season 6. While hardly a pleasant person, Laurie always made for some great comedy bouncing off the other characters. Sadly, her lengthy absences were driven by personal tragedy, since the late actress Lisa Robin Kelly had issues with drugs and alcohol, which led to her departures from the show and the character being recast.
#6: Red’s Shifting Political Views
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Red Forman is generally a conservative politically, frequently expressing exasperation with his family and friends’ more liberal views, as well as defending his country zealously. However, he wasn’t always so hardline in his opinions. Early in season 1, Red expresses outrage at the state of the country, even questioning President Gerald Ford to his face on his decision to pardon Richard Nixon. In later seasons though, Red seems to believe that not only was Nixon framed, but that John F. Kennedy was a communist. Guess he started listening to conspiracies on the radio in the meantime…
#5: Big Rhonda
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Fez goes through several love interests during the show. One of the better ones is “Big” Rhonda. Tall and awkward, but unabashed, Rhonda makes for a wonderful foil for Fez. While the remarks on her size certainly haven’t aged well, she’s still a fun and funny character. Eventually though, she stopped appearing on screen and broke up with Fez off screen after some bad advice from Kelso’s brother. Although some of Fez’s other ex-girlfriends return, Rhonda never does, which is too bad, since they were arguably better together than who Fez ended up with.
#4: Roy & the Hotel Restaurant
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When Hyde’s looking for a job, he runs into Roy Keene, his former mentor in the Big Brother program. Roy works for a local hotel, and gives not only Hyde, but also Kelso and Eric, jobs at the hotel’s restaurant. The restaurant gives the boys a new place to goof off and “sit in a circle,” while Roy proves to be an entertaining, if very sad, side character. However, Roy and the restaurant disappear only half a season after they started appearing. We can only speculate, but some combination of some of the guys getting other jobs and actor Jim Gaffigan being a high-profile comedian may have been factors.
#3: Red Forgetting About the Smoking
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The season 7 finale, Eric’s last as a series regular, sees Red catch him and his friends in the act of smoking up. From his lecture, he seems incredulous that they’ve been doing that in the basement all this time. Except…he kind of already knew they did it. Season 3 sees Red blow his top and crack down on the kids after Hyde is busted for possession, and Eric claims to do it too, in solidarity. It could be argued that Red didn’t know for certain that they continued doing it, believing that they stopped out of understandable fear of him, but Red wouldn’t forget something like this so easily. Or maybe seeing is believing. Even so, we feel like it slipped the writers’ minds.
#2: Donna’s Sister Tina
Donna Pinciotti is an only child…right? Wrong…sort of! While most of the show portrays Donna as Bob and Midge’s only daughter, early in season 1, the plan was for her to have not only one sister, but two! While her older sister Valerie is only mentioned, and is supposedly off at college, Donna’s younger sister Tina appears early in season 1. She only shows up at a party thrown at the Pinciotti house to complain to Donna about the rowdy partygoers. Her only mention after that is in a goofy closing sequence discussing the show’s mysteries, like Fez’s country of origin. The party was truly too much for her, since it apparently erased her from existence.
#1: Hyde Liking Donna
Given how much of the series he spent with Jackie, it can be easy to forget that Hyde liked Donna too! Although Hyde is supportive of Eric pursuing Donna, he also likes Donna himself, and makes some moves on her in season 1. However, Donna eventually makes it clear that she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, and while Hyde never hides that he finds her attractive, he doesn’t show much romantic interest in her again. The only real reference made to it in later seasons is a dream sequence in season 4, that shows what it would have been like if Eric and Donna never got together. Given its events, this is one romance everyone was better off without.
