OK, so I worked afternoons/evenings when That 70's Show had new episodes on the air, thus I never saw the show in its first run.

Then a few months ago I saw a few episodes on FX, and DAMN! That was a funny show!

So I picked up the DVDs for seasons 1-3 (so far), and have to say that this was one of the best written sitcoms that I've ever seen. The humor was witty, and fairly intelligent - and the show really did a great job of capturing the look and feel of the 70's. (I was a kid in the 70's, and they really nailed it.)

On one hand I'm disappointed that I missed out the first time around, but on the other it's great to be able to run mini-marathons of the show on DVD!

And I swear - I have NEVER laughed as hard watching a sitcom as I have with this one! Great stuff!

A great show for the first five seasons. After the "gang" graduated the show started going downhill and that mess of a final season...well, let's not go there.

I do agree that the show (throughout the five seasons) is consistently funny and was one of the best comedies on television at the time. The casting was great and the fact that the majority of the "teens" on the show hadn't acted on screen before makes it perfect even.

If you belong to Costco be sure to check out there because I was able to pick seasons 4 & 5 for $16.99 a while back at my local store. Of course, it maybe YMMV, but still worth a shot.

I love Laura Prepon. Here's a nice little site with some pics: Laura-Prepon.com

Evidently she's in ABC's "October Road," so I'll check that out at least once.

I loved the first 5 seasons. I think that season 6 still has some very funny bits to it so I'll probably pick that one up too. Take my advice though and don't bother with seasons 7 or 8...In S7, you can tell there's something definitely amiss but it's NOTHING compared to how bad S8 was...I tried and tried but could not finish that season off even though I wanted to see the show through its final hours.

Michael

Love this show. It's one of the shows that you forget how good it is until you watch it again.

One of the things I like most about it is how the characters themself laugh when something funny happens. Too many comedies have the characters absolutely straight faced the entire time. The laughter can be contagious and makes it feel more natural.

Everyone else has already said it, but avoid the late seasons. It was great from season 1 to 5. Season 6 was still funny but getting a little shaky. Season 7 was getting really bad, barely even funny anymore. As for season 8, the less said the better. It was awful, I watched it all, but only because I had been watching the show since it debuted and I was determined to get through to the end.

While the characters are clearly on a sitcom, they do act more like real people than on most sitcoms.

One thing that struck me was that they had continuing storylines, which I haven't seen so much in sitcoms. Granted, I haven't watched many sitcoms in the last 10-12 years, but prior to that you just didn't have much of that going on in a sitcom. What happened in one episode rarely had any effect on future episodes - and That 70's Show was the complete opposite.

And, hell - I love Laura Prepon! OK, I enjoy the whole cast, but she's great! She really reminds me of some of the high school girls I met back in the 70's. (a few years before I was in high school...) The writers did one hell of a job not only getting the feel of the 70's atmosphere, but they came really close to capturing the way people talked and interacted back then. It isn't perfect (some 80's speak creeps in from time to time), but it's the closest thing I've seen since the 70's.

What I also think is interesting - and I'd be willing to bet was intentional - is that they set it in Wisconsin during the time when Happy Days was most popular. One show about a period 20 years earlier set in the same place that another show about a period 20 years prior was set. Is there something about Wisconsin that's just inherently good for nostagia?

I'm just having a blast getting caught up on the show (and my wife loves it, too)!

And I'm going to have to get all of the seasons - even if just to see where they went wrong (as the general consensus is that after season 6 it was all downhill). Bummer, but that's pretty common for sitcoms.

Season 7 was still better TV than most other shows. If you can get it for 20-25 dollars on DVD when it comes out, I could think of worse things to do with your money. I bailed on 8, though. I really wanted to like it...but it made me want to cry. It's up there with season 9 of X Files in disappointment.

I graduated high school in '76 and pretty much the exact same age as the characters. The show really nails the time period. I knew and ran around with alot of Hydes. The only thing missing is all the older brothers/sisters and their friends. Even in high school we knew and partied with guys like Fonda and Hopper in Easy Rider because they were friends of our older brothers/sisters.
A movie that also captures the time real well is FM.

This is one of my favorite sitcoms ever. Like someone else said, when the characters laugh at what's said, it helps the jokes out. Reactions are good.

I don't remember what season it was, but whenever the long-haired guy who tried waaaaay too hard to be funny joined the group, the show really went downhill. Eric didn't need to be replaced.

The show was great. I didnt like Laura and Kunis. Topher and Kurt were perfect in their roles.
Then came Debra ,Wimer and Danny . Hated Kutcher. I do not know why the Kelso character was so popular. Topher and Kurtwood were absolutely fantastic.

The first 5 seasons do rock. It goes downhill quickly after that. Also somewhat annoying were the multiple cast changes (i.e. Laurie coming and going then being completely recast, Midge Pinciotti - Tanya Roberts coming and going). Everything I read about that were rumors so who knows why it happened.

Of course having Kevin McDonald as Pastor Dave never hurts.