S01.E01: That '90s Pilot

[Sakura12]

Quote

In the summer of 1995, Leia Forman makes friends with a new generation of Point Place kids while visiting her grandparents, Red and Kitty, in Wisconsin.

Premiere Date: January 19, 2023 

[chediavolo]

Is anybody watching this? Red and Kitty look fantastic. Donna looks like she has aged more than expected. Of course I know fan of the actress and her Scientology beliefs so that makes her look worse in my eyes

I am not loving this. I really am only interested in the scenes with red and kitty and any of the kids that come back for a guest appearances. The new generation is really really bad. The granddaughter has no personality but I will give it some more time. Maybe she will grow on me. But the other kids, my God this show is nothing like the original. There is no chemistry and it just seems like a Disney production.

[Commando Cody]

This show is bad. I also enjoyed the Kitty and Red scenes. That was it. 

[shantown]

My only real thought was "So Eric hasn't changed his hairstyle in 15 years?"

Maybe it'll get better now that most of the old characters have had their big entrance and it can get into an actual story.

[NeenerNeener]

Yeah, it's rough, but it was probably made on a shoestring budget. 

[callie lee 29]

The kids are....not great. I'll still watch, at least for awhile, mainly for the guest spots of the original crew.

Tge kid who plays kelso's son does look like him.

Am I the only one looking at the sets trying to see any changes?

 

[Kel Varnsen]

4 hours ago, NeenerNeener said:

Yeah, it's rough, but it was probably made on a shoestring budget. 

Ya even for a pilot that was not very impressive. The laugh track seemed really loud and the dumb neighbor kid guy was super annoying.

I also hope it's not made on a super cheap budget since if you are going to make a show about teenagers in 1995 (speaking as someone who was a teenager in 1995) it should have an awesome soundtrack.

[moonshine71]

Ugh, this is really awful. I went in with low expectations, and it was worse than I imagined.

[braziliangirl]

I loved most of the scenes with the old characters especially the ones with Eric (But I always thought Topher Grace was a underestimated actor. He's so good. Even in season 7 when they made Eric the hugest loser and gave him the stupidest storylines - which I considered an overkill - he still delivered it and made me laugh. He was also very good in more serious scenes.) 

To my surprise I thought Mila was a bit off. I don't know if was the dialogue that was given to her or the lack of comedic timing when she said her lines. 

I thought it was better than the trailer. But ensemble chemistry is a strange thing, right? You'll probably bring back a show that the last cast had tons of it and people watching can't help to compare it. And it's a hard task to match. 

It's the main problem with reboots/spinoffs I guess. 

 

[tennisgurl]

It was great seeing a lot of the original characters and all of their scenes were good. Red and Kitty being themselves, grown up Eric and Donna, I was surprised to see Kelso and Jackie show up at the end, those were absolutely the highlights. The stuff with the new gang was a lot less fun, none of them are really clocking yet. Even by the standards of obvious nostalgia cash grabs, this was pretty rough. 

It really tends to be an issue with this next generation sorts of shows. They tend to do better writing the older versions of the original characters than the new characters who are supposed to be the stars. 

The guy playing Kelso's son really does look like him.

Edited January 20, 2023 by tennisgurl

[NeenerNeener]

On 1/19/2023 at 10:05 PM, callie lee 29 said:

Am I the only one looking at the sets trying to see any changes?

The fridge is white now instead of bronze. That was the first thing I noticed, because my parents had a bronze fridge in the 70s. I started rewatching the original series again to compare, and they've changed the wallpaper in the kitchen. It's got a strawberry theme now and there's strawberry dishware in a cabinet on the wall next to the sliding glass door. The copper cheese grater lights are still the same though.

[callie lee 29]

Yeah the house looks like it's had a makeover but right now it seems mainly superficial, appliances, furniture, normal stuff like that. I'm really trying to look at the basement. It was always a little hard to layout and get a good visual of the back where Hyde had his bed. Right now it kinda looks smaller and filled with a bunch of crap.

[LaylaGirl]

How does Leia not already know Jay Kelso? It seems like Kelso and Jackie are currently living in Point Place and that Eric and Donna visit on a regular basis - so how is it that their kids have never met? I wasn't looking for a lot of continuity, but I just found that a bit jarring.

[Captain Carrot]

It makes sense that Leia doesn't know Jay. I had best friends in HS that I haven't spoken to in years and we live in the same town. No big fights or anything dramatic, just gradually growing apart from each other. Add the fact that Donna and Eric live in Chicago to that and it makes sense.

I do have to say that I love the house so far. It would have been tempting to have it be exactly the same as on the old show or completely gutted and redone in 90's fashion. But real people rarely do either extreme, and new wallpaper and appliances in the same kitchen is much more realistic.

[Kel Varnsen]

1 hour ago, Captain Carrot said:

It makes sense that Leia doesn't know Jay. I had best friends in HS that I haven't spoken to in years and we live in the same town. No big fights or anything dramatic, just gradually growing apart from each other. Add the fact that Donna and Eric live in Chicago to that and it makes sense.

The episode took place during 4th of July and Kitty said they hadn't seen Eric and his family since Christmas. So if he is only visiting Point Place a couple of times a year for a couple of days each time it makes sense that Leia and Kelso Jr don't know each other. Because even if Eric/Donna come to town I can see them maybe going for a beer with Kelso and/or Jackie, not necessarily doing a family get together thing.

 

[Glade]

That is a really horrendous wig Eric is wearing.

[chediavolo]

3 hours ago, LaylaGirl said:

How does Leia not already know Jay Kelso? It seems like Kelso and Jackie are currently living in Point Place and that Eric and Donna visit on a regular basis - so how is it that their kids have never met? I wasn't looking for a lot of continuity, but I just found that a bit jarring.

And kitty didn’t seem to know if Jackie and Kelso we’re married and acted like she hasn’t seen them in such a long time. Aren’t they supposed to be living next-door?

[greekmom]

2 hours ago, chediavolo said:

And kitty didn’t seem to know if Jackie and Kelso we’re married and acted like she hasn’t seen them in such a long time. Aren’t they supposed to be living next-door?

 

2 hours ago, chediavolo said:

And kitty didn’t seem to know if Jackie and Kelso we’re married and acted like she hasn’t seen them in such a long time. Aren’t they supposed to be living next-door?

No. Jackie/Kelso don't live next door. Gwen and Nate do.

[Sarah 103]

@tennisgurl and @callie lee 29

Casting did a great job with Jay Kelso. They absolutely look like father and son. 

 

[Commando Cody]

I wasn't paying that much attention to the last seasons of the first series. Kelso had a kid with someone he had a fling with. Is that kid supposed to be Jay or are Jay's parents Kelso and Jackie? After that, Kelso moved off to Chicago which disappointed me because he left the kid behind. 

 

[DropTheSoap]

I just keep looking at Laura Prepon and wonder what work she had done besides her eyes. 

[callie lee 29]

4 hours ago, Commando Cody said:

I wasn't paying that much attention to the last seasons of the first series. Kelso had a kid with someone he had a fling with. Is that kid supposed to be Jay or are Jay's parents Kelso and Jackie? After that, Kelso moved off to Chicago which disappointed me because he left the kid behind. 

 

Kelso has Betsy with his ex Brooke. He left for Chicago to be closer to his daughter.

Jay belongs to Kelso and Jackie.

[Commando Cody]

1 hour ago, callie lee 29 said:

Kelso has Betsy with his ex Brooke. He left for Chicago to be closer to his daughter.

Jay belongs to Kelso and Jackie.

I really wasn't paying attention. I missed any mention of the daughter moving to Chicago. I thought Kelso got a job out there and that was the reason he moved. 

[Ms Blue Jay]

On 1/23/2023 at 8:27 PM, DropTheSoap said:

I just keep looking at Laura Prepon and wonder what work she had done besides her eyes. 

If I had to guess, she probably tweaked every feature.  Her new look is really jarring, even though I saw OITNB.  I guess her new face/makeup/styling looks way better with black hair.  Even Mila and Ashton have tweaked stuff, and as we can see, they look fantastic.  (Obviously I think they're both so naturally gorgeous and didn't have to.)

Edited January 25, 2023 by Ms Blue Jay

[NeenerNeener]

On 1/23/2023 at 11:22 PM, Commando Cody said:

I really wasn't paying attention. I missed any mention of the daughter moving to Chicago. I thought Kelso got a job out there and that was the reason he moved. 

I've just finished a re-watch of the 70s version so this is fresh in my mind. Brooke's mother, Morgan Fairchild, showed up and talked Brooke into moving back to Chicago to live with her when the baby was born. Kelso took the job in Chicago to be near the baby.