https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9y8jdf-AfM
Let's take a look back at the day everybody's favorite 90s show set in the 70s went off the rails and jumped the shark. Season 8.share
From the unexpected and unwanted pairing of Fez and Jackie, losing Topher Grace, and of course the arrival of Randy --- just to name a few.
For me it jumped the shark at the start of season five. Jackie gets together with Hyde (I've never understood that pairing), they start up the pregnancy/menopause plotline with Kitty...
More importantly, the characters all took big hits. This is the first season when Kitty and Red behave like typical sitcom couples. The previous four seasons they seemed to have a healthy sex life and a give-and-take to their relationship, but starting with season five she nags a lot more and he plays some kinda henpecked schlub.
They crank Red into being a knee-jerk conservative/Republican. Gone is the Red Forman who yelled out, "How the hell could you pardon Nixon!?" to President Ford.
They don't allow as much serious stuff to happen.
Eric stops behaving like a young man moving from youth to adulthood and starts rapidly regressing into a man-child.
Donna lost some of her '70s chick edge.
Fez got weird.
The show continued to have good episodes and funny moments, but in the classic definition of "Jump the Shark" - where it's the moment you know the show will never be quite the same again - that's it for me.
It died when Eric left....when he drove away that would have been an excellent time to cancel....driving off into the sunset.
shareI agree with the Jackie/Hyde pairing, she wanted to marry Kelso at the end of season 4, then she’s sucking face with Hyde in season 5.
Donna acted like a HUGE bitch forcing Hyde, and Kelso to shake hands in season 5 because of what happened between them and Jackie. I’m surprised Forman didn’t tell Donna to back off, and let them deal with their issues themselves.
I think Jackie should’ve stayed single, instead of hooking up with Hyde.
I sorta think the "It's a Wonderful Life" type episode (where Angel Newman takes Eric into the '80s) got the "should have happened" between Jackie and Kelso right: they'll be on-again-off-again basically forever.
shareOnly thing I hate about season 8 is Randy and the fact that Hyde/Jackie broke up. Didn't mind Fez/Jackie but I woulda preferred it happened in season 2 back when they first started to sense that there was something there between each other.
but ah well. Season 8 had great guest appearances, and some fun moments without Eric and Kelso being there.
Fez and Jackie would have made sense. Both are minorities. Both are demanding and love to dress well. They did not need Randy.
Should have brought back Jeff and Josh and made a whole storyline about them and the Foremans learning to live beside each other even if they like different football teams.
Would have been a much better choice. Much more likeable. Randy came across as something developed last minute just bc Topher was leaving.
How is Jackie a "minority"?
shareIt was only good for the first couple of years. After that it could have taken place anytime after the 1970's. The grandparents should have been kept for contrast and how realistic they were for the day. Should have seen more of Hyde's mom perhaps being a full time town's tramp. Earl was the dimwit that every family knew and hoped would never stop by (he needed to be around more as a character). We saw very little in the way of teachers. Something that the much smarter Freaks & Geeks made good use of. From mid Season 3 onward might as well called it That Pot Smoker's Show. By the way any Red Foreman I ever knew (and I knew a few) would have picked up on that in pretty short order. A reason that most pot smokers had a friend outside of town so they could smoke in an out building.
shareIt was only good for the first couple of years. After that it could have taken place anytime after the 1970's.
From mid Season 3 onward might as well called it That Pot Smoker's Show.
Yeah, seeing the contrast between the kids and the grandparents would have been fun, and really could have shown the generation gap better.
Hyde's parentage was weird. Showing Earl was a very uncomfortable reality about a guy struggling with himself to be a father and his son already against him. I felt like they really blew it by ignoring that storyline after a couple episodes and then retconning it and replacing it with the super-weird, "You're rich and half-black!" thing.
I'm pretty sure there are implications in the first season or two that Red does know what they're doing, and it's not until later when they decide to make a storyline out of it that Red is shown to be suddenly aware and angry about it.
"From mid Season 3 onward might as well called it That Pot Smoker's Show."
Yep, that's exactly what it became. I didn't watch it in first run, but I've been watching it for the last few months and the smoking in a circle gag has gotten old. Kitty and Red would have known that was going on in their own basement! They weren't inattentive parents. 🙄