22 Jun

That 70s Show Meets THE 70s Show

written by Mary Jo and John Tenuto in Blog | 3 comments

American culture is often 20 years nostalgic, and one of the better examples of this is the 1990s and 2000s television sitcom That 70s Show. Many of the themes and characters of That 70s Show are reminiscent mostly of Happy Days (both shows takes place in Wisconsin, both shows were set 20 years prior, both shows were about the experiences of adolescents, and both shows had “bad boy” characters move in with the respectable family (the Happy Days episode was called “Fonzie Moves In” and That 70s Show was called “Hyde Moves In”) to name a few examples). The adventures of Eric Forman were much the same adventures of Ritchie Cunningham.

However, The Brady Bunch, the real 70s show, was given its proper respect with a few episodes. In the episode “Red Sees Red” the character Kitty dreams that her family stars in The Forman Bunch Variety Hour in a fun parody of The Brady Bunch Hour. In the episode “The Keg,” Brady star Eve Plumb starred as Jackie’s mother Pam Burkhart in a role that would eventually go to Brooke Shields the next few years.

Yet, the ultimate Brady Bunch moment goes to Christopher Knight and Barry Williams who played Josh and Jeff, a same sex couple that move into the neighborhood. The 2006 episode “We Will Rock You” discusses the issue of prejudice using humor. The very conservative Red eventually realizes he likes the duo despite his initial prejudices and learns to treat Josh and Jeff as individuals. The real treat of the episode is when Josh and Jeff talk about how no one would ever believe they could be brothers.

Considering that next year is the 40th anniversary of The Brady Bunch, it is truly amazing how the show is a popular culture legend.