Alright, screw it. There are eight seasons of That '70s Show and even though I only own one more after this one at present we all know I'll eventually log 'em all. Rather than force myself to come up with new things to say about the show each time, I'll embrace how formulaic and monotonous it is to watch eight seasons of a sitcom by coming up with some kind of formula for these posts.
How familiar was I with the season's various episodes?
Remarkably familiar. I can't say that I had seen every single episode, but I had to have previously seen at least 20 of the 25 and probably more. I find this interesting because when these episodes were first airing back in 2000-2001, there was no such thing as DVR or watching shows on the Internet, and I definitely wasn't taping the episodes with a VCR or anything. This means that at the age of thirteen I had made this show appointment viewing. More than likely, I did homework in front of the TV on most nights, but still, I'm kind of surprised I was that committed even back then. (Granted, what do thirteen-year-old kids do on weeknights? Should I really be that surprised that, before I had a driver's license or many real hobbies, I was regularly watching teen-oriented programming on television pretty routinely? Probably not.)
Were there any key ways in which this season was different from previous seasons?
Right off the bat in the season premiere, the actors looked noticeably older than they had at the end of Season 2. In general, they were much more recognizable as the stars - of various celebrity status, for sure - that they are today. I'm pretty sure the DVD cover seen above uses Season 1 stock photos; compare these young-looking kids to this Season 3 promotional photo and see the difference for yourself. Also, in what can only be described as a cast upgrade, Lisa Robin Kelly (older sister Laurie) left the show midway through the year, while Tommy Chong became a frequently recurring guest star as the season progressed.
Any particular highlights or lowlights worth singling out?
Not really. The show's consistency merits more respect than any individual stand-out episodes. One notable divergence from the traditional sitcom-y formula came with a Halloween special that paid tribute to a whole lot of Alfred Hitchcock movies, sacrificing the show's usual humorous beats in a way that didn't really work, but merits recognition all the same.
Final thoughts on anything else relating to the season or series as a whole?
The third season is often an uninteresting one for a long-running network show with respect to its overall lifespan. Season 1 is all about appealing to enough people to get good enough ratings to merit a second season. The writers and actors need to figure out what works and what doesn't, and it's often a very experimental phase. First seasons often feel isolated from the rest of a long-running series in hindsight. Season 2, then, is when shows have mostly figured out what works. It's when the people making the show get to flex their creativity and really have some fun pushing the show in new directions with confidence. The thing about third seasons is that, often enough, they come in hot on the wake of a wonderful second season, but kind of grow repetitious and stale in the third. This leads to big shake ups between the third and fourth seasons pretty frequently. Dr. House revamps his medical staff; they get off the island but they need to go back; Coach Taylor transfers to East Dillon. It's a way to breathe new life into a series, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. At any rate, That '70s Show is no exception, and Season 3 ends with Eric and Donna breaking up, a move that I'm pretty sure doesn't stay permanent, but no doubt greatly alters the course of the series going forward.
So that was Season 3, a consistent and enjoyable but ultimately forgettable stretch of 25 episodes from eleven years ago that hold up pretty well.
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