Every Future Season Of That '90s Show Will Feature A Time Jump

From 1998 to 2006, "That '70s Show" tapped into nostalgia for the decade of "Star Wars" and the Watergate scandal and went on to receive critical praise thanks in part to the program's authentic aesthetic and character observations (per Variety). The Wisconsin-set sitcom saw its young cast, including Topher Grace (Eric Forman), Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart), Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso), Wilmer Valderrama (Fez), and Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti), achieve stardom thanks to their ability to create engaging personalities based on the carefree youth culture of the decade.

The show's early filming also coincided with the late 1990s, which is ironic as fans prepare for the launch of "That '90s Show," which will see the return of many of the former younger cast in guest starring roles in addition to series regulars Red and Kitty Foreman (Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp, respectively) reprising their parts from the original series. Unlike its parent show, which covered the years 1976 to New Year's Day 1980, the '90s Netflix iteration will unfold a bit differently, with each new season set to feature a time jump. Here are the details.

Despite the launch and failure of "That '80s Show" in the mid-2000s, a sequel series to "That '70s Show" was surprisingly never on the radar of the show's creators, Terry and Bonnie Turner, who, according to Variety, originally told Netflix "No" when they were approached with the idea from the streaming giant during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. But after reconsideration and brainstorming for how to approach a Clinton-era version of the franchise, the creators, along with showrunner Gregg Mettler decided that the new program would focus on one 1990s summer per season starting with the summer of 1995. This format would allow the teenage characters to grow emotionally and physically in the last decade before the rise of nonstop digital technology.

Speaking to the publication about the time jump each season, co-creator Terry Turner commented, "Setting it only during the summer gets the whole school and having-to-go-to-class thing out of the way, which we discovered on the original show, that wasn't where it was interesting. It was more interesting in the basement...also, people change where they go away." The showrunner then added how mere months during adolescence can present drastic life changes in younger people. Fans, both new and old, can return to Point Place, Wisconsin when "That '90s Show" premieres on January 19, 2023 on Netflix.