Debra Jo Rupp Still Has This Item From the First Episode of ‘That ’70s Show’
Debra Jo Rupp is widely known for playing Kitty Forman on That ‘70s Show, the cheerful doting wife of Red Forman (Kurtwood Smith) and mom to Eric Forman (Topher Grace).
Kitty and Red are both back in the newly released reboot, That ‘90s Show, this time playing grandparents to new characters.
What was ‘That 70s Show’?
That 70s Show was that show from the 90s about the 70s. The series ran on Fox from 1998-2006. It centered around a group of teenage friends from small-town Point Place, Wisconsin.
The hangout for the teens was the Formans’ basement where they ate junk food and watched TV. In every episode, they sat in a circle, where it was insinuated, but never said, that they were smoking weed.
Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon) was Eric’s neighbor and girlfriend. Ashton Kutcher played Michael Kelso, the not-so-smart pretty boy. Hiis sometimes girlfriend Jackie Burkhart was played by his now-wife Mila Kunis.
Rounding out the cast was Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde and Wilmer Valderrama as Fez.
The series gave the audience a fun look at 70s fashion, entertainment and pop culture, while it also showed the generational conflict and sexual attitudes of the time.
It wasn’t all about the teens, we also got a look at the lives of 70s parents, Kitty and Red, who went through their own struggles as well.
Debra Jo Rupp still has her dress from the first episode
Rupp and her onscreen husband Smith spoke to Entertainment Weekly about their experience on That 70s Show.
When the actress got the role as Kitty, she said she was “was in a bit of shock” because she didn’t realize that the show was set in the 1970s “until she saw the appliances on the set”. She said she “somehow missed that part in the script”.
Rupp went on to say that she didn’t know what that involved, and when it “fully sunk in…it was the clothing that became very troublesome” to her. She was extremely worried about it.
When EW played a clip of the very first episode, where Kitty was wearing a bright red long-sleeved ruffled blouse with a long flower wraparound print skirt, Rupp said that she still had that outfit at home because she “took everything”.
She went on to say that between the crazy clothes and the hairdos, she was afraid no one would even see her. She also said that the costume was “very much my mother”.
What are critics saying about ‘That 90s Show’?
The new series takes place in 1995 when Red and Kitty’s granddaughter, Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) comes to visit for the summer. Her parents are Eric and Donna. Leia finds a new generation of Point Place kids to bond with as she tries to reinvent herself. The basement is full again.
Many faces from That 70s Show make appearances in the reboot.
The series has received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gave That 90s Show a 74% rating and called it a “solidly serviceable sequel series”, but USA Today said “the ’70s should have stayed in the ’90s”.
