Kitty Forman’s Laugh Means More Than ‘That ’70s Show’ Fans Think
Kitty Forman returns in Netflix‘s That ’90s Show, which recently got picked up for a second season. Debra Jo Rupp said her mother was the source of inspiration behind the Forman matriarch’s signature laugh. More recently, the actor revealed the hidden meaning within Kitty’s obnoxious chortle. Find out where Kitty Forman’s iconic and indescribable laugh came from, its secret meaning, and how Rupp feels about the sound her character makes.
Debra Jo Rupp’s mother inspired Kitty Forman’s laugh
During an interview with the Today show, Rupp shared the story behind Kitty’s unique laugh. Rupp looked to her mother for inspiration when she was first cast for That ’70s Show.
“Kitty became my mother on a good day,” Rupp told the outlet. “A really good day. She’s very cheerful. And she has a very obnoxious laugh, and I got stuck with it! I did it once in the pilot and I got stuck with it.”
Ironically, her mother had an obnoxious laugh. When Rupp mimicked the laugh filming the pilot, everyone loved it.
Kitty Forman’s laugh is ‘almost always nervous’
When Mrs. Forman laughs, she emits the cutest, loudest honking sound. Her face lights up and tells one story — “This is fun! We’re having fun, right?!”
But there’s also a tinge of hesitation behind it. That’s an intentional choice on Rupp’s part.
“She uses it as a nervous laugh if people, say, aren’t getting along or if she doesn’t know what to say,” the actor told Vulture. “Almost always, it’s a nervous laugh.”
Rupp recalled a moment in the pilot episode of That ’70s Show where Kitty snapped at Red (Kurtwood Smith) while they were at a party. “[The laugh] just came out of my mouth,” Rupp explained. “It got a really big laugh and it was unplanned.”
As an actor, landing a laugh that big meant something. “You go, ‘Wait, what was that?'” Rupp added. “The writers knew what had happened and started to put the laugh in as much as possible.”
Debra Jo Rupp finds Kitty’s laugh to be ‘so annoying’
The laugh might be iconic to That ’70s Show fans — someone made a 10-hour edit of the laughter — and a new generation of viewers who watch That ’90s Show, but Rupp has other thoughts. “It is SO annoying!” she revealed to Today. “It’s so annoying.”
Kitty Forman will return in season 2 of ‘That ’90s Show’
On Feb. 3, Netflix announced That ’90s Show will return with season 2. “All of us at That ’90s Show were beyond excited by the warm, enthusiastic response to our first season,” co-creator, showrunner, and executive producer Gregg Mettler told Deadline. “We can’t wait to return to Point Place for another summer of laughs and surprises. Hello 1996!” Stay tuned for an update about the season 2 release.
Hear Kitty’s laugh in all of its glory. Watch That ’70s Show on Peacock and That ’90s Show on Netflix.
