Friendly sitcom nods past '80s (LONGING FOR THE LOST LIBERAL GOLDEN AGE)

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | November 2, 2005 | DOUG ELFMAN TELEVISION CRITIC

[Chi-townChief]

In tonight's episode of Fox's "That '70s Show," almost everybody gets stoned. Again. That's how you can tell "That '70s Show" is still stuck in the spirit of the "Me Decade." If the characters were to live it up '80s-style, they'd all be snorting coke and wearing yellow Izods.

You can't really blame the writers of the show (7 p.m., WFLD-Channel 32) for holding off the "Decade of Greed." If you had to pick between living forever in the late '70s or the early '80s, the Carter years would be your winner. Politicians living in a state of red-baiting moneyism might opt for the go-go Reagan years. But they'd have to be high to make that margin call.

The late '70s was about mellowing out, getting laid and watching "MASH" and good movies. The early '80s was about buying stocks, lovingly conditioning the leather seats of your bitchin' Honda Prelude, and wearing argyle sweater vests. That's not even a fair fight.

That said, "That '70s Show" may have run its tie-dye course. It's been kind of an amusing sitcom. But tonight's hourlong eighth-season premiere is saddled with the chore of keeping the ensemble cast busy while making up for the exit of lead actor Topher Grace, who has played the pothead ringleader Eric.

With Eric gone as a regular character, distractions abound. Someone gets punched; someone dies; a stripper paints her toenails in the kitchen. The episode doesn't reek. I laughed two little laughs, chuckled twice and smiled three times. I kept count. Basically, an hour passes without incident.

Also, there is a serious logistical discrepancy. The mom, Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), gets baked on buds, making her see walls rock as if they were storm-tossed ships. This is filmed funny. But she also thinks people's heads are super big, atop squiggly bodies. Methinks she dropped acid and PCP, too, because that is not a pot high, dudes. Get your drug interactions straight.

If "That '70s Show" is more quickly passing into the great hereafter of creativity, it deserves credit for having provided more humor than most sitcoms, and for being cast well. Some of the actors are making strides elsewhere.

*Grace is scheduled to play a villain in "Spider-Man 3," after turning in critically acclaimed performances in "Traffic" and "In Good Company."

*Ashton Kutcher -- who will appear this season in only some episodes, including tonight's -- hooked up with Demi Moore and made a name for himself, as himself, in MTV's prank-pulling "Punk'd." Then again, he was in the movies, "Dude, Where's My Car?" (eh), "Just Married" (chafe) and "Cheaper by the Dozen" (I think I'm gonna be sick).

*And Wilmer Valderrama presumably engaged in the steamier methods of animal husbandry with Lindsay Lohan when he was briefly her boyfriend, as noted wildly in the media for about five minutes, a million tabloid-years ago.

Maybe the show that made them stars and semi-stars will keep growing, like a sticky stalk of herb in a high schooler's closet. I wouldn't count on it. But better that than a mirror and a razor blade. The '80s can go binge-drink some bong water.

mailto:delfman@suntimes.com

[Jess Kitting]

One thing I never understood about that program is why they always made reference to Gerald Ford as "the President" (in a derogative way, of course), but the "popular" music they played (from 1977, 1978) wasn't even around when Ford was in office.

[Huck]

All those greats you mention came about in 57-58. 50-56 was crap.

[Huck]

The 70s had the BeeGees and the Starland Vocal Band.

And this is just dumb. Most of the great classic rock occurred in the 70s. Even a lot of great bands that began in the 60s did some of their best stuff in the 70s--Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Allmans, Grateful Dead. Plus you had Skynyrd, Steely Dan, Eagles. I mean, really. It's not even close.

[Chi-townChief]

The Stones, Pink Floyd, The Who, Allmans, Grateful Dead all were musically dead (Skynyrd physically) or on life support by the mid-70s. Steely Dan was good but the Eagles always sucked. The only good thing musically was the punk/new wave sound that began in reaction to disco and flourished in the 80s.

[Chi-townChief]

I don't think I ever seen one episode in its entirety myself; it looks pretty unentertaining.

[Chi-townChief]

Just for fun:

The following is from the book: "WHAT WAS THE FIRST ROCK 'N' ROLL RECORD?" by Jim Dawson & Steve Propes, by Faber & Faber, 1992, provides their following list of candidates:

1 Jazz at the Philharmonic: Blues, Part 2 (1944)
2 Joe Liggins: The Honeydripper (1945)
3 Helen Humes: Be-Baba-Leba (1945)
4 Freddie Slack : House Of Blue Lights (1946)
5 Big Boy Crudup: That's All Right (1946)
6 Jack McVea: Open The Door, Richard (1946)
7 Lonnie Johnson: Tomorrow Night (1948)
8 Wynonie Harris: Good Rockin' Tonight (1948)
9 Bill Moore: We're Gonna Rock,We're Gonna Roll (1948)
10 Orioles: It's Too Soon To Know (1948)
11 John Lee Hooker: Boogie Chillen (1948)
12 Arthur Smith and the Crackerjacks: Guitar Boogie (1948)
13 Stick McGhee: Drinkin' Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee (1949)
14 Jimmy Preston: Rock The Joint (1949)
15 Louis Jordan: Saturday Night Fish Fry (1949)
16 Professor Longhair: Mardi Gras In New Orleans (1949)
17 Fats Domino: The Fat Man (1950)
18 Muddy Waters: Rollin' and Tumblin' (1950)
19 Hardrock Gunter: Birmingham Bounce (1950)
20 Hank Snow: I'm Movin' On (1950)
21 Ruth Brown: Teardrops From My Eyes (1950)
22 Arkie Shibley: Hot Rod Race (1950)
23 Les Paul and Mary Ford: How High The Moon (1951)
24 Jackie Brenston with His Delta Cats: Rocket 88 (1951)
25 Dominoes: Sixty Minute Man (1951)
26 Johnnie Ray with the Four Lads: Cry (1951)
27 Clovers: One Mint Julep (1952)
28 Bill Haley and the Saddlemen: Rock The Joint (1952)
29 Dominoes: Have Mercy Baby (1952)
30 Lloyd Price: Lawdy Miss Clawdy (1952)
31 Hank Williams: Kaw-Liga (1953)
32 Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thorton: Hound Dog (1953)
33 Big Joe Turner: Honey Hush (1953)
34 Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters: Money Honey (1953)
35 Crows: Gee (1953)
36 Big Joe Turner: Shake, Rattle, and Roll (1954)
37 Royals/Midnighters: Work With Me, Annie (1954)
38 Chords: Sh-Boom (1954)
39 Bill Haley and His Comets: (Were Going To)Rock Around The Clock) (1954)
40 Robins: Riot In Cell Block #9 (1954)
41 Elvis Presley, Scotty and Bill: That's All Right (1954)
42 Penguins: Earth Angel (Will You Be Mine) (1954)
43 LaVern Baker and the Gliders: Tweedle Dee (1954)
44 Johnny Ace: Pledging My Love (1954)
45 Ray Charles: I've Got A Woman (1954)
46 Bo Diddley: Bo Diddley (1955)
47 Chuck Berry: Maybellene (1955)
48 Little Richard: Tutti Frutti (1955)
49 Carl Perkins: Blue Suede Shoes (1956)
50 Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel (1956)

This is pretty slick, too >>> http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_timeline-r1.html

[R. Scott]

While I do enjoy the show, like most period sitcoms they concentrate on the fun and ignore the rest, ala Happy Days. In the early 70’s pot seemed to be everywhere – but the quality compared to today’s weed was pretty low. “Fun” was the in thing.
One of the things I always remember from the early 70’s (Johnson’s legacy?) was the galloping inflation. I never knew how much a loaf of bread was going to cost me. The price of everything (except illegal drugs) was rising out of control. The late 70’s weren’t much better. Military budgets cut so heavily we didn’t have fuel for training – and forget about firearms training – bullets were too expensive. New car prices going through the roof, gasoline “shortage” and the cost of a gallon of gas actually went over a buck.
Oh well, I do prefer to remember the good parts.

[R. Scott]

Oh yea ...

[Huck]

alright i'll give you '54. but i'll still take the 70s over that old stuff.

[Huck]

Punk sucks. The only thing wrong with the end of the 70s was their increasing resemblance to the 80s.

[Jim Noble]

The late '70s was about mellowing out, getting laid and watching "MASH" and good movies

Actually, that was the early seventies (and the movies, except for the Godfather, were not that good).

The late 70s were about disco, cocaine, paranoia, and the end of the world as we know it - but then came Reagan.

[oh8eleven]

You must have grown up in Jersey.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Agree, but just don't try to spin metal as topping the charts. Like the guy in the '80s culture rant said, it didn't. It didn't in the '70s, either. Let's give a true overall picture of the cultures, not of pockets of fringe fans here and there.

[RockinRight]

Metal reached the upper regions of the album charts often enough, but not all the time. More often than singles charts. "Pop metal" like Poison and Warrant did it more than the "true" metal acts.

Dio's second album, Last in Line did reach #28 on the Billboard 200 in 1984. Quiet Riot's Metal Health reached #1 in 1983. Dokken's Back for the Attack topped out at #13 in '88. Metallica's Master of Puppets peaked at #28-with NO radio airplay. Iron Maiden had several top 40 albums, Peace of Mind reached #14 and Powerslave (their two best IMHO) reached #21.

[RockinRight]

Also-keep in mind. There was a LOT of metal on MTV in the 80s. There was also Springsteen, Duran Duran, Culture Club, and all that other pop crap, but metal was definitely on the air.

But no, the chart toppers were largely "pop" acts as they always have been. Hence the term "pop" which is a short form of "popular."

[the OlLine Rebel]

Musically (and I mean POPULAR, not fringe nonsense as is often spoken on these and other forums), the 50s, 70s and 80s ROCKED. ;-)

The '60s were OK; saved more by the early left-over '50s stuff than by the whiny, goony, hippie stuff of the late.

The '90s - almost like a '60s hippie wannabe (in more than music - it's really the 60s that has the hold on today, not so much the 70s which takes the blame for what was really 60s - bell bottoms? UGH). Musically it's worse overall - horrid nasal whining by all the whites, AND their horrible mouth-contorting formation of words (listen how they sound as they MUST be contorting their rubber mouths to make those weird nuances - sort of like they've had Novacaine; it's stupid). From blacks there's no whining/contortion, just the same old rap crap by & large.

And today I still see no end to the '90s - musically or clothes or anything. I've seen glimmers of hope but mostly the pathetic, depressing, sad, '90s "styles" are STILL controlling the culture in 2005.

[Chi-townChief]

Where the 50s really gets interesting is when you go beyond rock: Parker, Gillespie, Mulligan, Brubeck, Ammons, Rollins, et al; Frankie's Capitol concept albums, the "exotica" music of Baxter, Lyman, and Esquivel; the great country classics, many which crossed over to the pop charts; even Belafonte (yeah, I know the guy's a total a-hole) and the calypso and folk music. Add the Beat writers to the mix and it made for some pretty interesting times. And to top it all off, there were the cars with the big engines, tailfins, and Dagmars.

[the OlLine Rebel]

Yup to all of it. Except the "crap" part!

I didn't have cable so I didn't watch MTV. Didn't really care to, anyway. Once I saw the "She's a Beauty" video, I knew this was a stupid idea! (And no wonder MTV went down the tubes - and doesn't do much video any more. People finally realize the video ruins their own view of the music.)

[RockinRight]

Most 80s pop was pretty good, actually.

I've always been a metalhead at heart though.

[the OlLine Rebel]

I love the '50s - just on Rock alone! I'm insulted that "Classic Rock" does not refer to the '50s.

And never mind the cars. Altho the "greatest" of the tailfin types - '59 Eldorado - I absolutely hate. Ugly. Get me a Mark II any day.