WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for That ’90s Show season 1, episode 1!That ‘90s Show’s pilot episode repeats a memorable storyline from That ‘70s Show season 1, proving that times never change in Point Place. The Netflix sitcom picks up 15 years after That ‘70s Show’s series finale, following Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti’s teenage daughter Leia as she stays in Point Place for the summer with her grandparents Red and Kitty. Over the summer of 1995, Leia and her new friends Gwen, Nate, Ozzie, Nikki, and Jay Kelso (son of That ‘70s Show’s characters Jackie and Michael) find themselves getting into many of the same mishaps that their parents did two decades beforehand.
The pilot of That ‘90s Show’s Easter egg and reference-filled sitcom quickly establishes that the culture may be different in 1995, but being a teenager in Point Place never changes. Much like That ‘70s Show season 1, That ‘90s Show’s inaugural season includes episodes focused on sneaking out of town to clubs, birthday parties, absent parents, and the trials and tribulations of obtaining beer as an underage teen. In fact, Leia and her friends’ major beer conflict in That ‘90s Show’s pilot is a direct callback to a pivotal episode in That ‘70s Show season 1.
That ’90s Show’s Pilot Is A Nod To ’70s Show’s Keg Story
When Leia gets to know the teens of Point Place in That ‘90s Show season 1, episode 1, they’re presented with good news and bad news: Jay, Nate, and Nikki were mistakenly given a keg full of beer, but it doesn’t have a tap. Since That ‘90s Show’s teenage characters are underage, they devise a plan to trick the strict liquor store owner into selling them a tap. Leia is eventually successful in buying the tap by blackmailing the liquor store owner, leading the teens to celebrate the Fourth of July on the Water Tower. This story sounds familiar, as it was the same plot as That ‘70s Show season 1, episode 6, “The Keg.”
In That ‘70s Show’s early keg episode, the gang was riding around in the Vista Cruiser and spotted an abandoned keg on the side of the road. The teens then decided to throw a party in an empty pool, but quickly realized there was no tap on the keg. Kelso was sent to the liquor store to buy a tap and tried pretending he was 25 years old to obtain it, though the clerk said there was no age requirement. However, unlike 15-year-old Leia and That ‘90s Show’s teens, Eric and his friends never tapped the keg because their party was interrupted by Jackie’s mom, Red, and Bob kicking everyone out.
The Keg Proves Teens Haven’t Changed Since That ’70s Show
That ‘90s Show’s repetition of That ‘70s Show’s keg storyline is a great demonstration of how teenage conflicts generally remain the same no matter what decade it is. Ozzie realizes this himself once they’re unable to tap the keg, stating, “Kids versus beer, it’s a tale as old as time. It happened to our parents and our parents’ parents.” True enough, this exact situation happened to Leia’s mom and dad and Jay’s mom and dad back when they were teenagers in That ‘70s Show.
Leia and her friends may have new clothes, technology, and music in That ‘90s Show, but the new generation of teens will inevitably end up enjoying the same pastimes and repeating the same problems as Eric and the gang in That ‘70s Show. From spending the summer joining Circles and trying to hide romantic feelings for their friends, That ‘90s Show’s characters prove that Point Place teenagers never truly change. But, with the Formans’ basement to hang out in, the Water Tower to fall from, and The Hub to escape to, teens in Point Place will continue to get by until their kids take over.
