That '70s Show-Season 3 (2000)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Series	Main Menu Audio & Animation Audio Commentary-Disc 1 : Two episodes Audio Commentary-Disc2 : One epiode Audio Commentary-Disc 3 : One episode Audio Commentary-Disc 4 : Two episodes Featurette-Making Of-Season Three reflections (23:15) Web Links
Rating
Year Of Production	2000
Running Time	532:37
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (22:00) Multi Disc Set (4)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Ads Then Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	David Trainer Terry Hughes Tim Ryder
Studio Distributor	Carsey Werner Twentieth Century Fox	Starring	Topher Grace Mila Kunis Ashton Kutcher Danny Masterson Laura Prepon Wilmer Valderrama Debra Jo Rupp Kurtwood Smith Tanya Roberts Tommy Chong Don Stark Lisa Robin Kelly Mo Gaffney
Case	?
RPI	$64.95	Music	Chris Bell Alex Chilton Todd Griffin

      Fox have recently reissued all eight seasons of this, one of the best half hour comedies of recent years, and it is my happy task here to review Season 3. After a more than promising initial season, That 70s Show lived up to expectations in Season 2, and in Season 3 the entire production was churning out first class comedy each week.
    Originally aired in the United States between  October 2000 and May 2001, Fox Video have collected all twenty-five of the Season Three episodes onto four discs. A very pleasing bonus is the inclusion of the original network promo for every episode, as well as many introductions by cast members, although the two male "stars", and Laura Prepon, do not contribute.Each promo is thirty-two seconds long, and the introductions range from approximately thirty to ninety seconds.The episode titles, and the introductions are :                                    

Disc 1 :  Reefer Madness : Introduction by Danny Masterson
              Red Sees Red : Introduction by Debra Jo Rupp
              Hyde's Father : Introduction by Danny Masterson
              Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die : Introduction by Mila Kunis
              Roller Disco : Introduction by Wilmer Valderrama
              Eric's Panties : Introduction by Debra Jo Rupp

 Disc 2 : Baby Fever
             Jackie Bags Hyde : Introduction by Kurtwood Smith
             Hyde's Christmas Rager : Introduction by Danny Masterson
             Ice Shock : Introduction by Mila Kunis
             Who Wants It More : Introdction by Kurtwood Smith
             Fez Gets the Girl : Introduction by Wilmer Valderrama
             Dine and Dash : Introduction by Don Stark

Disc 3 : Radio Daze
            Donna's Panties
            Romantic Weekend : Introduction by Kurtwood Smith
            Kitty's Birthday (That's Today?!) : Introdction by Debra Jo Rupp
            The Trials of M. Kelso : Introduction by Don Stark
            Eric's Naughty No-No
            Holy Craps!

Disc 4 : Fez Dates Donna : Introduction by Don Stark
            Eric's Drunken Tattoo
            Canadian Road Trip : Introduction by Wilmer Valderrama
            Backstage Pass : Introduction by Mila Kunis
            The Promise Ring 
             
    
    I first sampled this show primarily because Ashton Kutcher was in the cast. I watched a couple of minutes, spotted the talented Topher Grace (Win a Date with Tad Hamilton) and thought it was some kind of teenage Disneyland, a mixture of sketches and Laugh-In style inserts, and promptly switched channels. Eventually I did see a complete episode, and to my suprprise I found that it was actually a very old fashioned sitcom. The sets are more elaborate than for, say, I Love Lucy or Happy Days, but it was still the basic sitcom formula of known characters in known locations faced with a new issue each week. Season Three does not have as many serious undertones as Season Two, with the emphasis here more on straight out comedy. Despite this concentration on humour, the plots continue to be primarily character driven, with gradual development of individual characters through the episodes. Donna and Eric (Laura Prepon and Topher Grace) are still the young lovebirds, but we see changes in Jackie (Mila Kunis) as she pursues Hyde (Danny Masterson), and also in Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) as he attempts to come to terms with his Laurie versus Jackie dilemma. Fez (Wilmer Valderrama) eventually lands himself a girlfriend, who turns out to be slightly demented, leading to the episode Fez Dates Donna, as he tries to escape the clutches of the crazy one.

    Under the direction of David Trainer, the man who directed every single episode of the entire eight seasons, two-hundred-and-one in total, the twenty-five episodes on these four discs are of amazingly consistent quality. There is not a dud performance, the ensemble cast repeatedly displaying the most brilliant comic timing and delivery. Standout episodes are Dine and Dash, with Kelso at his most demented, in a hilarious performance by Kutcher. This talented young actor has never been better than he is in this series. Romantic Weekend  has Eric and Donna  as well as Eric's parents, Red and Kitty (Kurtwood Smith and Jo Ann Rupp) in adjoining rooms for a "secret" bed and breakfast naughty getaway, and there is a marvellous  Hitchcock homage, Too Old to Trick or Treat, Too Young to Die which will have you laughing out loud. There is, in fact, not one dud episode on the four discs. Wilmer Valderrama continues to make Fez a superb comic creation, and steals almost every scene in which he appears. His disco turn in Roller Disco is truly memorable. Happily we continue to get the flashback or flashforward sequences, as in Baby Fever, in which we see Eric and Donna coping with parenthood. Possibly the best episode is Canadian Road Trip, which follows the "boys" as they cross the border into Canada in order to legally buy beer, and find themselves in conflict with the mounties.

    There is little variation in my reviews of this series, because it is just so consistently first rate. Scripts, direction, performances and technical execution are all nigh flawless. This is one of the best comedies of recent years, and I am eagerly looking forward to reviewing Season Four.

Video

    If you have only ever seen this series on pay TV you are in for a pleasant experience when viewing it on DVD. The image is considerably sharper and brighter than on subscription telecasts, with very little evidence of MPEG artefacts.
   
    The transfer is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in a 4x3 transfer.
       
    The transfer quality throughout all episodes is extremely sharp, clear and clean, resulting in an extremely bright and attractive image. Naturally this does not apply to the sequences which are designed to look like old film or black and white flashbacks to the past.
    Shadow detail is hardly an issue with almost all scenes brightly lit, as is the norm for tv sitcoms. The occasional darker sequence, such as night scenes in the car and the "round table" basement sequences, look very satisfactory, with dark solid blacks.
    There is no low level noise and very little grain.
    Colour is bright and vibrant highlighting the fashions and decor of the period. There is very little variation in colour quality and skin tones are excellent.
    MPEG artefacts are limited to minor compression issues, and there were no film artefacts.

    
    The English for the Hearing Impaired titles were generously sampled, in the episodes themselves as well as the promos, introductions and commentaries. As an ex-teacher of hearing impaired students, I can vouch that the subtitles are excellent.

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    The four discs are dual layered with layer changes between episodes.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The audio is excellent throughout these four discs, for the episodes, promos, introductions and commentaries. As is the norm for TV sitcoms, there is virtually no movement across the fronts, and the surrounds are used almost exclusively for the audience reactions.
    There are two audio streams, both in  English Dolby Digital 2.0, Surround Encoded at 192 Kbps.The second stream contains the commentaries.
    

    Every syllable of the frequently brilliant dialogue is crystal clear.
    There were no drop-outs and no sync problems.
   
    The reproduction of music of the period is always bright and attractively recorded and reproduced.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall