I would come to side with the more positive reviews for That ‘90s Show overall after giving the new coming-of-age comedy a shot. However, the biggest draw of the new Netflix original series for me was seeing a reunion of the stars of That ‘70s Show — the long-running sitcom the new show is spun-off from.
In addition to Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp reprising their roles as Red and Kitty Forman, respectively, in the That ‘90s Show cast, some of their now A-list former co-stars — such as Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis — were kind enough to stop by Point Place, Wisconsin, for a sweet guest appearance or two. Let’s talk about what else the original That ‘70s Show cast has been up to lately.
Topher Grace (Eric Forman)
After leaving the role of Eric Forman a season early, Topher Grace pursued a film career that led to a variety of interesting roles like Eddie Brock (a.k.a. Venom) in the final, 2007 installment of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy, David Duke in Spike Lee’s Oscar-winning, biographical cop drama, BlacKkKlansman, in 2018, and Anne Hathaway’s boyfriend in 2009’s Valentine’s Day (also starring Ashton Kutcher).
He also, intriguingly, would make some great turns in three different sci-fi anthology series: Love, Death and Robots, Black Mirror (in arguably, the best episode of Season 5), and Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone revival. Grace’s current day job is a new sitcom on ABC called Home Economics.
Laura Prepon (Donna Pinciotti)
Making her breakthrough as Eric’s girlfriend, Donna, was Laura Prepon, whose first major success after the sitcom was joining the Orange is the New Black cast as drug money smuggler, Alex Vause. However, before landing that Netflix hit, she did have a memorable recurring role opposite the How I Met Your Mother cast as Ted’s vile ex, Karen, and played a fictionalized version of Chelsea Handler on the short-lived NBC sitcom, Are You There, Chelsea?
Prepon has also appeared in movies like 2016’s The Girl on the Train, and The Hero with Sam Elliott (Ashton Kutcher’s The Ranch co-star), recently continued her directing career with an episode of That ‘90s Show, and co-wrote the health and wellness book, The Stash Plan, in 2016.
Ashton Kutcher (Michael Kelso)
While his character, Michael Kelso, was certainly not the brightest of the bunch, Ashton Kutcher would go on to prove himself as one of the more enterprising cast members with the development of successful tech-based media company A Plus, investing firms Sound Ventures and A-Grade Investments, and the anti-human trafficking organization, Thorn.
As for his acting career, the former model played Steve Jobs in a 2013 biopic and replaced Charlie Sheen on Two and a Half Men, to name a few things. Kutcher also recently received praise for his performance in director B.J. Novak’s Vengeance in 2022, stars opposite Reese Witherspoon in the upcoming 2023 Netflix original movie, Your Place or Mine, and leant his voice to a web series called Stoner Cats, alongside another familiar face.
Mila Kunis (Jackie Burkhart)
Kutcher’s Stoner Cats co-star, Mila Kunis, rose to fame playing his onscreen love interest, Jackie Burkhart, years before — much to their former co-stars’ surprise — falling in love in real life. The Ukrainian-born actor went on to earn a Golden Globe nomination for Black Swan, tried her hand at launching a sci-fi franchise with Jupiter Ascending, did successfully lead a comedy franchise with the Bad Moms movies, and also balanced action with comedy well in The Spy Who Dumped Me. Kunis recently took another dark turn with the Netflix original drama, Luckiest Girl Alive, and is still the voice of Meg on Family Guy.
Wilmer Valderrama (Fez)
Also leading an eclectic career since That 70s Show’s final curtain call is Fez actor Wilmer Valderrama, who starred in Richard Linklater’s Fast Food Nation, played one of the main villains of the series adaptation of From Dusk Til Dawn, and voiced the title role of the animated series Handy Manny.
He also played a cop on several TV shows — namely the short-lived Awake, Fox’s series adaptation of Minority Report, and, most notably (and currently), in the NCIS cast as Nick Torres. The Venezuelan actor also gave an impressive performance in the Blast Beat cast in 2020, had a memorable role in the Encanto voice cast, and is preparing to play Zorro in an upcoming reboot.
Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty Forman)
After she (temporarily) said goodbye to playing the ultimate ’70s-era mother, Kitty Forman, Debra Jo Rupp, would reunite with some of her co-stars with guest appearances opposite Kutcher on The Ranch and Valderrama on NCIS. She also added movies like Kickin’ it Old School and She’s Out Of My League on to her resume and would (technically) return to sitcom acting by poking fun at the genre on Disney+’s WandaVision.
Rupp is now preparing to reprise her role from that hit on another upcoming Marvel TV show called Agatha: Coven of Chaos and, for now, it is refreshing to see her back as Kitty on That ‘90s Show.
Kurtwood Smith (Red Forman)
Also back on That ‘90s Show as Kitty’s husband, Red, is Kurtwood Smith, who was previously best known for another demanding father in Dead Poet’s Society, and as the main antagonist of one of the best ‘80s sci-fi movies, RoboCop. Like Rupp, he also went on to star in comic book adaptations — such as the animated series Beware the Batman as Commissioner Gordon — and guest-starred on The Ranch.
More recently, he appeared alongside Amanda Seyfried on Hulu’s Elizabeth Holmes miniseries The Dropout, was in 2022’s Firestarter remake cast, and returned to the Star Trek franchise (years after playing one of Star Trek: Voyager’s best villains) by lending his voice to the animated series, Star Trek: Lower Decks.
Don Stark (Bob Pinciotti)
Another That ’70s Show cast member with ties to “the final frontier” (i.e., a Deep Space Nine episode and one of the Star Trek movies, First Contact), is Don Stark, whose best know role is, arguably, as Donna’s father, Bob. Since then, he has made guest appearances and landed recurring roles on an eclectic variety of TV hits — including Supernatural, American Horror Story, and Maron, to name a few. You could also see Stark on the big screen in the likes of Disney’s 2012 The Princess of Mars adaptation, John Carter, and the 2019 Best Picture Oscar winner, Green Book.
Tommy Chong (Leo)
The only series regular in the cast who actually rose to fame in the ‘70s was Tommy Chong, who was perfectly cast as aging hippie, Leo. His popularity has, arguably, skyrocketed ever since, as has the variety on his resume, which includes hit animated movies like Zootopia as Jax and one of the best horror movies on Shudder, 2019’s Color out of Space. The Canadian legend has also been known to reunite with his old comedy partner, Cheech Marin, on various projects, including their own brand of cannabis, unsurprisingly.
It was so refreshing to see the actors above coming back together again for yet another nostalgia-fueled sitcom. However, missing from That ‘90s Show and our list, as you may have noticed, are Hyde actor Danny Masterson — who is currently facing sexual assault charges — Josh Meyers (Seth’s younger brother), who joined the That ‘70s Show cast in the show’s least favored season as Eric’s replacement, Randy Peterson, and the late Lisa Robin Kelly (as Eric’s older sister, Laurie) and Tanya Roberts (as Donna’s mother, Midge), who are deeply missed.
