TiVo Community Forums Archives - 70s show not so 70s lol

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70s show not so 70s lol
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Posted by: newsposter

Ok I know this show isn't supposed to be perfect, it's a comedy, but they sure do try most of the time and I'm impressed. But when they were all drinking beer last night, I couldn't help but think...how cool would it have been if they found beer cars with pull off tabs instead of the attached ones they used? Probably would have been worth $$$$

Posted by: TeeSee

I noticed that too, but I've been surprised at how rarely they use things that weren't around at the time the show is set. Many shows that use popular music use some songs that are from a few years after the time of the show. I don't recall noticing that in this show. And they use a lot of music.

The most glaring problem is that the show started in 1977 or '78. But most of the kids have graduated high school and Eric has had at least two birthdays but it's still the '70s. The license plate in the opening credits has an expiration of 1978.

Posted by: Kablemodem

I think the plate said 74 or 75 when the show started.

Posted by: bicker

That 70s Show has made it clear that only six months passes during the course of a season. They've only had two summer vacations, even though they've had four seasons. Many shows have to struggle with the fact that they're focused on a young cast that gets older.

Posted by: newsposter

Yea, fez looks 30, the others could be their ages though.

Posted by: Steveknj

I agree, Fez looks a LOT older this year. I think he "filled out" more, put on weight, maybe working out. I think it might have been in the very late 70s that the modern beer can came into being, so it's not TOO far fetched that they have it. I get a kick out of this show because if this is 1978, the gang is the same age as me. What they really need to do now, is get a punk rocker charachter, because it was the late 70s when this scene first hit. I think the sister is the perfect candidate. Also, does anyone know what the drinking age in Wisconsin was in the 1970s? This was before the standardized 21 year drinking age. I know in NY, it was 18, but in NJ it was 19, so many of my NJ friends would come to NY to drink!!

Posted by: dvdapex

The drinking age in WI was 18. I think it went to 19 in the early 80s and then to 21 when the rest of the country was forced to.

I remember during one show, they had a string of maybe 15 beer pull-tabs linked together and hanging off the temporary shower ring (which is actually used for storage) in the basement next to the door.

They haven't made too many mistakes with the time period, but they've made all kinds of location mistakes.

For example, when the kids visit UW in November, they all have light coats on at night. Then, when Kitty gets mad about Kelso playing the Matell football game he bought for $30 (was that about right for the original price?) while she's trying to explain what menopause is she throws the game out of an open window in their hotel. Unless the room is on fire, there's no reason someone in WI in Nov would have a window open!
They've done this before where it's Feb and there's no snow outside.

Also, Red once made a comment about when he was 18 he had Japanese snipers trying to shoot at him. Wasn't Red in the Korean war?

Posted by: Steveknj

I guess Red could have been in WWII, unless he mentioned Korea in an earlier episode. Of course that would mean that he and Kitty got married late or had kids late. Did he mention Korea in other episodes?

Posted by: dvdapex

Red was in the Korean war. During the episode where he and Eric go deer hunting, Eric misses a deer and asks Red for a war story to change the subject. Red responds with "Okay, did I ever tell you about the time I didn’t miss that North Korean?”

Also, WWII ended in 1945. Let's say Red just started in the armed forces at that time. He would have been 18 in 1945. That would have made him 33 when Eric was born and 50 during the last couple of seasons. It's certainly possible that he was in both wars...

Posted by: Naipes

quote:
Originally posted by dvdapex
The drinking age in WI was 18. I think it went to 19 in the early 80s and then to 21 when the rest of the country was forced to.

The drinking age in WI was 18 during the 70's. It went from 18 straight to 21.

Posted by: dvdapex

quote:
Originally posted by Naipes
The drinking age in WI was 18 during the 70's. It went from 18 straight to 21.

The minimum drinking age in Wisconsin was raised from 18 to 19 in July, 1984. In September, 1986 due to the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984, the minimum drinking age in WI (and most states) was changed to 21.

Posted by: LlamaLarry

WI did not have the low point/3.2 beer they had in SD? I know that no one in VA knows what the hell I am talking about and was wondering if it was a Mid West thing.

Posted by: Kablemodem

Speaking of Eric's sister, isn't that a new actress in the role?

Posted by: Bigdude

Laurie Forman is now played by Christina Moore. However, they haven't really done much with the character this year.

Posted by: lornehosman

quote:
Originally posted by LlamaLarry
WI did not have the low point/3.2 beer they had in SD? I know that no one in VA knows what the hell I am talking about and was wondering if it was a Mid West thing.

ah, 3.2 beer.. that brings back memories...
I remember when coors was "illegal" in SD....
I've been looking around - it looks like (and please, confirm or deny if you know) that 3.2 beer is still sold in some places, most notably Utah, and that many states are trying to bring it back as "drinking training wheels" for 18-21 year olds.

Posted by: Jonathan_S

quote:
Originally posted by dvdapex
Also, WWII ended in 1945. Let's say Red just started in the armed forces at that time. He would have been 18 in 1945. That would have made him 33 when Eric was born and 50 during the last couple of seasons. It's certainly possible that he was in both wars... [/B]

Didn't Red mention in this episode (or maybe it was in another one) that he spent his 18th birthday in a gunboat around Okinawa getting shot at by Japanese?

Doing a quick check the fighting on / around Okinawa was from Apr. 1 - June 21, 1945

This support seems to support dvdapex's theory that he could have been in both wars. After all the Korean war started only 5 years after WWII ended.

Posted by: Titleist

quote:
Originally posted by lornehosman
ah, 3.2 beer.. that brings back memories...
I remember when coors was "illegal" in SD....
I've been looking around - it looks like (and please, confirm or deny if you know) that 3.2 beer is still sold in some places, most notably Utah, and that many states are trying to bring it back as "drinking training wheels" for 18-21 year olds.

In Kansas, you get 3.2 beer at the grocery/convenience store, and 6 point at the liquor store. I don't think that there is much difference in actual content, something about one being 3.2 by volume, and one 6 point by content.

Another wierd liquor/cereal malt bev. law. In Oklahoma, you can't get cold beer in a liquor store, but I think all their beer is 3.2.

Posted by: Tracy

quote:
Originally posted by dvdapex
The minimum drinking age in Wisconsin was raised from 18 to 19 in July, 1984. In September, 1986 due to the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984, the minimum drinking age in WI (and most states) was changed to 21.

1n 1982, I was an 18-year-old living in northern Illinois. I can back up dvdapex that the drinking age in Wisconsin was 18 then! I do seem to remember that a year or two after that, the law was that you had to live in Wisconsin to drink at 18--no Illinois IDs accepted.

Posted by: Cathy/Vik

quote:
Originally posted by Steveknj
What they really need to do now, is get a punk rocker charachter

They did that w/That 80s Show, remember?

(I admit it. I really liked That 80s Show. :p)

Posted by: dlovearl

quote:
Originally posted by dvdapex
In September, 1986 due to the Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984, the minimum drinking age in WI (and most states) was changed to 21.

Were there any states that resisted the "stick" of reduced / eliminated federal highway funds if they did not raise their minimum drinking age to 21?

Posted by: kdonnel

quote:
Originally posted by dlovearl
Were there any states that resisted the "stick" of reduced / eliminated federal highway funds if they did not raise their minimum drinking age to 21?

Didn't SC pass on the federal funds?

Posted by: dswallow

It seems difficult to find this information in a single place...

In 1982, prompted by evidence linking younger drinking ages with increased alcohol-related highway deaths among youths, President Ronald Reagan appointed a Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving. Its top recommendation was the passage of federal legislation to require all states to raise the MLDA to 21.

In 1984, 23 states had minimum alcohol purchasing ages of 21 years old, and on July 17th of that year, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to withhold federal highway funds from the remaining 27 states if they did not follow suit.

The age-21 MLDA was universally adopted nationwide as of July 1, 1998, when Wyoming became the last state to raise its drinking age to 21.

So, Wyoming was the last holdout.

A similar thing is going on now with blood-alcohol limits; federal funds can be withheld as of 10/1/2003 from states who have a higher blood-alcohol limit than 0.08.

I'm proud to say New Jersey hasn't buckled under yet. And four other states: Colorado, Delaware, Minnesota, and West Virginia.

Unfortunately, I doubt that common sense will prevail. The state legislatures rarely manage to uphold principles and common sense when money is involved.

New Jersey has the fifth lowest rate of drunken driving fatalities in the nation, yet has a 0.10 legal limit.

MADD; Megan's law; so many bad things start with an 'M' these days.