Why Netflix canceled this 90s show

“That 70's show” has not remained quite culturally as mainstream as its 90s sitcoms Seinfeld or Friends, but that's more indicative of how titanic its competitors were and remain. True to its title, That '70s Show ran from 1976 to 1980 (four years was twice as many seasons), following a group of six high school friends growing up in Point Play, Wisconsin. The town is fictional, but the show The creators of “That '70s Show” and its characters based their own real teenage experiences.

“That '70s Show”, which ran from 1998 to 2006, reached as many as 200 episodes. It's also why you know who Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis, and Topher Grace are—with their popularity, a revival was inevitable, especially since enough time had passed by the 2020s to update the main gimmick.

Enter “That '90s Show” with a setting that matches the era the original show aired. Set in 1995, the show starred Leia Foreman (Callie Howard), daughter of original leads Eric (Grace) and Donna (Laura Prepon). While her parents are busy (and can only visit occasionally), Leia lives with her paternal grandparents, original series supporting characters Red (Kurtwood Smith) and Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp).

But the era of “That '70s Show,” where sitcoms produced more than 22 seasons for syndication, is over. “That '90s Show” only lasted two seasons before being pulled like so many other Netflix shows before and since. Two seasons of the show totaling 26 episodes would be enough to fill one full season of TV in '98.

Kurtwood Smith confirmed the cancellation of That '90s Show on October 3, 2024. Instagram post. Smith said there are plans to shop the show to a new home for a potential Season 3, but he didn't elaborate. why Netflix is ​​ending it. What is the story?

Trigger Warning: The next slide will contain references to sexual assault.

There's an elephant in the room surrounding the legacy of “That '70s Show,” which includes the existence of “That '90s Show.” That elephant is original cast member Danny Masterson, who played Stephen Hyde, the angry, insanely paranoid The Man.

Masterson is also a convicted rapist. in May 2023, he was convicted of raping two women in separate incidents in 2003 and after (September of the same year) sentenced to 30 years to life imprisonment. (Masterson's attorney has filed an appeal in December 2024.) Meisterson is a Scientologist and many, including the prosecutor in the case, Ariel Ansonhave alleged that he used his influence within the Church of Scientology to both attack and then silence survivors.

The negative press got even worse after it was revealed that several members of “That '70s Show” (namely Kutcher, Kunis, Smith and Rupp) wrote letters testifying to Masterson's alleged good character. Needless to say, Judge Charlene Olmedo was not swayed by the letter. Kutcher and Kunis then posted an apology on camera for writing the letters.

Masterson was first publicly accused in March 2017and the charges saw him fired from Netflix comedy series “The Ranch” (where he starred alongside Kutcher) later that year. Unsurprisingly, Masterson was not on “That '90s Show,” and the show never even referenced Hyde. Did his convictions simply make it unbearable for the show to continue? This is a natural assumption, but is it correct?

Season 2 of That '90s Show premiered (in two separate parts) in June 2024 and later in August 2024. It was then lifted around October 2024, about a year after Masterson's conviction. So it looks like the show wasn't canceled directly answering to confidence. Deadline reported that it's much simpler: Season 2 of “That 90s Show” didn't attract enough viewers to warrant more shows. The first half of the season only cracked the Netflix Top 10 once, and the streamer even moved up the premiere date of the second half (from October to August), which failed to increase the numbers. This series of events doesn't sound like Netflix has written the show off as a lame duck going into Season 2.

The storm of negative publicity may have had a circular effect, with people not wanting to watch “That '90s Show” now that memories of the original have been tarnished. That 70's Show used to be one of my favorite sitcoms, but I can't bring myself to watch it or watch That 90's Show. This is all speculative, of course; viewership has also been reported to be down a lot between Season 1 of That '90s Show (which easily stayed in Netflix's Top 10 during its premiere weekend) and season 2. Maybe Masterson's confidence between the two seasons made it difficult for viewers, or maybe a large portion of viewers simply didn't like Season 1 enough to watch Season 2. Whatever the reason, Netflix viewers weren't watching enough. That '90s Show” for season 3.