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8 seasons crunched into three years
10 Jul 2015 11:24 amTrying to reconcile the That 70s Show timeline is pretty much impossible, but I'm having fun trying to figure it out. Season one is easy, but once you start adding the others, it's a mess.
Like in season three, they have a Veteran's Day BBQ. That episode always cracked me up because everyone is in jeans and t-shirts when Veteran's Day is in November and they're in Wisconsin. It's usually snowing by then. In the episode, Hyde takes Jackie on a date to get her to leave him alone which means Jackie and Kelso are broken up. Well, half of season one, while Hyde still has a crush on Donna and Jackie/Kelso is going strong, takes place after November, including the junior prome when Hyde takes Jackie because she broke up with Kelso.
The Veteran's Day BBQ would have to be in 1976, but in the show, season 4 takes place in 1977. But most of season 1 also takes place in 1977. You see how this is getting confusing already.
Another major problem is that, according to season 5, they graduate high school in 1978. This means they are seniors in the 77-78 school year, in between seasons 4 and 5 Hyde and Jackie hook up while Donna and Kelso are in California. This should be the summer of 1977, before they start their senior year. That means the Veteran's Day episode from season 3 has to take place before this. It can't be in November on 1977!
As a Jackie/Hyde shipper these are important episodes that cannot be frakked with. I have to build my timeline around them, and I'm trying to stick to canon as much as possible. Fans usually just ignore all of the inconsistancies and continuity issues because the show never made much sense. We accept that they celebrated Halloween 1977 twice, but they were juniors both times. And that Christmas happens in multiple seasons, even thought it's only been two years. Even when writing fic, you ignore it all. You can have Hyde take Jackie to the junior prom (which would be around May 1977), but not have him ask her on the date until November 1977. Yeah, makes tons of sense, but it's how the show rolls.
I'm having fun trying to fit all of the pieces into something that makes sense. Because of that, I've had to rearrange things. Most of season 1 therefore takes place in 1976--most of it at the end of their sophomore year. I'm using birthdates give on the fan wiki page, but I might have to adjust those. They have Eric's birthday in March, and the whole starts off with him getting the car which happens before his 17th birthday which they have in 1976, but based on season 5 and the graduation, Eric would be turning 16 in 1976 (having been born in 1960). That means, to adjust for this discrepancy, the events of episode 1 must happen after his 16th birthday in March of 1976. He can't get the car before that because he wouldn't have his license yet.
To accomodate for all of the stuff that happens in 1977 in later seasons, stuff had to be condensed. Everything in season 1 except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and two episodes between them, takes place in the spring on 1976 instead of throughout the 19976-77 school year. That means instead of a "junior prom" there has to be some other dance for Hyde to take Jackie to because they are still sophomores (Jackie would be a freshman). I had to completely move certain episodes from the winter of 1977 to 1976, and a couple were "invalidated" because they could not logically fit into my timeline. Such as the episode when they go to see Star Wars. On the show it makes sense because it's 1977, but in my timeline, season 1 is still in 1976. The movie came out May 25, 1977. By then, in later seasons, Eric and Donna are split up, Jackie and Kelso are back together (and she's pushing him to get married), and right after that, Donna and Kelso leave town. In the episode, though, Donna and Eric have barely been dating. See...
Another one that had to be invalidated was a Valentine's Day episode. Hyde likes Donna and is going to study with her on Valentine's, but Eric swoops in to take her on their first real date. Hyde finally confesses his feelings to her at the restaurant while Eric is getting coffee, but she's too drunk to remember. The problem is that in my timeline, it starts in March of that year. It doesn't fit in, so I've decided to break it apart, and have the first date happen at some other time.
In the end I might toss out more episodes that aren't super important to the main plot of the show. Or rewrite some of them. I started doing this for my own amusement, but also because I was coming up with ideas for little scenes of the kids growing up over the years. I had to start fixing the timeline in my head so it all made sense.
Which is impossible because this show doesn't make sense.
Like in season three, they have a Veteran's Day BBQ. That episode always cracked me up because everyone is in jeans and t-shirts when Veteran's Day is in November and they're in Wisconsin. It's usually snowing by then. In the episode, Hyde takes Jackie on a date to get her to leave him alone which means Jackie and Kelso are broken up. Well, half of season one, while Hyde still has a crush on Donna and Jackie/Kelso is going strong, takes place after November, including the junior prome when Hyde takes Jackie because she broke up with Kelso.
The Veteran's Day BBQ would have to be in 1976, but in the show, season 4 takes place in 1977. But most of season 1 also takes place in 1977. You see how this is getting confusing already.
As a Jackie/Hyde shipper these are important episodes that cannot be frakked with. I have to build my timeline around them, and I'm trying to stick to canon as much as possible. Fans usually just ignore all of the inconsistancies and continuity issues because the show never made much sense. We accept that they celebrated Halloween 1977 twice, but they were juniors both times. And that Christmas happens in multiple seasons, even thought it's only been two years. Even when writing fic, you ignore it all. You can have Hyde take Jackie to the junior prom (which would be around May 1977), but not have him ask her on the date until November 1977. Yeah, makes tons of sense, but it's how the show rolls.
I'm having fun trying to fit all of the pieces into something that makes sense. Because of that, I've had to rearrange things. Most of season 1 therefore takes place in 1976--most of it at the end of their sophomore year. I'm using birthdates give on the fan wiki page, but I might have to adjust those. They have Eric's birthday in March, and the whole starts off with him getting the car which happens before his 17th birthday which they have in 1976, but based on season 5 and the graduation, Eric would be turning 16 in 1976 (having been born in 1960). That means, to adjust for this discrepancy, the events of episode 1 must happen after his 16th birthday in March of 1976. He can't get the car before that because he wouldn't have his license yet.
To accomodate for all of the stuff that happens in 1977 in later seasons, stuff had to be condensed. Everything in season 1 except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and two episodes between them, takes place in the spring on 1976 instead of throughout the 19976-77 school year. That means instead of a "junior prom" there has to be some other dance for Hyde to take Jackie to because they are still sophomores (Jackie would be a freshman). I had to completely move certain episodes from the winter of 1977 to 1976, and a couple were "invalidated" because they could not logically fit into my timeline. Such as the episode when they go to see Star Wars. On the show it makes sense because it's 1977, but in my timeline, season 1 is still in 1976. The movie came out May 25, 1977. By then, in later seasons, Eric and Donna are split up, Jackie and Kelso are back together (and she's pushing him to get married), and right after that, Donna and Kelso leave town. In the episode, though, Donna and Eric have barely been dating. See...
Another one that had to be invalidated was a Valentine's Day episode. Hyde likes Donna and is going to study with her on Valentine's, but Eric swoops in to take her on their first real date. Hyde finally confesses his feelings to her at the restaurant while Eric is getting coffee, but she's too drunk to remember. The problem is that in my timeline, it starts in March of that year. It doesn't fit in, so I've decided to break it apart, and have the first date happen at some other time.
In the end I might toss out more episodes that aren't super important to the main plot of the show. Or rewrite some of them. I started doing this for my own amusement, but also because I was coming up with ideas for little scenes of the kids growing up over the years. I had to start fixing the timeline in my head so it all made sense.
Which is impossible because this show doesn't make sense.
