That ’90s Show has been a big hit for Netflix. The sequel series to the highly popular That ’70s Show follows Leia Foreman, the daughter of Eric Foreman and Donna Pinciotti, as she stays with her grandparents Red and Kitty Foreman in Point Place, Wisconsin. Over the course of the first season, she makes a group of friends and begins to find out more about herself as a person.

That ’90s Show is a nostalgic comfort watch, for both fans of the original That ’70s Show but also audiences who long for the simplicity of both the 90s as a decade and also how television sitcoms used to be. The series draws heavily from its predecessor in fascinating ways, not just bringing back fan-favorite characters but also tapping into the comfort of revisiting a previous decade with the benefit of hindsight. It captures the spirit of the original series and continues its legacy for a new generation, much like the main characters in the series.

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A Return to Multi-Camera Sitcoms

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One of the visual elements that make That ’90s Show stand out and immediately harken back to That ’70s Show is the fact that it is a multi-camera sitcom. This used to be the most popular form to shoot television-based comedies well up into the 1990s when That ’70s Show was being broadcast. Yet starting in the 2000s the sitcom moved towards a single camera set up, with many series like Arrested Development, The Office, and Modern Family recreating the documentary handheld feeling.

The multi-cam sitcom setup has fallen out of fashion, and despite The Big Bang Theory being one of the most popular series on the air during its run and it having used a multi-cam setup, its prequel series Young Sheldon adopts a single-camera technique. Bel Air, the reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, not only shifts into a single camera setup but tells the story in a totally different way and is a drama as opposed to the original broad comedy.

That ’90s Show is a multi-camera sitcom set up not only makes it feel right at home as a successor to That ’70s Show but also like the sitcoms the characters on the series were likely watching like Seinfeld, Friends, and Roseanne. The success of That ’90s Show might be an indicator of how audiences are nostalgic for the look of classic sitcom television.

Old Favorites Return

Obviously one of the biggest prospects of That ’90s Show was the promise to see fan favorites from That ’70s Show to return. The series’ big recurring characters are Red and Kitty Foreman, played by Kurt Woodsmith and Debra Jo Rump, respectively. In addition, every major cast member from the original series returns, with the sole exception of Danny Masterson as Hyde due to the multiple sexual assault allegations against the star.

It is a pleasant surprise for audiences to see Eric, Donna, Jackie, Kelso, and Fez return. It not only provides a solid link to the past, but it is nice to catch up with all the characters. It is fascinating how much has changed for them since audiences last saw them, and there is a slight sadness to the idea that life has drawn them all apart.

Fez is clearly not on speaking terms with Kelso and Jackie following her dumping Fez to get back together with Kelso. Fez seems nostalgic for his time with his friends, and it makes the brief moment he has with Donna all the sweeter, and hopefully, the rest of the characters will reunite. With Eric and Donna’s daughter dating Kelso and Jackie’s son, that will likely lead to some reunion among old friends.

Reflective Comedy From A Previous Decade

It has been noted that the time frame between That ’90s Show being broadcast and when the series takes place (28 years) is actually a great amount of time than That ’70s Show premiere date and when the first episode takes place (22 years). That ’70s Show tapped into the 90s nostalgic reflection for the decade, it was a comfort to return to what audiences thought was a simpler time.

That ’90s Show taps into a similar mindset. With the 90s now being over three decades away, the idea of revisiting the decade that was once called “The End of History” seems comforting. The 1990s were a proper decade for Americans, as the Cold War had ended at the end of the 1990s, Desert Storm was solved in 42 days, and there was a booming economy. There is an innocence many associates with the decade.

However, the dawning of the new Millennium would bring with it the tragedy of September 11th which would lead to decades of global conflict that are still ongoing. The 1990s seem like the last time things were stable, and for audiences, there is a comfort in returning to that time period.