That 70s Show - Series 2 - Complete (DVD)

That 70s Show is a fantastic show, set in the 1970s, but filmed in modern day. I got the first season box set for Christmas, and within the week I'd also bought the second season box set too. Here's my review of the DVDs.

Please note, this isn't a review about the show, it's about what's on the DVDs, so I won't be providing many facts about the show apart from what it's about and the actors.


~~~ The Show ~~~
...in the show is from that era; the clothes, the props, the music ... You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that came from a year later than the one the season is set in.

The main stars are Mila Kunis (who plays Jackie), Laura Prepon (who plays Donna), Topher Grace (who plays Eric), Ashton Kutcher (who plays Kelso), Danny Masterson (who plays Hyde) and Wilmer Valderrama (who plays Fez). Each episode focuses mainly on these characters, ... more

That 70s Show is a fantastic show, set in the 1970s, but filmed in modern day. I got the first season box set for Christmas, and within the week I'd also bought the second season box set too. Here's my review of the DVDs.

Please note, this isn't a review about the show, it's about what's on the DVDs, so I won't be providing many facts about the show apart from what it's about and the actors.

~~~ The Show ~~~

This season of That 70s Show takes place in 1977. Everything in the show is from that era; the clothes, the props, the music ... You'll be hard-pressed to find anything that came from a year later than the one the season is set in.

The main stars are Mila Kunis (who plays Jackie), Laura Prepon (who plays Donna), Topher Grace (who plays Eric), Ashton Kutcher (who plays Kelso), Danny Masterson (who plays Hyde) and Wilmer Valderrama (who plays Fez). Each episode focuses mainly on these characters, who are all teenagers entering adulthood in the latter half of the 1970s. Other stars include the parents of Eric and Donna, played by Debra Jo Rupp (Kitty), Kurtwood Smith (Red), Tanya Roberts (Midge) and Don Stark (Bob). This season, Lisa Robin Kelly also features in most episodes as Eric's older, manipulative sister, Laurie.

Season two of That 70s Show begins to deal with Red losing his job when the plant he works at closes, and his new job alongside Eric in the newly opened PriceMart. It also takes us on a journey through Bob and Midge's quickly failing marriage, leading to hilarious results, and eventually, them getting their wedding vows renewed!

The acting continues to be up to the great quality of season one, and with new actors, such as Tommy Chong, who plays Leo, the stoned hippy who owns the Photo Hut that Hyde works in, it feels fresh and better than the first season.

~~~ DVD Content ~~~

This season was slightly longer than the first, totalling 26 episodes. Once again, the episodes are spread out fairly evenly over the 4 DVDs. This time, however, there are several extra features, whereas with the season one DVD there were very few extras.

The first disk contains a featurette looking back at season one and commentary by the director on the episode "Halloween". It's worth noting that there's a slight error in the look back at season one, in that it contains footage from the first two or three episodes from season two as well as clips from the first season. Not a major problem, but something that will probably end up bugging the more hardcore fans of the show.

The second disk contains a commentary on the episode "Hunting", once more by the director.

Disk three contains a behind-the-scenes featurette on the episode "Kelso's Serenade".

Disk four contains the most extras, with a commentary on the episode "Cat Fight Club" by the director, a season two featurette which is an interview with the director, and behind-the-scenes featurettes on episodes "Jackie Moves On", "Holy Crap!", "Red Fired Up", "Cat Fight Club" and "Moon Over Point Place".

Most of the extras are interesting, but you'll probably find you'll only watch them a few times at most. The total approximate length of the box set is 552 minutes - over 9 hours of footage! Try watching that all in one go; I did, and I didn't end up turning off until the early hours of the morning after starting.

~~~ Appearance ~~~

As with the first season DVDs, the appearance is one of the best things that stands out about the box set. The box, the case and the booklet all contain the same colour scheme and style to them; a pale green background with dark green swirling out of it. Your personal observation may flip the colours, with dark green as the background and the pale green swirling out from it.

The DVDs themselves contain the swirled background scheme, with light colour backgrounds and dark colour swirling out of them, but they're all in different colours. I found this an annoyance, because the first season DVDs all used the same colour scheme. This time, the first DVD is yellow background with red swirls, the second DVD is green (though in a lighter scheme than the case, box and booklet), the third DVD is orange and the fourth DVD is blue. Most people probably wouldn't have any problems with this, but as it was a fairly big change from the first season DVDs that I don't understand the point of, I brought up the issue.

Each DVD contains an image of the couples on the show. The first DVD is Donna and Eric, the second DVD is Jackie and Kelso and the fourth DVD is Kitty and Red. The only exception is the third DVD, which features Hyde and Fez.

The menus all contain the same vibrant, moving images and symbols as the first DVD menus did, plus the same looping theme tune, and also the addition of the 'special features' section to all the menus, as each DVD has at least one special feature.

The overall design of everything included in and on this DVD box set makes it fit in with the era, using the vibrant colours and themes as was the style back in the 1970s, making the show feel more realistic.

If you're placing this on the shelf next to your season one box set, with the cardboard spine showing, you'll notice there's been an orientation switch with the box from the season one DVDs. This is also something I don't understand, but it means the same faces of the DVD case match the faces of the box, which may be why the change was made.

~~~ Price ~~~

When I bought this it was £29.99, as it was only recently released. Now it can be bought off Amazon for £24.99, though you may be able to find it cheaper. It's interesting to point out, also, that it actually costs less than the season one DVDs on Amazon, which are slightly shorter, have less on them and are older.

You may think it's expensive, but remember - it's the entire season 2. That's 4 DVDs. That's 26 episodes. That's over 9 hours of footage for you to watch. If you're a fan of the show, it's definitely worthwhile.

~~~ General Thoughts ~~~

As I only have season one and season two of That 70s Show on DVD right now, and this is the newer season of the two, with older actors, it's my favourite of the two box sets. The DVDs in the box set of That 70s Show season two are the most watched DVDs I currently own, and until I get season three, I expect it to remain that way.

I've expressed some criticisms in this review so far. One other one which I couldn't fit in elsewhere, which was a moan I had with the season one DVD box set, was the position of the manual, which covers the first DVD. However, as there's no other way to put the four DVDs in the case without this happening, it's understandable and forgiven.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone that's seen the show and enjoys it. And for those that haven't, I'd recommend you see the show, then if you like it, go out and buy the DVD box sets; you'll love them. 

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