That ’90s Show Part 3 Review

Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

When the cat’s away the mice will play!

Kitty Forman (Debra Jo Rupp) convinces grumpy homebody husband Red (Kurtwood Smith) to fly with her to Paris, so granddaughter Leia (Callie Haverda) and friends host a party at their place, which ends in the complete destruction of their kitchen! That’s how the last season of “That 90s Show” ended, so part three opens with Leia panicking over fixing the broken wall, but she is unable to clear up the mess before her grandparents return from their European vacation.

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As much as I enjoyed part two of “That 90s Show,” these new episodes were just not as entertaining or funny; instead, they were dragged out and dry. Most of the plots aren’t even interesting. Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan) takes the blame for the kitchen mishap in a bid to impress and win back ex-girlfriend Nikki (Sam Morelos). Red, of course, makes sure to punish Nate for the damage. Meanwhile, Leia agonizes over taking her relationship with Jay Kelso (Mace Coronel) to the next level. The sassy-sarcastic Ozzie (Reyn Doi) is the only one in the group who is nowhere near losing his virginity, but a possible romance is in the air for him when he meets a cute guy at a wrestling convention. Leia’s BFF Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide) doesn’t get to do much in this edition, although the second half focuses on her relationship with her dad, who turns up uninvited to spend some time with her.

Part three of “That 90s Show” is the kind of show you’d want to watch when you don’t want to pay too much attention to the television but need a mild distraction while having your lunch, tea, or dinner break. So I watched it over a few days while eating and having side conversations with family, because there aren’t many jokes that you’d feel bad about missing. The humor is still very Disney/Nickelodeon level, and yet the show isn’t kid-friendly because the teens are constantly talking about sex.

If there’s one thing that did stand out in part three of “That 90s Show,” it’s a fun animated bit where Leia imagines what her ideal first sexual encounter would be like, and the animation made her look like the cartoon version of Lizzie McGuire, a teen Disney show that starred Hilary Duff. In fact, Callie Haverda looks more like Lizzie McGuire than Hilary Duff when it comes to the cartoon counterpart. And like always, there’s plenty of 90s pop culture references laden throughout the eight episodes, complete with some unexpected dance breaks – Leia and friends dance to the 1990 hit “Gonna Make You Sweat” in one particularly hilarious dream sequence. But again, the roaring ‘laugh out loud’ moments are spread thin.

One of the major reasons I started watching this show was for the iconic Debra Jo Rupp as the fun grandma Kitty; however, this time around, the writers gave Kitty the weakest gags. Almost all the sections featuring older actors bordered on being boring. Anyway, “That 90s Show” does have a few laughs here and there, and while it’s not binge-worthy at all, like I said, it’s a decent watch for during snack breaks—you could watch a bit every day without caring about what happens next.

Stream the series on Netflix.

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