By FIONA RAE
In what is either a brilliant marketing strategy or another bit of Hollywood weirdness, Ashton Kutcher has lately been more famous for squiring Demi Moore than for his TV and screen roles.
But with the return of That '70s Show (tonight, 7.30, TV3), here's a chance to see the role that got him where he is today and into such noteworthy films as Dude Where's My Car?
Ashton is going to be big. He's has another two movies waiting for release and has been signed up for three more, including the Cameron Crowe-directed Elizabethtown.
And there's certainly something of the George Clooney about his role of Michael Kelso on That '70s Show. George seemed to get too large for ER and Kutcher, who at 1.9m is quite a physical presence anyway, is getting too big for his role.
Which is strange, as Kelso is as dumb as paint and there seems little prospect of change any time soon. Season five, which starts with a double episode tonight, is looking a bit more interesting than lacklustre season four, but Kelso is still the same old himbo.
It opens with Donna (Laura Prepon) and Kelso in California, having run away there last season. Kelso has found a Swimsuit Barbie California girl who is also as dumb as paint.
"Wow, I wish there was more to talk about," she says, in the clever way the show has of mixing brutal and embarrassing honesty with raging teenage hormones.
Which is kind of where Jackie (Mila Kunis) and Hyde (Danny Masterson) are making out as long as Jackie shuts her "pie hole", as Hyde so charmingly puts it.
"The trouble is, you're so cute, no one's told you to shut up before," he tells her.
Eric (Topher Grace) is also prepared to fight Donna's dad on his decision to send Donna to a Catholic school - until he sees her in her school uniform, that is.
Viewing That '70s Show through the 2003 prism makes it all the more funny. Eric seems to be pretty keen on Star Wars, which puts the year at about 1977, and he's fond of using it in conversation until Red (Kurtwood Smith) snaps, "Luke Skywalker this, Luke Skywalker that. I'm sick of hearing about that little fruit."
That '70s Show is surely the only other show on telly, apart from Mercy Peak, where "Guys, let's get serious" means a bong session in the basement.
How is that possible in the brutally commercial world of the American TV industry where advertisers can dictate what goes in a show? Perhaps it's viewed as a historical document over there. That's what kids used to do.
You've got to love it for its joie de vivre: the characters might be stupid, vain, rude and selfish, but somehow extremely likeable, from the candy-obsessed Fez (Wilmer Valderamma), who will be getting a girlfriend this season, to mom Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp), who has a really big announcement soon that is certain to make Red "pink and scary", as Donna describes him.
