'That '70s Show' Rolls on Without Grace, Kutcher (Monday, January 17 11:14 AM)
By Rick Porter
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher are leaving, but "That '70s Show" will keep on truckin' into an eighth season in 2005-06.
FOX is banking that the rest of the cast -- who have all signed on to the show's eighth year -- will be enough to keep viewers coming back to one of the network's longest-running series.
"We think it still has life in it," FOX Entertainment president Gail Berman told reporters Monday (Jan. 17) at the TV Critics Association midseason press tour. Berman says that while the show's ratings have been off in the early part of the season -- along with FOX as a whole -- she expects it to bounce back some when "American Idol" and "The Simple Life" return to Wednesday nights over the coming weeks.
Grace's and Kutcher's contracts with the show expire at the end of the season and have opted not to renew in order to focus on other aspects of their careers. Grace currently stars in the well-received comedy "In Good Company," while Kutcher has a production company and several feature roles on tap.
Berman says she expects both actors to make appearances on "That '70s Show" next season, which could help soften the blow of the show losing two of its principal stars. Sitcoms faced with that situation, from "Happy Days" to ABC's "8 Simple Rules," have a decidedly mixed track record.
Working in the show's favor is the fact that Grace and Kutcher were part of a fairly deep ensemble. Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson, Wilmer Valderrama, Debra Jo Rupp and Kurtwood Smith are set to return next season.
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Well yay for Ashton leaving. Long overdue if you ask me.
It will be kind of weird without Topher/Eric though. I wonder how that'll work out. Not like I even watch the show religiously, but I do occasionally catch it on. I used to watch it way more when it first began.