Imagine spending your summer at your grandparents’ place, and suddenly Jay and Silent Bob crash their car into the kitchen.
That’s the wild scenario Leia Forman faces in That ’90s Show Part 3. While Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes are dressed as their iconic Clerks characters, they’re not actually playing them. Instead, Smith is Sonny, the son of Leo, and Mewes is his buddy Bunch. This twist keeps the time-space continuum safe since Callie rented Clerks in Season 1.
Want to dive into more details about Part 3? Keep reading for insights on guest stars and a recap of Parts 1 and 2.
What Happens in Part 3?
Now available on Netflix, Part 3 shows Leia and her friends dealing with the aftermath of the car accident. They try to convince Leia’s mom, Donna, and her grandparents, Kitty and Red, to let her stay in Point Place for the school year. Leia feels at home with her tight-knit group of friends, making it hard to leave. Filming and directing the new series was a nostalgic trip for Laura Prepon.
“I started crying when I first walked onto the sets,” Prepon recalls. “It was just such a big love.”
Prepon shares a memory: “I’ll never forget one of Red’s lines in [That ’90s Show pilot] where Red turns to my character and says, ‘You’re upstairs people now.’ And I am! I had a scene that I directed myself in with all the kids where I had to go down into the basement and threaten them not to corrupt my daughter.”
How Much of the ’90s Are in the Show?
If the bright clothes, landlines, and Zima bottles don’t scream the ’90s, the iconic “Macarena” playing in the sitcom’s second part surely will.
“The ‘Macarena,’ we had to hit that one right away,” says showrunner Gregg Mettler. But they balance the nostalgia carefully. “Less is more,” Mettler explains.
The show follows Leia and her new friends during her summer stay in Point Place. It honors the ’90s while keeping the comedy timeless and paying tribute to the original That ’70s Show.
Prepon even added some Easter eggs for long-time fans. “What’s great is that, because it’s in the ’90s, [the characters] don’t have [cell] phones yet,” she tells Tudum. She recreated quirky things they did in the basement on That ’70s Show, like playing cat’s cradle or building a chain link rope out of bottle caps.
Fans love these little touches.
Mettler points out, “I like to let the clothes do a lot of it. I let a few references here and there [like the “Macarena”] do a lot of it. The fact that they are not sitting there looking at their phones and they actually have to go over to each other’s houses and hang out makes it the ’90s.”
Who’s in the Cast?
That ’90s Show stars Callie Haverda as Leia, and she’s joined by:
- Ashley Aufderheide as her best friend Gwen
- Mace Coronel as her boyfriend Jay
- Reyn Doi as their witty friend Ozzie
- Maxwell Acee Donovan as Gwen’s brother Nate
- Sam Morelos as Nate’s clever girlfriend Nikki
Original cast members return too, like Prepon as Donna, Don Stark as Bob, and Andrea Anders as Sherri. Guest stars include Will Forte, Seth Green, Lisa Loeb, Carmen Electra, Wayne Knight, Kevin Smith, Tommy Chong, Jason Mewes, Matt Rife, and Kadeem Hardison.
“There wasn’t anybody who swung by who didn’t have an absolute blast,” says Mettler. They made each guest appearance fun, sometimes including music video parodies or ’90s-themed fantasy scenes.
Recap of Part 2
Mettler explains, “We ended Part 1 in the summer of ’95 with a big love triangle cliff-hanger.” Leia reunites with Jay after nine months apart, but almost kissing Nate causes tension. Nate and Nikki break up. Red and Kitty decide to visit Paris, leaving Bob in charge, and that’s when the car crashes into the kitchen. Oops!
Recap of Part 1
The first season is set in 1995 and features cameos from Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher, Prepon, and Wilmer Valderrama. Grace and Prepon play Leia’s parents, Eric and Donna. Kutcher and Kunis appear as Jay’s parents, Michael and Jackie. Part 1 ends with Leia almost kissing Nate before returning to Chicago for school.
The Creative Team
Bonnie and Terry Turner, co-creators of both sitcoms, teamed up with their daughter Lindsey Turner and Mettler for That ’90s Show.
“Going to Point Place last season was a real treat for all of us. We’re thrilled to return,” Lindsey Turner told Tudum. Bonnie and Terry Turner added, “We’d like to thank all of the fans old and new for tuning in. We’re truly grateful.”