The status of two That ’70s Show characters’ return in That ’90s Show season 2 actually follows a tradition from the original sitcom. After spending the summer of 1995 with her grandparents, Eric and Donna’s 15-year-old daughter, Leia Forman, will be reuniting with her new friends in Point Place in That ’90s Show season 2. Netflix has confirmed that That ’90s Show season 2 will arrive sometime in the summer of 2024, with the whole main cast of That ’90s Show expected to return.
Most of the core ’70s gang appeared in That ’90s Show season 1 in some capacity (except Hyde due to Danny Masterson’s criminal conviction). With a new season on the horizon, the question remains if any of the original That ’70s Show cast members will be making cameos again in season 2. Wilmer Valderrama already cast doubt about his return as Fez in That ’90s Show season 2; now, a new update has been shared about the status of two other That ’70s Show characters that introduces yet another parallel between the spinoff and its predecessor.
It’s been confirmed that That ’70s Show stars Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher won’t have cameos in That ’90s Show season 2. Kunis and Kutcher played on-and-off love interests Jackie Burkhart and Michael Kelso on That ’70s Show long before they got married in real life. While Jackie and Kelso did not end up together at the end of That ’70s Show, the offscreen couple reunited onscreen in the series premiere of That ’90s Show, confirming their on-again relationship status and revealing they’re the parents of Leia’s new friend, Jay (Mace Coronel).
While Kutcher and Kunis’ brief appearance in That ’90s Show was a fun throwback that established another link between the old ‘70s gang and the new crop of kids, Kunis confirmed that she and Kutcher won’t be back for round two. “We did our thing,” Kunis told EW, “and they introduced our son in the show.” Similar sentiments were expressed by Valderrama when asked if he would return as Fez in That ’90s Show season 2. “I feel like I did it,” he told Collider. “And…it was a lot of fun…But I think it’s really the kids’ show.”
Kelso and Jackie’s confirmed absences in That ’90s Show season 2 actually continue a pattern from That ’70s Show. Other than the Formans and the Pinciottis, it was very rare to see any of the gang’s parents on That ’70s Show. Hyde’s mother, Edna (Katey Segal), only appeared onscreen in the season 1 episode “Career Day” before she abandoned him, and his absent (presumed) father Bud (Robert Hays) only showed up for two episodes in season 3. Hyde’s biological father, William “WB” Barnett (Tim Reid), wasn’t introduced until season 7, appearing in a total of nine episodes.
Like Edna, Kelso’s father, John (Francis Guinan), only appeared in “Career Day,” and his mother never appeared on the show at all. Before he was imprisoned for bribery and embezzlement in season 5, Jackie’s father, Jack (Paul Kreppel), only appeared in three episodes of season 1. Jackie’s mother, Pam, only appeared in one episode of season 1 (where she was played by Eve Plumb) before the character was recast with Brooke Shields in season 6, at which point she reunited with Jackie and started dating Donna’s dad, Bob (Don Stark).
Of course, Fez’s parents weren’t expected to make an appearance since he’s a (seemingly permanent) foreign exchange student from an unknown country. Even Donna’s mother Midge (Tanya Roberts), who was a main character for the first three seasons of That ’70s Show, disappeared in season 4 and only returned as a special guest in select episodes of seasons 6 and 7. Only Red, Kitty, and Bob appeared consistently throughout That ’70s Show‘s eight-season run.
Red and Kitty continue to act as the principal parental figures in That ’90s Show (except as grandparents this time) with Sherri Runck (Andrea Anders), their next-door neighbor and the mother of Leia’s friends Nate and Gwen, filling Bob’s role. Neither Nate’s nor Gwen’s father has made an onscreen appearance in That ’90s Show, nor have any of the parents of Leia’s other friends Ozzie and Nikki. The spinoff is already mirroring the sporadic parental appearances in the original show, so it’s even more fitting that Jackie and Kelso won’t be returning as Jay’s parents in That ’90s Show season 2.
Even though Jackie and Kelso won’t be returning for That ’90s Show season 2, there are still tons of lingering questions from That ’70s Show about the Kelso lineage that have yet to be addressed in the spinoff. For instance, That ’90s Show has yet to acknowledge Kelso’s daughter, Betsy, who was born in That ’70s Show season 7 and lives with her mother Brooke in Chicago.
Betsy would be around the same age as her half-brother Jay in That ’90s Show, but she’s never been brought up by any of the characters. Rather than retcon the existence of Kelso’s first-born, Jay should mention her in That ’90s Show season 2 to clear up her whereabouts or even have her make an appearance.
One Kelso family member who definitely still exists in That ’90s Show is Michael’s older brother Casey (Luke Wilson). In That ’90s Show, Donna tells Leia that she used to date Casey Kelso while she and Eric were broken up in That ’70s Show. This Casey mention in season 1 cemented his continued existence in the franchise’s universe, but it’s unknown where he is or what he’s up to. Since Jackie and Michael won’t be returning, maybe Luke Wilson can reprise his role as Casey Kelso in That ’90s Show season 2 and pay a visit to his nephew Jay.