That ‘70s Show Secretly Revealed Jackie and Hyde Would Never Last

While That ’70s Show paired up Jackie and Hyde for quite a long time, the sitcom foreshadowed the fact that their relationship would never last right from the beginning. The longer any TV series lasts, the more likely it is that said show will eventually start repeating familiar storylines and resorting to tired tropes that the series used before. This is a particularly prevalent problem for network TV sitcoms that rely on a familiar, recognizable formula viewers come to expect from each new episode.

One unfortunate example of this phenomenon came in the later seasons of That ’70s Show. A huge hit upon release, the nostalgic coming-of-age hang-out sitcom That ’70s Show won over viewers thanks to a charming ensemble cast and memorable, relatable characters. However, by the time Eric left That ’70s Show, the sitcom was a shadow of its old self. Like many hang-out shows that outstay their welcome, the later seasons of That ’70s Show experimented with new character pairings and unlikely twists to maintain audience attention. Far from keeping fans invested, this instead came across as a transparent ploy.

How Hyde & Jackie Got Together Foreshadowed Their Ending

One of the first instances of this problem came as early as That ’70s Show season 5. When That ’70s Show season 5 began, viewers learned that Hyde and Jackie had begun hooking up over the summer due to mutual boredom. While earlier seasons hinted at a secret attraction between the two, the first frisson of romance only came about because Jackie and Hyde were stuck sitting on the couch together with no one else around and nothing else to do. This foreshadowed their entire relationship, wherein the pair broke up, got back together, and broke up again, since they were never particularly invested in each other from the outset.

Jackie’s return to Kelso was made inevitable by That ’90s Show ignoring Hyde, but even without actor Danny Masterson’s criminal charges ending his role in the series, Jackie and Hyde were always destined to end up as friends. The pair’s relationship had potential, but the fact that the affair began with an out-of-nowhere boredom-killing hookup meant their love was never likely to last. That ’70s Show could have given Jackie and Hyde a better shot, and arguably did when the pair tried hooking up in season 3. In That ’70s Show season 5, however, their romance simply came from a lack of better story ideas.

Jackie and Hyde Underlined 1 That ‘70s Show Problem

Much like Friends briefly linking Rachel with Joey in a later season, That ’70s Show was just pairing off characters for novelty value by season 5. This became even harder to ignore after Kelso’s departure from Point Place, when Jackie ended up with Fez. Like That ’70s Show‘s terrible Hyde father plot, this twist was clear evidence that the sitcom was out of ideas and needed to conclude. Hyde and Jackie’s season 5 hookup betrayed the fact that the series was running low on inspiration, as That ’70s Show failed to find a compelling reason to justify the romance’s existence.