"Eric's Birthday" is the second episode of the first season of That '70s Show, and second episode overall. It aired on August 30, 1998.
Synopsis
Red convinces Kitty to leave Eric alone during his surprise birthday party; Eric's older sister arrives.
Plot
While the gang watches TV in the basement, Kitty comes down and, by suggesting Eric should wear a shirt for his birthday and announcing his sister Laurie is coming home for the weekend, gives away her plan of throwing him a surprise party, while Eric is adamant he does not want one.
The next morning, Red insists to get Eric a gift, and he asks for a cassette player for the Vista Cruiser, specifically not an 8-track. Kitty meanwhile keeps being conspicuous by preventing Eric from opening shelves in the kitchen and sending him to buy party snacks.
While the gang is hanging out in the driveway, Jackie asks Donna about the gift she plans on giving and, from her reaction, figures out Eric kissed her. They isolate themselves in the car where Donna lays out that she now does not know what kind of relationship she has with Eric. Jackie interrupts her and suggests she get Eric a scented candle. Meanwhile, after engaging in increasingly childish games, the boys go down to the basement and run into Laurie (by whom Kelso is visibly enthralled), who asks Eric to borrow the Vista Cruiser. Eric accepts, but asks her to tell Kitty to not throw him a party. However during dinner, Eric's plea is brought up and dismissed, and Red lets Laurie borrow his Toyota instead.
The morning of Eric's birthday, his family wakes him up from an erotic dream with a breakfast in bed, which, as Kitty insists, is all the special treatment he will get for the day. This is a lie, of course, and his family and friends throw him a surprise party. Red's present for Eric is an 8-track player he didn't want. One of the gifts, a hot shave dispenser, visibly upsets Kitty who does not want to see Eric grow up. Jackie prevents Donna from giving Eric her present and insists she do it when they're alone. Once the party starts, Laurie leaves to meet her friend and the grown-ups go over to the Pinciottis', where, still upset with Eric growing up, Kitty becomes increasingly worried about anything going wrong at the party, letting her imagination run wild, and drinking to calm herself down.
Jackie calls Eric to the porch where Donna gives him the scented candle. While Jackie's other advice, such as giving Eric a sexy look, falls flat, they end up having a nice romantic moment, which gets interrupted first by Red and a drunk Kitty passing by on their way home, then by the rest of the gang gathering in the kitchen to watch them and comment on them like they're watching TV.
Cast
Starring
- Topher Grace as Eric Forman
- Mila Kunis as Jackie Burkhart
- Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso
- Danny Masterson as Steven Hyde
- Laura Prepon as Donna Pinciotti
- Wilmer Valderrama as Fez
- Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman
- Kurtwood Smith as Red Forman
- Tanya Roberts as Midge Pinciotti
- Don Stark as Bob Pinciotti
Guest Starring
Quotes
- Kitty – (immitating Eric) "NOT THE LITTLEST HOBO! WHY?!?!?!
Trivia
- In this episode, Eric's birthday is on May 19, born in 1959. But in later episodes, it is changed to March 19, 1960.
- The title of the episode “Eric’s Birthday” refers to Eric turning 17 on his birthday.
- In this episode, Eric turns 17. However, in the previous episode, he was shown to already be 17, as Donna described him as a "17-year-old man" when they were about to drive the car. This episode also definitely took place after the events of the previous episode, as Donna tells Jackie that she kissed Eric on the hood of the car.
- In the episode "Magic Bus", Eric had his birthday and it was explicitly and more recurrently mentioned that he was turning 18.
- Donna mentions that she has an older sister named Valerie. However, in future episodes, Donna would always be an only child, completely denying the existence of Valerie, without explanation.
- A similar situation would happen in the episode "Eric's Burger Job", where Donna had a younger sister named Tina Pinciotti, who would also be denied in future episodes.
- First appearance of Laurie Forman.
- For the gifts that everyone got for Eric were for an example: from Red and Kitty they got him an 8 Track tape player (much to his dismay because he originally wanted a cassette player which he told them numerous times), from Donna she got him a scent candle, from Hyde he got him cassette tapes. Although Eric got a Hot shave dispenser but it is unknown who gave it to him, however Kitty confiscated it from him by stating that he won’t be needing it for “a long time” (presumably because she doesn’t want for her son to grow up since she still considers him her “baby”).
Photos
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