When That '70s Show premiered on Fox, it was supposed to be a comedy about the teenagers of Point Place, Wisconsin. However, it quickly became apparent that the most entertaining characters were Eric Forman's parents. Kurtwood Smith was a scene-stealer as Eric's stern and sarcastic father, Red Forman. Red delighted in snarking at Eric and his friends, and fans loved watching him do so.
Flash-forward to Netflix's sequel That '90s Show, and Red is still the unquestioned ruler of the block. However, he's got new kids to yell at and new frustrations to vent about. CBR spoke with Kurtwood Smith ahead of That '90s Show's premiere on Jan. 19 on Netflix about why Red Forman remains one of his most popular characters. He dove into what he thinks is different about Red 15 years later and some of the incredible fan reactions he's gotten over the years.
CBR: That '70s Show was supposed to be centered on Eric and his friends, but the audience embraced Red and his wife Kitty, played by Debra Jo Rupp. Did it surprise you that Red and Kitty became the breakout characters and are now the backbone of That '90s Show?
Kurtwood Smith: Yeah. I remember all the way back to when I was first going to audition for Red -- I was in New Orleans, shooting another pilot... I was about to go into night shooting, and they wanted me to come back the next day to read for [That '70s Show]. I would be up all night shooting and then have to fly back. I remember saying, "That's okay. Let's just pass. It's the kids' show anyway." They ended up waiting for me, which I didn't know until later, and the rest was history. That was the way I saw it; it was the kids' show, and we were just the adult figures there.
Gradually, it sort of changed. Red and Kitty became more individuals, people that we cared about. They had their own lives. We brought that out during the run of the show, and people started really enjoying [them]. When they decided to do That '90s Show, this was the easiest way to go. You could have followed some of the other characters, but this way, we keep it in the same household. There's a continuation of the show that people loved.
That '90s Show digs a little into what Red and Kitty have been doing between 1980 and 1995. How would you describe Red now that he's had those 15 years to take a break from all the nonsense?
He was under the misapprehension that he was enjoying his retirement. Therefore, he felt like he was being invaded; he was being attacked, is the word he uses, by these [new] kids. Except that, like Kitty says, there's a spark there that we haven't seen in a long time in Red. I think he loves it every bit as much as Kitty but in a different way -- and we see that when he starts doing things. He loves his granddaughter, of course. He does something very special for her. One of the neighbor kids wants him to be his uncle... He does something special for that kid. We see more of that than we saw on That '70s Show.
One of the aspects that haven't changed is Red's ability to steal a scene with a withering look or a perfect one-liner. How did you develop the expert comedic timing that is still so effective on That '90s Show?
I don't have a clue. [laughs] I think maybe it has to do with comedians that I liked. I was always a great fan of Jack Benny. I saw reruns and old films and things like that, but he still was around when I was a little kid. I liked him then, and Jack Benny was all about timing. That's what his comedy was based on. Maybe I inherited more of it than I realized. Before I even started acting, I was doing comedy readings for speech tournaments and things like that. Possibly from the very beginning, I began to see that if you just read something like this, it's not funny, but if you take a pause here...
What appealed to you about revisiting Point Place in That '90s Show? Is there anything that you would want fans to be looking out for as they start watching the Netflix series?
One thing that they should expect to see and, hopefully, is one of the reasons why they want to see the show is what made That '70s Show work. It's about a family and a family that's enlarged by the friends of the son and by the neighbors. It's a family show. When I say family show, I'm not necessarily talking about some kind of gooey family show. I mean it in the sense that when you come to see the show, you come to see these people and all the sorts of nutty things that happen to them -- which you can appreciate so much more knowing that all these various things come from sort of a family love.
That '90s Show started out the same way. We have the same creators [Bonnie and Terry Turner] that we had from the first show. The head writer/showrunner on this show [Gregg Mettler] was one of the writers from our previous season. Of course, Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey are still here. We have all of those people guiding this show along, so assuming you enjoyed That '70s Show, you'll be right at home here.
That '70s Show's appeal was near universal because multiple generations could enjoy the characters. With so many people being fans and particularly loving Red, what are some of the responses you've gotten over the years? Has Red Forman surpassed the many memorable film and other TV roles you've played?
People come up to me and say, "Hey, would you call me a dumbass?" [laughs] Which totally mystifies me as to why somebody would want to be called a dumbass, but I guess that they feel like [they have] a little tiny piece of the show if I were to call them a dumbass.
People still throw RoboCop at me, which was another role I really enjoyed. That character [Clarence Boddicker] made an impact on a lot of younger men in particular, but I didn't play it for eight years. This, by and large, just is the show because [it had] so much wider [an] audience for That '70s Show and now That '90s Show. It's funny, though; it used to be the other way around because my reputation was for playing bad guys. I remember the first season of That '70s Show, on one of these social media things, somebody said, "I'm enjoying the show, but I keep waiting for Red to kill the kids."
That '90s Show premieres Jan. 19 on Netflix.