thestupidhelmet:

That ’70s Show Character Details of Interest

Michael Kelso

Kelso was supposed to have a very specific kind of intelligence. Even though he was socially irresponsible and behaviorally impulsive, he was originally good at complex math and technology.

In episode 106 “The Keg,” he’s the one who figures out how much money they’ll make with some complicated variables:

ERIC: Yeah, we’ll throw a party. Charge two bucks a head.
KELSO: Two bucks a head. A keg is seven cases. That’s 168 beers. If we each take three beers a piece…
HYDE: No way. Sophomore’s gonna drink one, maybe—
KELSO: Two.
HYDE: Yeah, and the freshman’s gonna take a half.
KELSO: So that averages out to 1.5 beers per person, which means we can invite 112 people and that’s 224 bucks…

And later, in episode 122 “Punk Chick”, Kelso takes apart the Pong game, and Red assists him in making smaller paddles:

RED: I’m about to take off the doohickey!”
KELSO: Okay.
RED moves his tweezers over the component.
KELSO: Red! Don’t you think we should disconnect the transistor from the secondary circuit board first?

And in episode 118 “Career Day,” Kelso’s father demonstrates a similar kind of proficiency in math, giving a foundation to Kelso’s smarts.

I think it’s a shame the show stripped this bit of characterization from him. It would’ve made him a richer character.

Yeah… one of the things I don’t like about a long-running series, is that they get too ~lazy~ to build upon subtle character traits and focus on the superficial ones. For instance, — besides Kelso getting more stupid and Fez getting more horny — in Boy Meets World, Eric got more stupid too. 

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    things I don’t like about...long-running series,...they get...

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