10 Best Episodes That Make Bad TV Seasons Worth Watching
8. That ‘70s Finale - That ‘70s Show (Season 8)
That ‘70s Finale is the one and only finale on the list, simply because it’s too good an episode to leave out and Season Eight of the show was so inescapably bad. As mentioned in The Office’s entry, including a finale does feel a tad cheap, but when it’s head and shoulders above the rest of the season, it’s really unavoidable.
One of the huge problems with the season was the departure of Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher as Eric Foreman and Michael Kelso respectively. With such a tight dynamic, losing just one of the main stars would have been tough to recover from. But two? It was practically a death sentence.
The strange plot of Jackie & Fez’s romance plus the unpopular addition of Josh Meyer’s Randy didn’t help either.
In the finale though, suitably set on New Year’s Eve, 1979, those issues were forgotten. For one, Randy is hardly in it, but it also brings Kelso and Eric back, reuniting the gang as they should be, one last time. It’s as funny as it is somber, and while it’s certainly helped by the added nostalgia of being a finale, it’s pretty much the only Season Eight episode worth watching.