Before That '70s Show acquired an official title, several other ideas were up for consideration. The period sitcom on Fox ended in 2006 after airing 200 episodes but its legacy lives on after becoming a cult classic. The series set in the 1970s also launched the career of many young stars including Topher Grace, Mila Kunis, and Ashton Kutcher.
That '70s Show was originally developed by Bonnie Turner, Terry Turner, and Mark Brazill to focus on the lives of six teenagers living in Point Place, Wisconsin. The series debuted in 1998 and introduced Eric Forman, Donna Pinciotti, Steven Hyde, Michael Kelso, Jackie Burkhart, and Fez as bored teens navigating the '70s. On the surface, the sitcom was a love letter to the decade since it was full of nostalgia and storyline appropriate to that time. The group spent a lot of time in "the circle" in Eric's basement and hiding their actions from their parents. They also spent a lot of time focused on music which was a heavy element throughout the series.
The setting for That '70s Show spanned from 1976 to 1980 so it made sense that popular music from groups like The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Queen be in the spotlight. In fact, many of the episode titles were based on songs from that time period. The theme song for the series was even performed by Cheap Trick. To no surprise, the series toyed with the idea of using hit songs as the title of their series. The working titles included Teenage Wasteland (a lyric from a song by The Who), The Kids Are Alright (another song by The Who), Feelin' All Right (a song by Joe Cocker and Traffic), and Reeling in the Years (a song by Steely Dan). Even though the choices were fitting, the series couldn't use any of them.
Due to the song-rights developed by the bands and musical artists, Fox was unable to use any of the song-based options for the title of the sitcom. It made sense that the rights wouldn't have been handed over without an established series in the mix. There were risks to attach a well-known song or lyric to a show that could potentially fail quickly. The creators of That '70s Show also thought that if the series used any of the aforementioned titles, it wouldn't be as memorable to young audiences who weren't so familiar with the music of that particular decade.
Production carried on without an official titled while the series filmed episodes in front of a live audience. The creators then heard audience members react positively to the series and referred to it as "the show about the '70s" since it still didn't have a title. It was then that the title of That '70s Show was born since it was generic, yet memorable, and described exactly what the show focused on.
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