Michael Kelso

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Michael Kelso
That '70s Show character
First appearance

"That '70s Pilot"
(episode 1.01)
Last appearance

"Misfire"
(episode 8.04)
(as a regular cast member)
"That '70s Finale"
(episode 8.22)
(guest appearance)
Created by

Mark Brazill
Portrayed by

Ashton Kutcher
Information
Nickname(s) Kelso, Michael, Dumbass, Kelslow, Dillhole, Tater Nuts, Big Chief Brown Bottom, The King, Crap Shoes, Jughead, Patchy, Mr. Clip On, The Head Dummy, Don Juan El Tardo, Kettlehead, Prettyboy Moron, Kelsmo
Gender Male
Occupation High school student
Male underwear model
Assistant chef
Waiter
Police officer
Security guard
Family John Kelso (father)
Mrs. Kelso (mother)
Casey Kelso (brother)
Unnamed sister
4 other brothers and sisters (unnamed)
Betsy (Grandmother)
Significant other(s) Jackie Burkhart (ex-girlfriend)
Pam Macey (affair)
Laurie Forman (ex-girlfriend)
Annette (ex-girlfriend)
Brooke (wife)
Angie (ex-girlfriend)
Children Betsy Kelso
(daughter, with Brooke; b. 1979)
Nationality American

Michael Christopher Kelso (born 1959), usually referred to simply as Kelso by his friends, is one of the five male leads on Fox Network's That '70s Show, portrayed by Ashton Kutcher.[1] Tall, lanky and long-haired, Kelso had been accepted as the local idiot until he moved to Chicago for the eighth season.[2] His behavior is very much in line with a stereotypical oversexed lunkhead or a male-bimbo who gets through life on his good looks.[3][4] He spends most of the series in a mutually parasitic relationship with the equally vapid Jackie Burkhart, whom he continues to obsess over following their numerous breakups.[5][6][7] In spite of his stupidity, Kelso was shown on several occasions not to be immature, simply unmotivated; when he was either forced to or chose to, Kelso displayed startling intelligence unbecoming of his usual personality or hijinks. Near the end of the series, Kelso became one of the first characters to completely break away from adolescence and into adulthood when he impregnated a girl with whom he had a one-night-stand; to his friends' surprise, Kelso took responsibility for the child, moving to Chicago to take a job to support and be near his newborn daughter.[8][9]

Storylines

Michael Kelso was first introduced in 'That 70s Pilot' as Eric Forman's lesser-intelligent, loudly obnoxious friend who was dating a preppy, younger student Jackie Burkhart.[4]

Much to his friends' annoyance, he frequently claims to be breaking up with Jackie but does not go through with it, in hopes she'll 'put out' eventually.[6] Because of her, he misses out on a Todd Rungren concert, instead spending the evening making out in the back of the Vista Cruiser. As the series progresses, it is later revealed that Michael is wont to cheat on his girlfriend (most notably with Pam Macey). At one point, Jackie found out and banned Kelso from coming to her ski-trip, though Michael still attempts to find a way there.[10] Kelso also unwittingly got his friends into trouble after driving them around in an apparently stolen car.[11][12] They were arrested, though Eric's connections with his father got them out of trouble.[11][12] Eventually, Kelso loses his virginity to Jackie, though they go through a scare that she may be pregnant,[5][11] which turns out to be misinformed.[5][13]

Eventually, Kelso purchases a van which becomes the main focus of his secondary story during seasons 2 and 3.[14] On one occasion, Jackie wished to decorate the van resulting in it becoming temporarily covered in stuffed animals, though all were removed soon after.[15][16] The van became the gang's main source of transportation on long-distance journeys, such as Vanstock and to the Ice Shack. However, it ultimately meets its fate sinking to the bottom of a river through broken ice.[17]

Like Eric, Kelso buys his girlfriend Jackie a Promise Ring to show how important the relationship is to him.[18][19] However, while Jackie is overjoyed with her ring, Donna becomes unsure of her future with Eric, causing Eric to break up with her.[18]

The season four opening episode sees Eric envisioning a possible future with Donna, a woman he had not actually met.[20] In this future, Kelso and Jackie have broken up once again only to consistently re-kindle their relationship for a one-night stand every time they reunite.[20] Kelso also spends most of that season attempting to pry Eric from his depression, though ultimately chooses Funland over Eric in the second episode, only to get lost and brought back by a concerned mother.[21][22] The mother, however, kicks him out of her car after he threatens her children following their insults to him, causing Kelso to walk home.[21] Kelso was also elected for Snow King at the Snow prom much to Jackie's disapproval.[21]

Class Picture is a flash-back episode revealing how each of the gang members met each other.[23] Kelso and Eric's meeting is not explained thoroughly, though it is presumed they simply met in first-grade.[23] However, Forman's first impression of Kelso was remembered as Kelso showed up at the door without pants.[23] After a quick reminder, Kelso exclaimed 'My pants!!' before rushing home. It was also revealed he was the only male member of the gang not to have seen Donna's breasts, though she allows him to see them after.[23] Kelso later invented a day of which he named 'Prank Day' where he attempted to get as many pranks on his friends as possible.[24] During the Season 4 finale, Jackie misleadingly believes that Kelso is proposing to her, causing him to decide to run off to California.[25] After meeting up with Donna, who had recently been humiliated by her then boyfriend and Kelso's brother, Casey, they both take off.[25]

When Kelso returned at the beginning of Season 5, he found out that Jackie had moved on to Hyde, which made him extremely jealous, and he spent the majority of the season trying to get her back.[26] Eventually, Kelso claimed to be over Jackie and renewed his friendship with Hyde, and began a relationship with Annette (Jessica Simpson), a girl he had a short relationship with in California.[26][27] Jackie, in the same manner as Kelso had, became jealous, and even went so far as to yell, "Get off my boyfriend!" when she saw Kelso and Annette kissing.[28] Kelso responded positively to this and began to make a big show of it. Annette left him at the school dance, telling him he wasn't over Jackie, and Kelso soon realized that Annette was right.[28] So when Jackie broke up with Hyde, Kelso did all he could to win her over, even competing with Hyde at some points.[29] However, when Jackie chose Hyde over him, he respected her decision and even helped to bring the two together again.[30] From then on, Kelso and Jackie shared a relationship as friends. In Season 6, Kelso is the focus of a major plot twist in which he accidentally impregnates a girl, Brooke, in a bathroom at a Molly Hatchet concert.[31][32] Brooke initially does not want Kelso in the baby's life, much to Kelso's relief.[33][34] However, a pep-talk from Donna causes him to change his mind as he attempts to prove to Brooke he can be a father.[33] In the seventh season, Betsy Kelso, was born.[35][36] Brooke left for Chicago giving Kelso permission to see Betsy whenever he can.

Kelso becomes a policeman, albeit a bumbling one.[37] He attempts to take his job seriously by growing a moustache and calling himself "Mike," and even going as far as flushing Hyde's marijuana stash down the toilet (ironically in The Circle), but he was quickly reverts when Hyde and Fez shave his moustache and made him resemble the moustache Adolf Hitler was famous for. He eventually sets the police academy on fire using a flare gun, but even before then, had broken into the academy and had lost his supervisor's squad car.

At the end of Season 7, Kelso drives Jackie to Chicago after her break-up with Hyde.[38] When Hyde follows her there to propose, he finds Kelso naked, wrapped in a towel, making a comment implying that he and Jackie were about to have sex.[39] Although Kelso frequently makes sexual comments to every female on the show, including Jackie and Donna, but Hyde believes the two really were about to engage in sex, and drives off to Las Vegas, effectively ending his relationship with Jackie.

Season 8

Ashton Kutcher did not renew his contract for the eighth and final season of the series,[40] he appeared in a recurring guest role in the first four episodes of Season 8 in order to bring closure to the character.[41]

The series begins with Kelso avoiding Hyde after he caught him about to have sex with Jackie in a motel room.[42] When Hyde finally catches Kelso, he punches him in the face and then decides to resume their friendship. With this storyline resolved and the abandonment of Hyde and Jackie's relationship, Michael resumes his police work duties. When Randy and Fez, however, decide to throw a bachelor party for Hyde after his marriage to a stripper, Kelso ends up losing his job due to misuse of police equipment and unprofessional behavior.[42] This causes Kelso to wonder what he has going for him, and decides that Jackie is the one for him all along. He decides to propose to Jackie, seeing as she was the one he had always loved.[41] However, he later rethinks this decision, and decides against it after a job offer is given to him, but Fez had already told Jackie about his plans. Feeling pressured to do something, and scared that he might lose all his future chances with Jackie, he attempts to propose, albeit with a balloon, at the Formans' anniversary, but Jackie says no, much to Kelso's pleasure. They both decide that they have a lot of maturing to do, and many things to take care of in their own lives, and even though they both admit to loving each other, they agree that now is not the right time to get married.[41] He then joins his friends for one final circle before his departure.[41] Kelso does not appear in succeeding episodes, although he is occasionally referenced by the remaining characters. He returns, though, in the series finale to welcome in the New Year with his old friends, much to their pleasure.[43]

Reunion

The Fox Network announced on April 4, 2012 that Ashton Kutcher as well as other cast members of That '70s Show have signed on to reprise their roles for a reunion for a special Fox 25th anniversary special.[44] The episode aired on April 22, 2012 as part of a two hour special.[45] The cast reflected on the show after 100 episodes.[46]

Personality

Among Kelso's most famous personality traits are conceit and sheer stupidity, performing a great number of idiocies on a regular daily basis. Despite his stupid nature, he shows moments of shining intellect, demonstrating the ability to do fast mathematical division, and fixing Eric's Pong machine. Throughout the series, Kelso has made a large quantity of moronic quotes and performed many dimwitted blunders, and possesses numerous infantile qualities such as enjoying Christmas specials deemed childish by his peers and fussing when something is preventing him from viewing them. It also been hinted Kelso loves dogs. Like the other teenage male central characters of the series, Kelso also possesses an abundance of "horny" personality traits and appears especially fond of the idea of having sexual relations, and the willingness to spoil his virginity resulted in the impregnation of a librarian named Brooke and the birth of a little girl named Betsy toward the end of the program. He fancies himself as quite attractive and capable of winning the affections of women such as Jackie Burkhart, with whom he has shared an on-again/off-again relationship throughout the course of the series. Kelso also likes bands such as Led Zeppelin, Foghat, Deep Purple, Aerosmith, KISS, Ted Nugent, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, The Rolling Stones, The Who and Molly Hatchet. It was revealed in the Halloween special that Kelso is a year older than the other teenagers due to being held back a year in the first grade, which angered the character Steven Hyde knowing that all along Kelso was legally allowed to purchase beer for the teenagers.

It is clear from Jackie and Kelso's relationship that Kelso definitely is not the one wearing the pants in his relationships; he is easily manipulated (Laurie pointed this out once and called him a "tool") and never fulfills his promise of breaking up with his girlfriend, although later it may simply be because he is afraid to break a woman's heart.[47] When he dates Annette in Season 5, he even remarked "It's good to be under someone's thumb again!" with a grin, suggesting he prefers his women to be controlling. After uttering this line, Fez asks him "What did your mother do to you?" which Kelso answers with a stupid grin. In the Season 2 episode "Kelso's Serenade", he says "I wish Jackie was still controlling me, I love being on a short leash."

Kelso often remarks that he has an entire future planned out for him. He says this several times in the third and fourth season. This was apparently a way to convince others he was mature, but his friends viewed it as boastful and annoying. Kelso's only plan was to coast through his life on his good looks, and when he believes this might not happen, he greatly overreacts. He also fell off the water tower every year since Jr. High, a fact either explaining or explained by his idiocy.

Kelso is naive and simple-minded compared to his other friends. Also, Fez describes him as being delicate and sensitive. However, as the series progresses, a slight growth and maturity can be seen in his character.

Family

Kelso's family is frequently referred to by other characters as being a large one, despite only one of his siblings actually appearing on-screen throughout the show's run. Some episodes portray his household as loud and obnoxious, such as when he opens the door, yelling can be heard. From the characters' dialogue, it can be assumed he is one of six Kelso boys and also has a younger sister, which Hyde implies to be fairly unattractive.

One grandmother, mentioned in the episode Dine and Dash, has, in Kelso's words, "honkin' whiskers". Despite Kelso's protests that his own mom is very beautiful, Jackie insists she too has the same whiskers then calls her "whisker face". One of his grandmothers, we find in the episode 5:15.

Kelso's father, John Kelso, appeared in the episode Career Day, portrayed by Francis Guinan. John Kelso's office job as a specialized statistician is unclear and confusing to Michael, who decides to make it up and say his dad is a farmer.

Reception

Kelso is considered by many fans as the breakout character of the series. In the earlier seasons he is a supporting main character but in seasons 6-7 he becomes one of the shows leads along with Eric, Donna and Hyde. Kelso was also described by TV Guide's as one of 'TVs Most Lovable Lunkheads'.[48]

Other Appearances

  • Critics have noted striking similarities to the portrayal of Kutcher's character Walden Schmidt on Two and a Half Men to that of Kelso. Walden's personality, however, has drastically changed since his initial appearances.[49] Other similarities drawn are between that of his role as Jesse Montgomery III in the stoner film, Dude, Where's My Car?.

References

  1. ↑ "That '70s Show: Cast & Details". TV Guide. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  2. ↑ "That '70s Show: Season 01". Star Pulse. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  3. ↑ Ashton Kutcher: Actor. People Magazine. May 8, 2000. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Andy Meisler (October 10, 1999). "TELEVISION/RADIO; Clothes and Hairstyles Do Not a Decade Make". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Pill". That '70s Show. Season 1. Episode 18. 21 Feb 1997.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Sunday, Bloody Sunday". That '70s Show. Season 1. Episode 10. 29 Nov 1998.
  7. ↑ "The Trials of Michael Kels". That '70s Show. Season 3. Episode 69. 13 Mar 2001.
  8. ↑ "It's Only Rock and Roll". That '70s Show. Season 7. Episode 158. 6 Oct 2004.
  9. ↑ "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  10. ↑ "Ski Trip". That '70s Show. Season 1. Episode 13. 17 Jan 1997.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Stolen Car". That '70s Show. Season 1. Episode 15. 24 Jan 1997.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "That '70s Show: Stolen Car". Star Pulse. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  13. ↑ "That '70s Show: The Pill". Star Pulse. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  14. ↑ "Red's Last Day". That '70s Show. Season 2. Episode 27. 5 Oct 1999.
  15. ↑ "Eric Gets Suspended". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  16. ↑ "Eric Gets Suspended". That '70s Show. Season 2. Episode 34. 30 Nov 1999.
  17. ↑ "Episode #309 "Ice Shack"". Carsey-Werner Productions. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "The Promise Ring". That '70s Show. Season 3. Episode 76. 22 May 2001.
  19. ↑ "Promise Ring". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 "It's a Wonderful Life". That '70s Show. Season 4. Episode 77. 25 Sept 2001.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 "Eric's Depression". That '70s Show. Season 4. Episode 78. 26 Sept 2001.
  22. ↑ "Episode #402 "Eric's Depression"". Carsey-Werner Productions. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 "Class Picture". That '70s Show. Season 4. Episode 96. 19 Mar 2002.
  24. ↑ "Prank Day". That '70s Show. Season 4. Episode 97. 26 Mar 2002.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Love, Wisconsin Style (Part 1)". That '70s Show. Season 4. Episode 103. 21 May 2002.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 "Going to California (Part 2)". That '70s Show. Season 5. Episode 104. 17 Sept 2002.
  27. ↑ '70s-show-season-05/ "That '70s Show: Season 05:Synopsis". MSN. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Get Off My Boyfriend". That '70s Show. Season 5. Episode 116. 29 Jan 2003.
  29. ↑ "Graduation". That '70s Show. Season 5. Episode 128. 14 May 2003.
  30. ↑ "The Kids are Alright". That '70s Show. Season 6. Episode 129. 29 Oct 2003.
  31. ↑ "Acid Queen". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  32. ↑ "The Acid Queen". That '70s Show. Season 6. Episode 132. 19 Nov 2003.
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 "I'm Free". That '70s Show. Season 6. Episode 133. 26 Nov 2003.
  34. ↑ "I'm Free". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  35. ↑ "Let's Spend the Night Together". That '70s Show. Season 7. Episode 155. 15 Sept 2004.
  36. ↑ "Episode #702 "Let's Spend the Night Together"". Carsey-Werner Productions. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  37. ↑ "Young Man Blue". That '70s Show. Season 6. Episode 137. 14 Jan 2004.
  38. ↑ "Short and Curlies". That '70s Show. Season 7. Episode 177. 18 May 2005.
  39. ↑ "Episode #725 "Til The Next Goodbye"". Carsey-Werner Productions. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  40. ↑ Lisa Bernhard (May 18, 2005). "Ashton, Topher Departing 'That '70s Show'". Fox News. Retrieved 2012-12-29. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 41.2 41.3 "Misfire". That '70s Show. Season 8. Episode 182. 16 Nov 2005.
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 "Bohemian Rhapsody (Part 1)". That '70s Show. Season 8. Episode 179. 2 Nov 2005.
  43. ↑ "Episode Detail: That '70s Finale - That '70s Show". TV Guide. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  44. ↑ Jethro Nededog (4 April 2012). "Ashton Kutcher Signs on for 'That '70s Show' Reunion on 'Fox's 25th Anniversary Special'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  45. ↑ Matthew Wright (Apr 8, 2012). "That ’70s Show reunion added to Fox’s 25th Anniversary Special". The National Post. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  46. ↑ "That '70s Show Special". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  47. ↑ "Battle of the Sexists". That '70s Show. Season 1. Episode 104. 20 Sept 1998.
  48. ↑ "TV's Most Lovable Lunkheads". TV Guide. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 
  49. ↑ "Kutcher’s channeling Kelso. Bring back Sheen". The Vancouver Sun. September 27, 2011. Retrieved 2012-12-28. 

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