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That '70s Show Season 3 Episode 25

The Promise Ring

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8.6

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Episode Summary

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AIRED: 5/22/01

Eric gives Donna a promise ring but things don't turn out the way that he planned; Jackie, seeing Donna's ring, demands that Michael gives her a promise ring too; Hyde and Fez go cruising for chicks.

FAN RECAP

Fan Episode Reviews (6)

Eric goes to get Donna a ring while Kelso wonders if he should give Jackie one. The ring turns out to be too much for Donna leaving Eric no choice but to break up. Hyde and Fez are going for chicks.moreless

9.5

By rictus64, Dec 24, 2010

Definitly the best finale so far. Seeing Jackie trying to get Kelso to give her a ring is just hilarious and the side story with Hyde and Fez trying to get chicks is also very good.

On the other part the conclusion between Eric and Donna is just heartbreaking. You cannot do anythig but to feel sorry for Eric. He had so many expectations, and the fact that Donna is not ready for such commitment is just sad, but an important turning point in the Eric/Donna relationship. I also think that it was unavoidable as Eric and Donna had been fighting a lot in the last season.

The episode has some really good parts with Leo (This guy is just always funny) being . I also think that the last scene with Leo and Eric was really funny and did not break the episode at all (It is a sitcom after all).moreless
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Season 3 Finale

10

By Canogaparkcindy, Nov 02, 2010

An amazing episode of the series, and even if this finale isn't as good as "Love, Wisconsin Style" and "Celebration Day" this was still a great finale. If this episode didn't leave you in tears, I have no idea what will. Eric and Donna have been dating for three consecutive years, even if they had their problems, could you ever imagine them breaking up?

I know I couldn't back when this was airing on Fox for the first time, so I was just in awe at the ending. This episode was also set up to one of the best TV seasons in the history of TV: Season 4. Don't get me wrong, this episode wasn't all emotion. It had some great hilarious scenes. From Donna's dream in game show format to Jackie basically demanding Kelso to give her the promise ring, this was a hilarious episode.

If you were to watch this episode for the first time, not knowing what happens in the later seasons, it will leave you in pieces, and I'm sure it will hold you over until the show returns. Just classic That 70s Show: A perfect balance of emotion and comedy. Also I commend the writers for foreshadowing their breakup with their unresolved issues in "Backstage Pass" - Good job!

Overall, an amazing eventful finale, that will remain one of my favorites.moreless
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It sounds like the first season finale, not the third (what I mean is, the first to actually FEEL like a finale!)

9.0

By FrigginGodess, Nov 16, 2008

I dunno about you. Along with That 70's Show's string of finales, they go up and down and up again. With The Good Son and ... 2nd Season, it didn't sound like a finale, but, rather, a sumup and a frst-second parter.

But, this has much more potential as a seaso finale. Because a final loose up in done, and in this case, it's Donna and Eric.

It starts off as innocent as can be. Eric tries to buy Donna a promise ring; something to go by for the days pass on. When Donna finds out, they make a big deal out of it. Mainly because Donna thinks it's ruining her life as a something. Then, the biggest cry out in 3rd season, and something people are asking in their minds.

What is the fate of Eric and Donna?

They brake up.

The whole season was to introduce that, in the end, love lasts no more. Donna was just a gimmic for Eric, and, now, she was nothing.

What made this episode a 9, instead of 10, was that the real ending (Leo still selling stuff) made it ruin the emotion. Dunno why. Anyways, it was a fantastic season finale, which should be praised.moreless
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Donna and Eric break up!

8.0

By MillionaireMan6, Sep 06, 2007

This episode made me a combonation of sad and angry. Sad because I was hoping Deric would last long, but I guess not. The ending to this episode was very sad. Donna and Eric were fighting and then broke up. All this was over a stupid Promise Ring. And makes me this is what made me angry. How could Eric be so stupid and incompetent to think about marraige so soon?! In the words of Moze on Ned's Declassified, it's like picking out a wedding cake on the first date. I have never crying over a TV show before but when Donna cried and Eric punched his car, I started crying uncontrolably. Why did Eric get a Promise Ring in the first place? Do you see what it caused? Sad, sad episode. Nothing but sad. Sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad, sad...moreless
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Donna and Eric break up

9.2

By jimbo_001, Mar 19, 2006

This episode was very good, especially Jackie forcing Kelso to give her the promise ring and Leo being Kelso’s “guy who knows a guy”. Leo’s overreaction to Donna and Eric’s break-up is also a hilarious ending after a sad conclusion.

This was a good finale to season three as you can tell it’s been planned for a while after a few big fights this season, especially since Donna got the radio job.

Fez and Hyde cruising for chicks was a little patchy and slightly forced into the episode but the jokes are definitely there, for instance, Fez’s reaction to the offensive word “loof” in his language.

Overall, the episode is good and ends the three season relationship between Eric and Donna, though neither of them really want to break up though it was a good reason, the fact that Donna’s heart doesn’t break when she pictures a future without Eric, and is fairly funny but not the best season three episode.

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Cast & Crew: STARS

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Topher Grace	Eric Forman
Mila Kunis	Jackie Burkhart
Ashton Kutcher	Michael Kelso
Danny Masterson	Steven Hyde
Laura Prepon	Donna Pinciotti
Wilmer Valderrama	Fez

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Cast & Crew: RECURRING AND GUESTS

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Monty Hall	Himself	Guest Star
Tommy Chong	Leo	Special Guest Star

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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TRIVIA (2)
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- Kelso says that his name doesn't have a female version, even though in Halloween he pointed out to Fez that the female version was Michelle.
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- The music used in this episode was:
  Black Water (1974) by Doobie Brothers;
  Rich Girl (1976) by Hall & Oates;
  Listen To What The Man Said (1975) by Wings;
  Thirteen (1972) by Big Star.
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QUOTES (5)
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- Hyde: Forman, by buying Donna that ring, you are letting her see the girl inside the guy. Don't let Erica out!
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- Kelso: See ya later, Hyde-a...uh... lisha. What's a good girlie name for Hyde?
  Eric: Hyde...dringa?
  Hyde: It's Heidi, you morons. Heidi!
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- Fez: Hyde, when I cruise a girl, how long do I have to talk to her before she will french me?
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- (Jackie has just gobbled down an ice cream sundae)
  Jackie: What the hell, Micheal? This is ice cream, stupid ice cream.
  Kelso: No, it's stupid ice cream of love.
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- Kelso: Oh my god. Am I talking in ryhme. I wish I could do that all the time. Ohh, I did it again!
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NOTES (0)
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ALLUSIONS (2)
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- Kelso: Guys, what if Jackie doesn't want a ring from a guy like me? I mean, sure, I'm good looking, but I can't be trusted!
  Eric: No, you guys are the perfect couple; you do the bad stuff, and she tries to catch you. She's Smokey to your Bandit. ...God, it's like that movie applies to everything!
  
  This is a reference to the 1977 movie Smokey and the Bandit, starring Burt Reynolds as the Bandit, on the run from the police, or Smokey.
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- Donna's dream sequence is a parody of the long-running game show Let's Make A Deal, starring Monty Hall as the host. He appears as himself in her dream.
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