Original Air Date: September 20th, 1998
With Red Forman low on work hours due to cutbacks, he drives his wife crazy with his incessant household fix-it spree. Meanwhile his son Eric is being driven crazy by the fact that the girl he loves has beaten him in one-on-one basketball. For the first time in the show's short history, there are no extravagant extra details (concerts, birthday parties, political rallies) going on in the lives of our favorite television family. In truth, that makes it hard to remember this is indeed a simple sitcom and not an every day slice of American life seen through comical goggles.
Every member of the cast plays at least a semi-integral role in the development of major situations, giving them all opportunities to shine instead of having one or two standouts among the crowd like the initial episodes. More depth is given to Jackie Burkhart (Mila Kunis) and Steven Hyde (Danny Masterson) during the episode's subplot which focuses on the annoying-but-comfortable relationship between Jackie and Kelso. More validity is given to the budding relationship between Eric and Donna. There's even more room for Wilmer Valderrama to expand on the mannerisms of his foreign exchange student personification, Fez. It's nice to see such intricate detail being woven into the fabric of these characters' interactions with one another and it was easy to see that the show would keep solidifying itself from here. Overall, "Battle of the Sexists" might not be one of the most memorable installments from the first season, but you could do a whole lot worse with other television tidbits from the same era.
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