These 15 Episodes Of "That '70s Show" Showcase Eric And Donna's Relationship
When That '90s Show premiered on Netflix last month, fans of That '70s Show were thrilled to see Eric and Donna get the ending they deserved and didn't get in the show.
They were together! And they had a kid! And both of them were following their dreams in Chicago: Donna as an author, and Eric as a college professor teaching a course about Star Wars.
Eric and Donna had one of the sweetest and most realistic love stories in any sitcom, and seeing them together is a good reason to revisit their origin story by watching the best episodes they had together on That '70s Show.
1.Season 1, Episode 2 — "Eric's Birthday"
It's Eric's birthday, and his mom insists on throwing him a surprise party that he insists he's too old for. Donna is mildly panicked about what to get him as a gift when Jackie convinces her that the gift has to send a message about wanting to be more than friends. She settles on a sand candle and gives it to Eric alone on his patio, where she also makes a fool of herself by trying to emulate Jackie's instructions to make herself look alluring. But they laugh it off, and even hold hands, which makes the night a success.
2.Season 1, Episode 7 — "That Disco Episode"
The first few episodes of That '70s Show show Eric and Donna in a will they/won't they dance. They clearly like each other, they've shared a kiss, but that's all. In this episode, the gang goes to a disco, despite the fact that most of them don't care for disco. Hyde even takes dancing lessons with Mrs. Forman to impress Donna, but at the end of the night, she's dancing with Eric in his driveway, where he tells her straight up: "I like you."
3.Season 1, Episode 16 — "The First Date"
Eric and Donna's first date starts a trend for the two: Eric tries to do something romantic for Donna, and she gets too drunk to really enjoy it. In this episode, it's Valentine's Day, and Eric needs to make it official with Donna. Out to dinner at a fancy restaurant, Donna is accidentally served a Long Island Iced Tea. She gets wasted, makes a scene, and pukes. Oh, and Hyde crashes their date. But then Eric takes her to The Hub for coffee to sober her up, where he asks her to be his girlfriend and gives her his class ring, and they share their first kiss as boyfriend and girlfriend — even with Donna's puke breath.
4.Season 2, Episode 16 — "The First Time"
Donna's parents, Bob and Midge, are renewing their vows, and Donna has been tasked with writing the new vows, but her parents haven't exactly inspired her. Spending time with Eric and thinking about how much she loves him is the inspiration she needs, and she's so grateful for this gift, that she decides she's ready for them to have sex for the first time.
5.Season 3, Episode 10 — "Ice Shack"
Kelso invites Eric, Donna, Jackie, and Fez to his uncle's cabin...which is actually an ice shack. Jackie is pissed, and it doesn't help that Kelso keeps making dumb and inconsiderate decisions. Eric and Donna rub it in their faces that they're a better couple, which prompts Fez to host a Newlyweds-type game between the couples. Everything is going well until Eric makes a mention of Donna's Wile E. Coyote feet, and it seems like Jackie and Kelso might actually be the couple who knows each other more.
6.Season 3, Episode 16 — "Romantic Weekend"
Eric and Donna's romantic weekend away goes wrong when Donna drinks too much of the little bottles of alcohol from the hotel room minibar and makes a ruckus, annoying her and Eric's neighbors. It gets even more awkward when their neighbors turn out to be Eric's parents, Red and Kitty. Donna pukes and spends the night with Kitty, and everyone's chance at a romantic weekend is ruined.
7.Season 3, Episode 21 — "Fez Dates Donna"
When Fez needs to get his crazy ex-girlfriend Caroline off his back, he pretends to be in love with Donna. But Caroline is not easy to fool, so Fez and Donna have to really pretend to date.
8.Season 3, Episode 22 — "Eric's Drunken Tattoo"
Eric goes snooping in Donna's diary, where he reads an entry about a dream she had, one in which he was a rockstar like Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler. He gets the impression that she wants him to be a bad boy, so he has Leo give him a tattoo of Donna's name on his butt. Except Leo keeps thinking her name is Debbie. And as it turns out, he wasn't tattooing a name at all — it was Woodstock, the little yellow bird from Peanuts.
9.Season 4, Episode 1 — "It's a Wonderful Life"
After Donna and Eric break up because they can't agree on what their future should look like, Eric finds himself wishing they'd never dated at all. An angel visits him in his dream to show him what his life would look like if he really never dated Donna: She'd date and marry Hyde, who would end up in jail, and Eric would end up as a loser, for lack of a better word. At the end of it all, he cries out for it to stop — he doesn't want to picture a world where he never got to love Donna. He's not over her, and even though they aren't together, he doesn't regret his time with her.
10.Season 4, Episode 3 — "Pinciotti vs. Forman"
After Donna and Eric break up, their friends are torn between who to spend time with. In an effort to make things fair, they make up a joint custody plan, but it gets messy when they're clearly competing to outdo each other with their hangouts. In the end, Eric and Donna have it out, but then, they admit to each other how hard the breakup has been on them, which is a sweet reminder of how much they still mean to each other, and how much they fight to keep their friendship even when it's hard on them.
11.Season 4, Episode 8 — "Donna's Story"
Still scorned from their breakup, Donna pens a historical fiction story for the school newspaper with a villain named Derek that sounds an awful lot like Eric. Everyone at school reads the paper and gets upset with Eric, so he writes a story of his own that makes Donna out to be the bad guy. But he's left feeling like an idiot when the paper prints Part 2 of Donna's story: the part with the happy ending, where the heroine reveals she'll always love Derek.
12.Season 4, Episode 15 — "Tornado Prom"
Donna and Eric still aren't back together, but the gang agrees to go to the prom together as a group. Eric even offers to pick Donna up from the radio station where she works, but then he forgets. He leaves the dance in a panic, which means he's gone when the school goes into lockdown because of a tornado warning. When he arrives at the radio station, Donna is so impressed that he braved the tornado to come get her, and they share a kiss...before he admits that he had no idea that he just drove with a tornado on his tail.
13.Season 5, Episode 1 — "Going to California"
Donna's a bit of a mess after her breakup with Kelso's older brother, Casey, so she goes to see her mom in California. Eric is regretting the way he acted when Donna came to him for comfort because he still loves her, and he hates that he didn't make that clear. They keep missing each other's phone calls, so he has his friends cover for him while he goes to California to find Donna and tell her he loves her in person. They reunite on the beach (interrupted by Kelso), and they're finally back together.
14.Season 5, Episode 7 — "Hot Dog"
Eric is so happy to be back with Donna, and despite the fact that their breakup was caused by him giving her a promise ring, he decides that he wants to propose. Everyone tells him it's a dumb idea, but he does it anyway, after a bit of hesitation. And Donna doesn't hesitate to say yes, certain that a future with Eric is what she wants.
15.Season 6, Episode 3 — "Magic Bus"
Eric and Donna are engaged and ready to start their lives together as college students living in Madison, Wisconsin, when Red has a heart attack. Eric knows he has to stay back home and help take care of his dad, even though it crushes him to know that he won't be going away with Donna. On his birthday, he drops her at the bus station, wishing that she'd stay. When the bus leaves, Donna is left standing there, and his wish has come true: She's staying home, too. Is it a dumb decision? Maybe, but it is romantic.
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