#table draft

Over the years, I been asked many times why Jackie trusts Hyde, particularly in "Kiss of Death" (2x20) when she goes to him for comfort over Donna and Eric. Nothing in the text (the show suggests) a reason why. He's not helpful to her in "Ski Trip" (1x13). Rather, he essentially tries to get rid of her so he can be alone with Donna.

Key:

Table Draft = TD

Revised First Draft: RFD

Prissy (aka @that70sshowgoldencouple ) and I talked in the phone today (we've been friends for fifteen years) to compare my Table Draft of the T7S pilot to her earlier Revised First Draft of the pilot (hers was completed a month before mine). We had a lot of fun, and now onto our discovery.

In the TD, Hyde explains that he's taken Fez under his wing to teach him "[Americans' strange ways." This line isn't in the RFD. Regardless, Jackie learns Fez is a foreign exchange student and says in both drafts, "What did we trade for him?" (Exact wording is from the TD.) Below, you'll find what follows in the TD.

What Jackie's response, That is so like you," refers to is ambiguous. Does she mean Hyde's insult or the fact he's helping Fez and believes"no one should be without friends"?

The RFD removes this ambiguity. Below, you'll find the earlier version of what follows Jackie's question, "What did we trade [Fez] for?"

Both the RFD and TD of the pilot reveal that Hyde's compassionate heart and desire to help the vulnerable was an original part of his core characterization. On the show, these aspects of him become part and parcel of his core starting in "Prom Night" (1x19).

Further, the RFD and TD reveal that Jackie's been around Hyde long enough to recognize that helping people is part of his nature.

Despite that the show doesn't depict Hyde as such until "Prom Night," so it's not technically in the text, Hyde's initial characterization and Jackie's knowledge of it may well have left an imprint on the show's creators and original showrunners.

Jackie having witnessed Hyde's compassion toward others who need it would create an implicit trust in him when she needs help and support.

Key:

TD = Table Draft

AP = Aired Pilot

--The title of the show is still Teenage Wasteland.

--In the TD, Eric is grounded strongly in his "the man is the man" attitude that is more subtly developed in the actual show over many episodes. In the AP, Eric is grounded in overcoming his lack of confidence that Donna inspires him to do.

--Donna and Eric's relationship in the TD is combative and about control, created by tension over Eric insisting on traditional gender roles and Donna demonstrating that she won't be beholden to them. Quite frankly, I found them both obnoxious during their interactions.

--In the AP, Eric and Donna far more emotionally connected. The focus is on the beginning of their relationship's transition from friendship to romance.

--Donna isn't obviously viewed as "one of the guys" in the TD. She even seems to be somewhat of an outlier except where Eric is concerned.

--Kelso is more prominent in the TD and written as the third most important of the friend group.

--Jackie's characterization is more complex and savvy in the TD. She's accepted as one of the group -- by the group -- to the group's despair because they realize she is one of them by the end of the episode (i.e. belongs).

--The TD heavily implies that Jackie's and Kelso have sex abd often.

--Reading Jackie call Kelso David was bizarre, lol.

--Fez's first scene (at The Hub) in the TD is later than in the AP. Hyde directly states he's taken Fez under his wing to teach him the ways of American life. In the AP and show, this fact is shown throughput S1, not stated.

--Jackie's response to Hyde when he says the above about Fez in the TD is, "You would," and they have more antagonistic interaction in the TD than in the AP.

--Jackie's and Donna actually have a scene in The Hub's girl's bathroom, and it's significantly characterizing for both of them (individually and for their dynamic).

--A scene exists between Jackie and her father, which is a payoff to a dialogue exchange in the TD's cold opening.

--When Bonnie Turner said in an interview that she, Terry Turner, and Mark Brazill didn't know who Hyde was when they first began writing the show, she wasn't exaggerating. MB, of course, intended to use Hyde as the romantic foil to Eric in regard to Donna, since this was him rewriting what happened in his high school days. But ...

--In the TD:

Hyde's conspiracy-spouting in the circle is more extreme.

Hyde is characterized as being literary minded. He has two lines in particular that would make many English Lit majors recognize as him as a kindred spirit.

Hyde and Eric's connection and closeness is barely hinted at in the TD. In the AP, it's explicitly established in the cold opening.

Hyde is characterized as a typical mid-1970s casually homophobic teen. 😬 Eric and Donna are characterized as the opposite. Hyde is essentially told to shut up when he uses a certain word twice (not starting with F) to explain to Fez why the gas station guy (Randy) brings a male date to the concert.

--Speaking of Randy and his date, their stage directions in the TD are much more affectionate and intimate than what we see in the AP.

--A bumper sticker on the Vista Cruiser in the TD reveals Red voted for Nixon. That doesn't contradict Red feeling Nixon betrayed the country. The TD makes clear the Vista Cruiser has been rusting in the garage for years.

--Eric, Donna, Kelso (with prompting), and all work to refurbish the Vista Cruiser in the TD. They remove the Vista part on the side of the car so it officially becomes The Cruiser.

--Kitty and Red are not that prominent in the TD. They have a few scenes, but Kitty's personality is clearly a product of Debra Jo Rupp playing Kitty as somewhat cartoonist because we're seeing her from Eric's perspective (she said in an interview this was her understanding and made the acting choice), and the writers liked that performance so much they made it her actual characterization.

I don't think the show would've gotten past the pilot had it remained the TD version. Eric and Donna's dynamic in the AP is the heart of the show. Their dynamic in the TD isn't endearing but abrasive. Donna and Jackie have more chemistry (not romantic, character-wise) in the TD than Donna and Eric.

It has arrived!

And it’s the table draft.

And I’ve read through the technical pages at the start. One scene from the draft before this one is marked as deleted with no other details.

And I’ve just read page 1 of the actual script and holy hell. 🤣