Eric Forman

Infobox character


colour = #E8D878
name = Eric Christopher Forman
first = "That '70s Pilot"
last = "That '70s Finale"
nickname = Forman, Foreplay, Forehead, Foreskin, Zitty Stardust, Opie, Archie, Little Orphan Acne, Dr. Pee Pee, Mr. Nude, Gomer, Mr. Smoker, Flash, Uh-Bluh, Dumbass, Casanova, Donna Lover, Dopehead, Math Whiz, Double-O Forman, Rainbow
alias =
species =
gender = Male
age = 16-19
born = birth date and age|1959|3|8
death =
occupation = Student, Teacher (upon graduation)
title =
callsign =
family = Kitty Forman (mother)
Red Forman (father)
Laurie Forman (sister)
Fez (ex-brother in law)
Bernice Forman (paternal grandmother)
Unnamed paternal grandfather
Bea Sigurdson (maternal grandmother)
Burt Sigurdson (maternal grandfather)
Paula Sigurdson (aunt)
Penny (cousin)
spouse =
portrayer = Topher Grace
creator = Mark Brazill
children =
relatives =
residence =

Eric Christopher Forman is a fictional character on Fox Network's "That '70s Show", played by Topher Grace. The character is based on the adolescence of show creator Mark Brazill. Most of the show takes place at the Formans' home, particularly in the basement, where he and his five friends hang out. He has a doting mother with impending separation anxiety and menopause (Kitty Forman), a strict, war-veteran father (Red Forman), and a promiscuous older sister (Laurie Forman).

Date of birth

Eric Forman's birth was originally said to be March 8, 1959. In "I Cant Quit You Babe", a 5th season episode, he said his birthday is in March, but this was while making other ridiculous and false remarks in "the circle". Another episode had his birthday exactly one month after graduation, which would make it July. The second episode of the series is set on Eric's 17th birthday sometime after the first episode, which takes place on May 17, 1976. In the third episode of season six, "Magic Bus", Eric's 18th birthday coincides with the night that Donna is supposed to go to college to start the fall semester.

Personality

Eric is a nice guy at heart. He is also generally geeky, weak, and somewhat clumsy. He is a smart-aleck teenager with a lightning-fast wit and a sarcastic and deadpan sense of humor.

Eric is often picked on for his slight stature and other characters have likened him to "Opie" (for the character Opie Taylor, from "The Andy Griffith Show"), and Archie Bunker. Other unfortunate nick names include "Foreplay" (by Casey Kelso), "Foreskin" (by Donna), and "Zitty Stardust" (in reference to him being unable to take a zit-free yearbook photo).

His girlfriend Donna is physically stronger than him (or anyone else in the group, really), a fact which is cause for many jokes by all who know them.

Though physically weak, Eric can show a surprising amount of spine and even physical prowess when necessary. When incensed enough he will stand up to anyone, even his father, at which moments he can be surprisingly eloquent. He stood up to Red when he was troubled at Kitty's apparent pregnancy and told him to be a man for her and stood up against both of his parents in his insistence on marrying Donna, despite their repeated attempts to stop him. He threatened Casey Kelso with serious injury if he hurt Donna, and even defended his father when he broke the nose of another teen who informed him that Red will eventually lose his job at the auto parts plant. He also beat a Green Bay Packers fan up during a game, after he insulted Eric for wearing a Chicago Bears jersey and Red. This made his father proud enough to compliment that his son had the "Forman Rage".

Eric is best friend of rebel Steven Hyde. When Hyde's mother left town at the end of the first season, Eric tried to persuade his parents to do something about his best friend's living conditions and thus Hyde was invited to live with the Formans, which he does for most of the series. And when Red was quick to throw Hyde out after an arrest for possession, Eric actually attempts to come to his rescue.

Eric is a well-know fan of sci-fi, such as "Star Trek" and especially when it comes to "", which is cause for much ridicule at the hands of his exasperated family and friends. He is known to keep a collection of Star Wars models and figurines. He is also known to have a large, beloved collection of "G.I. Joe." He likes bands such as Led Zeppelin, KISS, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx and Rush. He is also a Beatles fan and has been known to liken his group of friends to them, accusing Jackie of "breaking up the band" with her romantic entanglements with Kelso and Hyde. It is also hinted that he is a Spider-Man fan, having Spider-Man bedsheets and a considerable amount of comic books, most of them bearing the Marvel Comics logo with the titular character on the covers, and when he fought a fan at the Packers game, he tells Red that he learned his moves from Spider-Man (coincidentally, Topher Grace starred in Spider-Man 3 in 2007).

Eric has had many typical teen-age jobs over the series. He has worked at the fictional Fatso Burger, Price Mart, a dog food factory, and at the Holiday Hotel as a waiter. At the beginning of the series, Red vehemently opposed Eric's trying to get another job during the second season citing that it would interfere with his school work and make it harder for him to get into a good college far away, and Kitty supported Red by designating Eric's job as being her "precious baby boy". In season seven he was much ridiculed by his father when he took a year off from school and work to contemplate his future and enjoy being lazy. Eric enjoyed this being another one of many thorns in Red's side.

Eric is usually very supportive of his friends, even though it is not always reciprocal. On several occasions when the gang found themselves in a predicament as the result of a prank gone awry or some other unforeseen circumstance, the rest of the group take off, leaving Eric to absorb the brunt of the trouble, after which the gang (particularly Hyde) hassle and tease Eric for getting into trouble (as in "Stolen Car", "Eric Gets Suspended", "Eric's Hot Cousin" and "Rip This Joint"). This has much to do with Eric's trusting nature and indicates that what he lacks in physical strength and courage, he more than makes up for in strength of character. Eric however, has been known to get his revenge on his backstabbing friends from time to time, such as when Kelso took the gang on a Dine and Dash without telling them, and eventually stranding Donna and Eric alone. They garnered revenge by making some "Special Brownies" which the group occasionally enjoyed, however in this case, Eric had made them with laxatives. This was a huge thing for Fez, whose girlfriend had arrived to make ammends just as he ran for the bathroom. Kelso was also stupid enough to have a second helping whilst complimenting his "Burn." Though at times, Eric's friends will come to his aid when he's truly at the end of his rope. His less morally-inclined friends are quick to take advantage of this and also take it for granted, however Eric is also quick to stand up for himself to them and set things straight whenever he feels wronged by his friends' actions.

Relationship with Family

Eric's relationship with his parents centers around his trying to prove his maturity and independence to them. Eric's father Red is a well-known authoritarian and often refers to Eric as "dumbass" and frequently threatens 'to put his foot in Eric's ass.' Red finds Eric lacking qualities he feels a grown man should possess including physical strength, sportsmanship, and interest in manly pursuits like hunting, fishing, etc. Oddly, Eric is in many ways a younger version of his father. Both display a dry sense of humor and tend to be the sanest people in their circle of friends.

Eric's mother Kitty typically supports Eric against Red and often scolds Red for being too hard on Eric. However, she also does not consider Eric to be a man and often refers to him as her "precious baby boy." Eric appreciates his mom's support but her overblown displays of affection often leave him feeling embarrassed. At times, Kitty's love for Eric borders on Hitchcock-ian. His mother is often insecure about being replaced by Donna as the woman in Eric's life. Their rivalry is played up in many episodes (often comically, but sometimes to the point of it being a problem). In theory, she's okay with a sexual relationship between Donna and Eric, even pressing the two to discuss it with her, but in reality she goes into a depression after learning that Eric and Donna had sex and considers Donna a harlot who stole her baby boy away from her. Eric assured Kitty he would always need her because, "Dad's going to be riding my ass for the rest of my life!" When Eric tells his parents about his plan to teach in Africa for a year, his mother is less than thrilled. This is most notably, and comically presented when, the morning after his announcement, Kitty fixes everyone at the breakfast table a smiley-face breakfast with eggs and bacon and then hands eric a bowl of oatmeal with, "nothing smiling up at you, nothing." Even with a couple days before his departure, Kitty reveals that she hid mailed notifications that Eric must receive certain vaccinations before his departure. Eric protests his mom's actions but she still tries to dissuade hims stating that the needles used for the vaccinations are really large and will hurt a lot.

After Eric disobeys his parents' orders not to go forward with his marriage to Donna, Red finally deems is Eric a man and offers his blessing while a devastated Kitty turns on Red for allowing her "precious baby boy" to get married.

Eric's relationship with his older sister Laurie is based on mutual ridicule and compliment or more ridicule based on the execution and content of their mutual mockery. Eric continually rides his sister for being a whore while she chides him for being weak and less favored by their father. On several occasions, Eric and Laurie have tolerated each other and shown a brother-sister bond. When Eric saw his parents having sex, Laurie tried to comfort him, including hugging him and stroking his hand. In the middle of a fight between the two, Hyde tried to break it up, and the two teamed up on him, complimenting each others insults. Eric once even defended Laurie from Red. After discovering that Laurie moved out and was living with a man, Red started insulting her and pushing her away (now that he had to see her for what she was), to which Eric defended her saying that Red was being too hard on her. Laurie once told Eric and Donna to move away after they got married and even cried during her apology. Eric first had to taste the tear, and, deeming it legitimate, Eric replied "I have a sister!" and hugged her. She somewhat cleaned up her act, but then sunk back into her old patterns of screwing around.

Relationship with Donna

Eric's first love is Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon), the girl next door. Through thick and thin, their relationship has been one of the show's main storylines. They have been friends since they were children and in the first season, their friendship evolves into a relationship. In early episodes, a jealous Hyde tries to steal Donna from Eric. This plotline was discarded until the "It's a Wonderful Life" episode, where it is revealed that Hyde was waiting for Donna after the Todd Rundgren concert the gang went to in the pilot. This episode suggests that had Eric and Donna not kissed, Donna would have ended up with Hyde, and Eric would have ended up with Big Rhonda and as impossible as it sounds, even more miserable stuff would happen. Eric would have spent the rest of his childhood trying to win his father's approval, even kowtowing to him and he, Donna, Jackie, Kelso and Hyde would have all ended up a lot worse (although Fez seems more or less at ease with his situation).

In "That 70's Pilot", Donna kisses Eric on the hood of the Vista Cruiser. The next few episodes deal with the aftermath of the kiss. Apparently, Eric and Donna are not dating. Eric and Donna almost kiss after a fight in "Battle of the Sexists". In "The Keg", they kiss again, in the same location. Two episodes later, in "Drive In", they make out in the same place, and officially begin dating.

Unable to handle Eric's (and Casey's) rejection, Donna ran away to California with Kelso, who was running away from Jackie, and lived with her mother until she could sort out her feelings. Donna decided that she did love Eric and tried to call him, but couldn't get a hold of him because he was "busy". When Eric finally found out about her calls, he tried to call her back but couldn't work up the courage. Hyde resolved this by stealing some of Eric's money to buy him a plane ticket and then sending him on his way. Eric showed up in California and found Donna on the beach. A magical moment of silence between them was ruined when Kelso playfully tackled Donna. Once that had passed, Eric confessed to Donna that he still loved her. She embraced him, and they returned to Point Place.

In the season seven finale, Eric left Point Place to teach in Africa, in order to earn money to help pay for his college education (Grace left to appear in "Spider-Man 3"). Eric broke up off screen with Donna during the eighth season. Eric returned for the series finale, which aired on Thursday, May 18, 2006. In the final episode, it is revealed that they still love each other and it is implied that they renew their relationship.