The trailer for the upcoming Netflix show The Ranch hit the internet today. The comedy reunites That 70’s Show stars Ashton Kutcher and Danny Masterson as odd couple- type brothers and Sam Elliot and Debra Winger as their parents. The show was created by Two and a Half Men (Kutcher’s other big sitcom alum) writers Jim Patterson and Don Reo.
The trailer throws the audience off by opening with a sincere, legitimately touching speech by Elliot’s character. “You know when I was your age, the only thing I had was right here,” he tells Kutcher as we see photos of him, Masterson, and Winger. “But I do believe one of these days you’re gonna wake up and know exactly who you are,” we hear over a final picture of Elliot, our breaths baited. “Or you wake up and find yourself eating quinoa, whatever the f—- that is.” Remember, this is from Two and a Half Men writers, not Rectify.
The teaser goes on to show Kutcher’s character as a seemingly failed football player returning to his Colorado hometown and the ranch he grew up on. Masterson is the brother that never left, Winger is the mother trying to help her husband become healthier, and Sam Elliot is Sam Elliot.
Original multi- camera sitcoms are still new territory for Netflix- its first one in fact only debuted earlier this month in the form of Fuller House. Despite the different style, The Ranch (and Fuller House, for that matter) is jam- packed with nostalgia. The multi- camera, laugh- track format itself screams ‘Throwback’. What else screams it? Oh, let us count the ways…
The most obvious is the Kutcher- Masterson reunion. The two starred on That 70’s Show for nearly all of its 8 seasons (Kutcher left during the final season but returned for the finale). Kutcher played the epitome of the sitcom idiot Kelso while Masterson played the always- cool Hyde.
Moving to a different decade of nostalgia, Winger starred in some of the most iconic movies of the 80’s including Urban Cowboy, Terms of Endearment, and An Officer and a Gentleman. Then, of course, there’s screen veteran Sam Elliot, who’s been in so many things (recently Netflix’s own Grace and Frankie) you should probably just look at his imdb page to figure out where you know him from.
But the nostalgia is surely welcome for those who miss the days of studio audience reactions and 20 episode seasons. The freedom of the internet allows the characters to drop f- bombs too, so there’s that.
The Ranch premieres April 1.