The series begins with Eric Forman getting the use of the Forman family Vista Cruiser. Eric and his gang: Donna, Hyde, Kelso, and the new foreign exchange student Fez, plan to use the car to go to a big concert in Milwaukee.
Eric's 17th birthday is approaching and he discovers that his mother is trying to plan a surprise party for him so he tries to prevent it. Donna confides in Jackie about her kiss with Eric and wonders what to get him for a birthday present. Eric's older sister Laurie comes home from college for the party and Kelso flirts with her.
A visit by President Gerald Ford prompts strange behavior by everyone in town. Red is chosen to ask the President a question but falters, the boys chose to welcome the President by streaking across the plaza and Donna's father Bob makes Donna wear an American flag jumpsuit.
Donna keeps beating Eric at basketball so they get into a fight. Jackie tells Donna to let him win to save the relationship and Kitty and Midge offer relationship advice as well. Red's hours at the plant are cut back so he spends more time at home using his free time to fix things, much to Kitty's annoyance.
Donna's parents head out of town so she drops some not so subtle hints to Eric for him to come over. Eric, however, is fixated on getting a job at the new burger joint and completely misses Donna's suggestions. Kelso then gets an idea to throw a toga party at Donna's house.
Eric skips school for the first time and the gang find a beer keg in the middle of the road. Taking it as a sign to have a party, they find an empty house and start the party in the house's empty pool but soon discover they have no tap. The father's start their search for the kids and Kitty gets Midge drunk.
The gang gets the idea to go to the new disco that opened. Kitty has to teach Hyde how to dance and Bob sees them and thinks that more is actually going on. At the disco, Kelso hogs the dance floor but then becomes jealous when Fez wows Jackie with his moves.
Eric and Donna head to the drive-in to see "The Omen" but Eric doesn't want Kelso and Jackie to join. Fez's host parents won't let him listen to rock music as they believe it to be the devil's music so Hyde intervenes. Red and Kitty make plans for a fancy dinner out but they end up at the local diner, with the scene ending in a very familiar tableau.
Laurie comes home for Thanksgiving and brings her college friend, Kate, with her. Eric is annoyed that he has to give up his room until he sees how attractive Kate is. Jackie warns Donna about the dangers of having a college girl sleeping in Eric's bed and her worries are confirmed when Kate kisses him. Meanwhile, Kitty receives countless phone calls from her mother in law while she is trying to prepare Thanksgiving dinner.
Red's overbearing mother unexpectedly spends Sunday with the Forman's after his brother twists his ankle and can't take her to church. She drives the whole family crazy but develops a strange bond with Fez.
Eric makes friends with his new lab partner, Buddy and the two becomes inseparable, much to the dismay of the other guys. The new friendship is rocked, however, when Eric realizes that Buddy is gay and thought he was as well. Meanwhile, Red is having difficulty working at Bob's store.
Eric wants to have a Christmas party in the basement and asks Red for money. Red gives him $40 to buy a Christmas tree and whatever he wants with the change so Kelso and Eric cut a tree down and pocket the entire amount for beer. Laurie spikes the punch and the cops show up regarding the illegally obtained tree. Kitty and Red throw their annual party but Red doesn't get to attend most of it as he gets stuck working at Bob's store all night.
Jackie breaks up with Kelso after he kisses another girl and then invites everyone but him to her ski cabin for the weekend. Eric is excited about what this could mean for him and Donna and ignores Kelso's whining about now being invited. Hyde starts to act on his new feelings for Donna and Fez experiences snow for the very first time.
Red takes the Cruiser away from Eric after noticing a dent, so the guys ride around in Kelso's cousin's car. What they don't know is that it's a stolen car and they get arrested. Meanwhile, Jackie now wants to have sex with Kelso because he's been in prison. Bob isn't too happy that Midge is taking female empowerment classes.
Kitty wants Eric and Red to get along better so Red goes with the gang to a wrestling match. Jackie is now enamoured with Kelso since they did 'the deed' and Kitty and Laurie attend Midge's therapy session but it's not what they expected. Hyde and Fez listen to Bob complain about Midge in exchange for beer.
With Valentine's approaching, Eric decides to ask Donna out on an official first date so he can give her his class ring. Donna breaks her study session with Hyde to go on the date so Hyde realizes he doesn't have much time left to also woo Donna. Kitty and Red realize that they don't have much in common with Midge and Bob anymore. Kelso and Jackie go shopping.
Jackie strangely confides in Eric that she might be pregnant so Eric tells Donna which prompts Donna to try to convince Jackie to tell Kelso. The situation also causes Donna to go on the pill as a precautionary measure, but this ends up causing more grief than good when both Bob and the Formans find out.
The gang all follow their respective parents to their jobs for career day. Eric trails Kitty at the hospital and realizes how much she has to deal with everyday, while Donna is irked by her father's sales tactics at the hardware store. Fez and Hyde visit Hyde's mom, the lunch lady and Kelso tries to figure out what his father actually does. Red discovers that he actually likes one of Eric's friends- Jackie.
With Prom night upon them, Eric rents a motel room for him and Donna after the dance. Kelso decides to ask another girl from school so Jackie gets Hyde to take her to Prom. Fez has a crush on his English teacher and wants to ask her. Meanwhile, the adults all struggle with Midge's new career plans.
The guys go to see 'Star Wars' and are completely blown away by it. Red gets his full time status back at the plant and he asks Eric to hang out with the boss' son, David. David used to be a nerdy kid but is now a hunk who starts hitting on Donna. Laurie starts to hit on Kelso.
The guys paint a marijuana leaf on the water tower but Fez falls off the ladder when they decide it looks more like the middle finger and he tries to fix it. Instead of going to the hospital, they go to get Kitty as she is a nurse, but Eric in trying to find her, walks in on Kitty and his dad having sex. Kitty and Red soon think that Eric is on drugs as he behaves so strangely around them and can't look at them.
Hyde meets a girl who is the female version of him and she tries to convince him to move to New York to start a band. The boys try to talk him out of it. Kelso wants to make Red's Atari Pong more challenging so they make smaller paddles. Meanwhile, Jackie has problems with a baking class and Eric has some difficulties moving to second base with Donna.
Eric's grandmother Bernice is known for driving everyone crazy with her spiteful remarks and Eric finally calls her out on her behavior while driving her home. Bernice promplty drops dead, leaving Eric to believe that he is responsible for her death. The fmaily comes together, each dealing with their feelings over Bernice's death. The boys all head to a bar and Eric gets drunk.
Hyde's mother runs off with a trucker so Eric convinces his parents to let Hyde stay with them. The gang goes skinny dipping and Jackie catches a mean cold. Bob takes a liking to one of Midge's feminist friends.
Eric likes having Hyde around as he does all of his chores for him but their relationship starts to change when his parents start treating Hyde better than Eric. Hyde turns into a bore so Eric tries to persuade him to do destructive things. Red's old war buddy comes for a visit and Red finds himself envying Bull's wealth, but reconsiders his jealousy when he realizes that his friend is a swinger.