That 90’s Show season 2: Wilmer Valderrama on absence

The premiere of That 90’s Show season 2 is going to be coming soon to Netflix, and we know there is some nostalgia ahead. After all, Laura Prepon will be among the main cast members from the original show who turn up over the course of it.

We’ve reported already that neither Ashton Kutcher nor Mila Kunis will be turning up this season after making an appearance in season 1. Now, we can confirm the same for Wilmer Valderrama. Speaking per People Magazine while at the Monte Carlo TV Festival, he gave a pretty reasonable explanation for why he is MIA in the near future:

“There’s no time! … We’re pushing 20 episodes a season [on NCIS], but at the same time, it’s the kids’ jobs … This is their show now, and I think it was important that we came and pay respect to their show and have fun with the legacy of what we did. At the same time, it was really about, you know, now seeing them take it over.”

Wilmer, in addition to his role of Nick Torres on NCIS, has also been developing a Zorro series for some time on Disney+ — he does not exactly have a free schedule to do a lot of other stuff. Add to all of this the fact that productions were even more compressed over the past year due to industry strikes, and there has not been a ton of time to pursue other things.

In the end, though, Valderrama is right that That 90’s Show is really more about Leia and the other young characters in Point Place. If this show is going to move on beyond the second season, it is really going to be up to them to carry the day. Nostalgia can often work to bring viewers in but at the end of the day, there does need to be something else there in order to keep them around.

Are you sad there is no Wilmer Valderrama on That 90’s Show season 2?

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