‘That ‘90s Show’ Part 2 series review: Popular teen sitcom has joyfully become its own beastie

That ‘90s Show Part 2 brings nostalgia with a fresh twist, featuring iconic music and new teenage antics.

Though the first episode of That ‘90s Show Part 2 features that ultimate earworm, ‘Macarena,’ unlike Part 1, the series, seems to have to come into its own, and can be enjoyed independently. The connections to That ‘70s Show with some of the cast reprising their roles are just the right side of jolly. We can enjoy Shaggy’s ‘Boombastic,’ Carmen Electra dancing to La Bouche’s ‘Be My Lover,’ Toni Braxton’s ‘Un-Break My Heart’ and Des’ree’s ‘I’m Kissing You’ recreating Romeo + Juliet’s aquarium scene as well as enjoy the antics of Leia (Callie Haverda) and her friends.

It is 1996 and Leia has returned to her grandparents’ — Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red (Kurtwood Smith) — house in Wisconsin. Part 1 ended with Leia and Nate (Maxwell Acee Donovan) almost kissing. Things are complicated because Leia is seeing Jay (Mace Coronel) and Nate going out with Nikki (Sam Morelos). The fact that Nate is Gwen’s (Ashley Aufderheide) brother and Gwen is Leia’s bestie are added bumps on the road.

Though Leia and Nate initially decide not to tell anyone, they cannot keep that big a secret long and it comes out in the most spectacular way on the radio, when Ozzie (Reyn Doi) is trying to win tickets to a Spice Girl concert.

There is a pregnancy scare, a couple of crazy parties, with everyone including Kitty getting plastered, Kitty and Red trying to spice up their marriage, a trip to Paris, and a running rivalry between Leia’s grandfathers, Red and Bob (Don Stark). Some things are rather unbelievable, including the reactions to racism and homosexuality, which seems very 2020s and most definitely not 1990s Wisconsin.

The elders, especially Rupp and Smith, do quite a bit of the heavy lifting, but the youngsters do not do too badly either. There is an easy camaraderie between the six teenagers as they riff off each other, and there are some laugh-out-loud moments. Sherri (Andrea Anders), Gwen and Nate’s mum, and Donna (Laura Prepon), Leia’s mum, are fun.

At 24 minutes a pop, That ‘90s Show is not a drag on your precious time. The fact that the show is not hoping to ride the nostalgia wave by bunging in a bunch of cameos but rather getting us invested in the new teenagers in Point Place is definitely heartening. Now we can wait happily for Part 3 which drops on October 24.

That ‘90s Show Part 1 and 2 are currently streaming on Netflix