'THAT '70S SHOW' Fox show to end run in May '05

The cast's contracts are up then.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Ashton Kutcher and the rest of the "That '70s Show" cast plan to put away their leisure suits and disco records permanently in the spring of 2005, though the Fox network doesn't plan to let the show go away gently.
Series regulars Laura Prepon and Wilmer Valderrama said the cast has decided that the time-warp sitcom should end its run when their contracts expire in May 2005.
"We're doing another year and that might be it," said Prepon, who plays the girl-next-door type on the show. "We're on such a high notes now that I think we want to end on a high note. It's going to be totally weird to end it I can't imagine what the cast of 'Friends' are [feeling], and they have four more years on us."
"That '70s Show" marks its 150th episode this spring. The show already shows repeats in syndication.
"We're doing one more year and after that then we will probably be done," Valderrama, who plays the daffy exchange student, Fez, said. "After seven years of doing the same character, you sort of want to take a break."
The gist
"That '70s Show" follows in the footsteps of other high-profile shows calling it quits recently. Last year, the cast of the NBC series "Friends" also decided altogether when to end their series. That show's finale airs in May.
NBC pulled the plug on "Frasier" after discussing with the cast and producers about when the end should come. The last episode of "Frasier" will air May.
Over at HBO, Sarah Jessica Parker opted to end her starring vehicle "Sex and the City," and the finale for it will air at the end of next month.
Fox Entertainment President Gail Berman said no one has informed her of the decision reached by the cast of "That '70s Show."
"I don't know if [the decision] is 100 percent," Berman said, "but that is certainly when their contracts are up ... I suspect [the end] might happen, but things have an interesting way of working out on TV. It's one of my all-time favorite shows so we'll do all we can to keep it together."
"That '70s Show" focuses on a group of teenagers living in a small midwestern town during the later days of the 1970s. Though never a Top 10 series for Fox, the show consistently attracts younger viewers desired by the network.